50.02 - Hiring Procedures for UI Classified Staff

A. General. Responsibility for administering the UI classified personnel system has been delegated by the Regents to the UI President. [See FSH 3080-B]. Procedures for all Board-appointed UI positions reflect the University’s commitment to equal opportunity and affirmative action.

A-1. Objectives of Affirmative Action Hiring Procedures. Affirmative action hiring procedures are intended to document a) the criteria for identifying the "best qualified" b) the extra effort made to recruit individuals from protected groups (E.G., women, persons with disabilities, persons of color, and Vietnam-era veterans [See FSH 3065 B]), and c) an objective, job related justification for the ranking of applicants.

A-2. Obligations with respect to Protected Groups. [See FSH 3060] In the event that a person who is a member of a protected group is among the candidates who are best -- but equally -- qualified, UI has a commitment to offer the position first to the protected group member. Protected groups include women, persons of color, persons with disabilities and Vietnam-era veterans.

A-3. Obligations to Provide Reasonable Accommodations. [See FSH 3060 C] The University extends reasonable accommodation to enable qualified persons with disabilities to apply for positions for which they are able to perform the essential functions, with or without reasonable accommodation. The University will offer to provide reasonable accommodation in employment or in application for employment for persons with disabilities who request accommodation, while avoiding making pre-employment inquiries about the presence of disability. Because the University can not inquire about the existence of a disability which would affect the ability of an applicant to apply for a UI position, it is the applicant's responsibility to request reasonable accommodation of disability in the application process, and to specify the reasonable accommodation requested.

B. Process. Employment Services in Human Resources assists departmental administrators in filling vacant positions by assisting with preparation of the results-oriented job description, advising regarding reclassification, advertising, performing preliminary screening and--upon request--intermediate screening of applicants, and providing a review of recruiting materials. The usual period of advertisement for classified positions is ten working days from date of posting. A shortened recruitment period may be approved by the Human Rights Compliance Officer in situations where there is a well qualified employee within the institution, in the opinion of the departmental administrator a regional or national search is not required in order to find a well qualified candidate, and the Human Rights Compliance Officer concurs that limited recruitment would not be inconsistent with the University's commitment to affirmative action and equal opportunity. The request is made when the information is entered into the applicant tracking system (ATS). The time required to complete the entire recruitment process is affected by many variables such as the time required to obtain approval to fill the position; develop or revise the job description and reclassify the position (if applicable); review applications; interview candidates (optional); identify finalists; make a selection; and offer the position.

C. Procedures. The steps for hiring classified employees are listed below.

C-1. Obtain Permission to Fill Position. The hiring authority responsible for filling the position obtains approval from the appropriate administrator to fill or refill the position. Obtain written authorization to fill the vacancy from the appropriate administrator (see chart below). The written authorization should include a position authorization form identifying the title, pay grade, salary, and position control number (obtained from the Budget Office, (208) 885-6718) or may be downloaded from the Provost, Budget or HR websites at HR Website.

C-2. Review Hiring Procedures. See chart below as well as FSH 3065.

C-3. Develop and/or Revise Job Description. The hiring administrator will create a new or review the current job description to determine whether it should be revised.

i) If the job description is new or is being revised, the administrator indicates specific job responsibilities and desired performance qualifications. The classification and compensation analyst will confirm proper job classifications and work with the supervisor to identify essential and marginal tasks for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) before the position is advertised. Minimum qualifications will be provided by Employment Services based on classification and the essential functions; additional desirable qualifications are provided by the department. If the position requires a criminal history background check and/or post-offer medical screening, it must be stated in the job description and on the vacancy announcement.

C-4. Prepare Vacancy Announcement. The departmental administrator prepares the vacancy announcement using the electronic applicant tracking system (ATS). The administrator responsible for hiring may assign a search coordinator to enter the information in the ATS. The ATS manual is available at HR Employment. Employment Services will work with the administrator or designee throughout the hiring process. Questions may also be directed to college and/or division Affirmative Action Coordinators.

i) The Vacancy Announcement must be consistent with the Job Description.

ii) "Required" qualifications must be truly the minimum which would be acceptable in an applicant. Once defined, they are inflexible. An applicant who does not possess these qualifications cannot be hired.

iii) "Preferred" qualifications include any and all attributes believed to be desirable for the position.

iv) The Vacancy Announcement must include the statement, "To enrich education through diversity the University of Idaho is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and educational institution." An alternative affirmative action/equal opportunity "tagline" may be used if approved by the Human Rights Compliance Officer.

Submit Position Documentation. Complete the announcement information in the ATS and include ranking forms, interview questions, desired advertising, and committee members.

C-6. Appoint a Search Committee Chair and members of the search committee. The departmental administrator appoints the search committee. A search committee is generally chaired by the departmental administrator responsible for hiring. Alternately, the administrator may appoint a chair from among the committee members. The search committee chair is responsible for ensuring that all affirmative action hiring procedures are followed.

i) At least three members should be appointed to the committee, most committees have five to seven members.

ii) Committee membership may include staff or faculty from within the department or from other departments who will interact with the individual selected to fill the position. It is often appropriate to include students or persons from outside the university.

iii) Women and minorities should be represented on the committee.

C-7. Advertise the Position. The advertisement is a condensation of the Vacancy Announcement and, at a minimum, must contain the job title, closing date, where to obtain additional information, the tagline, "AA/EOE", and whether a criminal history background check or post-offer medical screening is required for the position. Employment Services will advertise in some or all of the following locations: through internal communication channels, on the Employment Services homepage, distributed on the employment listserv, UI Register, and link to national websites. Employment Services can assist with placement of newspaper and publication advertising, as well as, suggestions for reaching a diverse population of applicants. The hiring authority is responsible for payment of the advertisements.

C-8. Review of Applications. HR collects the applications and other requested employment materials, screens the application material for minimum qualifications and provides the department with the materials of the applicants who meet the minimum qualifications within 48 hours of the closing date.

i) Upon receipt of the applications, the department proceeds with the intermediate screening process according to previously established selection procedures and identifies a pool of finalists. Interviews cannot occur until the search coordinator has received electronic approval from the Human Rights Compliance Officer and Employment Services to proceed.

ii) Upon request of the hiring department, Employment Services will screen the applications to identify a pool of applicants who appear to best meet both required and desirable qualifications and will forward to the department the materials of applicants who appear to be qualified as finalists or semi-finalists.

C-9. Obtain Approval to Interview. The department submits an electronic request in ATS of the names of the candidates to be interviewed with job-related justifications and documents the reasons why all individuals to whom an interview will not be offered have been eliminated from further consideration.

The Human Rights Compliance Officer will identify, through self-reporting, applicants who are protected by reason of gender, race, ethnicity, or status as a Vietnam veteran. Electronic approval from the Human Rights Compliance Officer is necessary before advancing to the interview stage and again before offering the position. The search committee asks the candidates the interview questions previously submitted and approved in ATS.

C-10. Rank the Candidates. After interviews, the search coordinator indicates in ATS all candidates to whom the position might be offered (finalists), ranked in order of preference, and documents the reasons why all individuals to whom the position will not be offered have been eliminated from further consideration.

i) If the first candidate declines the employment offer, the departmental administrator may offer the position to the next candidate, etc. If only one candidate is listed, the search committee is communicating that the search would need to be re-opened if that candidate rejects the employment offer.

ii) The list of acceptable candidates can constitute a roster from which other comparable vacancies could be refilled within six months without conducting a new search.

C-11. Check References. References should always be checked, using the same questions for all reference interviews for a particular position. Reference checking may be done by the search committee chair, by members of the search committee working as teams (and including a protected member in each team if possible), and/or by the hiring administrator. Reference checks may be done before or after interviews -- the important thing is that references be checked.

C-12. Offer of Employment. Offers of employment may be extended by the departmental administrator only after approval by the Human Rights Compliance Officer and Employment Services. The offer of employment is contingent upon satisfactory completion of a criminal history background check or post-offer medical screening if one or both is listed as a requirement for the position. (See APM 50.16 ) The person may not begin the new position until satisfactory results have been received.

C-13. Notify the Selected Candidate. Upon receiving acceptance from the candidate, the departmental administrator (or designee) will send the selected candidate a letter welcoming the candidate to the University. The letter will include particulars such as the title, initial hourly wage, and start date and informs the newly hired employee regarding employment processing procedures including benefits summary held every Monday morning at 8:30 in the HR conference room [See APM 55.31]. A sample letter is available from Employment Services. The new employee should be instructed to bring the letter of offer with him/her to the benefits summary.

i) Please arrange to have the new employee begin work on the first day of a pay period, if possible.

C-14. Notify other Applicants. Once an offer has been made and accepted, the departmental administrator (or designee) notifies all other candidates that the position has been filled and thanks them for their interest in the position. Sample letters are available from Employment Services.

C-15. Initiate Electronic Personnel Action Forms. The hiring authority must notify the departmental timekeeper of the new employee's arrival and coordinate the information necessary to appoint them in Banner. Departments are responsible for ensuring that Electronic Personnel Action Forms (EPAFs) are initiated and approved in a timely manner.

C-16. Certify Employment Eligibility. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 requires employees to certify employment eligibility within 3 days of hire date. Please contact HR, (208) 885-3609, to make arrangements for employment certification and for enrolling the new employee for benefits. [See APM 50.04]. Designate a departmental employee to welcome and orient the new employee to the department.

C-17. Hiring Records Retention. Please retain all documentation associated with the hiring process for a minimum of three years. It is recommended that the documentation be retained for five years.

D. Information. Please address any questions or concerns regarding the hiring process for classified staff to HR/Employment Services, (208) 885-3612. Please refer also to the Applicant Tracking Manual at HR Employment.

Version History