Choosing the Selection Committee

 

There are many important considerations to weigh up when choosing the members of your selection committee. 

For HEW Level 7 and above Professional positions and for all Academic positions, you need at least three committee members.

For HEW Level 6 and below Professional positions, you need at least two committee members.

When choosing committee members, you need to ensure you have a member or members:

• with relevant and sufficient expertise in the area of appointment
• reflecting the reporting relationship with the position being recruited (i.e., the hiring manager)

It’s also important to:

• keep the numbers to a minimum to put the candidate at ease (being interviewed by a large committee is intimidating for even the most experienced of us)
• encourage all members to attend the University's Interview Skills Workshop
• be mindful of gender representation on the panel
• consider using a panel member from outside the Faculty/Office or University to provide a different perspective
• include people from diverse backgrounds (i.e., Indigenous Australians, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and people with disabilities) as appropriate to the circumstances).

Specific composition required

Further, for particular positions, as indicated below, a specific composition is required.

Table 1: This table provides information about the minimum requirements for the selection committee composition for particular positions

Position	Selection Committee Composition
Professor and Associate Professor	Executive Dean or delegate (Chair) Head of Department A member of the Department or external academic with expertise in the subject area
Senior Lecturer, Lecturer and Associate Lecturer	Head of Department A member of the Department or external academic with expertise in the subject area
HEW Level 10 and above, and Senior Executive	Head/Director of Office or Faculty General Manager A member of the Office with expertise in the subject area

The Selection Committee Chair may also include official observers, such as a member of Human Resources, Equity & Diversity or the Director, Human Resources or their representatives.

Key Responsibilities of the Selection Committee

Selection Committee members are responsible for ensuring:

• any possible conflict of interest is declared at the outset or as soon as it becomes apparent
• strict confidentiality is maintained before, during and after the selection process

How to introduce prior knowledge

When a staff member is invited to be on a selection committee, it’s their responsibility to determine if they have any relevant prior knowledge that may inadvertently influence the process. Prior knowledge may include, but is not limited to, relevant past poor performance or a perception of the candidate based on interactions with the person.

In such cases, it’s preferable that the Selection Committee member disclose to the Chair any prior knowledge so it can be considered by the Selection Committee in an appropriate manner during the decision making process.

A high level of caution and care should be exercised when introducing prior knowledge. Such knowledge may be:

• out of date and no longer relevant
• atypical and not representative of the candidate’s true capability or match to the position
• highly subjective
• overly advantageous or disadvantageous to the candidate in question

In such cases, the Selection Committee needs to seek as much relevant information as possible to validate the prior knowledge. Only then can it be used in the final decision making process.

Guidance may be sought from Human Resources or your Faculty or Office Human Resources Representative.