What to expect as part of a university hiring committee

May 11, 2014 11:19 PM

My anthro department will hire a new PhD student and invited me to be on the committee as I am a potential supervisor for this individual. But as a relatively new prof myself, I am not sure how these things work. What tips can you suggest to help me seem like I know what I am doing?

In our first meeting, tomorrow morning, we (ie a hiring committee, of which I am a part) will review the applications and make a first selection. Then, I guess we will organize some interviews. Tips? Ideas? Personal experiences?

posted by mateuslee to Education (5 answers total)

There are a lot of articles (free, online, in the Advice section) in the Chronicle of Higher Education about the hiring process, from both sides. There are also discussion forums about hiring and interviewing. They are mostly about the process for faculty, but they should still be helpful--even if only in terms of what *not* to do.
posted by orange (sherbet) rabbit at 5:15 AM on May 12, 2014

If you're in Portugal, you should ignore everyone who offers advice that is not specific to academia in Portugal.

For example, I'd never heard of having a hiring committee for a PhD student. Graduate admissions committees, sure. Hiring committees for postdocs, sure. But not an ad-hoc search committee for a graduate student.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:10 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]

Could you clarify, please. Is this interview to select new graduate students/PhD candidates or a new faculty member?
posted by mareli at 6:11 AM on May 12, 2014

Yes, this is very nation-specific. I just finished chairing a search, for example, but I expect my advice would be utterly useless in your case--differences in administrative regulations, disciplinary best practices, basic procedures, and so on.
posted by thomas j wise at 6:22 AM on May 12, 2014

Check whether your institution requires you are trained to your institution's standards. Mine requires equality and diversity training so staff know what to consider and what can't be considered.

Ask HR if there are examples of standard questions to ask (though someone else may do this if they are
Esding on this).
posted by biffa at 6:32 AM on May 12, 2014