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Opportunity Hires at UTK

Note: This memo was reviewed and affirmed by the Council of Deans and the Provost Office on November 6, 2008.

The purpose of this memo is to further define the situations and criteria for the pursuit of Opportunity Hires at UTK. This hiring process, first launched in October 2006, is intended to provide a framework and funding mechanism for the recruitment of “faculty who meet identified needs within the University.” This would include individuals who “offer diversity in areas where under representation exists or who bring a unique or different perspective because of their professional or personal backgrounds, interests, or expertise.”

Opportunity Hiring is a special hiring process that is typically characterized by one or more of the following:

  • There is no immediately available hiring line or open position in the hiring unit, although there is anticipation of one in the coming years,
  • “Bridge funding” is requested from the campus to support the costs of the hire in the initial years, and
  • The individual being hired is exceptional in all regards; the assumption being that this candidate would be lost to future searches if not immediately pursued.

At the outset it is important to note that Opportunity Hires are not intended to circumvent a normal search process. In all cases where a stellar candidate might be hired through a normal, open and competitive search process, then that should be the preference. Both the candidate and the faculty hiring unit will ultimately have more confidence in the decision when that is the case. In the extreme, too many hires being conducted under the Opportunity Hire umbrella might be viewed with skepticism and may even unfairly harm the reputation of the faculty members hired. In short, this hiring practice should be the exception and not the rule.

Having said that, there are certainly conditions under which it is advantageous to pursue this recruiting/hiring strategy, and I have tried to clarify when Opportunity Hires are most appropriate for the campus.

Appropriate Situations for Opportunity Hires

1. Targeted Hires

  1. When the unit is searching for a very restricted set of skills and experiences and the pool of qualified candidates is small and identifiable. A good example would be the narrowly-qualified searches for the Governor’s Chair candidates.
  2. When a unique window of opportunity to fill an important faculty need presents itself outside of the normal search process, i.e., when there is a disconnect between the “opportunity” and the open position.
  3. Spousal/partner hires. When the accompanying spouse/partner of a UTK faculty recruit/hire creates an unanticipated hiring opportunity.

2. Excellence in a Search Pool

  1. When, in the conduct of a normal search process, the committee identifies multiple excellent candidates in the pool beyond the top candidate, and the hiring unit wishes to pursue additional candidates from the pool as opportunity hires.

3. One Year Appointments

  1. When there are opportunities to bring in desirable faculty members for one-year visiting appointments.

Criteria for an Opportunity Hire

1. Excellent Applicant Qualifications.

  1. The individual should be outstanding in his/her field; these are candidates who would rise to the top of an applicant pool in a normal, open search process.
  2. The faculty in the hiring unit should be in consensus about the qualifications of the individual and their desire to hire him/her, including a positive likelihood of success in the future tenure and promotion decisions, where applicable.

2. Financial Support

  1. The department must have the financial strength to take over total compensation of the faculty member after no more than four years.

3. Open Position Anticipated

  1. The department must anticipate an open faculty position within the near term (i.e., the next five years).

There might be other situations which have not been covered in this memo, and we obviously need to be open to those possibilities. However, I think the above document may be helpful in clarifying the parameters around these hires for future opportunities.