Next steps when a new hire turns down a position at the last moment: Opinion

A new faculty hire who turns down their position at the last moment presents a particularly difficult challenge to the department left to replace them, writes Kevin Dettmar in his latest advice column. Dettmar writes that there is no “appealing” solution in this situation, but that a department can address the issue in three ways: Hiring a temporary instructor, which may result in a disappointing experience for students; Looking for an in-house replacement, which may raise concerns around expertise and workload; or by cancelling the class, which impacts the reputation of the institution. The author recommends engaging in conversation with both the faculty member and the dean to establish what went wrong and how to ensure that it does not happen again. Chronicle of Higher Ed (Acct. Req.) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.