A faculty search has concluded with the appointment of an outstanding candidate who, committee members said, emerged from a competitive international field and also from the office next door.
The post was advertised in the usual places, which is to say in a portal that academics check when they are unhappy and in a journal that invoices by the word. The advertisement called for a scholar of vision, collegiality and a research agenda aligned with strategic priorities, several of which were updated during the search.
One hundred and forty applications were received. A confidential longlist was drawn up. References were sought from people who write the same letter with different names. Four candidates were invited to campus. Two came. One cancelled because of a visa. One was already on campus, because he works there.
The internal candidate gave a job talk in the room where he usually teaches. Colleagues asked questions they have asked him before. He answered them with the fluency of a man who has been answering them on a visiting contract for three years. A reception followed. The wine was the search wine, which is not the visitor wine.
In its report, the committee praised the depth of the field and the integrity of the process. Diversity of the pool was described as encouraging. Outcome diversity was not a heading.
A member of the committee, speaking on the condition that her service not be further mentioned, said that the internal candidate had “always been very strong.” Asked why, in that case, the post had been advertised, she said that advertising was how one knew.
The unsuccessful external candidate, who had flown in, given a talk, met a dean and been taken to lunch at a restaurant that does not appear on student maps, said the process had been clarifying. He now understands that some searches are conversations with the outside world and some are conversations the outside world is allowed to overhear.
Human resources confirmed that equal-opportunity guidelines had been followed. The guidelines require that a post be open. They do not require that it be empty.
The successful candidate told this newspaper he was honoured, surprised, and looking forward to a contract that, unlike the last three, names a year in which it might end. He will begin, the announcement says, on a date he has already begun.