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Heritage College Faculty Hiring Planning: Expectations, Principles, and Process for FY 26, 27, 28

PROCESS LEAD: Susan Williams, Ph.D., Associate Dean, Faculty

PROCESS REVIEW AND APPROVAL DATES:

• Chairs: 1/10/24, 2/7/24
• Deans Council: 1/11/24
• Finance/Operations: 2/12/24
• Executive Dean: 1/11/24

Expectations and Principles

An important responsibility of department chairs is to develop and maintain a 3-year staffing plan for their departments. Staffing plans should identify faculty hiring priorities for the next three academic years taking into account potential workload shifts, upcoming retirements/resignations, etc. as well as alignment with the strategic vision of the department and college. Staffing plans should be developed in collaboration with each other and in consultation and/or collaboration with other stakeholders, including but not limited to HCOM associated deans (medical education, research, faculty), research institute leadership, and Ohio Physician Group – Heritage College (OPG-HC) leadership. Consultation and/or collaboration with academic units outside of the college is also encouraged.

Process and Timeline

Each January, the Associate Dean for Faculty will initiate the faculty multi-year planning process with department chairs. Associate deans (Faculty, Medical Education, Research and Innovation)will assist with forecasting gaps and providing necessary data and context for hiring discussions. 
A joint meeting of the chairs and associate deans will be held in mid-January to establish major areas of need related to the primary workload areas of teaching, research, and service. Ad hoc meetings may be held between chairs, campus deans, finance, and other stakeholders as needed. By March 1, the department chairs will present to associate, campus and the executive dean a) a department 3-year hiring plan; b) a combined list of prioritized faculty positions for the next 
FY with financial support from vacated lines, if available, across all departments and c) an SBAR to justify each prioritized position’s alignment with the strategic vision of the department and college and a justification of the workload in at least 2 of the following areas:

• Teaching (including a department or college teaching area needs assessment)
• Research
  • Start-up funding and potential research space must be estimated and identified
• Service (including succession planning for faculty leadership positions)
• Clinical Practice (for Athens only, OhioHealth Physician’s Group – Heritage College)
• Administration (including succession planning for faculty-line leadership positions within the department, such as chair, associate chair)

The Executive Dean, Chief Financial and Strategy Officer and Campus Deans will review funded (from vacated academic department lines) requests and identify the financial allocation for remaining unfunded hiring priorities for all hiring requests, including faculty and staff, by April 1. As part of this process, existing open searches, pending retirements, and unfilled positions will be reviewed. Hiring approvals will be made for searches that will occur in the following FY, with appointments starting the next FY, although feedback will be provided on the 3-year faculty hiring plans.
Department chairs will be responsible for initiating searches for approved faculty positions with the Office of Faculty Learning and Advancement to finalize position descriptions, selection of search committee members and management of the search process. Faculty searches should be posted around August 1 to recruit ideal candidates for the next academic year.

Annually, this process requires review by:

• Executive Dean
• Deans Council
• Chairs
• Finance and Operations

Routine Faculty Staffing Requests

This process would not eliminate the need for urgent short-term replacements in the case of unanticipated faculty retirement/resignation or leaves of absence. If the faculty staffing need is temporary, the department chair works with the campus dean and the Heritage College HR and finance team to identify the best method (i.e., professional service agreement, pool posting, fixed-term appointment, etc.) and funding allocation to cover the teaching need.