4111 Equal Opportunity in Recruitment and Hiring Procedure

Policy

Policy Name:  Equal Opportunity in Recruitment & Hiring

Policy Number:  4111

Applicable Code/Law: RCW 49.60.200, RCW 49.60.400 

Procedural Guidelines:  

Shoreline College will make every effort to eliminate barriers to equal opportunity and increase the diversity of its workforce. It is incumbent upon administration, faculty, and staff of Shoreline College to make a good-faith effort in the execution of this policy.  

The Office of Human Resources (HR) will provide a workforce profile to the Executive Team (ET) of the College on or before November 1st each year, which articulates the talent management goals and strategies for the upcoming year in alignment with the overall strategic goals of the College.  

Shoreline College will utilize the following processes for recruitment and hiring of individuals by Shoreline College into permanent classified staff and exempt positions, as well as tenuretrack faculty positions. Exempt employees appointed to a position in an acting or interim capacity shall be selected through a process set by the President. 

  1. Notice of Intent to Fill a Vacant Position
    1. When the position supervisor needs to fill a vacant position, the supervisor shall complete a personnel requisition form along with an updated description of the position and submit it to their ET member.
      1. The updated position description will be used to draft the vacancy
    2. The ET member shall review and bring forward the completed personnel requisition to the President and ET for review and approval in alignment with College’s goals.
    3. Following the President’s approval to recruit, the personnel requisition form shall be forwarded to the Office of Business & Administrative Services (B&AS) for funding
    4. Upon funding confirmation, the Office of the B&AS shall forward the personnel requisition to HR.
    5. Upon receipt of the approved personnel requisition, HR shall contact the position supervisor to begin the recruitment process and use the screening committee selection process to recruit the screening committee.
  2. Screening Committee Membership
    1. Screening committees shall be composed of a minimum of three (3) and usually no more than five (5) voting members.
      1. Requests for exceptions to committee size can be made to HR for review and authorization with the applicable ET member. 
      2. The position supervisor (or designee) shall serve as a member of the committee.
        1. Each committee shall be assigned an HR representative as an ex-officio member responsible for providing guidance and ensuring compliance with established policies and procedures.
        2. Based on review by the ET member, off campus individuals may be appointed as members of the screening committee.
        • The screening committee for faculty positions shall have a full-time faculty member from the field of the vacant position. If such a faculty member is not currently available, then the position supervisor shall actively recruit a professional off campus.
          • Off-campus members may include (1) professionals retired from our campus, (2) professionals from other colleges and universities, or (3) firms where professional-technical professionals are employed.
    2. The position supervisor, with approval from their ET member, shall recommend to HR participants to serve on the screening committee under the following order of criteria: 1) subject matter experts and 2) those who work with the position.
      1. HR shall review the composition of the screening committee to ensure a committee that is committed to inclusive excellence.
    3. HR shall share the recommended screening committee participant names with the classified and faculty union leadership.
      1. Within five (5) calendar days from notification by HR, union leadership should provide consultation regarding the committee participants to HR.
        1. HR will share the consultation with the appropriate ET member prior to moving forward with the finalization of the committee.
      2. If no consultation is provided in the timeframe allotted, the recruitment will proceed with the identified screening committee participants.
    4. At the initial meeting, each screening committee shall select a The chairperson is responsible for the following tasks:
      1. Schedule recruitment meetings and ensure tasks are completed on schedule.
      2. Ensure all committee members participate and have a
      3. Coordinate and schedule meetings, including the scheduling of applicant interviews.
      4. Lead the interview
  3. Drafting the Vacancy Announcement
    1. HR and the supervisor draft the vacancy announcement ensuring position requirements address the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to be successful in the position.
      1. For faculty recruitments, the draft vacancy announcement will be shared with the discipline faculty for feedback prior to posting.  Changes made after the discipline review shall be communicated to the discipline before the position is posted.
      2. For administrative and classified staff positions, the draft vacancy announcement will be shared with the hiring unit for feedback prior to posting.  Changes made after the unit review shall be communicated to the unit before the position is posted.
    2. Vacancy announcements shall contain:
      1. Required education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities.
      2. The application period and designated date of first consideration.
      3. Terms of appointment and the salary determination process.
      4. Salary range and working hours.
  4. Posting the Vacancy Announcement
    1. The Recruiter shall route the announcement to the position supervisor for final approval before posting.
    2. Following approval to post, HR will distribute the vacancy announcement to the College job site and other appropriate venues such as college/system listserves, national/regional advertising sites, and specialized groups appropriate to the role or discipline.
      1. It is the responsibility of the position supervisor to identify specialized groups for advertising.
    3. Classified staff and administrative/exempt position applicant pools shall be established.
      1. The applicant pool will be used to fill current vacancies in that category of employment for up to six (6) months, unless the vacant position requires a job specific specialized skill or ability in which case a specialized applicant pool will be recruited and used to fill that position only.
  5. Pre-Screening of Applications Received
    1. After the date of first consideration has passed, HR will review the applicant pool for determination of candidates meeting minimum education and experience requirements.
      1. Questions regarding applicant qualifications shall be reviewed with the supervisor.
  6. Screening Committee Activities
    1. Committee Training
      1. The screening committee shall receive training from HR on 1) how to reduce implicit bias and cognitive errors; 2) effective screening practices; 3) building job-related behavioral and situational interview questions including questions that gauge multicultural and global competencies; 4) public records and note taking; and 5) confidentiality requirements.
    2. Committee Work
      1. The screening committee is responsible for the following activities:
      2. Development of an application screening tool which uses position criteria as found on the vacancy announcement.
      3. Development of interview questions/activities prior to application review and consistent with the posted position requirements.*
        1. The committee will identify in writing what constitutes a quality response to each interview question and activity.
      4. Assessment of applicant materials and interview activities for evidence of strengths and opportunities relevant to posted position requirements.
      5. Generation of a strengths and opportunities summary document for all candidates interviewed relevant to posted position requirements.
        * Requires review and approval by HR prior to proceeding.
  7. The Interview Process
    1. The screening committee shall interview all applicants being considered for employment.
      1. Additional interview activities may include the following (where appropriate)
        1. Skills assessment related to a posted position requirement (teaching demonstration, Excel functions, etc.).
        2. Campus open-forums, department forums, or student forums, etc.
        3. Finalist interviews with the area ET member and President (or designee). 
    2. All applicants shall be asked interview questions or perform interview activities as approved by HR.
      1. Applicants shall be given directions at the start of the interview outlining a request for examples in their responses, and best practices when interviewing in an online environment.
      2. Individual applicants may have specific questions tailored to their materials on an HR- approved exception basis only. 
    3. Senior leadership and all tenure-track faculty finalists must also interview with their Executive Team member prior to job offer.
  8. Filling of the Position
    1. The supervisor will consider the screening committee’s summary of candidate strengths and opportunities along with candidate application materials when identifying finalists for the position.
    2. Finalists will be reviewed with the unit administrator and/or ET member prior to beginning reference checks.  
      1. If the position supervisor or unit admin/ET member’s assessment of applicants significantly differs from the screening committee’s assessment, the supervisor will meet with the screening committee for discussion before moving forward with the recommendation for hire.
    3. Following approval by the unit administrator, the supervisor will complete reference checks on the finalist(s).
      1. Reference checks will be documented with HR.
    4. Prior to job offer, the supervisor shall review the person selected for hire with HR, and HR will draft the salary placement.
      1. For classified staff positions, salary will be set according to the classified salary placement process. 
      2. For faculty positions, salary will be set in compliance with collective bargaining agreement procedure.
      3. For exempt positions, salary will be set based on relevant experience within the posted salary range.
    5. The position supervisor shall notify the screening committee of the applicant selected for hire.
      1. If the recruitment process does not result in a hire, the position supervisor will communicate this decision to the screening committee along with next steps related to meeting the need for the position.
    6. The supervisor shall also contact finalists interviewed but not hired as a courtesy notification.  
      1. Candidate inquiries or requests for feedback shall be forwarded to HR for response.
  9. Exceptions
    1.  Exceptions to these procedures may be necessary in certain unusual, unforeseen emergency circumstances.
      1. What constitutes an unusual, unforeseen emergent circumstance is both to be determined and authorized by the President or a designee. 
      2. Exceptions made shall not conflict with applicable employment rules and regulations.

Approvals

Reviewed and Approved by Executive Teams: 06/23/2026