Hiring and Appointments Committee Governance
All committee work must be carried out in accordance with relevant Collective Agreement provisions, TMU policies and procedures and the law. Committees are also strongly advised to take into account TMU’s Strategic Vision and its commitment to Truth and Reconciliation and to the recommendations from the Anti-Black Campus Climate Review Report.
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Department Hiring Committee
The Department Hiring Committee (DHC) is responsible for carrying out the following responsibilities in accordance with (PDF file) Article 4 of the Toronto Metropolitan Faculty Association (TFA) Collective Agreement:
- Conducting a search for a suitable appointee for tenure track and/or limited term faculty position(s)
- Ensuring that school/departmental consultation has occurred at the required stages of the recruitment process
- Searching actively for the strongest possible candidate pool, where strength is measured in all possible dimensions relevant to an academic appointment, including equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)
- Making a hiring recommendation to the Dean
The composition of the DHC shall be as follows based on the size of the department/school:
| Number of tenure stream faculty within department/ school |
Chair/Director designate | Elected faculty | Appointed faculty | Selected faculty | Total |
Fewer than 10 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
n/a |
3 |
Between 10-25 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
More than 25 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
Equity Advocate: Members of the fully constituted DHC will select/elect an Equity Advocate from among the members on the DHC.
FAQs
Pre-tenured faculty members in their first year are strictly prohibited from serving on the DHC. Unless required in exceptional circumstances, the placement of pre-tenured faculty on the DHC in their subsequent years of probation should still be avoided. No more than one pre-tenure faculty member may serve on the DHC, and they must be elected members.
Selected members are placed only in five or seven member committees and they join the DHC only after the job profile has been developed, taking into consideration the requirements of the position. When selecting the fifth or seventh member, if the DHC members are unable to agree upon a member, the choice between the final candidates shall be elected by the tenure stream members of the department/school.
The same faculty member can only be appointed over two consecutive terms. They can however, be elected in the following third term.
Some searches do not have one specific home department or school and in those cases there may be special nuances to the composition of the DHC; agreement may be required from the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs (VPFA) and the TFA. The DHC must consult with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs in those circumstances before proceeding with their process.
Should a member need to be replaced for any reason, the replacement shall be chosen in the same manner, that is, by either election or appointment, as the person being replaced. The DHC must notify the Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs as soon as possible about any new membership so that it can be determined whether any of the new members require the mandatory training.
In exceptional circumstances, where necessary for equity or expertise reasons, one, but no more than one member of the DHC, may come from outside the department/school.
- May 15 - DHC is established for the following academic year
- May 31 - DHC is fully constituted including selection of final members and a DHC Chair is elected
- June 15 - DHC Chair submits names of DHC members to Dean, OVPFA and President of TFA
- September 1 - Commencement of DHC’s term of appointment
- August 31 - End of DHC’s term of appointment
Library Appointments Committee
The Library Appointments Committee (LAC) is responsible for carrying out the following responsibilities in accordance with (PDF file) Article 16 of the TFA Collective Agreement:
- Conducting suitable search procedures for new position(s), taking into account the university’s strong commitment to fostering equity, diversity and inclusion within its community, in all aspects of the recruitment efforts including establishing equity goals for the search, developing a diversity outreach strategy and considering ways to remove barriers to candidates in the recruitment process
- Making a hiring recommendation for each position to the Dean of Libraries and Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs
- Conducting assessments of probationary members
The composition of the LAC shall be as follows:
| Members | Associate Dean Librarian | Appointed Career Status Librarians | Elected Career Status Librarians | Total |
| Number of members (regular LAC)
|
1 | 2 | 3 | 5 + 1 |
| Number of members (larger LAC, where appropriate) | 1 | 3 (Note: third appointed member may be a librarian or a tenured faculty member) | 4 | 7 + 1 |
| Role of member(s) | Chair and non-voting member | Member | Member |
Equity Advocate: Members of the LAC will select/elect an Equity Advocate from among the members of the LAC.
FAQs
Should a member need to be replaced for any reason, the replacement shall be chosen in the same manner, that is, by either election or appointment, as the person being replaced. The LAC must notify the Office of the Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs as soon as possible about any new membership so that it can be determined whether any of the new members require the mandatory training.
Counsellor Appointments Committee
The Counsellor Appointments Committee (CAC) is responsible for carrying out the following responsibilities in accordance with (PDF file) Article 15 of the TFA Collective Agreement:
- Conducting suitable search procedures for new position(s), taking into account the university's strong commitment to fostering equity, diversity and inclusion within its community, in all aspects of the recruitment efforts including establishing equity goals for the search, developing a diversity outreach strategy and considering ways to remove barriers to candidates in the recruitment process
- Making a hiring recommendation for each position
- Conducting assessments of probationary members
The composition of the CAC shall be as follows:
| Members | Executive Director, Student Wellbeing | Career Professional Counsellors | Total |
| Number of members (regular CAC) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Number of members (larger CAC, where appropriate) | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Role of member(s) | Chair | Member |
Equity Advocate: The committee members will vote amongst themselves to elect the Equity Advocate.
Best practices in committee governance
- Look to incorporate as much diversity, both in lived and professional experience, as possible, on the committee as well as generally in the recruitment process. For example, the committee can capitalize on the school/departmental consultations and the public nature of the job talks to (google doc) invite input (external link) from diverse colleagues and community members.
- Regardless of who holds the status of an Equity Advocate on the Committee, ensure that every member of the committee takes steps to advance their knowledge and understanding of EDI issues and principles and commits to engaging meaningfully in the efforts to attract and recruit diverse candidates. In this video, Dr. Lori Schindel Martin speaks about the DHC in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing (external link) taking the Harvard Implicit Association test (external link) to better understand unconscious bias.
- Recognize that there will be power dynamics on the committee and ensure that every colleague on the committee is empowered to form and share an independent opinion. For example, consider inviting those who are less vocal, or hold less experience at the university to speak first during deliberations.
- Develop a realistic timeline for carrying out the recruitment process. It is helpful to work backwards from the expected start date, taking into account the amount of time each step will take, and budgeting extra time if you are anticipating the possibility of hiring a foreign candidate. As well, some fields have specific job market periods that may impact the timelines. Be sure to account for holidays, grading periods, reading weeks, etc. In this video, Dr. Claustre Bajona speaks about the importance of considering timelines holistically and offers insights on how her DHC navigated the globally competitive market (external link) .
- Establish a meeting schedule in advance and hold the dates in your calendars.
- Understand at the outset what will be required of you later on, especially if you expect the market to be competitive. The TFA Collective Agreement stipulates that hiring/appointments committees are required to take into account the university’s strong commitment to fostering equity, diversity and inclusion within its community, in all aspects of the recruitment efforts including establishing equity goals for the search, developing a diversity outreach strategy and considering ways to remove barriers to candidates in the recruitment process. Committees are expected to provide robust information on these areas in the hiring recommendation and failure to do so could result in unnecessary delays.
- Discuss and come to agreement on important aspects of your process, which you can capture in a terms of reference document. These items may include:
- Your key timelines and meeting dates
- Attendance and quorum
- Process for decision-making (e.g. majority vote, consensus, etc.)
- Process for resolving disagreements
- Roles and responsibilities (the chair, the equity advocate, others who might take on various tasks such as additional outreach, file management, etc.)