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Â鶹Æƽâ°æ is committed to equal employment opportunity through inclusive, non-discriminatory recruitment and hiring practices. Competitive, open searches help ensure that hiring decisions are equitable, free from discrimination, and result in the selection of the best-qualified candidate. Exceptions to full search procedures are considered only when appropriately justified and determined to be in the best interests of the university.

Waivers and Exceptions – General Guidelines

A search is typically required to fill a vacant position. A search waiver requests approval to fill a position without conducting a search. This may be appropriate in any of the following circumstances:

1. Targeted Appointments of Special Eminence: When an unusual opportunity arises to hire an individual of distinctive national/international reputation or extraordinary promise whose accomplishments will uniquely elevate the department's/program’s research profile and undergraduate instructional capabilities.
2. Faculty Appointment Transitions: Per the W&M Faculty Handbook, the appointment of an existing Teaching Faculty (TF) member to a Tenured/Tenure-Eligible (TTE) position, or the appointment of a Â鶹Æƽâ°æing Teaching Faculty member to a TF or TTE position, requires an open search. In highly exceptional circumstances—such as retaining an invaluable scholar with a proven track record of scholarship and pedagogical excellence who has an outside offer—a search waiver may be granted.
3. Dual-Career/Spousal Hiring: To recruit or retain a TTE faculty member or senior administrator who fills a critical need, a waiver may be requested to appoint an accompanying spouse or domestic partner to an appropriate faculty position, provided the partner meets the academic standards of the hosting Arts & Sciences department or program and the appointment aligns with internal A&S guidelines governing dual-career hires.
4. Emergency, Critical-Need Temporary Appointments: To address a sudden, unanticipated departure, illness, or emergency curriculum gap.
5. Specialized Academic Scarcity/Failed Searches: When a minimum of two consecutive, competitive national searches have failed to yield a viable candidate pool due to a documented, highly specialized field of inquiry or scarcity of qualified practitioners.

Request and Approval Process

When requesting a search waiver, the hosting department chair or program director must provide evidence of the candidate's alignment with W&M’s pedagogical and scholarly standards.

1. Justification for Waiver: For all instructional faculty (TF and TE), the justification must clearly address the following three elements:
   1. Necessity of Waiver: Explain explicitly why a search waiver is required in this case based on the criteria above, and why the position cannot be filled through a standard open search.
   2. Curricular Fit: Detail how the candidate’s specific background directly meets an essential curricular or instructional need within the department or program.
   3. Pedagogical Excellence: Provide concrete evidence of the candidate’s teaching experience and classroom excellence.
      
      For tenured/tenure-eligible faculty, the justification must additionally address the candidate’s potential to establish a successful independent research program. When applicable, the proposal must include a realistic assessment of laboratory and research infrastructure needs.
2. Approval Workflow and Procedures: All search waiver requests will be evaluated according to the following process.
   • Initiation: The Department Chair or Program Director drafts a formal memo providing a rationale for the search waiver request (as outlined above) and a brief record of the hiring unit’s eligible faculty vote or consensus agreeing to proceed with a search waiver for the proposed position. This should be accompanied by a draft position description and the candidate's CV. Chairs and program directors must indicate their intention to submit a search waiver when the position is requested.
   • Dean's Review: The Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences evaluates the request against budgetary allocations, departmental curriculum needs, and strategic long-term goals.
   • Compliance Verification: The materials are routed to University Human Resources / Talent Acquisition to ensure compliance with institutional policies.
   • Provost Authorization: Per the Faculty Handbook, the final authority to waive a formal faculty search rests with the Provost. No offer of employment or contract may be extended before receiving explicit, written approval from the Provost’s office.

Important Conditions & Expectations for Departments: An approved search waiver promises only that there will be no competing candidates; it does not guarantee that the position will ultimately be offered to the applicant. The candidate is still required to apply through Workday and undergo a full institutional review, including a formal campus visit for TE/TF positions.

Requesting departments must ensure all communications with the candidate clearly reflect this condition. Departments should explicitly advise candidates to approach the campus visit with the same rigor as a standard competitive search, as a successful appointment remains contingent upon a positive evaluation by the faculty and administration.