Recruitment and Selection of Faculty and Professional Employees

Policy Information
Policy TitleRecruitment and Selection of Faculty and Professional Employees
Responsible OfficeHuman Resources
Policy TypePersonnel and Payroll
Policy Number601
Last Revision Date12/14/2020

This procedure has been developed to support Binghamton University's commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action and to ensure compliance with State and Federal requirements.

General Recruitment Policy

  1. Every administrative/academic officer and search committee must make an active and thorough effort to recruit for each faculty and professional employee position, whether full or part-time and regardless of source of funding, members of protected classes including: minority groups, women, veterans and persons with disabilities. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction.
  2. This effort will be viewed as an important factor in determining the acceptability of a position recommendation. Affirmative Action efforts augment, rather than replace, previous recruiting procedures. The recommendation and the appointment are to be made on the basis of qualifications for the position, and it is considered proper to redefine eligibility criteria to broaden the base of the talent pool to include special experience, training, and education not normally considered when such factors are important characteristics of eligibility for the position. Such consideration must be applied equally to all candidates for a position.
  3. Special attention to the identification, recruitment, and selection of protected classes above. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction is consistent with state and federal law, orders and regulations, and the policy adopted by the State University of New York Board of Trustees. No person is to be accepted or rejected solely on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction.

Prior to Recruitment

  1. Each hiring unit is responsible for contacting the Chief Diversity Officer who may advise the unit in developing general procedures that will ensure the most efficient distribution of information about available positions to the protected classes above, in order to encourage applications from these sources.
  2. Position qualifications should be reviewed carefully to assure that the description does not in itself discriminate against the selection of the protected classes above.
  3. To begin the search process, Part I of the Affirmative Action Report should be completed and sent through channels for search plans. It is important to remember to assure that lines are available and funded prior to initiating any searches - this can be confirmed with your department or through Human Resources.
  4. Whenever possible, the protected classes above should be included on search committees even if it is necessary to go outside the hiring unit or division to ensure the participation of such individuals.
  5. Affirmative Action Report forms are available in the Human Resources Office or the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Recruitment Plans

  1. All correspondence and advertising are to include the abbreviated affirmative action statement: "Binghamton University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer." All recruiting sources are to be informed of Binghamton's adherence to Affirmative Action policies by the person who initiates the contact. 
  2. A list of specific sources of candidates from the protected classes above should be compiled by the individual unit offices with the assistance of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Some forums to be considered are national organizations that have been formed to establish talent pools of the protected classes above, professional organizations, specialized employment agencies, women's colleges, colleges with high minority enrollments, minority and women scholars in other institutions, and newspaper with high readership by members of the protected classes above, and professional websites.
  3. The group of applicants considered should include qualified minorities and women, unless evidence is documented that extraordinary efforts to recruit them have been made and have failed.
  4. There are limited conditions under which a person may be recommended for a position without widespread recruitment efforts:
    1. Under the Internal Promotion procedure for Professional UUP Employees, the University will give initial consideration in promotion to its professional employees for vacancies in titles as designated. In other tiers, other eligible BU employees will also be considered for promotional opportunities. The Office of Human Resources provides information regarding internal promotions on the Human Resources website. It should be noted that requests to waive conditions of the internal promotion plan or external searches will normally not be granted by the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for professional positions within the unit represented by UUP unless a substantive case can be made for this action.
    2. Other cases for less widespread recruitment efforts may be justified when in the spirit of workforce succession programs, a qualified individual may be promoted from within the organization, when time is of the essence, when campus operations would suffer as the result of an interim appointment, or when a person is available who is uniquely qualified for the position. By their very nature, such cases are rare, and their acceptability is measured not only against the urgency of that particular appointment, but also against overall efforts to use members of the protected classes above in the unit which has recommended the appointment. Documentation of the special circumstances must be made, and, as in all other cases, the Chief Diversity Officer must approve the Affirmative Action Report form attached to such documentation.
  5. Part II of the Affirmative Action form series must be filed and approved by the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion prior to interviewing candidates.
  6. The final filing of the Affirmative Action Report form, Part III, must be completed and approved by the Affirmative Action Office prior to any hiring offer being extended to a candidate. The Affirmative Action Office will keep a copy as well as the department responsible for the search.

Contact: Chief Diversity Officer, 607-777-4775