Applications

There have been two activities that I've done for multiple years where I have been responsible for informing someone that their application has been accepted or rejected.

The first was during the twelve years cumulatively that I served as department chair. I did not have the sole responsibility for full-time applications, which went through a departmental committee and then with our recommendations were judged by the dean, who had the power to hire. (I did have that power when hiring adjuncts, with a much more informal process.)  Ultimately it fell to me to call with the decision when it was a rejection; the dean would make the offer to hire.

The second came years later when I started chairing a committee that was responsible for minicourse offerings at national meetings. Following the method of my predecessor I asked my committee to review the proposals and then reported back a summary of their recommendations leading to a slate. It then fell to me to write (email) the proposers about our acceptance or rejection.

The two activities had some differences in timing; for job searches we did not send out rejections until the job was filled and often would have to move to our second or third choice. With the minicourses acceptances were the end of the decision process.

These messages never come at a time when I am well-rested or have an empty to-do list, and so I have tried to develop good reflexes over the years so that I don't have to be creative each time. For the first few years I would use the previous communications as a template for my notes to make sure I didn't leave anything out.

Whatever the decision, the first and foremost thing is to acknowledge the good in the proposal, which every proposal has. Not to do so is to cause pain needlessly and sometimes can engender formal complaints. (I know of other departments where this has happened.)

If the message is rejection, then it must be for a reason that is understandable. The default is to say that the process was competitive (it always is, with more applications than slots) but if there is room for constructive criticism then it would be negligent to withhold it.  As always, criticism must be interwoven with praise in order to be heard and not defended against.

Finally, the response must be prompt. For job searches we let the applicants know when we will make our decision. For the minicourses the rejections must be in time to meet later deadlines at other venues for the proposals.

In any event sending rejections take their toll on me. I sent out a bunch early this week and I still feel a bit blue about it. It is a cost of the job.