Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs > Faculty Information & Resources > Faculty Search Handbook Guidelines

VIII. Negotiating Contracts/Offers

Some candidates may have received less mentoring at previous career stages than their counterparts and may, therefore, be at a disadvantage in knowing what they can legitimately request in negotiations. The way an offer is negotiated can have huge impact not only on the immediate hiring outcome, but also on a new hire’s future career. Candidates who feel that Chairs or Deans conduct negotiations honestly and openly, and aim to create circumstances in which they will thrive, are more satisfied in their positions and more likely to stay at the Lehigh University than are those who feel that a department or Chair or Dean has deliberately withheld information, resources, or opportunities from them.

1. Consider appointing an advocate or mentor for those candidates that may require assistance throughout the negotiating process. Do not assume every candidate knows how to negotiate.
2. Ensure initial equity in both the negotiated conditions and in the department’s follow-through on the commitments are important factors in retention as well as recruitment.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   • Message from the Provost
2. Before the Search Begins
   • Reviewing the Candidate Pool
3. Legal Issues & the Search Process
   • Guidelines
4. Initiating the Faculty Search Process
   • Introduction
   • Completing All the Appropriate Paperwork
   • Composition of the Committee
   • The Search Committee’s Charge
   • How To Make Recruitment Work
   • Reviewing Previous Departmental Search
   • Defining the Position Suggestions
   • Wording for Announcing Positions
5. Recruiting Activities During the Search
   • Broadening the Hiring Net Suggestions
   • Active Recruiting Practices
   • Prescreening of Candidates
   • Creating the Short List
   • Interdisciplinary Hiring
6. Managing Campus Visits
   • Interviewing the Candidates
   • Campus Visit
   • Factors that Bias Interviews
   • Suggestions on Ways to Eliminate Bias
   • Examples that Bias Interviews
   • Best Management Practices for Interviewing
   • Guidelines for Interview Questions
   • Guidelines for Hiring National Employees at Lehigh University & Services Available to a New Foreign National Faculty Member (8/16/12)
   • Work Life Balance & Dual Career Resources
   • Guidelines for Conducting Reference Checks
   • Guidelines for Providing Accommodations for Disabilities
7. Final Selection of a Candidate
8. Negotiating Contracts / Offers
9. Evaluating the Search

APPENDIX

1. Faculty Recruitment & Initial Appointment Checklist
2. Faculty Employment Request Form
3. Permission to Advertise Request Form
4. Reason for Declining Faculty Appointment Offer Form
5. Workshops to Support the Process
   • Cornell Interactive Theatre Ensemble Group
   • Internal Group—Faculty Search Workshops
6. Principles of Our Equitable Community Document
7. Lehigh University’s Core Values
8. Board of Trustees Diversity Statement
   • Mission Statement
9. Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action / Non-Discrimination Policy
10. Resources for Recruitment: Workshops, Publications, Organizations & Websites
    • General Resources for Faculty Searches
    • Women Faculty & Institutions
    • African American / Black Faculty & Institutions
    • Asian Faculty
    • Faculty with Disabilities
    • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered Faculty
    • Native American Faculty
    • Hispanic Faculty & Institutions
    • Minority & Women Doctoral Directory
11. College & University Addresses
    • Women’s List
    • Black List
    • Hispanic List
12. Women & Minority Institutional Doctoral Directory
13. Women & Minority Doctoral Award History
14. Readings on Diversity, Gender & Faculty Recruitment
15. Handbook References
16. Faculty Search Resources
17. Lehigh University Administrative Offices to Support Faculty Search