June 21, 2025

Read Time - 4 minutes

Here's a scenario: A long-tenured faculty member retires.

They taught the cornerstone courses. They mentored junior faculty. They shaped your program’s identity for decades. So, you pull up their old job ad, tweak a few dates, and say,

“We need to find someone who can do what they did.”

It feels respectful.

It’s safe. It’s familiar.

But it’s not strategic.

When we replace faculty without reassessing our program-wide needs,

we often focus more on the fear of what we’re losing than the hope of what we could gain.

And here is what’s at risk:

Recreating the past is the fastest way to fall behind.

While we were busy cloning someone’s CV, the field evolved.

What was essential in 1995 might be limiting you in 2025.

Most Programs Don’t Think Strategically About Hiring

Not out of neglect, but default thinking.

Faculty hiring takes so much time, energy, and coordination that we tend to default to what’s familiar.

We look at who retired and try to find a version of them 30 years younger.

But that approach assumes two things:

1. That the expertise we’ve always had is the expertise we still need.

2. That there’s nothing else we’re missing.

And both of those assumptions are worth challenging.

It’s often hard to imagine the department without that particular subfield or skillset.

But the moment we decide to replicate it, we are also making a decision to limit everything else we could bring in:

• Community engagement experience

• Collaboration and interdisciplinary work

• Research or expertise aligned with emerging fields

• Student mentorship, digital tools, leadership, etc….

The list could go on.

The point is: Hiring is the moment we either expand our vision—or shrink it by default.

Two Common Hiring Traps That Keep Departments from Growing

1. The Familiarity Bias

We subconsciously gravitate toward candidates who feel familiar—people who remind us of ourselves or longtime colleagues. Side note: When senior faculty dominate hiring decisions, familiarity bias often follows.

It may feel collegial—but it can crowd out bold, future-focused choices. Hiring should be a decision made beyond any single demographic or seniority level. Alignment with the future requires input from across the spectrum.

2. The Narrow Process

We recycle old job ads.

We don’t cultivate diverse candidate pools.

We skip the hard conversations about what really matters.

And then we wonder why no one on the shortlist feels quite right.

Most searches start with a CV—then try to make the person fit.

But that’s backwards—

A great search starts with a crystal-clear understanding of who you’re looking for and why.

So How Do You Hire for the Future—Not the Past?

Here are 4 practical shifts you can make to escape the default hiring traps:

1. Start with an honest conversation

Before you start talking teaching loads, ask your faculty:

• What strengths are we missing?

• What are students asking for that we’re not delivering?

• What kind of colleague would make us better—not just maintain what we already do?

Zoom out—How could this faculty member contribute to our faculty community in the department, the college, the campus? These questions reveal what your next hire could actually bring.

You’re not hiring a clone—you’re hiring a catalyst.

2. Widen the frame

Instead of assuming you need a 1:1 replacement, list 3–4 potential futures your next hire could open up.

Examples:

• Could they bring expertise in online or hybrid teaching?

• Could they build industry partnerships for your students?

• Could they serve as a connector across programs?

Ask the question, “What’s being left off the table if we're focused on replacing and not reimagining?”

3. Choose a Chair Who Facilitates, Not Dictates

Here’s something I believe that can be controversial:

The chair of a search committee should be a skilled facilitator first,

and a discipline expert second.

And yet too often, we default to the senior content expert—when what we actually need is a chair who can:

• Invite diverse perspectives

• Keep the process focused but inclusive

• Surface values, not just credentials

• Prevent early consensus from derailing deeper conversation

A search chair sets the tone.

You can (and should) always include subject-matter experts on the committee.

But if the chair dominates with a narrow lens, engagement suffers—and so does the hire.

The process matters just as much as the outcome.

A good facilitator makes the committee smarter.

And a strong-armed expert can shut it down before it starts.

4. Make the Job Ad a Signal, Not a Checklist

If your job ad is vague—and your candidate rubric is traditional—you’ll get traditional results.

Too many job ads say:

“We seek excellence in teaching, research, and service.”

But what does that really mean?

If you value interdisciplinary work, international partnerships, mentorship, innovation, or culture-building—say it.

Make your expectations visible and specific.

Then go one step further:

Build those same values into your evaluation rubric.

Because if your rubric only scores publications, teaching, and service…

you’ll keep hiring exactly what you’ve always hired.

Remember, a bigger candidate pool doesn’t help if no one’s swimming in the right direction.

Without clarity on what alignment looks like, your committee will just waste time chasing resumes instead of building momentum.

And that’s usually because you never defined what alignment looks like.

Alignment starts with clarity.

That’s how you hire for impact—not just credentials.

Bottom Line

Hiring is your most powerful lever. Use it wisely.

Most departments hire to replace.

Smart departments hire to transform.

They don’t just fill a line—they define what’s next.

They ask:

“What kind of future are we building—and who do we need to get there?”

That’s not just good hiring.

That’s good leadership.

Try This Before Friday: A 10-minute job ad audit

Open your last faculty job ad.

Now audit it with a red pen (or comments in Word):

Does it clearly state what matters most to your department today?

Does it reflect where the field is going, not where it’s been?

Would a candidate know if they’re fit—or are they guessing?

Clear ads attract aligned candidates. Vague ones attract volume...and confusion.

That's all for today. See you next Saturday.

Ready to Help Others?

We get better when we share what works. If this sparked a new idea for you, pass it along to a colleague you respect—it might help them too.

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