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Placement Service Guidelines

NB: We will not be facilitating in-person interviews at the AIA/SCS annual meeting in 2023 or 2024. Our guidelines are under review to reflect this change in policy

Please reach out to info@classicalstudies.org with any questions.

In response to the increasing complexity and pressures of the academic marketplace and in keeping with the practices of other professional societies, the SCS and AIA have formed a Joint Committee on Career Planning and Development (formerly known as the Committee on Placement), charged with monitoring current hiring procedures and suggesting modifications and improvements when necessary. The Committee consists of seven members appointed by the SCS President, as well as three members appointed by the AIA President, with staggered three-year terms. At the time of appointing the Committee, the SCS President also designates one of its members as chair. Rank, type of institution, gender, minority status, and geography are considered in order to make the Committee as representative as possible. The SCS and AIA make special efforts to ensure that the Committee has members with diverse specialties and at least one person who has had recent experience as a candidate with the Placement Service. The Committee includes as non-voting ex officio members, the Chair of the SCS Committee on Diversity in the Profession, the Chair of the Committee on Gender and Sexuality in the Profession, and the Vice President for Professional Matters.

You can view the SCS's guidelines for interviews and distance interviews here.

In order to improve equity and transparency in the hiring process, users of the Placement Service are required to observe the following guidelines. Failure to observe these guidelines constitutes grounds for complaint.

  • A. Institutional Registration for the Placement Service
  • B. Job Advertisement Requirements
  • C. Communication Best Practice
  • D. Interview Best Practice
  • E. Advice to Candidates
  • F. Initiating the Complaints Process

A. Institutional Registration for the Placement Service

  1. Institutions that intend to conduct interviews at the Annual Meeting must purchase the Comprehensive Service package even if they plan to conduct those interviews online.
  2. If two individual departments or programs from the same college or university are conducting job searches, each department/program must register as a separate entity (institution) if it plans to utilize the Placement Service for its job search.
  3. The Placement Service will not provide on-site services at the Annual Meeting in 2022 or 2023.
  4. So that advertisements may reach as large an audience as possible, all openings available should be advertised in POSITIONS. Departments are also encouraged to advertise in other appropriate fora (e.g., electronic lists, letters to individual Classics departments).
  5. The SCS and AIA disapprove strongly of “charade listings,” that is, listing as open a position for which the candidate has been selected in advance.
  6. Institutions that conduct their hiring process through the Placement Service pay a “Fair Play” deposit as part of the Comprehensive Service Package. This deposit is returned upon receipt of the SCS post-hiring Survey that confirms compliance with Placement Service Guidelines outlined within this document, (especially the SCS Statement on Professional Ethics and AIA Code of Professional Standards [see Section B.5 below]).The “Fair Play” deposit may also be kept in the event of a registered complaint [see Section F. below].

B. Job Advertisement Requirements

  1. The advertisement should clearly state the deadline for the receipt of applications or for the start of review when the search is open-ended. In selecting a deadline, institutions should take into account the date when the advertisement of the position will appear and choose a date that gives candidates a reasonable amount of time to prepare and submit their applications. The Committee strongly suggests that, whenever it is possible, absolute deadlines be set for no earlier than four weeks after the first appearance of the advertisement in a Placement Service e-mail to candidates. In an open-ended search, the advertisement should include the date on which review will start, and this date must be at least 15 days from the date that the ad is first published.
  2. Job descriptions should be as specific and accurate as possible. In addition to specifying what degree requirements, specialization, and experience are desired from candidates, they should also be explicit about service obligations and the number of courses to be taught per term, especially in the case of non-tenure-stream positions.
  3. It should be clearly stated whether the position advertised has been approved by the administration or is contingent on budgetary authorization. The length of time for which the advertised position is authorized should also be clearly stated. If possible, the listing of a temporary position that might be extended should contain the words “renewable” or “possibly renewable,” and the number of years for which it might be renewed. If the person who was originally hired for the position is not going to hold the position for the following year, or if the position at any time turns into a tenure-stream position, the position should be re-advertised.
  4. The institution should state its intention to comply with fair hiring procedures at every stage in the search. US institutions should follow all EEOC anti-discrimination regulations (https://www.eeoc.gov/laws-guidance-0). Canadian Institutions are directed to follow the Employment Equity Act (S.C.1995, c.44). Religious institutions should see #B6 and #C8 below.
  5. Institutions registered with the Placement Service should abide by the SCS Statement on Professional Ethics and the AIA Code of Professional Standards, which agree on principles of non-discrimination. Particular attention should be paid to the sections noted below:

SCS Statement on Professional Ethics regarding discrimination:
“In all matters relating to employment, the Society for Classical Studies strongly endorses the 1976 AAUP Statement on Discrimination, revised in 1994 and 1995. Moreover, classicists should be protected against discrimination based on race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and actual or perceived medical conditions The Society for Classical Studies supports the principles of affirmative action and urges Classics departments to pursue affirmative action programs and policies aggressively.”

AIA Code of Professional Standards (III.3): Professional archaeologists should not practice discrimination or harassment based on gender, religion, age, race, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation. Project sponsors should establish guidelines that reduce the potential for discrimination or harassment, and have in place procedures to investigate and resolve complaints."

  1. Religious institutions within the scope of 42 USC 2000e-2(e) must include in their advertisements a statement of their religious affiliation and how that affiliation will affect their consideration of candidates, if it is the case that they plan to consider candidates’ religious affiliations, religious beliefs, and/or willingness to support, incorporate, or accommodate the tenets of the institution’s affiliation in teaching and/or research. Additionally, institutions that intend to condition employment on compliance with a code of conduct or signing a statement of faith should include such information in the advertisement and provide a link to any applicable code of conduct so that potential candidates can access the information.
  2. If institutions offer domestic partnership benefits this should be indicated in their advertisements.
  3. Institutions should be aware that SCS and AIA have members in countries around the world, some of whom may not possess authorization to work in the country in which the institution is located. Institutions should disclose to candidates relevant information regarding the position, e.g. whether the institution can (or cannot) sponsor a visa for the position advertised according to institutional policies.
  4. Institutions should avoid making demands on candidates for supporting materials that would be extremely onerous or expensive, unless it has determined such materials are necessary to its deliberations at the stage at which they are requested. In particular, ads should be explicit about what materials will be considered as evidence of successful teaching (e.g. sample syllabus, course evaluations) and research (e.g. offprint, dissertation chapter).

C. Communication

  1. Inquiries and applications should be acknowledged promptly and courteously (generally within two weeks of receipt). So that candidates can make travel arrangements in the most economical manner possible, institutions are encouraged to provide, whenever possible, sufficient notice to candidates about whether they will be interviewed at the Annual Meeting. Both positive and negative decisions about interviews should, insofar as it is possible, be relayed to candidates before the Meetings; negative decisions in particular should be communicated with care and sensitivity.
  2. Candidates whose applications are no longer being considered should be notified of this fact in a courteous manner as soon as possible. Institutions should advise candidates when they are not among the short list of final candidates.
  3. At the time of an interview, the institutional representative should give the candidates some indication of when a final decision is likely to be made.
  4. As soon as a final decision is made, all candidates under consideration should be informed.
  5. If a final decision is postponed beyond the academic year in which interviews occur, all candidates under consideration should be informed of this. The institution should promptly inform the Placement Service of the action taken on the position listed, informing the Placement Service specifically of the candidate hired.
  6. Except in unusual circumstances, candidates for junior positions should not be compelled to commit to a job offered for the next academic year before the end of January. The Placement Service recommends that the earliest date for an interviewer to ask a candidate for a decision is two (2) weeks after the Annual Meeting.
  7. Offers should be conveyed in writing as quickly as possible after a verbal offer. Candidates should not be expected to withdraw from their other searches until a written offer has been received and should be given a reasonable period of time (preferably two weeks but at least one week) to negotiate and tender a decision.
  8. Institutions are encouraged to respect requests for confidentiality as far into the search process as they can, and to break confidentiality, when it has been specifically requested, only with the consent of the candidate.
  9. Email requests between institutions and individuals for informal recommendations are discouraged.
  10. Candidates should not be asked at any stage in the process about their age, political views, marital status, family, race or national origin, disability, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, or sexual orientation. (These matters may, of course, be raised by the candidate in the course of their own enquiries.) Representatives of the institutions should not make inquiries about these matters outside the interviews.
  11. Questions about religious beliefs or affiliations are to be omitted except in the case of some institutions with religious affiliations, where such questions are lawful under the provisions of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act (Section 42, USC 2000e-2e).
  12. If a department hires a candidate with qualifications different from those stated in the job listing, it must be prepared to defend its action, in writing, with specific and substantial reasons.

D. Interviews

  1. Candidate interviews, whether in-person or via remote conferencing (online or by phone), should be conducted in a courteous, friendly, and professional manner. The interviewee’s personal and professional integrity should be respected at all times.
  2. As stated in the Guidelines, all interviews should ordinarily be conducted in the same manner, unless circumstances require a variance to accommodate extraordinary circumstances. All candidates should be interviewed for approximately the same amount of time.
  3. Interviews should be conducted in a manner and setting that will put candidates at ease, in accordance with the ethical standards noted above at Section B.5. Interviewers should refer to the Interview Best Practices Guide for details.
  4. The Placement Service strongly discourages institutions from recording candidates. If a department needs to record interviews (i.e. because a member of the search committee cannot participate due to illness or inability to travel), it should ask candidates in advance for consent as a matter of basic fairness and, in some states, of law. The SCS and AIA expect that institutions will comply with applicable laws relating to the recording of communications, including by obtaining any necessary consent. Departments should however be sensitive to the pressures that such queries present, because candidates are not in a position to withhold consent. Departments should also explicitly tell candidates if the recordings will become an official part of the search’s records.

E. Candidates

  1. Candidates are reminded that they also have obligations to the institutions and departments that have positions available. They should conduct themselves in a professional manner in both in-person and online interviews.
  2. Candidates are expected to keep their files up to date.
  3. Candidates are expected to remove themselves promptly from consideration if they have accepted a position elsewhere and also to inform the Placement Service by email of the change in their status.
  4. Distance interviews pose special challenges and candidates should consult the Interview Best Practices Guide for tips and advice. Candidates are strongly advised to test internet connections and equipment in advance. Institutions should make teleconferencing rooms and/or platforms available to their graduate students and faculty (non-tenure and tenure-stream).

F. Complaints

  1. Complaints with all necessary substantiating documents should be directed to the Communications and Services Coordinator (ks7537@nyu.edu), from which your materials will be sent on to the chair of the Committee on Career Planning and Development, the Executive Director of the SCS, or the AIA Vice President for Research and Academic Affairs, depending on the specifics of the complaint.
  2. The SCS Board and AIA Governing Board have directed these officers to inform them fully of the nature of alleged violations of these principles.

A Note on the Joint Committee on Career Planning and Professional Development

In response to the increasing complexity and pressures of the academic marketplace and in keeping with the practices of other professional societies, the SCS and AIA have formed a Joint Committee on Career Planning and Development (formerly known as the Committee on Placement), charged with monitoring current hiring procedures and suggesting modifications and improvements when necessary. The Committee consists of seven members appointed by the SCS President, as well as three members appointed by the AIA President, with staggered three-year terms. At the time of appointing the Committee, the SCS President also designates one of its members as chair. Rank, type of employment, gender, minority status, and geography are considered in order to make the Committee as representative as possible. The SCS and AIA make special efforts to ensure that the Committee has members with diverse specialties and at least one person who has had recent experience as a candidate with the Placement Service. The Committee includes as non-voting ex officio members, the Chair of the SCS Committee on Diversity in the Profession, the Chair of the SCS Committee on Gender and Sexuality in the Profession, and the Vice President for Professional Matters for the SCS, and the AIA Vice President for Research and Academic Affairs.

Approved, September 2021