APP 2-10 General Recruitment Guidelines

Before recruiting can be authorized for a member of the Professor series, Supervisor of Physical Education series, Lecturer with Security of Employment series, the availability of a budgeted FTE position must be verified by the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.

The academic unit must present a careful case concerning the type of appointment to be made, and this must be reviewed by the Academic Planning Council and approved by the Executive Vice Chancellor before recruiting can begin. The filling of a position cannot occur except in the context of academic planning. The description should discuss the need for an appointee in a particular discipline or sub-discipline, at a particular level. It should also discuss the relationship of this proposed appointment to the long-range goals of the unit and other related units, and should try to evaluate the impact of the appointment on various resources. Particular attention should be paid to the impact of the appointment on library resources. In addition, the estimated magnitude of initial set-up costs and of space and equipment needs should be considered carefully. The description of the need will be evaluated in light of the planning goals of the academic unit, the relationship between this unit and others, the need for such an appointee in terms of workload, anticipated growth in workload in the future, the tenure/non-tenure ratio of the unit, and the affirmative action goals of the unit. The description should also indicate that the faculty played a role in its development.

The description of need forms the basis for the advertisement. All Professor series appointments must be advertised nationally in suitable academic or professional publications. Advertisements must be run for a reasonable amount of time (minimum of 30 days) to ensure wide dissemination. For example, if advertising is in journals which appear monthly, then the advertisement might appropriately be placed for two months; if it is in journals which appear quarterly, then one issue is sufficient. For weekly publications, the advertisement should be run for three weeks. Shorter periods of advertising are acceptable for non-ladder ranks positions (i.e., one-year temporary appointments). Any closing date for applications must allow a reasonable amount of time (normally one month) following the appearance of the advertisement for the majority of interested candidates to apply.

All advertisements for ladder rank and Sr/LPSOE/SOE positions must be submitted through AP Recruit to the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel for approval prior to publication. They must be consistent with the position as released and as described in the “description of need.”

Advertisements should contain the following: Department name, position level, teaching duties (if pertinent), preferred research area, necessary qualifications and experience, AP Recruit job number/link, and the EEO statement. A sample advertisement might read as follows:

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE

Position for an Assistant Professor* in the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology. Duties involve undergraduate and graduate teaching in vertebrate embryology and developmental biology. Research area preferred: vertebrate developmental biology with a focus that complements the interests of the existing faculty.** Applicants must possess Ph.D. or M.D. Postdoctoral training is preferred. To apply, upload curriculum vitae, statement of contributions to diversity, and names of three references at: https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/apply/JPF0XXXX.  Applications received by February 1, 2017 will receive full consideration.  The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC anti-discrimination policy.

Copies of the published advertisement must also accompany all Search Reports.

*Academic title and rank should be stated wherever possible… If proceeding with an “open rank” search, Departments must provide appropriate rationale in the “Planned Search and Recruitment Efforts”.  The rationale must include outreach efforts to promote a diverse applicant pool.  They should also explain in the “Selection Plan” section how they will distinguish and evaluate candidates between different ranks (how will they review the candidates?).   Recent Ph.D.’s should never be compared to more senior academics in terms of the amount of work accomplished in cases where recruitment is open for Assistant or Associate Professors. Where a position is advertised at a given level, it should be filled at that level. If an appointment at a different level becomes unavoidable, the situation must be discussed at an early stage with the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel and the Affirmative Action Officer to determine whether a new search should be initiated.

**The area of specialty should be stated. If any of a number of areas is acceptable this can be stated, but selection cannot subsequently be made on the basis of one of these areas being preferred to another.

In addition to national advertising, the following measures should be undertaken to ensure consideration of a large and diverse pool of qualified candidates and to ensure that this pool includes candidates targeted under the campus affirmative action program; i.e., minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and protected veterans.

1. Consult with the school’s Equity Advisor on planned outreach efforts and schedule training for the search committee on best practices for a non-biased search process.
2. Faculty members in the department who are planning to attend national meetings should be asked to publicize any vacant positions, and to attempt to locate diverse qualified candidates for consideration.
3. Letters should be sent to colleagues at other institutions and to professional organizations serving the interests of minorities, persons with disabilities, veterans, etc., soliciting their nominations of candidates. All correspondence about the position should contain the statement: “The University of California, Irvine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC anti-discrimination policy.”
4. Announcements about vacant positions should be publicized on campus in order that any non-ladder academic appointees will be aware of the openings. This can be accomplished by posting an announcement about the position and/or by circulating an announcement to any academic units where qualified candidates might reasonably exist.

It is recommended that an academic unit establish a search committee to receive and review applications. Underrepresented faculty (including women) must be included on search committees. The chair of the academic unit is responsible for ensuring that the search committee is fully informed about, and adheres to, all affirmative action procedures. The search committee should serve the faculty as a whole by evaluating candidates and informing the faculty about certain candidates. Departmental faculty should have access to the search committee’s findings (minutes of all meetings should be kept) and should be able to bring any inadequacy of the search procedure to the committee’s attention. The committee should be responsible for dealing with any such perceived inadequacies in a responsible fashion.

Conflict of Interest Policy for Faculty Searches was drafted by the Office of Academic Personnel and the Council on Academic Personnel with Equity Advisor feedback, May 19, 2020.  It was further endorsed by the Academic Senate Cabinet, June 16, 2020.  This policy is effective July 1, 2020.

At the end of the recruiting period and prior to the onset of the selection process, it is important to determine that the pool of candidates contains women and minorities in reasonable proportion to their availability, and that appropriate affirmative action search measures have been taken. Therefore, at this point, the department should run an Applicant Pool report and review with the search committee and Equity Advisor to ascertain whether the selection process can proceed or whether the search needs to be extended.

Once a satisfactory pool has been established, the selection process can begin. Only job-related criteria may be used as selection devices. Furthermore, selection should be based on the criteria spelled out in the position description and advertisement. The academic unit is responsible for maintaining the academic quality of the institution by hiring the best qualified candidate. However, it must be recognized that in most cases there is no such thing as only one best qualified person, but a narrow range of best qualified candidates. It is important to give full consideration to the principles of affirmative action in deciding among the “best qualified” candidates. The selection of the final candidate proposed for an appointment should be by the faculty as a whole, based upon the final group of candidates proposed by the search committee. This final group of candidates should contain a diverse group of qualified candidates whenever possible. To limit the impact of implicity bias, it is important to give more than cursory consideration to all applicants. This means carrying consideration beyond the initial contact level. The recommendation concerning the final candidate must in all instances be accompanied by a record of the opinions of the faculty as described in Section APP 1-14, Departmental Voting Procedures. Such a recommendation for appointment may be indicated to the individual concerned, but it must never be represented as an offer of a position.

Documentation requirements for accommodation of applicants who request a reasonable accommodation due to a disability are extensive and differ somewhat from usual search documentation procedures. To ensure that these requirements are met, Human Resources should be consulted whenever accommodation requests are received.

Letters notifying candidates that they were unsuccessful should be very carefully worded. Under no circumstances should any factors which are not related to academic performance be mentioned in such letters. The following tone is usually appropriate:

Dear______________ :

I would like to thank you for your application for the position of ____________ in the Department of ____________, and for your interest in the University of California, Irvine.

The Search Committee for this position has received and reviewed a very large number of applications from highly qualified individuals. Although a final decision has not yet been reached, the Search Committee has completed the difficult task of selecting a short list of candidates whose qualifications most closely match our needs at this time. I regret to inform you that you are not among this small group of final candidates.

I hope you will accept my best wishes for your success in finding a suitable position.

Applies to all academic position finalists as of January 1, 2025.  

The University of California is committed to fostering a safe and secure environment, free from all forms of violence, harassment, discrimination, exploitation, or intimidation. In compliance with California Senate Bill 791 and Assembly Bill 810, the following requirements apply to all academic positions that identify a finalist, effective January 1, 2025. 

Definitions for the purposes of these requirements: 

• Misconduct: Refers to any form of sexual harassment, sexual assault, harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct as defined by a finalist’s previous employer. 

• Finalist: An individual who has received direct notification from a hiring unit indicating that they have been selected to fill an open position at UCI, pending their interest, ability to clear certain hiring contingencies, and University approvals. This is generally the stage when a “soft offer” is extended to the selected candidate.   

• Position: is one that offers employment, affiliation, visiting, volunteer (e.g. without-salary), or contingent worker status at UCI. Positions may be offered via an open search, search waiver, or search exemption (You do not need to submit a search exemption request in AP Recruit for approval.).     

1. Misconduct Disclosure and Authorization to Release Information  

The UCI Misconduct Disclosure and Release Form must be completed and submitted by all finalists as a condition of employment. The form requests information regarding whether the finalist has been the subject of a final administrative or judicial decision within the past seven years that determined they committed violations of misconduct. It also requests information on any current or ongoing administrative or judicial proceedings alleging violations of misconduct. Additionally, the signed form authorizes the release of information by the previous employers to the University.  

The hiring unit is responsible for initiating and facilitating the completion of the UCI Misconduct Disclosure and Release Form. This process can only begin after the finalist has been notified of their selected status. Once notified, the hiring unit will provide the finalist with a link to the form to initiate a mandatory screening and clearance process.  

2. Finalist Screening and Clearance Process 

Submitted UCI Misconduct Disclosure and Release Forms are automatically directed to the Office of Academic Personnel, which will then conduct a confidential misconduct screening of the finalist. Upon completion of its review, the Office of Academic Personnel will issue a clearance notification to the hiring unit, via their school Chief Personnel Officer, informing them of their ability to proceed with the hiring process. Due to the confidential nature of the review, this notification will be brief and devoid of detailed information. 

Note: While this screening is being conducted, hiring units may, as applicable, proceed with issuing a formal Tentative Offer Letter (TOL) to finalists and may also prepare the appointment file documentation. However, hiring units cannot proceed with making a formal recommendation for academic appointment to the next level of review until they receive a clearance outcome for their finalist. For Contingent Worker positions, this includes entering the finalist into UCPath. 

3. Institutional Reference Checks (IRC) 

The Office of Academic Personnel will use the signed release form to reasonably attempt to obtain relevant information pertaining to misconduct from previous employers for finalists of Professor and Professor of Teaching positions (all ranks). For all other academic position finalists whose disclosure forms indicate affirmative responses, additional information from previous employers may be sought.   

Note: The IRC will be completed within a maximum of ten business days from the date of form submission, with five business days allocated for employer outreach and response, and up to five business days for evaluation and clearance outcome.  

4. Posting Requirements  

There are specific posting requirements that the University abides by for the needs of this legislation. They are the following: 

1. Job Ads:
   Public facing ads reporting available academic positions at UCI shall include the following language. AP Recruit will automatically display this in all open recruitment postings. 
   
   “As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer. 
   • “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment or discrimination, dishonesty or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. 
   • UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy 
   • UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, students and third parties 
   • APM – 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment”  
2. Tentative Offer Letters:  
   For academic positions for which a written offer is prepared, the following conditional employment language must be included: 
   
   “This offer is contingent upon you clearing an Employment Misconduct Disclosure review where you will be required to disclose any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that you committed any misconduct and provide information related to investigations and appeals.” 

Each appointment dossier must have a corresponding Shortlist and Search report in AP Recruit The information in AP Recruit should accurately describe the search and selection procedures, and it should clearly articulate reasons for the final choice. It is important to state the reasons why the other ranked finalists were not chosen. Approval of Search Report will be given if they demonstrate the following:

1. Advertising was carried out in appropriate publications for appropriate lengths of time;
2. The Affirmative Action Officer certified that the pool of candidates considered was reasonably representative of available persons;
3. A serious effort was made to locate and consider a diverse pool of candidates; and
4. 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, an appointment will not be made.

Complete records of the search, including applicant files and any search committee reports, must be maintained for a minimum period of three years after the close of recruitment. AP Recruit is the system of record for searches.

Transfer into the Professor series from another academic title may be made without following the prescribed affirmative action procedures if the original recruiting procedures made the possibility of such a transfer clear and explicit, and the original recruitment was carried out in conformance with affirmative action procedures. In all other cases, a potential candidate for such a transfer should be regarded as one of many possible candidates for that position, and normal recruiting procedures should be conducted.

Occasionally, an opportunity to hire someone of outstanding ability will occur. It may not be possible to comply with all affirmative action procedures. If this is clearly the case, a waiver to affirmative action procedures may be requested. Such a request may be granted if a strong case can be made that this is a unique and very important opportunity for UCI (e.g., a member of the National Academy, a Nobel Laureate). Care should be exercised in requesting waivers in order that their value does not become eroded by too frequent requests.

When simultaneous recruiting for several positions occurs, each position should be treated separately. If there are reasons why this cannot reasonably be accomplished, then a statement should be submitted which explains how the selection will be made without bias and without addition of further criteria.

1. FTE must be available.
2. The Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor must authorize recruiting for that FTE.
3.  Advertisement must be approved by the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel.
4. The Equity Advisor should be contacted when a pool of candidates has been developed and before selection occurs.
5. The UCI Misconduct Disclosure and Release Form must be sent to academic position finalists to initiate a screening and clearance process by Academic Personnel. Finalists must be cleared prior to forwarding an appointment dossier.
6. Tentative Offer letters, if provided, include the appropriate hiring contingencies.
7. Every appointment dossier submitted must have an approved Shortlist and Search report in AP Recruit.