Author Description

American colleges and universities are facing their most difficult challenge since World War II: finding qualified faculty to teach our students and administrators to manage and lead our institutions of higher education while grappling with budget cuts, public pressure for more and better educational programs, and current resources that are strained to the limit. Studies point to a critical faculty shortage by the year 2010. In facing this shortage, these same institutions have never been less prepared to meet the challenge of hiring. Hiring at institutions of higher education is normally done by "amateurs"--Educators who are untrained in personnel management. The search committee approach, when it succeeds, is often a matter of chance. There is seldom a plan; leadership is difficult to establish; and a concerted effort among the members and the layers of bureaucracy is hard to achieve when so many separate agendas are in play. Edited by two respected university administrators, The Art of Hiring in America's Colleges and Universities is indispensable for professional administrators, job seekers, and the general public. All parties in the hiring process are identified and their roles are clearly defined. Attention is given to special concerns as the contributors offer helpful suggestions to those whose task it is to reach hiring decisions that could affect the quality of American education well into the next century. Successful administrators and faculty from prestigious schools as well as professionals from the private sector offer practical observations to help institutions achieve their hiring objectives. Chapters focus on the role of the university/college president, deans, and search committees; what to look for in a candidate; hiring women and minorities; integrating work and family; the cost of hiring; recruiting lessons from the business world; using professional consultants; and more. Contributors include Sue A. Blanshan, Ronald Caruso, Cheryl L. Fagnano, E. Gordon Gee, Milton Greenberg, Donald W. Jugenheimer, Joseph H. Kauffman, Judith Block McLaughlin, Lewis C. Solmon, Ronald H. Stein, Marian J. Swoboda, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, and M. Fredric Volkmann.