Faculty Manual - COST Home Page - Texas Southern University

4.0 Procedures for Faculty Appointment
SECTION FOUR
University Personnel Practices
Texas Southern University is committed to adhering to the concept of equal opportunity in
employment. Consistent with this commitment, the University has developed a procedure for
staffing positions requiring an appointed search committee. Search committees are
appointed/selected to assist in the search and screening of senior vice presidents (including the
Provost), department directors, deans, Director of the University Library. In the hiring of
instructional personnel, each department, division, school or college shall select, according to
appropriate departmental procedures, faculty members who will serve to search and screen
applicants; select a candidate or candidates.
All potential appointees to the University’s regular faculty must be recruited and evaluated by a
search-and-screening committee consisting of members of the regular faculty or as required in
the applicable school/department’s bylaws. The qualifications of each candidate shall be made
available to all regular departmental faculty, who shall participate in the selection process.
Candidates who seek appointment to a rank higher than Assistant Professor and those seeking
appointment with immediate tenure must be reviewed under the standards of the department’s
rank and tenure process.
The search/screening committee shall make nominations in accordance with the bylaws of the
school or department. The department chair shall make recommendations from the list of
nominees to the dean. In cases where no appointments can be made from the list, additional
nominations shall be requested from the committee. In making a recommendation to the dean,
the department chair shall provide information regarding the degree of faculty support for the
recommended candidate, the recommended rank, and tenure status. In cases of emergencies,
where short notice exists and temporary needs require that department chairs exercise discretion,
faculty responses should be solicited and the committee procedures should be utilized when
possible.
The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex,
military status, or physical handicap in the recruitment and employment of faculty and staff. The
University complies with the equal opportunity provisions of federal laws and regulations.
An individual becomes an official candidate for a faculty position once a formal application has
been filed with the University. The appropriate committees, as provided in the Faculty
Constitution and the University affirmative action plan, shall screen applicants.
Under the Search Procedures and Employment Process at Texas Southern University, the
Committee chairperson or department chair should complete the Affirmative Action Report
(Form 1) and the Search Activity Report (Form 2) after the candidate has been hired.)
4.1 Terms of Appointment
The dean of the college shall make the offer of employment to a prospective faculty member in
writing. This writing shall include the terms and conditions of the appointment, explicitly
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