GUIDELINES FOR OPEN APPLICANT POOL SEARCHES & APPOINTMENTS

STARTING THE APPLICANT POOL PROCESS

HIRING WITHOUT A DEGREE

NOTICE TO APPLICANTS

APPLICANT POOL APPOINTMENT DURATION LIMITATIONS

HIRING PROCESS FOR APPLICANT POOL HIRES

NON-TENURE TRACK FACULTY (NTTF) INITIATIVE: UO Document on Policies, Procedures, and Practices

The specific policies, procedures, and practices articulated in the above link are effective July 1, 2007 with the intention of creating transparency and increased consistency in NTTF appointments by the end of the 2007-08 academic year.

INTRODUCTION

These guidelines are supplementary to The Academic Appointments Process and Other Academic Personnel Matters, published by the Office of Academic Affairs in January 1994. For detailed information about recruitment and appointment procedures, please refer to that publication or visit the website at: http://ups.uoregon.edu

Consistent with our affirmative action obligations as a federal contractor, current university policy requires that all academic appointments of two terms (or six months) or longer at actual FTE of .50 or greater be filled through an open and competitive search process initiated with a Notification of Academic Position Opening (NAPO). In practice, however, there are limited circumstances when a regular search may not effectively serve the university's needs. Examples include needs that are strictly part-time and limited duration, instructional staff for class sections added to accommodate higher than expected enrollments, instructional staff for scheduled classes where the assigned instructor is unexpectedly not available.

These Guidelines for Open Applicant Pool Searches & Appointments constitute an effort by the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity (AAEO) to enable the university to fulfill federal contractual obligations while at the same time providing flexibility for departments to meet unexpected hiring needs. Departments are strongly encouraged to create an open applicant pool to eliminate the need for requests for exceptions to established search procedures. Exceptions to established search procedures as set forth in either The Academic Appointments Process or these Guidelines for Open Applicant Pool Searches & Appointments will be granted only under extraordinary and well documented circumstances.

These guidelines apply only to Officers of Instruction and Officers of Research. They are not appropriate for Officer of Administration positions because all OA positions must be reviewed and approved for exclusion from classified status based on the particular job duties of the position. All classified appointments are governed by the appropriate collective bargaining agreement. 

STARTING THE APPLICANT POOL PROCESS

The department's appointing authority should prepare a general announcement that is broad enough to cover short-term needs that may arise within the department during the coming year within a single appointment type, i.e. separate pools generally are required for officers of instruction vs. officers of research where the needs and/or minimum and preferred requirements are quite different. Examples of pool announcements are available on the applicant pool web site located at http://hr.uoregon.edu/jobs/academic-pool/. Open applicant pool announcements must indicate that appointments are part-time and/or of limited duration (see below for specifics) and ordinarily not renewable without another competitive search.

The intent of the applicant pool recruitment process is to provide a means of filling limited duration positions quickly without the encumbrance of the regular full search process. However, to comply with affirmative action obligations recruitment efforts must still be designed and conducted in a manner likely to reach and attract a broad group of potentially interested and qualified candidates, including women and people of color. Departments are encouraged to think creatively of effective and economical ways to reach a diverse audience of prospective candidates. Use of electronic bulletin boards and contact with professional associations, colleges and universities should be considered as possible means of effective outreach and recruitment.  

The proposed job announcement and a proposed recruitment plan must be sent, preferably by email, to AAEO. AAEO will review the announcement and recruitment plan for compliance with these guidelines. Upon approval, a posting number will be assigned. This process must be repeated for each new or changed announcement. For on-going applicant pool recruitments, the process must be repeated at least once per academic year for compliance review and assignment of a new posting number.

Once the announcement has been approved and a posting number assigned, AAEO will notify the department of the posting number and post the announcement on the UO Jobs page.  The department is responsible for placing the announcement with all other sources identified in the approved recruitment plan. When the department is ready to make its first appointment from an approved pool, it should notify AAEO and the office will send via email a “master copy” affirmative action compliance statement for the current approved pool search.  All hires from the pool will use that master copy compliance statement. 

The recruitment effort may be repeated as many times a year as needed to generate a pool sufficient to meet departmental needs.  However, the announcement must be published in print media at least once during the academic year.

NOTICE TO APPLICANTS

It is a professional courtesy to respond to all applicants acknowledging that their applications have been received and will be reviewed for any open positions in the department during the time period the applicant pool is open.

All pool applicants must be sent an Affirmative Action Applicant Data Card and the Jeanne Clery Safety Notice. All candidates also must be notified as to when the pool will close and their application will no longer be on file. To avoid having to notify candidates a second time when the pool closes, the acknowledgement letter should be used to inform candidates of the closing date for the pool. Without notice of that time limitation, an applicant could reasonably expect to be considered indefinitely for any appropriate positions. An open applicant pool recruitment officially closes one year from the last day of the month in which the pool was opened.

See sample acknowledgement letter

APPLICANT POOL APPOINTMENT DURATION LIMITATIONS 

The following limitations apply to appointments made through the open applicant pool process.

• From a locally recruited applicant pool, appointments can be made for up to .50 FTE for one term or more, but no more than one year. 
  

• From a regionally recruited applicant pool, appointments can be made up to 1.0 FTE for one term or more, but no more than one year. 
  

• Postdoctoral Research Associates: Generally, candidates should be within two to three years of having received their doctoral degrees and hired to conduct research under the supervision of faculty members for the purpose of acquiring training in research. Appointments from nationally recruited applicant pools for Postdoctoral Research Associate positions can be renewed for up to five years. Beyond that five year period, the incumbent can be continued without a further search following regular academic search procedures ONLY if named in a grant. If appointment is made from a pool and incumbent becomes named in a grant, an exception to regular search procedures will be allowed where there is documentation showing the incumbent named in the grant. 
  

• Visiting appointments: Where the need for a full-year, .50 FTE or greater visiting faculty appointment is known in advance, a department should conduct a regular search. However, where a need is not known in advance or where a department has an unanticipated opportunity to benefit from a limited duration visiting appointment of a candidate on sabbatical or other leave from another institution who has research and/or teaching interests that would benefit the hiring department, the open applicant pool process is appropriate for hiring visiting faculty under those limited circumstances.
  

Possible Exception To Appointment Duration Limitations - Modified Open Applicant Pool

NOTE: The modified open applicant pool process is an alternative to the regular open applicant pool where its use is appropriate as described below. No department should initiate a modified open pool without FIRST checking with the appropriate Dean's office.

Some departments or other organizational units have documented a need for additional instructional faculty on a regular basis, but with the specifics of that need not known until a point in time too late to conduct a regular search. Because of that anticipated but non-definite need, those departments have regularly posted open applicant pools for both part-time, temporary and potentially full-time instructional staff. Given the unique needs of those departments coupled with the benefit to the academic program of continuity in its teaching staff, consideration has been requested for instances in which there might be a hybrid between a regular search and an open applicant pool.

The following guidelines have been developed to apply in those circumstances where a department has documented a compelling need for a possible exception to the appointment limitations of the open applicant pool process. Permission for exemption to the open applicant pool limitations must be discussed with and approved by the appropriate Dean and by AAEO.

Where an open applicant pool complies with the above guidelines after review and approval by AAEO, then renewal beyond one year without a regular search is possible.

HIRING PROCESS FOR APPLICANT POOL HIRES 

When hiring from an open applicant pool, departments need to submit the following:

• Request to Offer Appointment
• Compliance Statement (with appropriate attachments)
• Description of position being filled, with minimum and desired qualifications.
• Copy of advertisements, including web announcement.
• Copy of application materials submitted by selected applicant

The Affirmative Action Compliance Statement submitted for approval with the hiring documentation packet must list all applicants in the applicant pool, not just those considered qualified for the particular position.

Failure to create an open applicant pool or follow the above procedures may substantially delay processing of appointment paperwork and/or result in denial of a proposed appointment. 

If you have any questions concerning the use of the open applicant pool please contact the Office of Affirmative Action & Equal Opportunity at 6-3123.

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