Faculty Hunt Continues

Before darting off to her 11:50 a.m. art history class this morning, Tyler Knapp, a senior and studio art major, raved about one of her professors while hurriedly yanking a jacket around her shoulders.

"She's one of my favorite teachers, so I like the class," said Knapp. "If I really like a teacher, I usually just sign up for all their classes."

Choosing classes based on the professor is not uncommon. In fact, professors frequently seem to have the ability to make or break any subject, which explains why websites like "Rate My Professor" are so popular.

Santa Clara is celebrated for its excellent faculty, ranking 3.64 out of 5 on "Rate My Professor," which is not too far down from Stanford (3.87), the highest ranking school on the site.

The university upholds these standards by putting candidates through a lengthy and challenging interview process, and it all happens right under our noses, though most students are oblivious to it.

In fact, it's happening right now.

Currently, the communication department is going through the process of finding a new global communication professor. Dr. Chad Raphael, department chair, shed some light on the situation.

"We place job ads on the university's human resources website and in academic publications," said Raphael. "It includes the qualifications required for the job and the criteria we will use to decide how to rank the finalists."

Candidates are encouraged to not only submit a letter of application and résumé, but examples of scholarly research, such aspublished work in peer-reviewed journals.

The communication department is not the only department with a strenuous hiring process. Scott Andrews, senior assistant dean of the School of Engineering, described the hiring process throughout the university.

"Everything is looked over by the Provost's Office, whether it's the Engineering School, Arts and Sciences, or Business," said Andrews. "Each school decides what position they need filled and then tells the Provost's Office. The Provost's Office decides what the financial situation will allow them to do, and grants them permission to begin their search."

The process of finding a new professor is actually a year-long ordeal. A selected committee within the appropriate department will sift through almost 200 applications before settling on about 10 final applicants.

These potentials will then go through a series of phone interviews, which results in three to five candidates being invited on campus for personal interviews and teaching trials.

Sometimes they even meet with students to help determine whether they are a good fit for the university. After the committee has chosen a final applicant, the dean of the Office of the Provost must approve the decision.

"As you can see, it isn't easy to get a job as a tenure-track faculty member at Santa Clara," said Raphael. "Many excellent candidates apply, so the process is very competitive. Candidates have to demonstrate their potential to be superior teachers, researchers and colleagues."

So thanks to the competitive process, by this time next year, Santa Clara will have a new face amongst the Communication Department faculty.

Contact Natalia Pavlina at npavlina@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.