Recruitment of Academic Staff at Aarhus School of Architecture

At Aarhus School of Architecture, our recruitment of academic staff is goal-oriented and strategic.

The school has a particular focus on the following areas:

Setting up search committees
The use of shortlisting
That the composition of assessment and hiring committees is characterised by diversity and that there is attention to possible biases in the selection of applicants
An open and inclusive hiring process

Below, you can read more about the way we hire academic staff at the school.

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Academic Positions and Position Advertisements

The decision to advertise academic positions is made by the school’s Rector.

The way academic positions are structured and the content of the individual position categories are stipulated in a ministerial order issued by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (see the ministerial order in Danish on retsinformation.dk). The order applies to all employees employed in artistic or academic positions at the school.

As a rule, open positions must be advertised to make them accessible to the public. Positions at the associate professor and the professor level must be advertised internationally.

Collective Agreements and Local Salary Agreements

Salaries and terms of employment for the school’s academic staff are regulated by the agreement for state employed graduates (the AC agreement). The collective agreement salary is supplemented by local partial agreements, which, among other things, determine salary supplements for the academic staff. In addition to this, it may be possible to have an annual individual salary negotiation based on qualifications.

The Recruitment Process

The school’s recruitment process is aimed at identifying the most qualified employee for a vacant position. As the school is an educational and research institution of the Danish state, the recruitment process is regulated in the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (see the ministerial order in Danish on retsinformation.dk), which sets out the overall framework for the recruitment of academic staff.

In order to strengthen and make more efficient the school’s work with the recruitment of academic staff, the school has decided to use shortlisting to fill academic positions. For some positions, the school may furthermore decide to make use of a search committee.

In the following, you can read more about the recruitment processes, including our use of search committees, shortlisting, hiring committees, and assessment committees.

The composition of assessment and hiring committees

At Aarhus School of Architecture, we aim to involve all talents, regardless of gender, age, seniority, nationality/ethnicity, physical or mental obstacles, and backgrounds.

Having the right academic and professional qualifications is the highest priority in the composition of assessment and hiring committees, etc. The school, however, also has a special focus on diversity in the composition and on avoiding bias when selecting members, etc.

Setting Up Search Committees

When relevant, the school may decide to set up a search committee in connection with a specific open position.

The search committee helps the Rector inform the profile and content of the position and also helps choose on which platforms and in which media the position should be communicated.

The search committee focuses on talents in the academic area and helps spread the knowledge about the open position in relevant forums and to relevant candidates at home and abroad.

The members of the search committee may, for instance, comprise the academic leadership, including the Rector, as well as a teacher or a professor from the subject area the position is related to. The search committee always performs its work under the Rector.

Shortlisting

Applicants for academic positions are not entitled to an academic assessment simply by having applied for an academic position. Consequently, the school, based on the profile of the advertised position, is entitled to choose which applications should proceed to an actual academic assessment.

Shortlisting makes it possible to eliminate applications that are ‘obviously not qualified’ in relation to the advertised position. The selection is based on the qualifications, competencies, experience and potentials called for in the specific position advertisement.

The school uses shortlisting to maintain its focus on assessing qualified applicants in depth.

The Rector sets up a group consisting of the chairman of the Assessment Committee and a member of the Hiring Committee, who advise on which candidates should be shortlisted for assessment.

As a rule, a minimum of five applicants must be selected for assessment unless there are fewer relevant applicants for the advertised position.

The use of shortlisting is indicated in the position advertisement.

Applicants whose applications are not chosen for assessment are sent a message informing them of this immediately after the selection. Applicants whose applications are chosen for academic assessment are also informed about this.

The Academic Assessment

In connection with positions at associate professor and professor level and the transition of permanent staff from a position at assistant professor level to a position at associate level, the Rector appoints the members of an assessment committee, including a chairman of the committee.

In connection with filling other positions, the Rector sets up an assessment committee or appoints one or more experts to conduct a comprehensive academic assessment of the applicants.

The composition of the committee and experts is not finally decided on until after the application deadline has expired, when any impartiality issues can be clarified. Applicants whose applications are chosen for assessment (shortlisted) are informed about the composition of the committee.

The Assessment Committee is required to perform an academic assessment of all shortlisted applicants.

The Assessment Committee, or the experts, send a reasoned, written, non-prioritised assessment of the applicants’ professional qualifications to the Rector. Each applicant is assessed as either qualified or not qualified.

Each applicant receives the part of the assessment that concerns them personally. If an applicant has any remarks about the assessment, the remarks are considered by the administration and possibly by the Assessment Committee or the experts.

It is not within the remit of the Assessment Committee or the experts to advise the Rector on the selection of candidates.

The Hiring Committee

Once the assessment process has been completed, the Hiring Committee takes over the further work of selecting candidates.

The Hiring Committee only assesses the applicants the Assessment Committee has declared to be academically qualified.

The Hiring Committee assesses the qualified applicants in relation to the specific requirements for the position. As part of this process, the Hiring Committee may invite one or more applicants for an interview.

The Hiring Committee prepares a reasoned recommendation for the Rector regarding which applicant(s) should be hired.

The Hiring Committee is set up by the Rector. The Hiring Committee provides advice during the entire recruitment process, from the selection of applicants (shortlisting) to advising the Rector on which applicants should be hired.

The Hiring Committee has no influence on the academic assessment.

Hiring Candidates

The Rector decides which of the applicants should be hired. If the Rector does not want to fill the position, it is up to the Rector to decide whether the position should be advertised again or should be left unfilled.

All applicants are informed about the Rector’s decision orally or in writing. The Rector’s decision is final and cannot be contested.

General Administrative Rules

A decision about hiring someone is a decision that falls under the Danish Public Administration Act. For this reason, several rules and principles apply to the selection of applicants and the decision about whether or not to hire a candidate.

Impartiality

As soon as the names of the applicants are known to the members of the Assessment Committee and the Hiring Committee, the members consider whether there may be any impartiality in relation to one or more of the applicants.

A member is deemed to not be impartial when there are circumstances that can cast doubt about the member’s impartiality. This may for instance, be the case if the member has a special personal or financial interest in the outcome of the case or if the member is related to an applicant.

If one or more members are not impartial, the relevant member(s) step down from the work, and another member is appointed.

Confidentiality

The members of the Assessment Committee, the Hiring Committee, and the experts are under an obligation of confidentiality.