Regulations
Governing International Faculty Review and Promotion at
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Contents
1. General Provisions. Definitions and abbreviations. 2
2. HSE Internal Guidelines on Review and Promotion for international faculty 5
CONCLUDING REMARKS 17
Appendix 1. GUIDANCE NOTE for ANNUAL MONITORING 18
1. General Provisions. Definitions and abbreviations.
1.1. Current regulations govern recruitment procedures of faculty from the international job market for junior and senior full-time tenure-track and tenured in-residence academic staff, which are carried out in accordance with internationally recognized competitive procedures at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (“NRU HSE” or “HSE”) by IFSU – NRU HSE International Faculty Support Unit, part of the Office of Internationalization with involvement of individual faculties and departments.
International recruitment of students and administrators are carried out by different departments within HSE and covered by separate HSE regulating documents.
1.2. Terminology used throughout these Regulations:
Applicant – international faculty member undergoing the international recruiting procedures at HSE;
Coordinator – an administrative officer appointed by the Unit in order to provide administrative support to international faculty employed at this Unit;
Fly-out – a final stage of interviewing procedure conducted on campus, consisting of a research presentation by applicant, interviews with selection committee and administrative staff, campus tour, discussions with administrative support units;
Full-time contract – a type of a labor contract guaranteeing a full standard workweek to a faculty member or a researcher, usually 36 astronomical hours with a 6-day workweek or 40 astronomical hours with a 5-day workweek;
Joint appointment – a special type of labor relationship between NRU HSE and the international faculty member, where there is more than one contract governing the terms of his or her employment at HSE, where one contract is considered the primary contract, and the rest – subordinate or secondary; subordinate/secondary contracts are always part-time at a different Unit from that of the primary contract;
International faculty member (IH) – a holder of a PhD degree or equivalent, obtained at one of the leading international university or research center, recruited to HSE through the international recruitment procedure governed by this document;
International recruiting procedure – a process of competitive selection of IHs to HSE using the internationally accepted set of rules, governing selection PhD-holding faculty at leading international universities;
International faculty recruiting – all activities related to advertising, screening, selection, and accompanying legal and financial supporting procedures carried out for the purpose of attracting IHs to HSE;
“Writing sample” – a written result of applicant’s intellectual labor, presented for evaluation during the international recruiting procedure. (Referred to as a “job market paper” in economics.);
Long list – a subset of applicants considered by the search committee to be a potential fit to the advertised HSE job based on general qualifications, such as PhD-granting institution, number of publications, research interests, etc., as defined by the job requirements;
Part-time contract – a type of a labor contract guaranteeing less than a standard workweek to a faculty member or a researcher, or a reduced number of full standard workweeks in a calendar year;
Post-doctoral researcher – a person who has completed advance degree studies (typically a PhD), employed on a limited-term contract for the purpose of conducting research at HSE;
Search committee – a committee composed exclusively of tenured professors at international research universities performing the initial evaluation of document packets submitted by applicants for consideration to various positions and creating a long-list of candidates;
Selection committee – a committee chaired by the head of the Unit performing final evaluation of short-listed candidates for the fit of the applicants’ profiles to the HSE academic jobs;
Short list – a small, final subset of applicants who have gone through initial remote interviewing (by phone or other remote means) and screening by the selection committee, and who are deemed qualified to be invited for the on-campus interview (fly-out);
Unit – an accepting department within NRU HSE (faculty, department, laboratory, research center, etc.) where the international faculty member will be employed according to the labor contract between HSE and the employee.
1.3. Abbreviations used throughout these Regulations:
HR Department – Human Resources Department;
IH – “international hire,” the faculty members hired by procedures outlined in this document;
IFSU – NRU HSE International Faculty Support Unit, part of the Office of Internationalization;
IRC – International Recruiting Policy Committee, created by the order of the HSE rector on 20.07.2015, № 6.18.1-01/2007-05;
SACS – Senior Academic Selection Committee
SSC – Senior Search Committee
1.4. International recruiting process at NRU HSE consists of several basic processes, carried out throughout the academic year:
· Planning and organization of all activities related to international faculty recruiting at NRU HSE;
· All procedures of international recruiting;
· Administrative and financial support procedures necessary for legalizing the labor relations between NRU HSE and selected IHs, including all procedures governed by the procedures of competitive selection of applicants to faculty positions to NRU HSE;
· All activities related to integration of IHs into the NRU HSE professional academic environment and their accommodation to the new place of employment.
All legal procedures involved in the labor relationships between NRU HSE and the IHs are governed by laws of Russian Federation and local normative documents established at NRU HSE.
1.5. All policies, procedures, regulations, including strategic plan and vision for international recruiting, as well as general coordination of the recruiting departments, are established and carried out by the IRC and the supervising vice-rector. The only exception is international recruiting realized as part of the competitive grant program financed by special grants from the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
1.6. Competitive selection of IHs, recruited as part of the Ministry of Education competitive research grant program, is carried outside the international recruitment procedure, and is governed by a separate set of regulations and procedures.
1.7. International recruitment procedures carried out at Units, established in cooperation with international partners, are guided by internal regulations of such Units, if such exist. In case of a conflict between departmental internal regulations and the current document, departmental regulations take precedence.
2. HSE Internal Guidelines on Review and Promotion for international faculty
The present section describes purposes, timing, procedures and outcomes of review and promotion procedures applicable to Internationally Recruited tenure-track academics. The overall responsibility for the review process rests with the HSE Promotion and Review Committee (HSE PRC) and Unit’s bodies set for the purposes of review of the Unit’s international faculty activities, decision making on promotion, extension and termination of their employment contracts by the Unified HSE PRC. The Unit’s bodies for these purposes include a Unit Committee on Review and Promotion (Unit RPC) for the purposes of interim and tenure review, and Unit Senior Appointment and Promotion Committee (Unit SAPC) for the purposes of promotion to Full professorship. These committees make all decisions on behalf of the Unit within the scope of their responsibilities.
2.1. Unit Review Committees
2.1.1. Unit Review and Promotion Committee
The members of the Unit RPC for the purposes of interim and tenure review are holders of the following positions:
· Dean
· Unit head
· All Unit’s tenured (International) full-time academics
· At least two external senior academics suggested by the Unit
· Unit’s Senior academics co-opted by RPC
Promotion decision is made by consensus of all eligible members of the Committee, or where consensus cannot be reached, by supermajority (75%) voting.
The decision is subject to approval by the Vice-Rector in charge of international recruitment and promotion and the unified HSE RPC; the discretion of these bodies are confined to ensuring that the procedure was objective, fair, and in full accordance with the current guidelines and the University statutes.
2.1.2. Unit Senior Appointment and Promotion Committee
2.1.2.1 The Unit Senior Appointment and Promotion Committee for the purposes of promotion to Full (International) professorship consists of holders of the following positions:
· All Unit’s Full (International) Professors. In case the Unit does not have Full International Professors, holders of such title from other disciplines are invited to participate in the process if not for the expertise in a given field, then for adherence to regulations and procedures.
· At least two externally appointed academics in the rank of Full (International) Professors. In case no Unit’s full professors are available to service on the committee (see above), two more external full professors in the chosen discipline may be requested to participate in the process.
· Unit’s academics in the rank of full (but not International) professor co-opted by RPC
2.1.2.2 The decisions of the Unit SAPC are made by consensus of all eligible members of the Committee, or where consensus cannot be reached, by supermajority (75%) voting.
2.1.2.3 The decision is subject to approval by the First Vice-Rector in charge of international recruitment and promotion and the HSE RPC; the discretion of these bodies are confined to ensuring that the procedure was objective, fair, and in full accordance with the current guidelines and the University statutes.
2.2. INTERIM REVIEW (First 3-year term)
2.2.1. Interim Review: general. An overall review of a IH’s activities (including research and teaching) for the whole period of employment (Interim Review) is made in the third year of employment. As a result of the Interim Review, the employment contract may be extended:
· for a second 3-year term tenure-track term,
· for a 1-year or a 3-year teaching-track term,
· for 1-year, non-renewable term.
2.2.2. Interim Review: criteria for employment extension
· Evidence of reasonable chances to obtain tenure in three years, usually demonstrated as research that is published or is expected to achieve publication in reputable professional journals, considered, if necessary, together with the references, reports and recommendations. In accordance with the HSE requirements, research of the successful candidate has to be published at least as a working paper(s).
· Evidence of good teaching.
· Evidence of constructive contributions to the Unit’s and HSE activities.
2.2.2.1 The Unit RPC will consider all cases individually, in strictly confidential and non-discriminatory manner. The committee has an ultimate authority to make judgements at its discretion, depending on the particular circumstances of the candidate.
2.2.2.2 If after the Interim Review, the research and teaching are considered satisfactory for continuation of tenure-track employment, the IH is offered a second 3-year employment contract. The conditions of subsequent contract cannot be downgraded. Salary adjustment may be also considered as described further in this document.
2.2.2.3 If after the Interim Review the IH’s research are considered insufficient for tenure-track employment, but the IH demonstrates sustained excellence in teaching as evident by teaching evaluations, informal student reports, and peer evaluations, he (she) may be offered an employment contract for a 1-year or a 3-year term as a teaching track IH. Decisions on the length of the term are made by the RPC at the time of the review. Contractual obligations on teaching will be increased up to 12 academic hours per week and the salary range must be established in accordance with the HSE guidelines for teaching-track international faculty.
2.2.2.4 If after the Interim Review the IH’s both research and teaching are considered insufficient for further employment, he or she may be offered a term of 1 more year, after which the contract is terminated. The conditions of such subsequent contract cannot be downgraded.
2.2.3. Interim Review: timing and procedures
2.2.3.1 The candidate is requested to present a CV, a report, a set of published or unpublished papers, and a list of not more than three names of recommended external reviewer(s) before a deadline (set as February 1).
2.2.3.2. For each candidate, Head of the Unit (Dean) presents a report on the overall performance as a tenure-track faculty member, describing his/her role in strengthening reputation of the university, development of research activities and curriculum, teaching performance (based on internal 3-year teaching monitoring and Unit’s /HSE student survey and peer review results), and other contributions to the Unit and the university.
2.2.3.3 The Interim Review is to be completed no later than two months before the end of his (her) initial 3-year employment term (usually by June 30).
2.2.4. Interim Review: Research evaluation
2.2.4.1 For each review the Unit RPC (subject to approval by the Unified HSE RPC) appoints:
· two (if necessary, three) external reviewers in relevant academic field(s), one of whom is invited from the list proposed by the IH, and the second (third) is an anonymous reviewer (s),
· an internal reader in relevant academic field (where possible) who is a tenured HSE professor under an international contract.
2.2.4.2 Research papers prepared by the FTA candidate are also distributed to all Unit’s tenured professors, who have the right to express their views and recommendations in written to the Unit RPC and Unified HSE RPC.
2.2.4.3 External reviewers and the internal reader are requested to prepare independent reports on the candidate’s research activities, taking into account his (her) published and unpublished papers. These reports, as well as the recommendations of the tenured professors, are confidential and are disclosed only to UNit RPC members and Unified HSE RPC members, but not to IH under review. However, the Unit RPC may disclose any substantive comments made by a review on the research papers, provided this can be done in a way which maintains the confidentiality of the reviewer.
2.2.4.4 The final evaluation of the research activities by the Unit RPC (or Unified HSE RPC) is based on reports, feedback and recommendations of the external reviewers, the internal reader and the tenured professors. If the IH’s research and teaching are considered insufficient for further employment by both the internal reader and the tenured professors, the external reviewers may not to be asked to provide their recommendations.
2.2.4.5 External reviewers could be offered a reasonable fee if necessary.
2.2.5. Interim Review: Teaching evaluation
The evaluation of teaching activities relies on a report, prepared by the Head of the Unit (Dean) and based on the candidate’s teaching internal monitoring, including teaching evaluations.