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Non-Senate Recruitment Guidelines

A. The University of California is an equal opportunity employer committed to excellence through diversity. In order to promote equal opportunity, an open recruitment must be conducted for every academic position, regardless of level or duration, unless the position is exempt from open recruitment or a waiver of recruitment has been approved. Exempt positions are appointments that are without salary and those in visiting titles.

The recruitment and selection process must be fully documented, reviewed, and approved before a proposed appointment is forwarded for processing.

B. ADVERTISING THE POSITION

Each recruitment must be openly advertised in order to provide the broadest possible access. To meet this requirement to advertise, all non-senate positions will be posted on AP Recruit for a minimum of 14 calendar days and, except for academic student employee positions, posted with HERC.  The title in the job posting, advertisement and hire recommendation must be the same.  

Units may elect which additional means of advertising they will use for their positions. These can include publishing advertisements in professional journals, announcing openings at conferences, canvassing other campuses by letter or telephone, or posting flyers.

The primary posting and all advertisements related to non-senate faculty lecturer appointments must contain a statement regarding minimum qualifications and indicate that assessment of applicants will be made on the basis of demonstrated competence in the field, ability in teaching, academic responsibility and other assigned duties that may include University co-curricular and community service.  

C. TIMING OF THE SEARCH

In order to hire the best, most qualified non-Senate academic appointees, it is important to begin recruitment early to conduct the search and selection procedures efficiently and to expedite the appointment process once the successful applicant has been identified. An open and competitive search for a non-Senate academic position should be advertised for a minimum of 14 calendar days before the selection process begins. Units are advised to allow at least two months for the entire recruitment process to take place, including time for appropriate review and approval.

Recruitments for Non-Senate Faculty (Lecturers) should be published early enough to ensure that appointment letters for academic year appointments may be distributed by June 1, or as soon thereafter as practicable.  Recruitments for Academic Student Employee positions in the upcoming academic year and Summer Session should be published by the following dates of each year:

  • Summer appointments – February 1
  • Combined summer and academic year appointments – February 1
  • Academic year only appointments – March 1

The applicant pool should be monitored and if the recruitment period must be extended beyond the published closing date for reasons such as too few applications or an applicant pool that does not represent the marketplace availability, a written request for an extension must be sent to the Academic Personnel Office (APO) no later than three (3) working days before the posted end date.  The request should include the reasons for the request and a proposed new end date.

D. APPLICANT POOL

Once the application filing period has closed, the recruiting unit should assess the applicant pool. An applicant is defined as anyone who submitted all required application materials for the advertised position within the announced filing period. Any applicant who does not meet the advertised minimum qualifications for the position should be eliminated from further consideration.  It is reasonable to expect that the applicant pool will contain women and minorities in general proportion to their marketplace availability. If this is not the case, the recruiting department should contact APO for advice.  Assessment of applicants for non-senate lecturer positions will be made on the basis of demonstrated competence in the field, ability in teaching, academic responsibility and other assigned duties that may include University co-curricular and community service. 

E. SELECTION PROCESS

Once a satisfactory pool has been established, the selection process may begin. Selection decisions must be made based on the job-related criteria set out in the advertisement. The unit is responsible for maintaining the academic quality of the institution by hiring the best-qualified applicant(s).

The selection process typically involves several stages: identifying applicants that do not meet the basic qualifications, identifying applicants that meet the basic qualifications, selecting a pool with the best qualifications, identifying applicants to be interviewed, selecting the best-qualified applicant(s).

Applicants who were not on the interview list must receive a communication indicating that they are no longer under consideration.

Special considerations must be observed when selecting an applicant who is employed on another University of California campus. If an applicant is currently employed on another University of California campus, APO must be contacted to review applicable policy for additional processes or policy restrictions.

F. AGGREGATE / CLUSTER RECRUITMENT

Departments may wish to establish an aggregate or cluster pool of candidates qualified to take on temporary appointments over an extended period. This is a long-standing recruitment effort in order to fill single or multiple positions at various times. Aggregate recruitments may be posted for no longer than one year. Aggregate pools may be useful when several temporary positions are involved or where staffing needs will depend on enrollment. Documentation requirements for aggregate recruitments are basically the same as for normal recruitments, except that the advertisement must specify the range of possible duties and the period during which possible appointments would be made.

G. EXCEPTIONS TO SEARCH

It is expected that the majority of positions will be filled by conducting open and competitive searches. However, exceptions to conducting a search may be granted for specific circumstances.  These exceptions must be outlined in a waiver of recruitment request, approved by the Dean, and submitted to APO for consideration by the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel.  The waiver request must be approved prior to the candidate being offered the position or starting to work.

A waiver for a candidate who will be placed in a temporary position that has become available due to unexpected events (e.g., illness of an incumbent) may be granted for a defined period and does not constitute a permanent exception for the candidate.  A candidate who is so uniquely qualified for the position (e.g., based on research expertise, or specific knowledge) that recruitment is very unlikely to result in a more qualified individual may be granted an exception to search.  A waiver in such circumstances may be granted with compelling justification. A waiver is granted to the individual and is valid only as long as he or she remains in that specific position. 

H. SEARCH DOCUMENTATION

A record of every academic recruitment must be prepared so that the campus can effectively and efficiently respond to questions, complaints, or audits.

1. Documenting the Process - The academic recruitment process must be thoroughly documented in AP Recruit at three steps:

a. Advertising the Position – The position description and qualifications should be developed to meet the needs of the unit and school/college.  The search plan and the advertisement in AP Recruit must be reviewed and approved before publication by APO, which will assess the search plan to ensure that the unit plans to take steps to disseminate position information broadly, as appropriate to the type of appointment and qualifications sought. APO will review the wording of the advertisement to ensure that it conforms to University guidelines.  Changes regarding the position and qualifications may not be made once the search plan is approved and APO publishes the recruitment.

b. Screening the Applicant Pool - Units are asked to upload documentation to AP Recruit concerning the screening process used. APO will review this information to ensure that the unit has used appropriate, objective criteria when looking at the pool of applicants and has afforded all qualified applicants due consideration.

c. Selecting the Final Candidate - Units are asked to upload documentation to AP Recruit regarding the choice of the final candidate. This documentation may include a ranking of seriously considered candidates, information from reference reviews, along with an explanation of the relative qualifications of the candidates. APO will review this information to ensure that the final decision is made based on objective, job-related criteria.

2. Search Activities Statement - Each appointment dossier, with the exception of aggregate pools, and waivers of recruitment must have a corresponding Search Report in AP Recruit. The information in AP Recruit should accurately describe the search and selection process, and it should clearly articulate reasons for the final choice. It is important to indicate the reasons why the other ranked finalists were not chosen by assigning appropriate disposition reasons in AP Recruit. Approval of the Search Report will be given if it demonstrates the following:

a. The approved ad and search plan are attached;

b. Advertising was carried out in appropriate publications for appropriate lengths of time, as indicated in the attached copies of published advertisements;

c. The final selection is readily understandable from the description of the criteria in the position profile, the advertisement, and the ranking and reasons given for choosing the finalist and for not choosing the other seriously considered candidates.

If appropriate search procedures cannot be demonstrated, the appointment will be delayed and it is possible an appointment may not be made.

3. Records Retention - Complete records of the search, including applicant files, must be maintained for a minimum period of three years after the close of recruitment. AP Recruit is the system of record for search activities and all documentation should be loaded to the recruitment record in the system.