2.3 Recruitment and Appointment

The quality of initial appointments is vital to the quality of teaching and scholarship to which the college [university] is committed.  The following statements of policy for recruitment to the faculty are intended to aid department chairs, the deans, the provost, and others who are involved in making initial appointments.

All new members of the faculty shall receive a copy of the Faculty Handbook by the time of their initial contract offer.  Part II of the Faculty Handbook exists as an integrated part of every contract, with the remaining parts helping to delineate many of the terms and conditions of faculty employment.  New faculty members will be subject to all amendments to the Faculty Handbook, even those enacted subsequent to their signing a contract (see Section 2.16.6.c.).

2.3.1 Authority to Hire

Sole authority to hire and retain faculty members is vested in the president.  This authority is customarily exercised through the provost and the deans by procedures established to assure adequate consultation with the faculty and full compliance with human rights norms.

2.3.2 Nondiscrimination

Hiring will occur in accord with the standards for nondiscrimination described in Section 2.0.1.

2.3.3 Preferential Hiring and Retention

In [compliance with the Statutes of the University and in] order to maintain the Benedictine character of the college [university], preference in hiring and retention is given to qualified applicants who are members of Saint Benedict's Monastery [Saint John's Abbey].  Procedures for such preferential hiring are found in Section 3.1; procedures for layoff, including preferential consideration of Benedictines, are found in Section 2.13.5.

The college [university] also reserves the right to recruit and hire internally without outside searches under special circumstances and in compliance with state and federal nondiscrimination laws.  (See also Section 2.0.1, "Nondiscrimination.")  The college [university] also recognizes the obligation to maintain its Catholic and ecumenical character and reserves the right to the extent permitted by law to strengthen that character in its hiring decisions.

2.3.4 Procedures for Recruitment

The recruitment of faculty members is the responsibility of the provost in consultation with the deans and department chairs.  Procedures for recruitment are found in Section 3.2.

2.3.5 Campus-specific Employment

Although faculty members work in departments jointly sponsored by the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, unless otherwise indicated in their contract, they are employees of only one institution and do not acquire the rights or privileges of employees of the other.

2.3.6 Initial Rank and Length of the Probationary Period

Initial rank and length of the probationary period shall be determined at the time of hiring in accord with Section 2.1. Provisions concerning tenure and the length of the probationary period in light of previous experience will be determined by the provost in accord with Sections 2.6.1 and 2.6.3. Even persons tenured elsewhere ordinarily receive probationary contracts at the time of initial appointment at the college [university].  In rare cases, tenure may be granted immediately by the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees [Regents] after recommendation of the Rank and Tenure Committee, the provost, and the president.

Any agreement shortening the usual length of the probationary period (see Section 2.6.3, "Eligibility to Apply for Tenure") or specifying the terminal degree required for tenure (see Section 2.1.0.c, "An appropriate terminal degree") ordinarily will be stipulated in a letter of appointment, accompanying the initial contract offer, from the provost to the appointee, with a copy to the department chair and the divisional dean [and/or the dean of the School of Theology].

2.3.7 Summer-session Faculty [for the Saint John’s University Handbook only]

Summer-session faculty are selected by the dean of the School of Theology in consultation with the provost in accordance with the needs of the university. Summer-session faculty are offered term contracts for the teaching of specific courses.  See Section 2.1.3.1 for a description of part-time, per-course faculty.

When a regular member of the School of Theology faculty has accrued less than full-time service toward eligibility for tenure (see 2.6.2), sabbatical (see 2.9.2), or promotion (see 2.7) (e.g., due to monastic responsibilities), the university shall count regular graduate courses taught during the summer term toward eligibility.  Teaching during the summer term may not be counted to shorten the usual eligibility periods.