Behind the Scenes of Faculty Affairs: Streamlining the Faculty Journey

The process of hiring and supporting faculty may sometimes feel a bit opaque—much goes on behind the scenes to ensure that the outcome is effective, equitable and sustainable. At California State University, Northridge, the Office of Faculty Affairs has recently evolved to make that process more transparent and coordinated.

“Faculty Affairs is responsible for overseeing the life cycle of faculty, both lecturers and tenure-track,” explains Christina Mayrhauser, Interim Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs. “We help them with all manner of things as they go through that journey, as well as work with the Provost and Academic Affairs more generally.” That includes everything from navigating recruitment and evaluation to ensuring compliance and logistical support for the hiring process and it involves many layers of support, from department heads to deans. 

Key to this evolution is a partnership with Anne Choi, Assistant Vice President for Faculty Programs and Initiatives, whose office leads tenure-track searches with a focus on equity. Dr. Choi’s role focuses on the earlier stages of searches—ensuring that recruitment is equity-minded, that interview rubrics are fair, and that the plans meet state and federal guidelines,” Mayrhauser says. Meanwhile, Faculty Affairs handles the technical side: managing the systemwide HR database, overseeing approvals and shepherding searches from recommendation to offer.

The collaboration ensures both the equity and the efficiency of faculty hiring. “It’s a cross-division approach,” Mayrhauser notes. “We aim to find wonderful new colleagues who will help the university push forward its mission to be equitable, welcoming, and always student-centered.”

Our efforts to continuously improve our faculty hiring and orientation processes—such as streamlining search logistics, expanding faculty orientation and moving lecturer hiring into the Common Human Resources System—signal a commitment to consistency and fairness across CSUN’s 60 departments.

As Mayrhauser says, “Our goal is to create cohorts of faculty who will not only teach and mentor students but also embody the mission of CSUN itself.”