ABSTRACT
After deciding on its purpose, the most important decision any organization ever makes is determining who will join the organization. The selection process is both an art and a science. The science involves doing the right things—using the best tools, methods, and techniques. The academic tradition of using the shared governance process as a framework for selecting faculty and staff is worth preserving because it yields great benefits. These include a higher-quality candidate, greater diversity, and a better organizational fit—and, therefore, greater retention. Practice of the art of selection varies significantly across colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. Nonprofit organizations, professional associations, and even some churches use search committees for hiring. To ensure a successful search, there are tried-and-true elements of the process that must be completed. At each step, there are critical components that must be included and deployed in the proper order to buttress the building block approach to a successful search.
