Search Committee Guidelines

Search procedures and committees play a crucial role in recruiting diverse talent to campus. With the creation of the Office of Academic Affairs & Diversity, the following changes were made to search processes at LDEO for Officers of Research:

  • Search committees are strongly encouraged to post their advertisements in diverse venues, including social media venues, such as those listed in the "Advertising Venues to Promote Diverse Searches" document. LDEO HR can assist with placing job advertisements in various venues.
  • Before reviewing any applications, search committee members should familiarize themselves with these key documents:
  • As of January 2023, each search committee member is expected to familiarize themselves with the Best Practices for Search Committees document above and to take ownership of DEIA issues and incorporate them in the search. 
  • Search committees are typically given aggregated information on the demographics of the applicant pool for the search, as well as a comparison with the national availability pool for that field using NSF-NORC data.
  • Following the selection of the final candidate, the search committee will prepare a search committee report indicating who the shortlisted candidates were, and why the selected candidate was chosen over the others.
  • When external letters are sought, letter writers will be sent guidelines on avoiding gender bias in letters of recommendation.