Before conducting a search, the department director develops a search committee. The search committee should include faculty who are committed to diversity and excellence and ensure that women and individuals underrepresented in medicine (UIM) have equal opportunity to serve on search committees. Each search committee designates one search committee member as responsible for oversight of diversity and inclusion—the Diversity Advocate.

Role of Search Committee

The role of the Search Committee is to search, not to hire. “Search” is an active verb. It requires proactive placement of advertisements, contacts with other institutions, attendance at professional conferences, maintaining contact with potential future candidates and networking with colleagues in order to net the broadest possible pool of job applicants.

Search Committee Members:

• Provide input on recruitment strategy and advertising plans.
• Contact peer institution colleagues to find potential candidates.
• Research associations and member directories.
• Proactively reach out by email, letter and telephone, asking subject matter experts for potential candidate names.
• Specifically ask contacts to provide names of potential candidates, including women and underrepresented minorities, in addition to other candidates.
• Review and assess all initial applicant files using the saODIme criteria formulated by the committee.
• Try to spend 15 – 20 minutes fully reviewing each application as one way to enable equity.
• Make candidates feel warmly welcomed.
• Use agreed upon evaluation criteria when reviewing finalists.
• Understand the potential for implicit bias and take action to ensure equity in your decision making.
• Maintain confidentiality.

Resources:

• Faculty & Staff Recruitment Guidelines, JHU-SOM
• Diversify the Pool- Recommended Organizations and Publications
• ODI- Legal Questions to Avoid
• ODI- Recruitment Methods
• Best Practices for Faculty Diversity Shortened