Faculty dean candidates will now have to participate in a confidential forum with students, faculty and staff before the selection process is over, due to policy amendments passed by the Senates and the Board of Governors.
These changes made to the university’s Deans Appointments Policy (AP5) now make it standard for dean selection processes to include a forum where community members in a faculty can engage with all of the candidates. While the change increases the transparency of the process, several senators and Board members also raised concerns that a forum might deter potential candidates from running due to fear of repercussions from their current employers.
“The forum is a major change. I see that as an increase in transparency of the whole selection, an appointment of a dean, the whole procedure. It will provide members of that unit, that faculty, a chance to hear from shortlisted candidates to learn about their academic background, to hear their vision for the unit,” said Dr. Paul Harrison, chair of the Senate Nominating Committee that oversaw these amendments in the UBC Vancouver Senate.
While the policy makes it clear that candidates’ identities should remain confidential, forum attendees aren’t required to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), something that has previously raised concerns for some Board and Senate members.
The policy also allows the Advisory Committees — which are established to advise the president during the selection process — to make the recordings of the forums available to members of the faculty if they can’t attend in person.
“[The forum is] a chance for the members of the faculty to see how well they think the members of the Advisory Committee have represented their aspirations and hopes and plans of the faculty itself,” said Harrison.
Student Senator Dante Agosti-Moro said there is a “trade-off” between the risk of a confidentiality breach and having members of a faculty engage in “a major decision.”
“I think in this case, the benefits outweigh that risk because to have a search committee of ... 11 to 12 people to make a decision about which dean is going to be the next dean [of] the faculty, on behalf of thousands of people realistically is not, in my opinion, a feasible way to assure that you're hiring the best candidate,” said Agosti-Moro.
The Nominating Committee also discussed concerns that the confidentiality concern might impact candidates from marginalized groups more than others.
“[That concern] was considered by the committee, but the committee decided on balance increasing transparency with pushing the idea that people who attend the forum were obligated to maintain confidentiality would go a long way to reassure candidates,” said Harrison.
Additionally, Agosti-Moro said that while a confidentiality breach can have a disproportionately negative impact on candidates from marginalized groups, having a forum can also allow community members to ensure that the selection process includes candidates from diverse groups and backgrounds.
“There's no checks and balances on the search committee to ensure that the candidates they're interviewing are diverse. If there is no forum, all the faculty gets to see is the candidate at the end who gets hired with no knowledge of who perhaps was also considered,” said Agosti-Moro.