Several steps are taken to hire new faculty members at the University of Houston.
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs John Antel says recruiting is a process that requires “hundreds of man-hours” by faculty who look for two essential characteristics in candidates.
“People we are looking for must be excellent teachers and researchers,” Antel said.
There are 1,000 tenure-track faculty members that are replaced when they leave, Antel said.
“In that group we probably have 30 or 35 retirements every year, so we are constantly recruiting new people for those that have left us,” Antel said.
Departments have their own recruiting methods such as advertising in academic journals, when a position opens.
“We will publish in an economics journal for job openings and other areas for economists,” Antel said. “For international economics, we advertise the position in international economics journals.”
Once candidates are narrowed down, national meetings with the department’s search committee take place by person, phone or even Skype.
Usually up to 10 or 12 people a day, for a couple of days, are interviewed for a certain position. The top three people are invited to campus.
“We want to see what kind of teacher they will be,” Antel said. “We basically let them meet the faculty and they are interviewed by the dean.”
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences John W. Roberts says that staff is conducting 13 searches for new faculty this year.
“In a complex college like CLASS, the college does not hire faculty; departments do,” Roberts said. “Each looks for different characteristics based on their needs and each involves faculty differently.”
CLASS departments are currently in the process of recruiting for English, music, sociology and health and human performance.
There are more than 70 openings for faculty at the University, according to the faculty openings position listings on the school’s website.
Dean of the Bauer College of Business, Latha Ramchand said that quality of learning is essential for students, a principle she said guides her mission to have a strong faculty at the business school.
“At the Bauer College, we have worked to build a faculty that consists of both traditional academicians and former executives and entrepreneurs, providing a learning environment that extends beyond the classroom and into industry,” Ramchand said.
The standards for new faculty have seen a continuous improvement in the past 20 years, Antel said.
“The departments are more selective over candidates,” Antel said. “We have recruited better faulty and we are more competitive.”
