According to the Contra Costa Community College District website, 47 full-time faculty positions are being filled districtwide by the fall 2016 semester, with seven new employees slated to work at this campus.

The positions cover a wide range and disciplines like automotive technology, biology, certified nursing assistant and counseling make up the top of the list.

Emergency medical services, engineering and humanities/philosophy round out the list of  positions to be filled.

“All of the colleges intend on hiring the best and most qualified people to meet the needs of their college,” Academic Senate President Beth Goehring said. “The district’s equity plan is intended to be incorporated into every aspect of district life, hiring, curriculum development and support services. So all of the hires will be accomplished through that lens as well.”

When measured against the other colleges in the district, only 14 percent of the new hires are scheduled to work at Contra Costa College. Seventeen positions will be filled at Los Medanos College and 23 employees are headed to Diablo Valley College.

The plan is to have the positions filled by fall, but the hiring process is going on now.

“We want to hire the best people in keeping with the strategic direction and vision of the college,” CCC Interim President Mojdeh Mehdizadeh said. “It begins with department chairs, deans and faculty members articulating their needs.

“As an example, there is a position to be filled in automotive technology. I would have no idea where to search for the most qualified applicant who also meets the needs of the department,” Mehdizadeh said.

Once the information is coalesced between the deans, chairs and faculty the information is sent to the district’s Human Resources Office.

“We allow applicants to apply for the openings they are most interested in,” district Recruitment and Classification Analyst Sophia Lever said. “An applicant could elect to apply for all three locations. It is the applicant who decides where she or he wants to be considered.”

There is a long process to attaining one of these positions. Senior Academic Manager John Wade said, “There isn’t a random questionnaire. Queries are job specific and pertain to background and scenarios that come when working in the applicant’s field.”

Administrators on the hiring panel are also given a scoring grid to mark during the in-person portion of the interview process.

“The ability to work well with other people is key,  things are always done by committees or groups,” music department Chairperson Wayne Organ said.