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[heptameron]

After the finalists have completed their on-campus interviews, what happens next?
Does the search committee meet to decide which candidate will fill most of the department's needs?
Or does the department vote up or down on each candidate?
Or does the Dean's office make the final decision of which candidate is best after reading reports made by the search committee? And before that, does the dean call the previous institutions where the candidate taught to see if they did a good job there?
Do the opinions of untenured aculty or faculty outside of the department factor into the decision?
Who gets the final word--is it the chair of the department?

[citrine]

It really varies widely by campus, and probably even by departments on a campus.

In my department on my campus, since we are very small (eight people), we usually exchange a round of email immediately after the candidate leaves discussing first impressions, and then try to meet as soon as possible to come to a consensus on whom we should hire. Sometimes this may involve our department chair checking references (especially for ABD candidates, just to be sure that they are on track to defend on time and so we can claim due diligence if our Dean asks about it) -- sometimes it may not. Everyone has a say -- tenured or untenured -- since we are so small. I would probably say that the people in the same subject area in which we are hiring have slightly more "weight" given to their opinions simply because they may be the best at evaluating the professional criteria of candidates. We usually come up with a "number one choice" and a "number two choice." We have always been able to come to consensus so far.

After we come to a consensus, our department chair brings our recommendation to the Dean, who says yes or no (she has never said no so far), and then makes the offer to the first candidate. If the first candidate says no, we make the offer to the second candidate. After a candidate accepts, the offer is then formalized by both our Dean and the Vice President of Academic Affairs and a letter is sent to the candidate with the official contract.

We did have a case where the VPAA tried to block our hire after the person had accepted and the Dean had formalized it, but that was due to some very bizarre circumstances (about which I feel that elaborating would out me) and we did succeed in hiring our chosen candidate at the end.

But it really really varies. I imagine in larger departments our method would be impossible to use.

[brixton]

+1

Each dept is very different, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what's happening in the dept(s) you interview at.  Sit tight or busy yourself with home repairs.  (I am only guessing that you've gotten back from an interview because of the subtext of desperation in your questions.)

[sagit]

After the finalists have completed their on-campus interviews, what happens next?
Does the search committee meet to decide which candidate will fill most of the department's needs?
Or does the department vote up or down on each candidate?
Or does the Dean's office make the final decision of which candidate is best after reading reports made by the search committee? And before that, does the dean call the previous institutions where the candidate taught to see if they did a good job there?
Do the opinions of untenured aculty or faculty outside of the department factor into the decision?
Who gets the final word--is it the chair of the department?

There's no one answer to any of these questions.    I've been on search committees in 4 departments so my comments are based on those experiences as well as some other inside information from colleagues' searches.

Does the search committee meet to decide which candidate will fill most of the department's needs?

Generally, all 3-4 candidates that have on campus interviews would fill the department's needs.  So it is more complicated than just "best fills the need."

Or does the department vote up or down on each candidate?

Committees i've been on have discussed the candidates and come to consensus.  Sometimes this happens with the whole faculty of the department.  Sometimes not.

Or does the Dean's office make the final decision of which candidate is best after reading reports made by the search committee? And before that, does the dean call the previous institutions where the candidate taught to see if they did a good job there?

First question - Sometimes, yes (this has been the way of the committees I have been familiar with).  The SC ranks the candidates and gives that list to the Dean.  In the searches I have been involved with, the Dean has selected the department's first candidate.  
Second question - Never heard of that happening.  Sounds like micromanaging the job of the department but I suppose there are probably Deans out there that would do something like that.

Do the opinions of untenured aculty or faculty outside of the department factor into the decision?

Yes, I was untenured in all of the search committees I have been on and my opinion was factored in.  I have been on three search committees as the outside member (all SC had to have a member from outside of the department).  I weighed in on aspects that I could assess and left other issues (such as the nature of the research, types of publications) to the department.

Who gets the final word--is it the chair of the department?

That really depends on the department.  There is no way to generalize that.

[glowdart]

It does indeed vary. Some other options:

- SC decides, and department rubber stamps, and Chair & Dean rubber stamp.  
- Chair has veto power over SC and/or department.  
- Department has power and Dean rubber stamps.
- Dean is all-powerful.  
- Dean only gets involved when the Dean has serious issues with a candidate or the way the search was run.

[msparticularity]

OP, why have you posted this question on two different threads? I just answered it on the other thread, only to discover it again here.

[systeme_d_]

OP, why have you posted this question on two different threads? I just answered it on the other thread, only to discover it again here.

So did I.

Poor form, OP.

[totoro]

After the finalists have completed their on-campus interviews, what happens next?
Does the search committee meet to decide which candidate will fill most of the department's needs?
Or does the department vote up or down on each candidate?
Or does the Dean's office make the final decision of which candidate is best after reading reports made by the search committee? And before that, does the dean call the previous institutions where the candidate taught to see if they did a good job there?
Do the opinions of untenured aculty or faculty outside of the department factor into the decision?
Who gets the final word--is it the chair of the department?

There are a lot of ways this can go depending on the practice in the particular institution. In some systems (common in the US) the search committee makes a recommendation to the department who meet and discuss it before making a recommendation to the Dean.

Where I am the search committee makes a recommendation to the head of department. Other faculty only get to give feedback to the committee members after the presentation of the candidate. The head then makes a decision which is then rubber stamped higher up. If the head is on the committee they more or less make the decision themself.

[oldfullprof]

On our campus, we forget your vita when we phone interview you.  When you show up on campus, we forget the phone interview.  We have you give a class, then do a group interview.  It's probing.  If you say you do quantitative methods, for example, you need to convince us with details.  We send a list to the dean after a department meeting.  We can't choose the winner, but the write-up of the one we favor is about twice as long and effusive as the other two.  The last time a dean failed to go along with our choice (12 years ago), it caused a department split later, where we offloaded the non-preferred faculty into a new department.

[imawakenow]

Well, since only about half of the SC bother to attend the job talk or teaching presentation, and the other half hasn't even looked at your materials much less read them carefully, we convene in a smoky room in a secret passage near the dean's office. We smoke cigars and pass around a bottle of Scotch until everyone passes out or leaves to pick up their children. The last person chooses before he or she passes out (or leaves to get the kids).

Sorry, OP, I couldn't resist given some of the weirdness in the fora lately.

Anyway, the process (length as well as key players) varies by department, college and university, so there's no one "right" answer to your questions.

I've served on two SCs in the past two years at the university where I work. We usually invite two or three finalists to campus for each open position. All tenure-track faculty vote on each candidate as acceptable or unacceptable. The results of the vote are relayed to the SC committee.

We meet to discuss the finalists shortly after the last candidate has left. If anyone bombed the job talk or teaching presentation, that person is eliminated. We then reach a consensus about the top choice and rank the remaining acceptable choices.

The SCC then forwards the recommendation to the dean, who then makes the official offer. Technically, the dean could override our decision, but I haven't seen that happen yet.

I don't know how long it takes for the official offer to go out, but it's not too long. I had an offer within two days of my campus visit here.

I think it's completely fair (and probably expected) to ask what the timeline of the search is when you are on campus. Keep in mind that things can get delayed if the dean is out of town, someone on the SC gets sick, one or more faculty are headed to a conference, etc.

[abd_jhs]

Well, since only about half of the SC bother to attend the job talk or teaching presentation, and the other half hasn't even looked at your materials much less read them carefully, we convene in a smoky room in a secret passage near the dean's office. We smoke cigars and pass around a bottle of Scotch until everyone passes out or leaves to pick up their children. The last person chooses before he or she passes out (or leaves to get the kids).

LOL Sounds like my kind of dept!

So is it pretty standard for the SC to meet only once, and it is usually after ALL the on-campus interviews are done?

[glowdart]

Well, since only about half of the SC bother to attend the job talk or teaching presentation, and the other half hasn't even looked at your materials much less read them carefully, we convene in a smoky room in a secret passage near the dean's office. We smoke cigars and pass around a bottle of Scotch until everyone passes out or leaves to pick up their children. The last person chooses before he or she passes out (or leaves to get the kids).

LOL Sounds like my kind of dept!

So is it pretty standard for the SC to meet only once, and it is usually after ALL the on-campus interviews are done?

Well, it depends on how you define "meet."  We might have a formal meeting after all three have visited, but we might also be constantly chattering with each other throughout the days of the visits and throughout the days in between the visits.  We like to be able to make a recommendation to the Dean quickly because it can take time to process the offer paperwork.

[abd_jhs]

Well, since only about half of the SC bother to attend the job talk or teaching presentation, and the other half hasn't even looked at your materials much less read them carefully, we convene in a smoky room in a secret passage near the dean's office. We smoke cigars and pass around a bottle of Scotch until everyone passes out or leaves to pick up their children. The last person chooses before he or she passes out (or leaves to get the kids).

LOL Sounds like my kind of dept!

So is it pretty standard for the SC to meet only once, and it is usually after ALL the on-campus interviews are done?

Well, it depends on how you define "meet."  We might have a formal meeting after all three have visited, but we might also be constantly chattering with each other throughout the days of the visits and throughout the days in between the visits.  We like to be able to make a recommendation to the Dean quickly because it can take time to process the offer paperwork.

I gotcha. But typically, you guys wait until all the campus visits are over before making a final decision?

[voxprincipalis]

I gotcha. But typically, you guys wait until all the campus visits are over before making a final decision?

???

Of course. How else would it work?

VP

[abd_jhs]

I gotcha. But typically, you guys wait until all the campus visits are over before making a final decision?

???

Of course. How else would it work?

VP

WELL-they could really, really like the first candidate and offer them the position immediately (or shortly after the campus interview and before completing interviews). I have heard of this happening before, but I wanted to see how common it was.