Procedure for New Faculty Hires

Guidelines for Faculty Recruitment Keck School of Medicine of USC

Request for Recruitment

The department completes a Request for Recruitment Form (RR Form), with a memo from the department chair requesting and describing the position, along with a separate job announcement in Microsoft Word format. This should be sent via scanned email to KeckFA@med.usc.edu. The request for the position is entered into Workday for approval. Once the position has been approved, Faculty Affairs will contact the department.

Posting Full-Time and Part-Time Positions

Faculty Affairs will contact the department with the position number that was approved and will request that the position be created in the Faculty Application Management (FAM) system. When the department creates the position in FAM, Faculty Affairs will link the position to the USC career site. The posting link can be pulled from the career website, once it is posted.

Search Process

The department will review applicants in FAM, and the department search committee will identify faculty to hire. The department will submit the final candidate review packet to Faculty Affairs.

Offering the Position

For non tenure-track faculty, prepare and submit the Final Candidate Review form (FCR Form), with the associated paperwork, to Faculty Affairs via email at KeckFA@med.usc.edu for processing. Required documents are listed on the FCR Form. Once the approval process is complete, Faculty Affairs will draft the letter of offer for department approval. The finalized letter of offer will be printed and signed and will be included in the employment offer packet, along with Arbitration Agreement, General Provisions and eAccess Forms, and will be delivered via FedEx to the faculty candidate. For tenure-track positions, use the Final Candidate Request form for Tenure and Tenure-Track (FR 1-TT Form), along with the associated required documents. The required documents are listed on the FR1-TT Form.

Onboarding Faculty

Once the signed letter of offer and General Provisions, Arbitration Agreement and eAccess Forms have been returned to Faculty Affairs, the onboarding employment process in Workday can begin.

USC Policy and Guidelines

USC policy and guidelines, as well as benefits information for faculty, can be obtained through the USC Employee Gateway at http://employees.usc.edu.

The department should instruct the new-hire faculty to activate their USC Net ID and email by logging into account services. This will require their 10-digit USC ID number.

Hiring Tenure-Track Faculty

Prior to Appointment on the Tenure Track or with Tenure at the Keck School of Medicine of USC:
At the Keck School, consideration for appointment of all junior and senior (lateral) hire faculty on the tenure track must first be reviewed by the Tenure Review Committee (TRC). The following process is used:

  1. The department requests permission from the dean to open a tenure-track position. A form (available at the Keck Office for Faculty Affairs website) requesting appointment on the tenure track is completed and submitted for review by the dean’s office. It includes the names of the individuals on the search committee, sources of funding for the recruit, a copy of the proposed advertisement and the expected area of research.
  2. After the dean’s approval, the position is posted according to USC policy; a national search is performed; candidates are interviewed; and a final candidate is chosen.
  3. Documents (including chair’s justification; CV; research statement, if any; and letters of reference) supporting the final candidate are presented to the TRC for review and comments.
  4. The TRC makes a recommendation to the dean.
  5. For assistant professors on the tenure track, the provost has delegated to the dean the authority to approve. After the TRC has made recommendations to the dean and the dean has approved, a letter of offer is generated by the Office for Faculty Affairs.
  6. For senior hires (associate professors, professors on the tenure track or professors with tenure), TRC review and recommendation, dean’s approval and consultation with the vice provost for Faculty Affairs about the suitability of the hire are required. If approvals are obtained, an offer letter is generated by the Office for Faculty Affairs. If the candidate accepts, a formal dossier is assembled, according to the University Committee on Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure (UCAPT) guidelines. The dossier must be evaluated by the departmental APT Committee, the Faculty Appointments, Promotion and Tenure Committee (FAPTC), the UCAPT and the provost, within a period of time specified in the offer letter.
  7. If the faculty member starts work prior to review of the dossier, pending a final decision awarding rank and tenure to the faculty member, they may have a title of Visiting [Rank] of [Department].
  8. If it is not possible to evaluate the dossier in the period of time specified, the provost’s approval must be obtained for an extension.
  9. On occasion, senior or lateral hires may be opportunistic. TRC review and recommendation, the dean’s approval and consultation with the vice provost for Faculty Affairs are required. In this case, a posting waiver is requested, and the dean’s ultimate approval must be obtained before a letter of offer may be generated.