Phase 1:  Prior to search

Where are UT Austin faculty positions posted?

Positions created in Interfolio are pushed automatically to the UT Faculty Careers web site, and then scraped out to the Chronicle of Higher Education and HigherEdJobs when they meet all of the following parameters:

• Position has been submitted for approval, reviewed, and approved by an Administrator in Interfolio

• Must be "Open" - today's date is on or after the position's Open Date and before the Close date at 12:00 EST (unless set to "Until filled" or "Set not to close")

• Not Archived (a setting in position management)

• Has a position status of "Accepting Applications"

If international applicants are being considered

Additional recruiting requirements must be satisfied in order to sponsor an employee for employment-based Lawful Permanent Residency.

To sponsor a non-U.S. citizen for permanent residency under the EB-2 Advanced Degree Professionals category of I-140 Petitions, the U.S. Department of Labor requires at least one ad (print or online) to be posted in a national professional journal for a minimum of 30 calendar days. Departments should keep this in mind if international candidates will be considered for hire. Documentation of the ad’s start and end dates, as well as the text of the ad, will be required for permanent residency applications. It is strongly recommended to save a copy of at least one ad meeting the stated requirements immediately - published job postings can become more difficult to find later.

For more information, see the following:

• Texas Global: Hiring International Employees

• Texas Global: Sponsoring Faculty and Staff for Permanent Residency

• Contact Texas Global - International Student and Scholar Services with any questions

Advertising the position

COE Faculty Search Promotion and Social Media Toolkit

COE Marketing and Communications (MarCom) provides a COE Faculty Search Social Media toolkit to help promote COE’s open tenure/tenured track positions. This toolkit provides search committees with ready-to-use social media images, suggested captions, and easy-to-follow guides to help share these opportunities organically on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

Why this matters: By using these branded visuals and content, we strengthen our collective voice and reinforce our community’s goals. Your participation is key in amplifying our faculty searches and showcasing the collaborative spirit that defines our brand.

Please contact coecommunications@austin.utexas.edu with any questions.

Additional advertising options

Departments may wish to share their job postings more widely. Additional advertising options include those listed below; please note that some services may involve fees. Faculty search committees should coordinate with their department’s Administrative Manager (AM) regarding all planned recruitment activities, especially those that incur expenses.

• Professional networks and listservs

• Social media (Facebook, etc.)

• Direct emails to contacts at peer institutions

• LinkedIn

• JobElephant - partnered with UT Austin; see more information and instructions at the link

• American Educational Research Association (AERA) Jobs

Funding for recruitment efforts

The Dean’s Office provides a set amount of funds for each tenured and tenure-track search to be used for advertising, travel and accommodations for on-campus visits, and other recruiting expenses. All budgeting and use of these funds is administered by department staff. Questions about recruiting funds and expenses should be directed to the department Administrative Manager.

Phase 2:  Evaluation of applicants and interviews

Department/Search Committee Chairs should ensure that all candidates within each search are treated the same. For example, if interviews are conducted virtually, all interviews in that round should be conducted virtually, or if delays arise in the interview schedule, all interviews should be postponed to fall within the same timeframe. Per HR guidance, virtual interviews should not be recorded, unless all candidates are asked in advance of the interview and each is given the option to opt out of recording.

Additional steps for College-Wide hires

In addition to all steps above:

• Search committee chairs should plan a schedule that ensures the candidates will have broad exposure to departments where there might be a fit.

• Job talks should be widely advertised across all departments.

• Include departmental representation for dinners/slate of appointments.

• Candidate should meet with department chairs representing potential affiliations and have conversations about what those potential affiliations might be.

On-Campus Interview Request Memo

Include all of the following:

Recordkeeping policies and guidance

Search committees should be aware that written interview notes and other recorded materials are subject to open records requests. Some records associated with recruiting and hiring processes are also subject to federal and state retention and disposal requirements. Guidance for search committees is summarized below. Questions should be addressed to the department Administrative Manager.

Transitory information records

Per HBP Part 20.6.3. Transitory Information Records, records that meet all criteria of “transitory information” should be kept only until they have served their purpose. Once the transitory information record’s purpose has been served or its informational value exhausted, it should be destroyed in accordance with University guidelines. Examples of transitory information records in recruiting and interviewing include the following:

• Preliminary notes or drafts (e.g., informal notes taken during candidate review sessions; unofficial feedback shared among committee members before formal evaluations)

• Logistics and planning materials (e.g., meeting arrangements, agendas, scheduling communications)

Records of final evaluations, hiring decisions, and formal interview documentation are not considered transitory and must be retained following University guidelines.

Interviewing

Do

All activities associated with on-campus visits for faculty finalists—including meals and informal gatherings—are considered part of the interview process and must adhere to University and College interview protocols.

Search committee chairs and members are responsible for following guidance on appropriate and prohibited questions and conversation topics throughout the visit. They should also ensure that everyone scheduled to meet with the finalist is aware of and understands this guidance.

For specific examples of what to avoid, please refer to the subsection titled “Don’t” below.

Don’t

All questions asked to the candidate should be directly related to the advertised qualifications and functions of the position for which they are interviewing. During interviews and on-campus visits, questions should not be asked that would reveal any of the following about the candidate:

• Age (examples: What year did you graduate high school? Which generation are you (Gen X, Millennial, etc.)?)

• Race, ethnicity, country of origin, place of birth (example: What’s your accent?)

• Sex or gender identity

• Sexual orientation

• Whether they are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or have children (examples: Would you need childcare in Austin? Where do your kids go to school?)

• Marital status or domestic living arrangement (example: Would anyone be moving to Austin with you?)

• Citizenship or visa status

• Disability status

• Political orientation

• Religion or lack thereof

• Whether they have ever been arrested

• Military discharge type

• Financial status (examples: Do you own or rent? Do you have outstanding debt?)

Accommodations for candidates with disabilities

The University of Texas at Austin is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants for employment. Applicants who need a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process at the University should submit the Applicant Reasonable Accommodation Request Form at least five business days in advance of the date the requested accommodation is needed. A member of the Institutional Accessibility and Accommodation (IAA) team will then contact the applicant to discuss accommodation needs and next steps. Additional information is available at University Risk and Compliance Services: Job Applicants with Disabilities.

Recordkeeping policies and guidance

Search committees should be aware that written interview notes and other recorded materials are subject to open records requests. Some records associated with recruiting and hiring processes are also subject to federal and state retention and disposal requirements. Guidance for search committees is summarized below. Questions should be addressed to the department Administrative Manager.

Transitory information records

Per HBP Part 20.6.3. Transitory Information Records, records that meet all criteria of “transitory information” should be kept only until they have served their purpose. Once the transitory information record’s purpose has been served or its informational value exhausted, it should be destroyed in accordance with University guidelines. Examples of transitory information records in recruiting and interviewing include the following:

• Preliminary notes or drafts (e.g., informal notes taken during candidate review sessions; unofficial feedback shared among committee members before formal evaluations)

• Logistics and planning materials (e.g., meeting arrangements, agendas, scheduling communications)

Records of final evaluations, hiring decisions, and formal interview documentation are not considered transitory and must be retained following University guidelines. Questions should be addressed to the department Administrative Manager.

Phase 3:  After campus interviews with finalists

Hire Recommendation Summary Report

Include all of the following:

Phase 4: Before BC/EC meets

Phase 5: BC/EC meeting and following

After the conclusion of the search

Disposition the Interfolio position

Immediately after the conclusion of a faculty search, be sure to ask the department Administrative Manager to close the Interfolio position (archive) and indicate an outcome. For searches that did not result in selection of a candidate, add a note about why no selection was made (e.g., cancelled due to lack of funding, position no longer needed, lack of qualified applicants, etc.). See Interfolio: Close a Position and Select Applicant(s).

Communicate with applicants

After closing the position in Interfolio, the Search Committee Chair should communicate to all applicants that the position has closed. 

This can be done in Interfolio - see instructions at Interfolio: Email Applicants. To email all applicants not selected for interview, check the "Applicants" box at the top of the table, and then deselect the names of those interviewed. The email message to applicants not interviewed might be something like: 

“Thank you very much for submitting an application for the Assistant/Associate Professor position in Department Name at The University of Texas at Austin. We regret to notify you that your application has not advanced to the interview stage. We appreciate your time and interest, and wish you the best in your job search endeavors.”

For applicants interviewed but not selected for hire, the Search Committee Chair should send a more personalized email. 

Recruiting procedures for Administrative Managers

1) Become familiar with COE resources on Box

a) COE All Departments T-TT Faculty Recruiting YY-YZ

> Download file AY YY-YZ T-TT Job Posting Template - use this to create the job posting on Interfolio

> Stages of Faculty Searches - update this as the search progresses through stages to keep College leadership informed. This will require ongoing communication with the department chair and search committee chair.

b) COE - [DEPT NAME] Recruiting YY-YZ

> (One subfolder per search name) - Each department and/or search chair committee may use these subfolders as they wish. Each Administrative Manager is "co-owner" of the folder for their department, and can add additional users (use discretion) and organize files as needed. 

Suggested uses of department Box recruiting folder:

• Upload recruiting documents as relevant for convenient reference that will later be included in the PAR:

  • PDF of the job posting from UT Austin: Faculty Careers.

    • This posting satisfies the EVPP requirement to include a copy of the job posting from Interfolio, and prints to PDF more easily than the version directly from Interfolio. The 5- or 6-digit number at the end of the URL for the Faculty Careers posting will be the Job ID entered into the PAR.

  • Upload copies of the On-Campus Interview Request Memo (see tab “Phase 2” on this page) and Hire Recommendation Summary Report (see tab “Phase 3” on this page), which include information needed for the Appointment Process Summary, a document included in the PAR.

• Give committee members access to the subfolder for their posting, to upload applicant rubrics, interview questions, etc.

• Remember that all documents on Box are subject to open records requests. Be sure all added users understand this.

2) Post the position on Interfolio

a) Download the COE job posting template from Box (see step 1 above). Use this to write the job posting.

b) Before posting to Interfolio, confirm that both the department chair and Senior Associate Dean have approved the posting exactly as it is.

c) Post to Interfolio. 

• Follow the instructions at COE: Interfolio for Administrative Staff > Posting a position in Interfolio.

• See Interfolio: Create a Position for an interactive tutorial including a software simulation.

d) Strongly recommended: Complete all sections of online Interfolio Faculty Search Administrator Training (estimated completion time: 45 minutes)

3) Assign appropriate Interfolio roles to search committee members

See COE: Interfolio for Administrative Staff > Assigning Interfolio roles to search committee members.

4) Update "Stages of Faculty Searches" spreadsheet on Box

(Tenured and tenure-track faculty searches only)

Update regularly throughout the process. See step 1 on this page.

5) Complete the hire process

Follow guidance on the "Hire process" tab on the appropriate page:

• COE: Hiring Tenure-Track Faculty

• COE: Hiring Tenured Faculty

6) Close the position

Immediately after the conclusion of a faculty search and/or once the posting is no longer needed, the department should close the Interfolio position (archive) and indicate an outcome. For searches that did not result in selection of a candidate, add a note about why no selection was made (e.g., cancelled due to lack of funding, position no longer needed, lack of qualified applicants, etc.).

See tab “After conclusion of search” on this page.

Online training for this step is available at the following links:

• Close a Position - Interfolio Faculty Search Institutional Administrator Training 

• Interfolio — Close a Position and Select Applicant(s)