The Chair’s Obligations

“You have been asked to chair a search. … What are you responsible for?”

That’s the topic of the first in a series of “how to” posts that the blogger Tenured Radical plans to write about the forthcoming hiring season. Some of the posts will focus on the hiring side of the table, and some on the candidates.

Among the chair’s obligations, Tenured Radical says, is to oversee the ethical conduct of the search committee and create and manage the timetable. Perhaps most important, she says, the chair is responsible for “communicating with the candidates in a timely and responsible way.”

“Given the state of the job market, there is very little that is more important than this, as far as I can tell. … You would be shocked at how many job applications go entirely unacknowledged — no note that it has been received, no note informing candidates who did not receive an offer who was hired. Nada. More commonly, general wisdom on searches is that you don’t communicate in any way with the candidate pool until you have made an offer and the offer is accepted — probably some time in March or April. I think this is wrong.”

Read more of her advice here.