DOCUMENTING THE SEARCH

Committees, hiring authorities, and principal investigators must document searches to

ensure compliance with UW-Madison and U.S. Department of Labor records retention

requirements. Information documenting recruitment and selection procedures should be

retained for all hires. Departments, colleges, and schools must maintain records

documenting the following information for a period of six years from the date the position is

filled: information on all individuals who were hired; all individuals who were rejected; and

reasons for selection or non-selection. Among the records that must be retained to do this

are the following:

Ø the names of all members of the search committee and who served as chair;

Ø a copy of the position description and any additional forms, Position Vacancy Listing,

and Recruitment Efforts Plan;

Ø press releases and other publicity materials;

Ø a list of colleagues and professional organizations from which nominations were

solicited;

Ø list of applicants and nominees;

Ø candidate files, i.e., letters of application, resumes/vitae, transcripts, letters of

recommendation, examples of letters sent to applicants and nominees and copies of

correspondence with individual applicants and nominees;

Ø sample letters sent to applicants;

Ø list of interviewees and examples of questions posed in the interview process;

Ø On line Affirmative Action Data Questionnaires completed and submitted by applicants. (Note: retain for two years.)

Ø Any personal notes related to the search process (Note: retain for two years only).

While search committees are not required to retain minutes of their meetings, these may

prove valuable in reconstructing the search process in case a problem arises. The minutes

should include the dates the committee met and the dates when contacts were made with

applicants and nominees.

Within one week of sending letters notifying all unsuccessful applicants that a hire (or

hires) has been made, an Applicant Data Card (ADC) must be completed. Please send an email to Bonnie at bsundal@cdo.wisc.edu notifying her of the hire and an ADC card will be sent to the HR office and will be asked for any additional information needed to complete the ADC. When it is finalized, a final copy will be sent to the Dean/Director or HR office. Questions about the ADC card refer to Bonnie Sundal in OED.