Faculty Search & Hire Process

Faculty hiring begins with the search process.

When the need arises in the department to hire a faculty / teaching professor / clinical / visiting or librarian, a search request and approval is required. The following steps will guide you through the entire process.

The search and hiring process includes:

Identifying and Funding the Position

Faculty Vacancy

Vacant regular faculty positions may be filled with either a temporary teaching professor, visiting faculty person, or adjunct sections on a year by year (or semester by semester) basis.

Vacant permanent teaching professor positions remain vacant until filled, but if left vacant for an extended period these positions may be removed from the department and college by the provost.

Faculty SAP Identifier

Faculty positions must have an associated SAP (unique numerical identifier assigned to a job) and funding. Each college has an allotted number of faculty SAPs and deans may move SAPs across departments in their college. Faculty and staff SAPs and monies may be interchanged in exceptional situations.

Searches for SAP faculty positions must have an SAP from either a vacant faculty SAP position or a faculty SAP that will become open if and when the searched position is to become filled. No temporary or placeholder SAPs will be used.

Similar to staff SAP positions, SAP faculty positions may not be filled until all accrued vacation / holiday days for a given faculty SAP position have been paid out. Faculty and staff on 12-month appointments accrue vacation / holiday days.

Visiting Faculty Positions

Per the ART (Appointment, Rank, and Tenure) policy:

  • “Visiting faculty appointments are usually made for one academic year or less. Only in unusual circumstances shall a visiting appointment exceed a total of three years.”

Regular faculty positions that remain as visiting faculty positions for more than two (2) consecutive years may be removed from the department and college by the provost. This applies to the position(s) and not to the persons filling the position(s).

Faculty Startup Funding

Tenured and tenure-track faculty must be approved by the chair, dean and provost. The total cost of faculty start-up funding is distributed between the college, the department and the Office of the Provost.

  • department — 33.33%
  • college — 33.33%
  • provost’s office — 33.33%

Initiating the Search Request

After the position's associated SAP and funding have been confirmed, the search request can be initiated.

1

Create the Job Ad

Create a faculty search job ad in preparation for completing a Faculty Search Request. The ad must be attached to the Faculty Search Request in DocuSign. A job ad template is available for your reference.  

2

Complete a Faculty Outreach Hiring Form

The Faculty Outreach Hiring Form (PDF) will need to be completed and attached to the Faculty Search Request form you will be submitting to the PBO.

3

Begin the Search Approval Process

Begin the search approval process by completing the appropriate DocuSign Search Request Form based on your rank (chair or administrative assistant):

Complete the form and attach the faculty search job ad and the Faculty Outreach Hiring Form.

Please be advised that if you are hiring for multiple positions under one search, the PBO needs to have an individual search request form for each SAP number. Please include a note on the request form that there are multiple positions for the search and indicate “1 of (total number)” with the search title. This will help us determine which search requests are multiple.

Posting the Job Ad

After the search request has been approved, the job ad can be posted in Taleo and other sources.

1

Confirm the Search Request is Approved

The ad will not be posted on any website prior to the search request being approved. As of June 22, 2023 ALL ADS (Tenured/Tenure-Track, Teaching Professor, Visiting, Clinical faculty and Librarian) MUST be posted in Taleo and must be approved and marked “Posted” in Taleo prior to PBO posting the ad to the various websites for your department. The ad that is approved by PBO must be the ad that is placed in Taleo. Please wait until you receive the approved ad email from PBO to post to Taleo.

2

Post the Ad in Taleo

Post the ad in TU’s Taleo system. View the Faculty Hiring Taleo User Guide (PDF) for assistance. For additional questions and/or Taleo training, please contact Millie McMillan via or 410-704-6021.

The national and Taleo requisition MUST remain active for a minimum of 30 days. If you fill the position prior to 30 days of posting the ad, you must keep the Taleo requisition active for a minimum of 30 days. On the 31st day, you can close the Taleo requisition if someone was hired.

3

Post the Ad in Additional Sources (optional)

All ads are posted to:

Teaching professor, visiting and clinical ads will not be posted in the Chronicle.

4

Request Ad Reimbursement

For any additional advertising expenses, the PBO will reimburse your department for a maximum of $500 (included in $3500 funds provided by PBO) per search for Tenured/Tenure-track and Librarian positions.

To request reimbursement, submit a journal entry to the Stratus Financials team. Please refer to the “Journals” section of the Stratus training page for assistance or you can contact the Stratus Financials Team at . Please note that you will use 1012-16810-608003 as the budget code for the journal entry.

Candidate Interview and Expense Reimbursement

For candidate interviews and visits to campus, the PBO will provide up to $3,500 (includes $500 for additional advertising) for each faculty search for a tenured / tenure-track or permanent librarian faculty position only. This can include lodging, meals and travel expenses. View details about candidate interview expenses and reimbursements.

An Interview Pool Approval Form is NOT required for Assistant/Associate/Full Professor, Librarian, Clinical and Teaching Professor searches as these are completed in Taleo.

Failed Searches

In the event that your department experiences a failed faculty search, we ask that you please email the following to let us know that the search is failed:

Please include the search number within your email. You will need to close the search in Taleo. For assistance with Taleo, please contact:

A “failed search” still constitutes a search for a faculty position, so funding for a new search following a failed search within the same fiscal year will not be provided by the Provost’s Budget Office without approval from the provost.

Hiring and Onboarding Process

Once your team has chosen a candidate who has accepted the verbal offer, you can begin the onboarding process.

1

Communicate with the Candidates

The first step in the onboarding process is to let the chosen candidate know they have been selected as a new faculty member at Towson University. You should then follow-up with the candidates who did not meet the requirements and/or interview expectations.

2

Generate the Faculty Contract

Complete the appropriate DocuSign Faculty Appointment Request form. This form will start the process of generating a faculty contract by the Provost’s Budget Office (PBO). The PBO will also forward early provisioning and moving reimbursement information to the faculty for their information.

When the signed contract is returned, the PBO will forward a copy to the dean, the executive administrative assistant to the dean, the department chair, administrative assistant to the chair and the Office of Human Resources (for their records).

3

Request Moving Expense Reimbursement

Newly appointed faculty (tenured/tenure-track faculty ONLY) can submit a moving reimbursement request one week prior to their official start date. We are unable to process requests any earlier than one week prior to the official start date.

Newly appointed faculty should send an email to and include their TU ID number, department name and college, a map using bingmaps website showing distance from current residence to new residence (addresses MUST be included) and if the department has offered additional compensation for moving expenses.

A copy of the letter indicating the offer must also be included. Please note this stipend is taxable and must be submitted within one (1) year of original start date.

Moving Expense Reimbursement Scale

  • less than 100 miles = $1,000
  • 100-999 miles = $2,000
  • 1,000-1,999 miles = $4,000
  • 2,000 or greater miles = $6,000