Appendix F - Legal Considerations

When conducting a faculty search, attention must be given to the federal, state, and local laws governing employment discrimination and to the Northwestern University Policy on Institutional Equity.

The University prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of 17 protected classes:

age
citizenship status
color
disability
gender identity
gender expression
genetic information
marital status
national origin
parental status
pregnancy
race
religion
reproductive health decision-making
sex
sexual orientation
veteran status

The law in areas of equal opportunity, nondiscrimination, and affirmative action is evolving and can be complex. Northwestern’s Office of General Counsel (ph 847.491.5605) and Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance (ph 847.467.6165) work closely with the Office of the Provost on these issues.

Basic Interview Guidelines

The following guidelines are based on federal, state, and local law and Northwestern University policy. As a general rule, ask only what you need to know (questions relating to the requirements of the job) and not what you would like to know (questions that do not pertain to the job and/or are personal in nature). Similarly, you should only ask interview questions that you also ask the other candidates.

Table showing permissible interview questions.
Topic	Questions NOT to ask	Permissible questions
Age	Age, birth date, date of graduation	Expected completion date of PhD degree requirements
Citizenship	Whether candidate is a US citizen Place of birth of applicant or close relatives	Whether candidate is eligible to work in the US
Disabilities	Any question about a candidate’s health, medical condition, or illness Any question that is for the purpose of eliciting information about a disability	How candidate would perform the job
Marital and family status	Questions about marital status, child care, children, pregnancy, or future plans with respect to these matters	Candidate may be provided with available information regarding Northwestern family policies and services and may be referred to appropriate campus resources (Office of the Provost, Office of Human Resources)
Race and ethnicity	Any question about candidate’s race, national origin, ethnicity, or (unless job-related) languages spoken	None
Religion	Questions about religious affiliation	None
Sex, gender identity, gender expression	Questions about maiden name or any question pertaining to only one sex	None
Sexual orientation	Questions about sexuality	None