Quality assurance of appointment processes

Mandatory and structured approval and selection processes via centralized and decentralized institutions, as well as experts, guarantee professionalism, transparency and efficiency.

Appointment processes are governed by appointment regulations in line with the statutory and LUH’s own regulations. They are legally binding. The appointments management team also provides a wide range of information and literature, such as handouts, guidelines and templates, to help the faculties carry out appointment processes properly.

Competitive processes and the quality of job candidates are key to selecting the best people. Internationally published calls for applications and a personal approach to women, young academics and researchers abroad in particular are used to recruit a broad range of applicants in terms of profile and potential. Recruitment guidelines, available from the university, help faculties to find candidates.

The online application portal for professorships provides valid data quality for the work of the appointment commission, ensures the privacy of applicants’ data and enables faster and more efficient management of processes.

The exclusion of personal conflicts of interest is a prerequisite for an objective and fair assessment of candidates in appointment processes, meaning that participation in appointment and evaluation procedures is subject to the exclusion of conflict of interest. The necessary distance for an unbiased assessment is determined for each committee member at the beginning of their participation in the selection process and any bias is documented. The criteria are closely based on the DFG guidelines (German Research Foundation).

Involving external experts in selection processes ensures that applicants are assessed independently. The decision-making process and transparency are also improved because various perpectives are reflected. The commissions can be expanded accordingly to include specialist knowledge that is not covered by LUH professors. External expertise is reflected by professors who are members of appointment commissions, or by obtaining written expert reports from external experts. For reasons of transparency, the selection of external experts must be justified. Assurances must also be provided that no conflicts of interest exist.

Candidates can find out information about the current status of the process anywhere and at any time. To ensure applicants are treated fairly and respectfully in appointment processes, they are also informed regularly and quickly about the status quo in writing.

Equal opportunities, gender and diversity are reflected at all phases of the appointment process. In other words, from the moment the appointment proposal is approved, all processes and decisions are verified to ensure that equal opportunities, gender and diversity aspects have been considered. The wording of job ads, decisions not to advertise jobs, the makeup of appointment commissions, the selection of experts, as well as appointment proposals, require the consent of the equal opportunities officers and university bodies. To ensure equal opportunities are provided, equal opportunities officers take part in all commission meetings in an advisory capacity to ensure equal opportunities and thus supports the goal of the appointment policy to increase the number of female professors at LUH.

Appointment processes at LUH are subject to quality assurance at three levels by the internal and external university bodies (the presidential board, the senate and the university council). They review the appointment proposal to ensure it reflects the university’s development planning strategy, compliance with the formalities and legal requirements of the process and the quality of candidates shortlisted.