[Dirscch] a thought about shortlisting nominees for interviews

Tue Mar 3 11:51:06 EST 2026

Thanks so much Marcel and Heather. Also agreeing with Heather’s outlined process and support moving forward with it.

Margaret

Margaret Ulbrick, BA(Econ), BA(Psych)
Administrative Manager
English Language and Literature
University of Waterloo
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From: Dirscch <dirscch-bounces at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca> On Behalf Of Shana MacDonald
Sent: March 3, 2026 11:42 AM
To: Marcel O'Gorman <marcel at uwaterloo.ca>; Heather Henderson <hhenderson at uwaterloo.ca>
Cc: dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca; Andrea Charette <andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: [Dirscch] a thought about shortlisting nominees for interviews

Hi all,

Agreeing with what Heather has outlined as a good process to follow. Thanks for that Heather!

Best
Shana

--

Shana MacDonald, PhD
She/her
O’Donovan Chair in Communication Across the Disciplines
Associate Professor, University of Waterloo

The Art of Memes in Feminist Digital Culture
https://ohiostatepress.org/books/titles/9780814214954.html

“‘All You Have to Do Is Publicly Execute a Few Women Who Have Lied’: Mapping Online Misogyny and Feminist Digital Counterprotest in the Post-Pandemic Landscape1<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07491409.2025.2579089#abstract>.” Co-authors B.I. Wiens, N. Ruest, K. Padda, Women’s Studies in Communication 49 (1): 81–109. (2026)

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From: Dirscch <dirscch-bounces at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch-bounces at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca>> on behalf of Marcel O'Gorman <marcel at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:marcel at uwaterloo.ca>>
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at 11:23 AM
To: Heather Henderson <hhenderson at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:hhenderson at uwaterloo.ca>>
Cc: dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca> <dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca>>, Andrea Charette <andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca>>
Subject: Re: [Dirscch] a thought about shortlisting nominees for interviews
Hello Heather.
This a good articulation of what I had in mind. Thank you for providing clarity.
Best regards,
Marcel

On Mar 3, 2026, at 11:16 AM, Heather Henderson <hhenderson at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:hhenderson at uwaterloo.ca>> wrote:

Hi all,
I like Marcel's idea about the scoresheet - seems the most objective way to proceed. If I'm tracking this all, I think what we are suggesting at this point is:

(1) Nominations (either self- or other-nominations; as written in current description),
(2) very high level review of nominations to ensure eligibility criteria are met with assumption we will interview ALL nominees,
(3) request to all nominees to prepare a written statement (600'ish words) and submit prior to interview,
(4) interviews with committe scoring based on criteria,
(5) invite one or more candidate to give a brief oral presentation to all faculty/staff,
(6) solicit votes (Y/N or rank order) from all faculty/staff to inform our recommendation.

A couple little questions:

  1.  I added a comment in some document in our shared drive - askign that a copy of the candidate's CV be submitted at time of nomination. I think that's always helpful.

  1.  A question about eligibility criteria - policy 40 says tenured, but do we mean tenured OR permanent faculty?

Thanks
Heather

Heather A. Henderson, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Waterloo

________________________________
From: Dirscch <dirscch-bounces at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch-bounces at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca>> on behalf of Andrea Charette <andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca>>
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 11:00 AM
To: Marcel O'Gorman <marcel at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:marcel at uwaterloo.ca>>
Cc: dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca> <dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca>>
Subject: Re: [Dirscch] a thought about shortlisting nominees for interviews

Hi Marcel,

This is an interesting idea.  I think it would require a shift from calling for nominations (and asking for a statement from the nominator(s)) to asking for statements from nominees themselves.  Do we want to do this at this early stage?  I'm concerned that not all nominees would be willing to invest their efforts at this very early stage in a statement that essentially needs to help them sell themselves to us if they want to be shortlisted for interview.  My experience is that potential candidates need to be wooed, not encouraged to sell themselves (at least, early).

Thoughts, anyone?

Andrea

Andrea Charette
Director of Faculty Relations and Planning
Faculty of Arts<https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/>
University of Waterloo
519.888.4567 X42218

________________________________
From: Marcel O'Gorman <marcel at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:marcel at uwaterloo.ca>>
Sent: Tuesday, March 3, 2026 10:35 AM
To: Andrea Charette <andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca>>
Cc: dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca> <dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca<mailto:dirscch at artsservices.uwaterloo.ca>>
Subject: Re: [Dirscch] a thought about shortlisting nominees for interviews

Hello Andrea.

Rather than a grid-style rubric, maybe we can set up a simple score sheet based mostly on details we ask for in the statement. This would mean asking for more specific instructions in the statement, possibly asking for applicants to base their responses on the bullet pointed lists in the call (e.g., "base your response on key responsibilities and eligibility criteria").

Then our score sheet could list the responsibilities and eligibility criteria one by one, and for each we could provide a score of 1 to 5, add comments for each, and provide any summary notes at the end. Scores could then be tabulated, and the comments in the sheets would be primarily for our own use to provide material for discussion.

Is that too much? I guess I have been heavily influenced by SSHRC adjudication, which works like this in principle.

Hope this is not unhelpful.

Best regards,
Marcel

On Mar 2, 2026, at 11:33 PM, Andrea Charette <andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:andrea.charette at uwaterloo.ca>> wrote:

We'll definitely need a rubric to assist us in assessing candidates after we've had the chance to interview them.

But I can't wrap my head around a rubric we would use to help identify which nominees to shortlist for interview in the first place.  We will know so little about them from just the nomination (even with a 600-word statement!).

I suspect we might not have a large number of faculty knocking down the door for this opportunity.  What if we required nominations to be submitted with a minimum number of supporters, then committed to offering an interview to all nominees?   I am not concerned that the number would be too great.....

Thoughts?

Andrea

Andrea Charette
Director of Faculty Relations and Planning
Faculty of Arts<https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/>
University of Waterloo
519.888.4567 X42218

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Professor Marcel O'Gorman, PhD
University Research Chair
Past President, Society for Literature, Science and the Arts (SLSA)
Founding Director, Critical Media Lab
Department of English
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Tel: 519 888 4567 x32946
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The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

--
Professor Marcel O'Gorman, PhD
University Research Chair
Past President, Society for Literature, Science and the Arts (SLSA)
Founding Director, Critical Media Lab
Department of English
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Tel: 519 888 4567 x32946
http://criticalmedia.uwaterloo.ca
http://marcelogorman.net

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

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