Nailing Paper Screening

Thinking and Writing as Reader

Applying for Dean and Vice President College Positions

This week, CCCRegistry.org and HigherEdJobs.com note there are currently 36 open Dean positions and 29 open Vice President positions in California Community Colleges. These 65 leadership role changes will create additional secondary openings. With a plethora of opportunities available, do not make the mistake of a copy/paste application strategy. Let’s take a close look at

• your submission approach, and
• what happens after you submit your application.

Submitting your application

A general cover letter will not work in the paper screening of your submission package because readers assess how what you say matches up with their pre-agreed ranking sheet. What they are looking for is easy to assess: It’s in the job announcement. Do not start with a previous cover letter. Start with the announcement. Look at the bullets. Copy/paste the main bullets (not whether you can lift 25 pounds) into a Word document. That’s what you’re going to present and how you will be scored.

If there are too many bullets, let’s say 30, see where they might overlap or combine. For example, if they ask you about accreditation and about documenting for ACCJC, two bullets can become one. Also, edit down the bullets so that the reader equates what you’re talking about without wasting too much cover letter space on a bullet. I grabbed four examples:

• Coordinate the District’s enrollment management process and efforts, and support strategies at the colleges to meet the annual FTES goals.
• Support college efforts in workforce and economic development, contract education programs, and other initiatives to meet the needs of local and regional employers; coordinate grant development opportunities for the District.
• Serve as a clearinghouse and repository for consolidated institutional effectiveness and District information related to student success and alumni facts and district level communication. Work with the Director of Communications to effectively present Districtwide data.
• Develop and manage District-level budgets for areas of responsibility.

I check to see if I can simplify or combine. Keep in mind that you’re not trying to be literal on every point of a job announcement. You are giving readers cues as to where you address each point.

• Coordinate District SEM; support colleges to meet FTES goals.
• Support workforce, econ dev, and contract ed toward employer priorities. Coordinate grant development.
• Serve as the primary resource for student success and alumni facts. Effectively present Districtwide data.
• Develop and manage District-level budgets.

This approach takes 94 words down to 51, and as you respond, you may reduce further. I sometimes set up paragraphs without bullets and start with a narrative that guides readers. Here’s how cues look:

Coordinate District SEM; support colleges to meet FTES goals. I write my response immediately following a short statement in italics. Using bold is too much of an attention draw to the question. Using italics informs readers that here is where I am addressing the bullet from your announcement.

Support workforce, econ dev, and contract ed toward employer priorities. Coordinate grant development. I don’t worry about cutting down on or abbreviating a few words. This way, when the paper screen reader wonders if I talked about an item they are to score me on, there’s a way for them to readily identify my experience. The reader has viewed these bullets so many times by the paper screen; they are in memory.

Serve as the primary resource for student success and alumni facts. Effectively present Districtwide data. I have been on committees where I read 10 or 100 applications and scored each. It’s mind-numbing. I’m distracted by how applicants talk and talk about things that I would perhaps be interested in during an interview; however, they’re not related to what I paper score.

Develop and manage District-level budgets. Let’s say I’m reading, and you talk about students, your vision, your experience in accreditation, curriculum, support services, etc. That’s great. However, on the paper in front of me, I give 1–5 points for the criteria related to the job announcement. You have not mentioned budgets because your cover letter is too general. I have only one choice, to check your CV, and if the budget experience is mentioned there, I can probably give you 1 point. If not, you get 0. What I may know about you beyond the paper in front of me cannot be considered in my scoring the paper screen. It’s called a paper screen because I must score you on what you represent on paper. This methodology intends to create a more equitable field where relationships do not give any applicant an advantage. If I’m scoring 10–12 questions and you land a 0 one or more because you did not dig into what we noted the job prioritized, your score and opportunity drop significantly.

Take time to apply to each position as though it is the one position you want most. It should be. You’re asking representatives to invite you to serve as a leader in their community for years. When there are a lot of openings, take time to study and perhaps select three. Spend time to craft your application. Great paragraphs may serve as great paragraphs in another application. Or, they may guide how you rewrite great paragraphs in another application. Your opening and closing paragraphs may serve multiple efforts if targeted to each College’s or District’s priorities. If you have paragraphs talking about your volunteer experience, reduce and include a list in your CV. Your cover letter and CV will be read. Use your CV to support items from the job announcement because there’s typically not a page limit to a CV.

Step 1 after your application submission

At the College or District level, the Human Resources Department (HR) checks your resume and transcript against the job announcement’s minimum qualifications. You are accepted into the candidate pool or rejected. Here are two typical rejections and one “huh?” moment for HR that gets communicated to the committee chair:

1. You know you have the experience, even if you don’t have the degrees.

The CCCCO Minimum Qualifications Handbook extends beyond faculty appointments. It’s titled the Minimum Qualifications for Faculty and Administrators in California Colleges.

§ 53420. Minimum Qualifications for Educational Administrators. The minimum qualifications for service as an educational administrator shall be both of the following: (a) Possession of a master’s degree; and (b) One year of formal training, internship, or leadership experience reasonably related to the administrator’s administrative assignment. Note: Authority cited: Sections 66700, 70901, and 87356, Education Code. Reference: Sections 87002 and 87356, Education Code.

Although Equivalency (§ 53430) may be possible (it’s rare), the District’s governing board determines qualifications. I know Bachelor’s Degree holders who are amazing long-term managers and directors working successfully in their College or District. However, from the Dean level and up, § 53420 detailed degrees and experienced are required. If you consider applying for a Dean or VP role with no Master’s Degree, I recommend you take the next 18 months to earn one online. In nearly all instances, you will not pass initial HR screening. Your time and energy are best served to prepare to compete rather than be discouraged by rejection.

2. Your package is not complete.

Please hire me to lead your college with most of my paperwork submitted and most of the words spelled correctly. Please ignore that my cover letter addresses another college’s name where I also applied, or if I have the wrong job title noted.

3. You’re pushing your luck.

Do I really need six references? I added four; I think that should be enough. It was for the other colleges. Do you pay mileage or travel for me to come to meet with you? I see the job range is $100,000-$160,000. I’m really not interested in anything below $140,000.

None of the above are exaggerated. I can’t count how many times I have seen each. If you want to be a Dean or a VP, apply well or wait until your career is in a position where you can truly be a worthy candidate.

Okay, I’m droning on. This is a time of amazing opportunity. Don’t overshoot. Take your time and give preparing your application submission for paper screening your total focus. You need points to get to the interview. Yes, it’s an odd system. Yes, you will succeed and make significant contributions over your career.

Thanks, Kelly