Standard Personnel Recruitment Policy

Approved by the Board of Trustees of Rockland Community College on August 18, 2005.

The College is committed to providing recruiting and hiring guidelines that are consistent with the College’s equal opportunity and affirmative action goals as set forth in the College’s Equity and Compliance Policy. Therefore, the Human Resources Office shall recruit applicants for all full-time, part-time and temporary faculty, administrative and exempt position vacancies in appropriate labor markets as widely and for as much time as is necessary to obtain a diverse pool of qualified applicants to enable the department hiring to make good faith efforts toward meeting the College’s equal opportunity and affirmative action objectives, while hiring the most qualified candidate.

To comply with the College’s equal opportunity policy and to prevent inadvertent as well as intentional discrimination, all employment decisions must comply with the following principles:

  1. All employment requirements must be related to the specific duties of the job involved.
  2. Requirement of a certain level of education must be justified by an objective factor indicating the need for educational background, such as complexity of the job.
  3. Applicants whose speech, dress, personal habits and lifestyle may differ from those of the majority of the employees at the College should not automatically be eliminated.
  4. A job applicant should not be automatically disqualified because of a police record. The record may be considered only where the circumstances indicate the employment of the applicant for the position vacancy is inconsistent with the safe, honest or efficient performance of the duties required.

It is the College’s policy to encourage opportunities for internal mobility within the institution. Current employees may apply for any position vacancies. The Human Resources Office and all hiring managers (those individuals responsible for making departmental hiring decisions) are encouraged to consider all internal candidates who qualify for the position. Submission of an application for a position vacancy will not have an adverse effect on the status of the employee’s current position.

The President is authorized to establish certain procedures for standard personnel recruitment, as he shall determine. These procedures shall be followed by those College employees responsible for recruiting and hiring employees to fill all full-time, part-time and temporary faculty, administrative and exempt position vacancies. All offers of employment must be cleared by the Director of Equity and Compliance, to ensure compliance with the College’s equal opportunity and affirmative action objectives, and approved by the President and the Board of Trustees.

Procedure

In order to implement the Standard Personnel Recruitment Policy, the following procedures must be followed.

STEP 1: Preparation of the Position Requisition

  • The hiring manager (the individual responsible for making departmental hiring decisions) shall prepare the Position Requisition and submit it to the Human Resources Office for approval by:
    1. the Vice President in charge of the department hiring;
    2. the Finance Department;
    3. the Director of Human Resources;
    4. the Equity and Compliance Officer;
    5. the Vice President of Finance and Administration; and
    6. the President.
  • The Position Requisition must identify (1) the name of the departmental hiring manager; (2) the name of the relevant department; (3) the position title and union position group; (4) a position description, including the major functions and responsibilities of the position; (5) consistent with the relevant union contract, the minimum qualifications or skills required and any preferred skills that could be used to further refine the employment search if necessary; (6) an analysis of the relationship of those skills to the position; and (7) wage rate or salary range.
  • The Human Resources Office shall ensure that the Position Requisition is complete, including the acquisition of all necessary approvals, before delivering the Position Requisition to the President for review and approval.
  • If approved by the President, the President shall recommend that the Board of Trustees approve the Position Requisition and authorize the execution of a standard personnel recruitment search.

STEP 2: Posting/Advertising the Position Announcement

  • Upon authorization from the Board of Trustees to conduct a standard personnel recruitment search, the Human Resources Office shall post an announcement for the position to be filled.
  • The Human Resources Office may determine the type of advertising or other special recruitment strategies that will be used to develop an applicant pool, including any targeted outreach to underutilized groups.
  • For (A) those positions identified by the Affirmative Action Plan as being underutilized by minorities and/or women, (B) all tenure track faculty vacancies, (C) administrative vacancies and (D) all exempt vacancies, the Director of Equity and Compliance may recommend that additional outreach efforts to underutilized groups be executed.
  • All position announcements must be posted for a minimum of ten (10) business days.
  • During the ten-day posting period, no interviews will be conducted nor will a job offer be extended to any candidate although applicants may be screened and evaluated.
  • All position announcements shall identify the minimum qualifications needed to satisfactorily perform the duties of the position and any preferred skills. All position announcements shall state that the College is committed to increasing the number of faculty and staff of color, and strongly encourages applications from African, Latino/a, Asian and Native Americans and persons with disabilities. All position announcements shall comply with federal, state and local regulations pertaining to equal opportunity.

STEP 3: Screening and Interviewing Process

  • The hiring manager with the assistance of the Human Resources Office shall appoint a search committee and select a chairperson.
  • The search committee shall screen applicants based upon the minimum qualifications needed for the position and the preferred skills, if any. Any applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications for the position must be eliminated from further consideration. The remaining applicants should be scheduled for interviews with the search committee.
  • The search committee shall recommend at least three (3) finalists and provide an explanation for its decisions to the hiring manager and the Human Resources Office.
  • The Human Resources Office shall check the references of all interview finalists. To the extent possible, all questions raised during reference checks should be consistent for all candidates. Questions during reference checks should be designed to elicit information about the candidate’s skills and qualifications for the position. Any comments which are unrelated to the candidate’s skills or performance must be disregarded.
  • Based on the search committee’s recommendations and the results of the reference checks, the hiring manager shall identify the proposed hire and notify the Human Resources Office of that decision.

STEP 4: Review of Proposed Hire and Process by Director of Equity and Compliance

  • Once a search is completed and a proposed hire is identified, the Human Resources Office must compile all recruitment documentation.
  • The recruitment documentation consists of: (A) the Position Requisition; (B) copies of all position announcements or advertisements placed; (C) the Applicant Pool Report (identifying (1) the demographics of the applicant pool and (2) the recruitment methods used to develop the applicant pool); (D) a complete set of resumes received for the position; (E) an analysis of the proposed hire’s credentials that support the appointment; (F) relevant reference check information; and (G) the Affirmative Action Summary (identifying the current demographics of the relevant department, the hiring goals for the relevant department and an explanation of the impact of this hire on the goals).
  • Once complete, the Human Resources Office shall deliver all recruitment documentation to the Director of Equity and Compliance for review and clearance.
  • The Director of Equity and Compliance shall review the recruitment documentation to ensure that the search was consistent with the College’s equal opportunity and affirmative action objectives.

STEP 5: Proposed Hire Submitted to President for Approval

  • Upon clearance by the Director of Equity and Compliance, the employment of the proposed hire shall be submitted to the President for approval.

STEP 6: Proposed Hire Submitted to Board of Trustees for Approval

  • Upon approval by the President, the employment of the proposed hire shall be submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval.

STEP 7: Offer of Employment

  • Upon approval by the Board of Trustees, an offer of employment may be extended to the proposed hire by the Human Resources Office or by the hiring manager with the prior approval of the Human Resources Office.
  • All candidates must be informed of the outcome of the search.
  • The Human Resources Office must retain all recruitment documentation for one (1) year.