4.5 Faculty Selection Process

It is the responsibility of each department head and administrative director to recruit faculty for new or vacant positions and to recommend their selection to the President or appropriate vice president.  In discharging this responsibility, department heads and administrative directors should consult with appropriate Mines personnel and knowledgeable persons in other academic, governmental, and business institutions.  All hiring shall be done in accordance with Mines’ Affirmative Action Plan and other appropriate legal requirements.

On This Page

4.5.1 Mines Pay Philosophy

Mines implements pay practices according to the Mines Pay Philosophy, and in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws, including the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (https://www.mines.edu/human-resources/benefits/).

4.5.2 General Outline of Faculty Recruitment and Selection Process
 

  1. Tenured Faculty, Tenure-Track Faculty, Teaching Faculty, Library Faculty, and Professors of Practice 
    1. The Dean in partnership and collaboration with the Department Head shall obtain authorization from the Provost regarding the availability of a departmental position as well as the rank and the salary that can be offered. The salary range and final offer amount will be determined in conjunction with the Human Resources department.
    2. The vacancy shall be advertised in one or more professional journals or other appropriate publications.
    3. Applications will be considered in accordance with the rules established for each search.  A departmentally selected faculty committee, which shall not include the head of the hiring department, shall be utilized as a part of the applicant screening process.
    4. The finalists shall be personally interviewed by appropriate members of the department and the administration.
    5. A summary of departmental observations of all interviewed candidates shall be included in the Department Head's written hiring recommendation.
    6. The Dean in partnership and collaboration from the Department Head shall submit a recommendation to the Provost in writing, together with all required administrative forms, letters of recommendation, resumes and transcripts. [If an offer of tenure is being considered for a new faculty member, the departmental promotion and tenure committee shall be involved in the decision as set forth in subparagraph 8.1.7.]
    7. The Provost, upon the written recommendation of the Dean and Department Head, can determine that following this process would not be in the best interests of Mines.  In such cases, the Provost, after consultation with the  Office of Human Resources, may provide written authorization to modify this process as necessary and appropriate.
    8. The selected candidate shall be recommended by the Provost to the President for approval. No employment, or other type of contractual relationship, shall arise between Mines and the candidate until the written employment contract or offer letter has been executed by the President, or the President's delegate, on behalf of Mines.
    9. Following discussions with the Provost and contingent upon the approval of the President, the Dean and Department Head shall verbally negotiate salary and other terms of employment with the candidate.  However, because benefits are determined by employment category, the terms of employment may not modify any benefits programs offered by Mines.
    10. Once negotiations between the Department Head and the candidate have concluded, an appropriate Mines employment contract or offer letter shall be prepared for the selected candidate.  
       
  2. Adjunct Faculty and Visiting Faculty
    1. The Department Head shall confer with the Provost to confirm the availability of a departmental position as well as the salary that can be offered. The salary range and final offer amount will be determined in partnership with the Office of Human Resources.
    2. All new and vacant Adjunct and Visiting Faculty positions must be posted and a search must be conducted prior to selection.
    3. All existing adjunct faculty who have previously gone through the selection process at Mines may have adjustments made to their position without posting the job if the following conditions apply:
      1. The change is a contract extension to continue employment beyond the original end date.
      2. The assignment is being modified to have the incumbent teach a different course.
         
  3.  Research Titles
    1. Research Professor, Research Associate Professor, and Research Assistant Professor
      1. The Principal Investigator shall confer with the Department Head to confirm the availability of a research faculty position and of institutional or departmental resources that will be required to support the position. The salary range and final offer amount will be determined in partnership with the Office of Human Resources.
      2. Departments must advertise vacancies for Research Faculty in accordance with Section 4.5.1 above. The search process outlined for Administrative Faculty in Section 4.5.2 E beginning at Step 2 will be followed.
      3. For Research Professors, Research Associate Professors, Research Assistant Professors, and Joint Positions, the curriculum vitae of the candidate should be circulated to the department faculty and the candidate should be asked to give a seminar and afforded the opportunity to meet with as many of the department faculty as possible. Subsequently, a minimum of two-thirds of the department tenured and tenure-track faculty must vote in favor of the selection. After appropriate approval at the department level, the Department Head will submit the position to the Dean for approval. 
      4. If the position is approved by the department tenured and tenure-track faculty, the Principal Investigator will seek the approval of the Department Head for the new position holder’s salary even if the position will initially be non-remunerated. The salary should be comparable to research faculty with similar positions in the department.
      5. Upon appropriate approval at the department level the Department Head will submit the tenured and tenure-track faculty approval memo to the appropriate dean.
         
    2. Visiting Scholar
      The Principal Investigator requests position. Positions require approval from the Department Head, Office of Research Administration, Dean, and Office of International Student and Scholar Services. Departments must advertise vacancies for remunerated Visiting Scholar positions in accordance with Section 4.5.1 above. The search process outlined for Administrative Faculty in Section 4.5.2 E beginning at Step 2 will be followed.
       
    3. Postdoctoral Fellow, Research Associate, Research Support, and Affiliate Faculty
      The Principal Investigator requests creating the position. Positions require approval of the Department Head and Dean. Departments must advertise vacancies in accordance with Section 4.5.1 above. The search process outlined for Administrative Faculty in Section 4.5.2 E beginning at Step 2 will be followed.
       
    4. External Joint Faculty
      Conferral of this status requires the approval of two-thirds of departmental or program tenured and tenure-track faculty, approval of the Department Head or Program Director, Dean, and Provost, and appropriate approvals from the laboratory/employer supporting the Joint Faculty member.
       
  4. Teaching Faculty
    The selection process for tenured/ tenure-track faculty set forth in Section 4.5.2 A above shall also be followed for the position of teaching professors, teaching associate professors, and teaching assistant professors in academic departments and University Honors and Scholars Programs (UHSP). 
     
  5. Administrative Faculty
    1. ​The supervisor of the new or vacant Administrative Faculty position shall confer with the appropriate Vice President, if applicable, to confirm the availability of the position.  The supervisor shall concurrently notify the Office of Human Resources of the availability of the position and initiate the hiring process. The posted salary range and final offer amount will be determined in conjunction with the Human Resources department.          
    2. The availability of the position shall be advertised to reach the most qualified applicants.  
    3. Applications will be considered in accordance with the rules established for each search and in accordance with state and federal law.
    4. Offers will be made with compensation review from Human Resources and the Mines Budget office.​
  6. Temporary Faculty
    Temporary faculty may be hired in the following categories:  Administrative, Research, Library, and Athletics.  If it is determined that a need exists that can best be filled by a temporary position, the hiring department may request authorization from the appropriate Vice President to conduct a search and hire a temporary faculty member.
    1. The duration of a temporary position shall not exceed twelve months.
    2. A temporary position shall not be renewable, except that under extraordinary circumstances with the approval of the appropriate Vice President, the position may be renewed for an additional period of up to twelve months.
    3. A candidate for a temporary position must possess the qualifications that would be required for a regular position to the same position.
    4. The search process outlined for Administrative Faculty in Section 4.5.2 E beginning at Step 2 will be followed.

4.5.3 Locus of Position

Each academic faculty member shall have a locus of position in one or more academic departments of Mines or University Honors and Scholars Programs (UHSP), which shall be stated in the faculty member's employment contract or offer letter. 

If a formal locus of position is distributed over multiple departments (i.e., if faculty FTE and formal responsibility is shared across departments), or if faculty FTE and formal responsibility is 100% within UHSP, one department or UHSP shall be designated as the faculty member’s primary locus of position. The faculty member’s annual evaluation and promotion review shall be conducted by the primary department, with input solicited from the secondary department(s). Tenure is held in the primary department. Beyond how evaluations and promotion reviews are conducted, faculty members splitting loci of position across multiple departments shall have all of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities enjoyed by faculty in each department.

If a faculty member wishes to change their primary locus of position, the process for doing so is defined in Section 4.5.5 below.

4.5.4 Internal Joint Faculty Appointments

Internal joint faculty appointments may be made when the professional activities of a faculty member fall within the purview of two or more Mines departments. A Joint Faculty member shall have a formal locus of position in one or more departments.

If the appointment in a second department is zero FTE, the appointment is a courtesy appointment that is supplemental to the faculty member’s primary position. In this case, input on annual evaluation and promotion review is not required from the other Department(s). Courtesy appointees who are members of the Graduate Faculty (Section 4.3) in their home department, also have Graduate Faculty status in the Department granting the courtesy appointment. Rights and privileges of the courtesy appointment shall be determined by the granting department. Courtesy appointments do not confer tenure in the granting department. A faculty member with a courtesy appointment may indicate affiliation with the Department(s) in which they have an appointment.

A Joint Faculty member and the relevant Department Heads shall, by mutual agreement, determine the type of joint appointment and, if appropriate, the Joint Faculty member’s FTE distribution.  If a consensus decision cannot be reached among the affected parties regarding loci of position, the Provost shall decide the issue. In Joint Faculty appointments with multiple loci of position, a written agreement addressing the expectations of the faculty member in each department shall be developed by the relevant Department Heads, reviewed by the faculty member, and approved by the Provost. The Department Head(s) shall notify the Provost in writing and provide a copy of the written agreement reflecting the rights and responsibilities of the Joint Faculty member, signed by the Department Head(s) and the faculty member.

4.5.5 Changing Primary Locus of Faculty Position

On occasion, the professional activities of a faculty member, tenured or teaching, may evolve such that the faculty member’s primary locus aligns with the purview of a Mines department other than the faculty member’s current locus. In that case, subject to the process described herein, the locus of position can be changed. Such a change must be codified by a letter or new employment contract.  

Tenure-track faculty may not change locus of position through this process. Further, the intent of this policy is to provide a process for realignment of existing positions, not a process for creating new joint positions, which are governed by Section 4.5.4.

In determining whether the requested department change is appropriate, the elements of the faculty member’s record to be considered include, but are not limited to the following:

  1. academic credentials,
  2. previous instructional activities, potential instructional overlap with or contribution to the proposed new department, and recent student teaching evaluations at Mines,
  3. if appropriate, previous research activities, and potential research overlap with or contribution to new department,
  4. internal service record at Mines,
  5. professional society affiliations and external service record,
  6. if appropriate, graduate student advising history at Mines, and
  7. collaborations with and other potential contributions to the department to which the faculty member desires to be aligned.


The process for reviewing such a change is as follows:

  1. The faculty member should first informally confer with both their current Department Head and the proposed new DH to explore the possibility and desirability of a change in position locus.
  2. To formally request a change in position locus, the faculty member should prepare a dossier for submission to both their current DH and the proposed new DH. The dossier should follow the format of a faculty promotion dossier, with the exclusion of external letters of recommendation.  The candidate should also include as part of “other information” a clear rationale why their professional activities align with the purview of the new department. 
  3. The Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee for tenured faculty or Departmental Promotion Committee for teaching faculty in the proposed new department shall review the dossier and provide a letter of recommendation. 
  4. The DHs in the old and proposed new departments shall individually supply letters of recommendation to the package, and the DH in the proposed new department shall supply the cover memorandum for the package. 
  5. For all position changes, the appropriate Dean(s) has/have final authority to approve the change in locus of position. The Dean(s) shall review the package and render a decision. With an affirmative decision, the Dean(s) shall 1) work with the respective DHs on a transition plan for the position; 2) notify the Provost of approval of the change in position locus; and 3) work with the Office of the Provost to revise the faculty member’s contract and issue a new letter confirming the change in position locus..
  6. Decisions rendered by the Dean(s) or Provost, whichever is appropriate, are final and may not be appealed.