How to address the recruiting committee in a cover letter in case the recepient is not an individual to the best of your knowledge? Specializing the question
Who to address on the cover letter?,
let's assume that you apply for a tenure-track position in the US in computer science, that the job announcement has no particular individual listed, and that Google/Bing/Yahoo led you to, say, &quot;recruiting committee&quot; (as opposed to &quot;search team&quot;). Then, which opening would be proper:

To Whom It May Concern

or

Dear Recruiting Committee

or

To the Recruiting Committee

or

Dear Representative of the Recruiting Committee

or

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

?
How about the punctuation after the opening? No punctuation, a comma, or a colon? I.e.:

〈Whatever opening〉
〈Whatever opening〉,
〈Whatever opening〉:

All are o.k. according to the broad English grammar, but, in academia things might be more special.
Use an inside address and a subject line, then dive into your letter.  You can skip the salutation in letters to committees.


  Recruiting Committee University of Whatever City, State
  Zip
  
  Request for appointment
  
  I would like to be considered for a full-time appointment as ...