Sunshine Recruitment

This page covers the Florida Sunshine Law in regards to recruitment and is designed to provide information to ensure compliance.

A search committee must be utilized in the hiring process of any position at the Director level and above and all ranked faculty positions. This does not include Visiting, Adjuncts, Instructors, Lecturers, and Post-Doctoral Associates. A search committee may be utilized in the hiring process for other positions, but is not required. Human Resources maintains a comprehensive list of Position Class codes and Titles requiring recruitment under the Florida Sunshine Law.

A search committee under the Florida Sunshine Law has decision-making authority to screen applicants and determine which applicants to reject from further consideration. The search committee may develop selection criteria, rank applicants, identify interviewees, and select finalists.

All meetings and interviews conducted as Sunshine Recruitments are required to be publicized at least seven days in advance. Publication is made on the UWF Public Meetings webpage. To submit a Public Meeting Notice, as required by the Florida Sunshine Law, complete the UWF Event Calendar form. The “Meetings” calendar must be selected and "Public Meeting Notice" must be selected in the Event Type field.

You will need to make sure that you mark “Yes” to the following question:

Is the general public invited to attend? Note: The media would be considered general public.

The announcement must include:

Position Name
Position Number
Meeting or Interview Date and Time
Location
Contact Information
Purpose of the meeting: To discuss _________________________and other related topics. Examples: conduct candidate interviews, review candidate applications, discuss qualifications of candidates, deliberate on selection of candidates. (this is lieu of having to post an agenda)
The minutes will be available upon request after the meeting by contacting hr@uwf.edu or 850.474.2694.
ADA statement - “ADA Statement: Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to attend this meeting is requested to advise UWF by contacting the UWF Human Resources at 850.474.2694 (Voice) at least 48 hours before the meeting.”

EXAMPLES

Search Committee Meeting

Search Committee Meeting for Director, Sponsored Research:

The Search Committee for Director, Sponsored Research (position #123456) will hold a committee meeting on July 23, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. for the purpose of discussing the committee charge, logistics and other related topics. This is a public meeting to which all persons are invited. The meeting will be held in Building 10, Room 247. For additional information contact Minnie Mouse, mmouse@uwf.edu. The minutes of the meeting will be available upon request after the meeting by contacting hr@uwf.edu or 850.474.2694.

“ADA Statement: Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to attend this meeting is requested to advise UWF by contacting the UWF Human Resources at 850.474.2694 (Voice) at least 48 hours before the meeting.”

Phone Interview and Search Committee Meeting

Phone Interviews & Search Committee Meeting for Director, Sponsored Research:

The Search Committee for Director, Sponsored Research (position #123456) will hold a committee meeting to conduct candidate phone interviews, hold discussions and deliberation on selection of candidates and other related topics on August 17, 2021, in the Building 12,
Alumni Room. This is a public meeting to which all persons are invited to attend in person. The phone interviews will be conducted as follows:

8:00am John Smith
9:00am Suzie Green
10am Sallie Mae
11am Davey Lewis
12pm Lunch

1:00 p.m. – Discussions and deliberation for selection of candidates to move forward to the next step in the selection process.

All interview start times and discussions are contingent upon adjournment of the previous interviews.

For additional information contact Minnie Mouse, mmouse@uwf.edu. The minutes of the meeting will be available upon request after the meeting by contacting hr@uwf.edu or 850.474.2694.

Virtual Interviews

Virtual Interviews for Director, Sponsored Research:

The Search Committee for Director, Sponsored Research (position #123456) will hold a series of committee meetings in order to conduct candidate interviews and other related topics. This is a public meeting to which all persons are invited to attend by using this link:
http:examplevirtualmeeting.com. The public is also invited to attend by phone at 888.555.2929 and use passcode: 123456. The dates and times of the meetings are as follows:

July 23, 2021, 10:00 a.m. – Anita Job
August 24, 2021, 1:30 p.m. – Krystal Ball
September 22,2021, 9:00 a.m. – Sam Sung
September 28, 2021, 11:00 a.m. – Donald Duck

For additional information contact Minnie Mouse, mmouse@uwf.edu. The minutes of the meeting will be available upon request after the meeting by contacting hr@uwf.edu or 850.474.2694.

Search Committee Meeting (In-Person and Virtual)

Search Committee Meeting for Director, Sponsored Research:

The Search Committee for Director, Sponsored Research (position #123456) will hold a committee meeting on July 23, 2021, 10:00 a.m., for the purpose of selecting candidates for on campus interviews and other related topics. This meeting will be held in Building 10, Room 247. This is a public meeting to which all persons are invited. The public is also welcome to attend virtually or by phone: http:// examplevirtualmeeting.com, or 888.444.2929 and use passcode: 123456.

For additional information contact Minnie Mouse, mmouse@uwf.edu. The minutes of the meeting will be available upon request after the meeting by contacting hr@uwf.edu or 850.474.2694.

In-Person Campus Interviews

Campus Interviews for Director, Sponsored Research:

The Search Committee for Director, Sponsored Research (position #123456) will hold committee meetings for candidate interviews with different groups on campus and to discuss other related topics in the Building 12, Alumni Room, as follows:

July 23, 2021

9:30am Search Committee
10:30am Extended Cabinet
11:30am Department Group (i.e. Human Resources)
1:30 pm Open Forum
2:30pm SGA
4:30pm Reception with Community Members

All event and interview start times are contingent upon adjournment of the previous event and interview. All events and interviews will be held in Building 12, Alumni Room. This is a public meeting to which all persons are invited.

August 24, 2021

9:30am Search Committee
10:30am Extended Cabinet
11:30am Department Group (i.e. Human Resources)
1:30 pm Open Forum
2:30pm SGA
4:30pm Reception with Community Members

All events and interview start times are contingent upon adjournment of the previous event and interview. All interviews will be held in Building 12, Alumni Room. This is a public meeting to which all persons are invited.

For additional information contact Minnie Mouse, mmouse@uwf.edu. The minutes of the meeting will be available upon request after the meeting by contacting hr@uwf.edu or 850.474.2694.

Any recruitment effort that utilizes a search committee (even where a search committee is not required) must comply with the Florida Sunshine Law meeting requirements. The Florida Sunshine Law provides a right of access to governmental proceedings at both the state and local levels. Virtually all state and local collegial public bodies are covered by the open meetings requirements, with the exception of the judiciary and the state Legislature which has its own constitutional provision relating to access. The Florida Sunshine Law is governed under Florida Statute 286, Public Business; Miscellaneous Provisions.

During any meeting of a search committee, Robert's Rules of Order should be followed in order to conduct an orderly meeting. A skilled Search Committee Chairperson allows all members to voice their opinions in an orderly manner so that everyone in the meeting can hear and be heard. The tips and reminders outlined will help Search Committee Chairpersons run successful and productive meetings without being run over or running over others.

Benefits of a Sunshine Recruitment

The recruitment committee has the authority to screen applicants.
The recruitment committee can determine which applicants to accept or reject from consideration.
The recruitment committee can rank, rate, cull, and suggest applicants for hire.

Important Sunshine Recruitment Information

All meetings must be open to the public.
All meetings must be reasonably publicized at least seven days in advance on the UWF Public Meetings webpage. Also, if two or more committee members will be present at any meeting, event, meal, forum, etc. and the candidate will be present, then the meeting, event, meal, forum, etc. must be publicly noticed.
All decisions must be made publicly.
Committee members cannot discuss or communicate outside of a publicly noticed meeting on any issue to be brought forward to the committee for decision.
Minutes must be taken at all search committee meetings and interviews.
Recruitment committee members are responsible for taking minutes and submitting the 7-day public notice. An administrative/clerical staff member does not need to be assigned to a Sunshine Recruitment,

The following templates may be used for the recording of the meeting minutes.

Search Committee for Sunshine Recruitments

Composed of a minimum of three individuals.
Hiring Official to keep in mind the demographics of the search committee.
May include members of the hiring department or other departments, community members, or students who have relevant knowledge of the functions and requirements of the vacant position.
An individual who serves on the search committee may not apply for the vacant position.

Hiring Official

The Hiring Official is responsible for the integrity of the recruitment.
The Hiring Official creates the search committee and designates the Search Committee Chair.
The Hiring Official provides the charge to the search committee during the initial noticed search committee meeting.
In a Sunshine Recruitment, the search committee plays an active role in candidate selection. At the conclusion of the Sunshine Recruitment, the Hiring Official is the person responsible for making the hiring decision.

Human Resources is available to discuss your search and assist you in determining whether to conduct a search under the Florida Sunshine Law guidelines by emailing jobs@uwf.edu or calling 850.474.2694.

Types of Recruitment
Type of Recruitment	University Work Force Staff	Faculty
Sunshine Recruitment (conducted under the Florida Sunshine Law and requires a recruitment committee)	Director and Above	Dean and Above Ranked Faculty
Recruitment (not conducted under the Florida Sunshine Law and does not require a committee; a committee can be used if desired)*	Associate Director and Below	Visiting Faculty, Adjunct, Instructor, Lecturer, & Postdoctoral Associates

*If you choose to have a search committee, the recruitment will need to be in the Sunshine.
Note: OPS and Student searches are not required to have search committees.

Sunshine Recruitment

Benefits of a Sunshine Recruitment

Important Sunshine Recruitment Information

Search Committee for Sunshine Recruitments

Hiring Official

Sunshine Recruitments - Helpful Files