Faculty Hiring Guide Reference: Position Announcement
A detailed position announcement may include many of the same elements as a position description, but it should include information that makes it useful for distribution to prospective employees. The full position announcement will be posted on the HR Jobs website. For IHP TTF searches, units will build the position announcement in the job requisition in MyTrack. For all other faculty searches, units will build the position announcment via the position description entered in MyTrack.
Items to consider are listed below:
Terms of Appointment - Listed in MyTrack Requisition
a) Posting title (and academic rank, if applicable; see faculty handbook descriptions)
b) Appointment FTE
c) Type of position (Faculty- Career, Pro Tempore, Tenure-Track, or Other)
d) Duration of appointment (Limited or Ongoing)
e) Annual Basis (9 or 12)
Position Summary
Units can use the Position Description Guidelines as a reference to build out the faculty position summary.
Include areas of academic or administrative specialization, including teaching, research, publication, office hours, committee work, etc.
Be sure to outline start date (projected/expected) or list Academic Year for the appointment.
Minimum and Preferred Qualifications
Minimum qualifications should reflect those skills, knowledge and ability requirements that are minimally required to effectively perform the duties of a position. Preferred qualifications should reflect the additional skill, knowledge and ability requirements that are not minimally required, but would strongly enhance an individual's ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of a position. Care should be taken to limit minimum qualifications to those that are minimally required to avoid eliminating candidates who may have relevant and transferable experience that would bring value to the organization.
Minimum and preferred qualifications need to be carefully considered. They provide the foundation for selection criteria that are developed to screen and evaluate candidates in the search process.
Description of the University and the Community
Below are sample descriptions of the university and the community to use in position announcements. The data is taken from the 2004 Profile of Students, and will need to be updated as appropriate.
“The University of Oregon has over 16,000 undergraduate students and approximately 4,000 graduate students. Of these there are 2,706 U.S. students of color and 1,175 international students. The university has an institutional commitment to diversity and multiculturalism, and actively supports this goal. The UO is known for its spirit of cooperation and collaboration, and for its ability to provide a variety of personal and professional opportunities that make a difference.
OR
“The University of Oregon is located in Eugene, Oregon, home to more than 145,000 people and Oregon’s third largest city. Within only a few hours’ drive are the ocean beaches, lakes, rivers, forests, high desert, and the Cascade and Coast mountain ranges. The Willamette River runs through the heart of the city and joins the McKenzie River north of town. Mild winters, long growing seasons and few drastic weather changes are characteristic. Eugene has a high percentage of professionals, including doctors, lawyers, architects, and educators, and is home to the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, which regularly hosts the Oregon Bach Festival, the Eugene Symphony, the Eugene Ballet, and the Eugene Opera, among other cultural offerings.”
OR
"Located 110 miles south of Portland, the University of Oregon has an enrollment of 20,000. The Eugene metro area (pop. 215,000) is in a region noted for its dynamic quality of life and progressive cultural environment. We are about an hour's drive from the Pacific coast and the Cascade mountains. The University is an AAU research institution and a member of the Pac-12 conference."
Commitment to Equal Opportunity
Include a statement about the university's commitment to affirmative action and equal opportunity and the successful candidate's responsibility to work effectively with faculty, staff and students from diverse backgrounds
This general diversity statement can and should be tailored by the hiring unit to best reflect the needs of the position and the unit's approach to ensuring support of our increasingly diverse university community. Sample statements include:
- "The successful candidate will have the ability to work effectively with faculty, staff and students from a variety of diverse backgrounds."
- "Candidates who promote and enhance diversity are strongly desired."
- "The University of Oregon is committed to creating a more inclusive and diverse institution and seeks candidates with demonstrated potential to contribute positively to its diverse community."
- "The successful candidate will support and enhance a diverse learning and working environment."
- "Candidates with experience serving the needs of diverse populations are strongly desired."
Application Procedure and Closing Dates
List or describe what to submit, where to submit online, and the closing date.
If a search committee wants a specific closing date (more typical for entry-level positions), the statement should clearly indicate that:
"No applications received after <Month/Day/Year> will be considered."
OR
"Applications and nominations must be recieved by <Month/Day/Year>."
In some cases, a search may be better served by a more flexible deadline that notifies candidates when review of applications will begin, ensures full consideration of all applications received by that date, provides no guaranty of consideration after that date, but has the flexibility to allow consideration of applications received after that date. Sample statements include:
"To ensure consideration, please submit application materials by <Month/Day/Year>. This position will remain open until filled."
OR
"Review of applications will begin on <Month/Day/Year>. To ensure consideration, please submit application materials by that date."
Search committees should decide how they are going to handle applications that are received after the application review date. To ensure equality of opportunity in the search process, all applications received by a specific date, whether the initial or a subsequent application review date, should be treated in a consistent manner. Contact Talent Acquisition if you have questions or need any guidance.
Care should be taken in the response to applicants whose application materials were received subsequent to the final application review date. The usual response indicating that "many qualified applicants were considered, however, your qualifications did not place you in the final pool" might not be appropriate. This implies that the decision was based on qualifications and the file may not have been reviewed thoroughly. A more appropriate response would be straightforward:
"The ______ position for which you applied has been filled. Your application is no longer being considered. Thank you for applying."
Equal Opportunity Statement from UO Policy Statement
To comply with current legal requirements, one of the following policy statements must appear in all job announcements and advertisements:
“The UO is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the ADA. The University encourages all qualified individuals to apply, and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status.”
OR
“EO/AA/ADA Institution committed to cultural diversity. The University encourages all qualified individuals to apply, and does not discriminate on the basis of any protected status, including veteran and disability status.”
OR
“EO/AA/Veterans/Disability institution committed to cultural diversity.”
The above statements represent an approved modification to the policy located at http://policies.uoregon.edu/policy/by/1/01-administration-and-governance/equal-opportunity-statement-publication.
