Bringing the right person into a key leadership role doesn’t happen by chance. It’s a deliberate, collaborative journey that brings together diverse voices, thoughtful evaluation, and a shared commitment to the future of the organization. With several division chief searches currently underway across the department, a transparent look at how the search process works, from committee formation through campus visits and final recommendations, is provided below.

Building the Committee
Every search begins by assembling a search committee that reflects a broad range of expertise, roles, and perspectives. Chosen for their insight and judgment, committee members are entrusted with guiding the process, approaching the search with care, fairness, and confidentiality from the outset. Committee members are appointed following suggestions from chiefs, directors, or executive leaders. All of our committees aim to have representations from faculty of all career stages, covering a wide range of research expertise.

Defining What Matters Most
Early conversations focus on clarifying the role itself. The committee crafts a position description and agrees on the qualities that matter most, aligning expectations with the department’s strategic priorities. Beyond credentials and experience, these discussions often explore leadership approach, values, and long-term vision.

Casting a Wide Net
Once a position is posted, the committee carefully reviews applications and résumés of candidates who have applied to a specific posting, evaluating each candidate against the agreed-upon criteria. Through discussion and comparison, a broad pool of applicants is refined into a ranking list, most often selecting the top 10 candidates for virtual interviews with the committee.

Getting to Know the Semifinalists
The virtual interviews offer the committee members an opportunity to hear directly from candidates about their ideas, experiences, and leadership philosophies. These conversations provide early insight into how each candidate might fit within the organization. Our virtual interviews are recorded so that committee members or executive leaders can revisit these at any time.

From Interview to Campus Visit
From there, a select group of finalists emerges by a ranking process through committee voting. Campus visits of the top 3-5 candidates allow for deeper, more personal engagement through extended conversations with leadership, faculty, staff, and other stakeholders, as well as presentations and tours. These visits give candidates a chance to envision themselves in the role, while the community gets to know them as potential colleagues.

Reflecting and Recommending
After these visits conclude, the committee gathers feedback from across the organization. This collective input is thoughtfully discussed and synthesized, leading to a final recommendation of 2-3 potential applicants to our Department Chair. It is at this point that the search committee has concluded its work and hands over to the Department Chair.

Throughout the process, the goal remains constant: to identify a candidate, who brings not only the right skills and experience, but also the vision, values, and collaborative spirit needed to thrive in our Department. When done well, every search process becomes more than a hiring exercise and develops into an investment in the organization’s future. We undergo extensive debriefing after a candidate has been signed and appointed, so that we continuously refine our search process to identify the best possible candidates for our Department.