Good afternoon,
As many of you know, the Access & Equity Office (AEO) guides and supports the search and candidate evaluation phases of the hiring process for all AP and Faculty positions. Over the past year, AEO has worked to review existing processes, gather feedback and suggestions from the campus community, and identify new and emerging practices for inclusive employee recruitment and hiring. This work has informed the creation of a new AEO Search Manual, which provides guidance to the campus community members on how to conduct a search to fill an AP or full-time Faculty position in a manner that keeps UIS’s institutional commitment to equal opportunity and inclusion at the core of the process. While we work to update our websites and forms, we encourage the campus community to review and begin using the latest AEO Search Manual, which includes:
- Context regarding the mission of the search manual;
- An outline of AEO search processes;
- A description of the necessary elements of Search Plans and Requests to Interview;
- An outline on the acceptable use of search waivers;
- Guidelines for incorporating inclusive practices into all aspects of the search process;
- Templates that can be edited for use by search committees;
- …and more!
AEO is hosting a training to discuss new elements of the Search Manual on Wednesday, June 28 from 9:00-10:30 AM on Zoom. While this training is being offered as part of the monthly Supervisor Development Series, it is open to all employees and may be of particular interest to individuals with responsibilities associated with the search and hiring process and those who frequently serve on search committees. No registration is required – simply log to the Zoom meeting by clicking this link: https://uis.zoom.us/j/86357111311?pwd=RDIyK1BSQzZweGI5UnE0MFdEZTJSQT09 or copying and pasting it into your browser. If you are interested in additional training opportunities, please reach out to AEO at aeo@uis.edu.
It should be noted that in recognition of the need for continuous quality improvement of our recruitment and hiring processes, this search manual will be supplemented as needs are identified. Toolkits, templates, resources, inclusive hiring tips, and updates will be regularly uploaded to the AEO Website. We encourage members of the campus community to email aeo@uis.edu if there are elements of the search for which we can provide better guidance or more resources.
Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to our many colleagues who provided their thoughts and feedback during this process. The campus community played an invaluable part in the development of the new AEO Search Manual, and we look forward to continuing to work with our campus partners to facilitate equitable and inclusive search processes.
Take care,
Shelby Bedford (she/her/hers)
Assistant Director for Access & Equity
Equal Employment Opportunity Officer
Phone 217.206.6222
Web: www.uis.edu/aeo Email sbedf2@uis.edu