The Biology Department is interviewing to hire a new professor for the fall semester of 2014, intending to fill the gap in its staff after losing Drs. Matthew Pelletier and Kurt Vandock. Pelletier left Houghton for Liberty University;Vandock, for a job at Bayer.
“The hire in biology is a critical need given the loss of two professors last year.” said Dr. Jamie Potter of the Biology Department, “We have one of the largest majors at Houghton. As we look to the future of the biology department, a hire in biology is necessary to meet the needs of our students, majors and non-majors, in their educational preparedness and to share in our roles as advisors and mentors.”
Having only three full-time faculty members makes both teaching and advising biology students difficult. There are roughly 100 declared biology majors. The classes that most demand to be filled are basic genetics, which is essential to a BS in Biology.
In the spring semester 2013, faculty in the department formed a committee consisting of the biology faculty and one member from outside of the sciences. This committee, after receiving approval from college administration, developed a posting for the job. It was listed by the CCCU and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The committee collected a list of those interested in the position. Each candidate was categorized as a “yes,” “no,” or “maybe” by Dr. Aaron Sullivan. Members of the committee reviewed the teaching philosophy, faith statement, and curriculum vitae of each candidate to narrow the selection from 30 to nine possibilities. The initial culling is very easy. Oftentimes, applicants do not include a statement of faith when they submit for candidacy. This automatically results in their elimination from the pool of potentials.
From here, the nine candidates’ applications were parsed thoroughly by the committee. Members looked through written submissions and contacted the references listed by the applicants. After scrutinizing the applicants in detail, the members of the committee each ranked them from best to worst by their own criteria.
They met and discussed their rankings. Each member explained how they ranked the applicants and a loose consensus of ranking was reached. The applicants each scheduled an interview via Skype with the committee.
Following each interview, the committee conferred about the candidate in question. Members listed good attributes and poor ones in order to gauge how well the interviewee would do as a part of the faculty. By the time the candidates had reached this stage in the process, their qualifications are generally similar. These interviews focused more on the person as an individual. Are they personable? Are they going to be easy to work with? Will students be able to approach them?
After these meetings dismissed, the members of the committee were encouraged to pray about their decisions. Each took time to reflect on the candidates. No conclusions were to be reached until the follow-up meeting. In this meeting, the committee made cuts. They decided who to decline and who to invite to campus for one final assessment.
Of the 9 candidates interviewed, 2 were brought to campus the week before Spring Break. Because of the costs involved in flying someone to the school and accommodating them on their stay, the committee needed to make sure that the candidates they brought to campus were the right ones. They only chose the very best.
The candidates were led through a hectic day. It began with meeting the committee itself in person. Here, a more in depth interview took place. The candidates, in their own meetings, were asked to elaborate on their faith statement. They spoke on how they would integrate faith into their teaching, what their biggest challenges would as professors, and where their passion for science came from. They met with several important figures on campus, including Dean of Science and Mathematics, Keith Horn; Dean of the Chapel, Michael Jordan; Dean of Academics, Mark Hijleh; and President Shirley Mullen.
They then taught a biology class. Members of the committee sat in on the class to evaluate their teaching skills. These also candidates gave lectures that were open to all students at a separate time. They met with students personally, without the committee present.
At the end of the day, they could relax. On both visits, some of the committee members went to dinner with the candidates. At a local restaurant, members sat down with candidates and chatted casually about their days. The members of the committee who were present enjoyed the ability to see the interviewee in a less formal setting. Here, they could really tell if they could work with this person as a colleague.
The candidates have both returned home and now the committee is in the process of choosing which one of them will join their faculty next semester. Having their opinions in place after interviewing and meeting the candidates, members of the committee will take into account the opinions of students both by word of mouth and survey. Once the committee has agreed, the candidate chosen will be announced and will join Houghton in the Fall semester.