“Ever since President Kent (Chabotar), growth is the order of the day,” said Tim Lindeman, chair of the music department. As seven of the departments search for new faculty, including accounting, English, history, music, peace and conflict studies, religious studies, and sports studies, who can argue?Hiring is a year-long process that starts with a department’s appeal for a new position to the clerk’s committee, which decides whether the position is needed. After the committee approves, national advertisements are placed. Once answered, faculty members may process as many as 360 candidates for a position. Then, after the culling of the applications, come preliminary interviews of perhaps 10-20 candidates.

“The initial process is speed-dating,” said Eric Mortensen, chair of the religious studies department. “It’s awful. It’s very short interviews. Usually you can tell very quickly if it’s someone you do not want to work with . We’re looking for people who are good teachers and someone who would be a good colleague for the next several decades. We joke that you see colleagues more than your families.”

Eventually, the applicants are narrowed down to three finalists who are invited to Guilford for two days of more extensive interviews.

“It’s exhausting but invigorating at the same time,” said Jim Hood, chair of the English department. “It’s more work to do on top of everything else but the opportunity to talk about Guilford and to see it through someone else’s eyes and to see our strengths anew is very exciting. It helps me become a better teacher.”

Upon arrival, each candidate meets several members of the community.

“Here at Guilford we collaborate a lot across different department boundaries,” Hood said. “We have a decision-making process. The candidate needs to understand this is a place of community decisions.”

“It’s an exhausting process for the candidate. I remember doing it myself; I don’t think I ever slept better,” Mortensen said.

While on campus, candidates teach a sample class to demonstrate what kind of professor they will be. Students are welcomed to attend these as well as to take the candidate to lunch, without faculty present. Students are then encouraged to fill out evaluations on each candidate.

“The students play a massive role in deciding who their faculty will be. I don’t think students realize that,” Mortensen said.

After all three candidates are evaluated, the department ranks the three finalists. They present the list to the division chair and to the office of the academic dean. These deliberate until an agreement is met. Then the dean will make an offer to the top candidate.

“People look one way on paper,” Lindeman said. “Sometimes they’re different in person. You’re really trying to get a fit for someone who is really going to be happy in our community. There are a whole lot of qualified people; finding the right one is the trick. If you do find the right person, everything else is a piece of cake . In my dreams they will raise the bar and expand us in new directions.”

Many departments hope to draw in more students with these new positions, though the need for these positions is mainly due to the already rapidly growing student population.

Often, departments with more majors are more likely to gain new positions and the departments with more professors are more likely to draw in new students. Mortensen describes it as a “chicken and egg” effect.

Although the college has grown over the last four to five years, keeping the faculty-to-student ratio at 16 to 1 remains a priority, which has meant significant hiring.

“I’ve been at Guilford for a long time and it’s gratifying and rewarding to see the growth we have fostered,” Lindeman said. “There are problems with that growth but they’re great problems to have.