As a multiple time SC member, I'm always curious how we can improve our campus visits. So, I'm curious to hear from those of you who went on campus visits this year (or other years): What did you like? What didn't you like?
Comments on Campus Visits
(89 posts) (6 voices)-
Posted 3 years ago #
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Down time. A few 20-30 minute breaks throughout the day, with private comfortable space to spend them. For the introverts among us, this can be huge.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Make sure the candidates get ample time to see the city/area. This may be especially important if it's an out of the way place. I hate getting home and feeling like I didn't have a chance to take in the area, and that can make a big difference when deciding between offers.
Posted 3 years ago # -
1. Remember to pick the candidate up at the airport. Leaving them there for 3-4 hours is bad. Yes that happened to me.
2. Don't put the candidate in a cute B&B that doesn't start serving breakfast until 8am, and then schedule their first interview at 8am. (same place as #1)
3. After making the candidate miss breakfast for an 8am interview with the Dean, don't show up at the Deans office to find that you actually scheduled the interview for 9am and made the guy miss breakfast for no reason. (ditto)
Posted 3 years ago # -
Down time is key. A savvy person will want to look around unencumbered, let them know you respect that.
If you're a teaching-focused school (and even if you're not), build in time for a conversation just with students. Then, ask students their opinion of the candidate. It's harder to BS undergrads. But since they will be taking courses (or avoiding taking courses), this is a win/win. It makes you look like the department that cares about student input. It helps you weed out faculty who don't care for students. It helps candidates get a sense for what students are like at your institution. At highly selective LAC, the standard is to build in a dinner or lunch w/ the candidate and a select group of students.
Here are some don'ts: Be clear about the guest lecture, if you have one. If the person doing the guest lecture asks that you assign an article for your class to use as the basis of discussion, hand it out. I once arrived prepared to discuss a very controversial article, but the faculty had not assigned it to students (as they promised they would), and I was left floundering for 50 minutes. I looked bad. But it also made me question the department.
Don't make candidates do their own travel arrangements. The job search is stressful as it is, and many ABDs won't have the funds to pay up front for airfare or other travel costs. Your department has a secretary ask him/her to handle it. Besides, the candidate likely has little knowledge of the area and won't know what arrangements are best. Also, this gives you as a SC better control.
Oh, and don't book two on campus interviews so close together that the candidates share a night at the college guest house. That's a very awkward experience.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Don't require a teaching demonstration and a job talk. Pick one.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I once had group interviews. I was able to meet with almost all the faculty in a day. I think it was better. I did not need to worry about others' research interests given that I was answering questions all the time. Plus, there were not any awkward silences, which happens during some individual meetings when there is not much else to say.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Do the job talk first, before the 1-on-1s and group meals. That way people know what your research is about and you can have more in-depth and on-point conversations about it, without having to start from square one in every meeting.
Posted 3 years ago # -
^Totally agree.
Posted 3 years ago # -
If you're going to require a teaching demonstration, let the candidate choose the topic and assign the reading (of course, the candidates should fit the material into the course). It's not fair to judge a candidate's teaching ability while constraining them with another prof's material and subject matter. If you want to judge teaching, give them free reign for the day.
But for God's sake, if you're going to require someone to cover a certain subject with already assigned reading, scan the assignment and send it to the candidate well in advance.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I'll second giving time to look at the area. You're not just picking a university, you're also picking a new home, so you need some time to see it. Even if you're in a famous city, don't assume that everyone knows what it's like there.
Don't lead people on. I had an SC member tell me, "Oh I definitely liked you best" and then I didn't get the job. That just made me angry.
If someone is bringing a spouse, don't make assumptions about what he/she wanted to do. Ask. I brought my wife on a visit, and the SC didn't make any mention of her, so we just assumed she was on her own. She actually managed to schedule some appointments with employers in the area when we were in town, then we got there and the SC chair handed her a list of planned activities (coordinated with his wife), none of which she was interested in. It was awkward, and she also felt the committee was a litte sexist: the activities planned for her included things like looking at schools, etc.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I think schools need to seriously rethink 1 on 1s.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Agreed about seeing the city. I've taken a job in a city that I've only seen in the dark; had I had another offer, this may have factored into the decision.
Posted 3 years ago # -
^ I disagree about the travel arrangements part to an extent. I would rather book my own flights so I can have some control over time, layovers, etc. When departments have handled it, I have sometimes ended up with really inconvenient flight times, being forced to make an out-of-the way connection when a direct flight was available, etc.
But, of course, the hiring department should handle the lodging.
And, on that last point, be warned if you interview for a job in the UK! They bring in all the candidates on a single day; you will all likely be in the same guest house or hotel together.
Posted 3 years ago # -
"Don't lead people on. I had an SC member tell me, "Oh I definitely liked you best" and then I didn't get the job. That just made me angry."
Agreed. This is really unprofessional. Members of hiring departments should never say anything to a candidate about how they compare to the rest of the short list during the interview.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Ditto on the time to check out the area point. One school slotted half of one morning of a two day visit for going out with a real estate agent to look at the town and get a feel for housing options and prices; that was useful.
I'm also not a fan of the "cute B&Bs" mentioned upthread. As a candidate, I want smooth and easy more than cute, and quirky is right out. B&Bs often have constrained breakfast times and slow service, they don't always have irons / ironing boards in the rooms, internet access isn't always great (or even there), etc. Some B&Bs are awesome, but on average I'd rather go for a Mariott Courtyard or whatever where you are guaranteed to have the business traveler basics and where you already know the drill by heart.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I like to see where faculty--especially assistant profs--live. Not all of them, of course, but I like to see areas where I can expect to be looking for my first house.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I like arranging my own travel, didn't care about real estate or seeing the city (2 major cities), and thought the interview was mostly about the job, not about the standard of living. Only if you are in a place that has a miserable reputation, where you expect your candidates to not take an offered job, can I imagine this being a big issue.
I find that breakfast (if a meeting) in a place with good coffee to be important, making sure that people get to their meetings (and picked up) on time, being friendly, and so on. I also prefer staying close to campus; if that is a B&B great, a hotel fine. It makes mornings easier.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Scheduling activities for the spouse is really tacky indeed.
My .02-- forget the meetings with undergrads part if you're an R1. What's the point? The dept won't take whatever the undergrads say seriously and the candididate won't decide whether to accept the offer, based on whether he liked the 3-4 undergrads with prepared shpeals.
Posted 3 years ago # -
The downside to scheduling your own travel is, of course, waiting for reimbursements. Not awful with one or two interviews, but when you're expecting candidates to pay $400-500 for a relatively last minute plane ticket that adds up very quickly. You're asking a grad student to have an extra $1000-2000 in their checking account that they won't miss for a couple months.
And definitely agreed on job talk first, 1 on 1s later. Especially because you end up answering the same basic questions far less. I'm sure I sounded incredibly rehearsed by the time the 5th person asked me the same questions about my research agenda.
Posted 3 years ago # -
One place I visited had something akin to a small cocktail party at the house of two professors. Graduate students and faculty were invited and it was really nice to meet everyone in a relaxed setting and see how they interact with each other (and what they talk about). It gave me a good sense of the collegiality of the department.
Posted 3 years ago # -
^ Small and relaxed are keys there. I've had the cocktail party at a home thing on a couple of visits, and it usually is a great experience. At one school, basically the whole dept was there (~20) and were sort of all crowded in the living room looking at me and asking me questions w/o much talking amongst themselves -- like an extra round of job talk Q&A with the added stress of trying not to spit shrimp cocktail at anyone.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I do think it is unreasonable to ask candidates to book their own travel. For a hot candidate, this can easily add up to thousands of dollars. Departments could do three things about this. First, they could just give candidates some quantity of money which they can use to cover their ground transportation and flights. Even if this is more than needed for the candidates, it's a nice gesture of welcome and trust, and would make it easier for a lot of candidates. Second, departments could let candidates book their flights through university travel agents, who would directly bill the department. Third, departments could prepare a reimbursement check to be given on site. All of these are reasonable options and all should be feasible in a well-managed department.
on accommodations, departments most certainly should not scrimp. Candidates should be put in a nice hotel. It's best for everyone if candidates have privacy and a reasonable opportunity to rest.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Offer the interviewee something to drink throughout the day. He/she talks for eight-plus solid hours during a campus visit. Yes, we are capable of getting our own water/coffee/etc but offering someone a bottle of water before you expect them to talk for a solid hour is a positive signal that the members of the department have, you know, basic **** social skills.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Anyone going on the job market should open up a new credit card with as low an interest rate and as high a limit as they can get for some intro amount of time (6 months). They can then use that for all expenses. It helps with the record keeping and the low/no interest rate lets them hold out until the institution cuts them a check
Posted 3 years ago # -
Please make sure that graduate students who meet with the candidates, especially over a meal, are conscientious about allowing some time for the candidate to eat. In a room of 20 grad students who alternate questions, an hour goes by quickly and the candidate is bereft of down-time and a meal.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Plenty of bottled water and yes, no cute B and Bs. We need breakfast, printer, ironing board, etc.
Posted 3 years ago # -
I understand that ABD's might not have money to cover travel up front, but for many places prepaying for travel is not allowed by law/rule.
Posted 3 years ago # -
1. Pick the candidate up from the airport. If this cannot happen, make sure that they know if it will be a $100 cab ride from the airport. Also, please don't send a really old faculty member that may or may not be drunk to pick the candidate up from the airport.
2. Don't make the candidate spend 2 hours filling out the forms for a criminal background check.
3. Give the candidate bathroom breaks. Yes, breaks, as in more than one.
4. Give the candidate at least 15 minutes prior to their talk to prepare. ALONE. Giving them 15 minutes in a room with a bunch of professors doesn't count.
5. Make sure that your faculty, especially the older faculty, are aware that it is inappropriate and/or illegal to ask questions like, "How many kids do you have? No, really, you can tell me. Well, how many are you going to have?" "Does your husband know that you are interviewing here?" "How old are you? Really, you look younger than that. When's your birthday?"
6. PLEASE no bed and breakfasts! I stayed at one where there wasn't a lock on the door and there wasn't any hot water in the shower.
7. One on one visits should only be scheduled with people that have overlapping research interests or an important service responsibility.Posted 3 years ago # -
^ #7 makes no sense if the decision is one of the whole. In that case, every faculty members *should* meet with the candidate.
^^ I think it highly unlikely that any law prohibits prepaying travel.Posted 3 years ago #