Positions up for grabs in the IAS department are for an assistant professor in 2-D art, an assistant professor in 3-D art and an assistant professor in broadcast media.

The Interdisciplinary Arts and Science department is working to fill these three faculty positions before autumn quarter 2003.

Leading the search is Dr. Divya McMillin, an assistant professor of communications in the IAS department, for the broadcast media position and Samuel Parker, assistant professor in liberal studies, for the two art positions.

“Before the search can begin faculty and administration have to decide which departments will be able to look for new applicants based on the amount of money the state will allocate the university,” said William Richardson, director of the IAS department.

“The next step is to put advertisements together and publicize. The faculty and student on the search committee will then review all the applications and narrow it down to ten. After it is narrowed, phone interviews are conducted. Three applicants are chosen and brought to the campus for a day and a half to view the campus facilities and perform a demonstration before a class. When this is all completed the search committee finally extends a hiring offer to one of the applicants.”

Last quarter three positions were filled quickly because of a potential hiring freeze that could be imposed by Governor Gary Locke’s budget proposal.

Typically there are 40-200 applicants for each position. There have been over 100 applications for the art positions.

“Application requirements are stringent and candidates have to supply strong evidence of teaching and research merit. The campus interviews themselves are rigorous.”

“The interview for the broadcast candidate spanned two full days with meetings with communication faculty, program and campus heads, media and technology personnel, and students,” McMillin said.

“At UWT we face the exciting challenge of meeting students’ needs in broadcast media with facilities that are yet to be developed.

Such an environment demands that we always be on the alert for alternate and non-traditional solutions to curriculum and facilities issues.

The search committee was interested in a candidate who not only fulfilled the qualifications required of the position, but who also displayed enthusiasm and ability to work in such a campus environment.”

The application process at the university is parallel to the process of other universities across the state.

The hiring ad is publicized in major publication of the field way in advance of the deadline.

During this down period students are chosen to serve on the program search committee.

The students chosen generally have experience or skills relevant to the specific search and who are well known to the faculty.

Students have only been injected into the hiring process for about a year. Another part of the hiring process is teaching demonstrations on campus.

“Students bring a unique perspective to the search process,” Mc Millin said. “They have a significant influence in assessing candidates strengths in the classroom.”

“We (faculty and administration) consider ourselves to be here to serve students. That is why it is our customary practice at UWT to bring a student’s perspective to the committee that faculty does not have. While we as faculty are trying to make decisions that will be for the well being of students all the time, we also seek input from students to help us do our jobs better,” Parker said.

“As students we should expect to be taught by knowledgeable professionals in a particular field but also expect the university to have an adequate screening process in place to provide such professionals so we as students can focus on the learning process,” comments Tim Strickler, a senior in the environmental science program. Tim was a student on the search committee last quarter.

Beth Kalikoff, already a senior lecturer in the IAS department went through this process last quarter before she was hired as an assistant professor in writing.

“The process struck me as complete, meticulous and professional,” Kalikoff said.

“If we wanted to be efficient, we would totally ignore the importance of fairness. We have a complex and cumbersome process because we are not only seeking the best candidate for the job, we are also trying to be as fair as possible to everyone who applies,” Parker said.

According to Michael Forman an assistant professor in IAS and former chair for the writing professor search committee, “Part of the determination process comes for the demonstration the applicant goes through and the students’ reaction. We ask the students questions about what they think of the applicant. We take that information and balance it with the interviews and application to make a hiring decision.”

The new faculty members that were hired last quarter and the applicants being screened now will be teaching by the autumn quarter, 2003.