Brigham Young University's board of trustees is re-emphasizing in its hiring process the school's commitment to religious faith and loyalty to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The board of trustees has adopted another step in the hiring process to ensure that BYU gets the best qualified faculty members, academically and spiritually, said Alan Wilkins, associate academic vice president for personnel."We care deeply about the people who care about the Restoration," he said. "The LDS person will always get preference."
The board of trustees always has given preliminary approval before candidates are invited to BYU for interviews, Wilkins said. But now the board must also grant final approval before the university approaches the individual with a job offer, he said.
"We don't want to get rid of people," he said. The idea is to hire the most-qualified candidate.
BYU will replace between 40 percent and 50 percent of its faculty - mostly because of retirements - by the end of the decade, Wilkins said. Because of that, the university wants to make sure it hires the type of people who can lead BYU into the next century.
"We hold them (faculty) accountable. We hold them to fairly high standards," he said. "It's clear the brethren want us to hire LDS (faculty)."
BYU retains a large number of its faculty, Wilkins said, so there is an added emphasis on hiring the appropriate people.
The board of trustees has asked BYU to pay closer attention to scholarship, teaching prowess and faithfulness in the initial stages instead of waiting until third-year reviews, he said.
"Given that we keep most people we hire, let's make sure we do a really good job on the front end," Wilkins said.
That translates to LDS candidates getting preference.
"While the board has not dismissed the possibility of candidates who are not members of the church, they want us to give distinct priority to members of the faith," said a handout Wilkins gave to college deans on Jan. 10.
Non-members will be hired only if there are no competent LDS candidates, there is ample evidence of the non-member's good character and willingness to obey the honor code and the candidate is considerably superior in teaching and scholarship, the handout says.
Wilkins said faithfulness is defined as "deep and abiding faith in the Savior, the Restoration, Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, support of the brethren and belief in and ability to use the Holy Ghost in their scholarship, teaching and living."
Final approval by the board may trouble some people because it slows down the hiring process, Wilkins said.
"It potentially could slow us down by some number of weeks," probably three, he said.
The concern is that qualified candidates may receive jobs elsewhere while they're waiting for final approval at BYU. The board of trustees meets monthly, but Wilkins said BYU can obtain clearance from individual board members if hiring cannot wait until the meeting. Advance planning should help expedite the process, he said.
Wilkins said he hopes BYU's preference for LDS faculty will not deter potential non-Mormons from applying.
"I hope they'll talk to us, and I hope they'll come and give us a look," he said.
Wilkins said 2 percent to 3 percent of BYU's faculty are non-LDS.