Recruitment & Hiring Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to facilitate recruitment and hiring of highly qualified employees in a manner that is fair, efficient and effective. The intent is to incorporate current best practices and legal requirements, protect the University’s fiscal and personnel resources and present the University positively to potential and actual applicants.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity employer, recruitments should provide for equal opportunity and seek diverse pools of applicants. Above all, recruitments should be effective in recruiting highly qualified individuals with the requisite skills, expertise and commitment to become outstanding scholars, teachers, colleagues and citizens in the University community.

This statement of policy, procedures, roles and responsibilities supersedes and replaces any and all previous policies, procedures, forms or guidelines that may previously have been in effect. All necessary forms and additional resources can be found on the Human Resources website and will replace all previously required forms. A dean/division head or supervisor/recruitment chair may adopt additional procedures and guidelines provided they do not contradict or compromise compliance with these guidelines.

These procedures, forms or guidelines may be updated, revised or waived only with the express written approval of the chancellor. This policy was developed in accordance with SYS 1275: Recruitment Policies. 

Roles & Responsibilities

• The Chancellor is the hiring authority for all positions at UW-Green Bay. The chancellor has also delegated hiring authority to Cabinet members for their respective areas. 
• Cabinet members are responsible for overseeing the entire hiring process and approving the recommended hire and conditions of appointment.
• Position/Budget Control Process: Recruitments for all positions subject to this policy are reviewed by HR, Budget and the Final Review Group before the recruitment can commence. For more information about the Position/Budget Control Process, please see the Compensation website.
• Delegated hiring authority:
  • University staff, academic staff & limited appointees: The Cabinet members are the chancellor’s designated hiring authority.
  • Faculty: The provost is the chancellor’s designated hiring authority.
• Dean/division head/director: Any questions from the recruitment chair or supervisor should be directed toward their respective dean/division head or director.
  • University staff, academic staff & limited appointees: The dean/division heads or directors are primarily responsible for recruiting and hiring individuals within their respective areas in a manner that is consistent with this policy.
  • Faculty: The academic deans and the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs are responsible for recruiting and hiring faculty within their respective areas in a manner that is consistent with this policy. 
  • The dean/division head or director has responsibility for supervision of the recruitment, review and approval of recruitment documents, making the final selection and negotiating terms and conditions of employment. If delegated to another party, this shall be identified for review and approval on the Authorization for Recruitment form.
• The recruitment chair ensures the recruitment is conducted in accordance with University policies and procedures. The recruitment chair is responsible for documenting the recruitment and submitting recommendations and materials to the appropriate parties, as indicated in the recruitment procedures. The recruitment chair will also strive to further the University’s affirmative action goals by selecting a diverse recruitment committee or panel. Recruitment committees are to be used for the recruitment of faculty and administrative appointments outlined in the Faculty Handbook.
• Recruitment committees are an option for instructional academic staff, non-instructional academic staff, limited appointments not referenced in the Faculty Handbook and university staff. Recruitment committees participate throughout the recruitment process, generate a diverse and ample pool of applicants, draft screening criteria, develop interview questions, evaluate all qualified applicants, conduct interviews and reference checks and present the hiring authority with feedback on the candidates. Recruitment committees are required to post recruitment committee meetings, schedule and post interview dates and times and act publicly based upon Wisconsin’s open meetings laws.
• Recruitment panels are an option for the recruitment of instructional academic staff, non-instructional academic staff, limited appointments not referenced in the Faculty Handbook and university staff. If a panel is used, the recruitment chair will designate one panel member as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to assist with reviewing applicants and developing forms. The remainder of the recruitment panel will not be involved until the interviewing stage and are responsible for providing input in the selection of candidates for on-campus interviews and hire.
• The Subject Matter Expert (SME) is an individual who has expertise and knowledge of the essential functions required of the position. This is often a senior incumbent, former employee of the position or an individual with a similar position within the unit or organization. The SME will participate in applicant review to determine which applicants will move forward to the interview stage and will assist the chair in development of screening tools and interview questions. The SME may assist the chair in development of screening tools and interview question and will participate in applicant review to determine which applicants will move forward to the interviewing stage of our process.
• Administrative support personnel, in cooperation with the recruitment chair, will facilitate applicant logistical tasks such as advertising job openings in industry-specific sites, reserving interview rooms, arranging travel and accommodations, coordinating reimbursement of interviewed candidates’ expenses and processing payment of other recruitment-related expenses.
• Human Resources supports individuals involved in the recruitment process by offering guidance and consultation throughout. At the start of each recruitment, HR meets with the recruitment chair and administrative staff to outline the process and provide strategies for attracting a diverse applicant pool. They create job requisitions in Workday, advertise open positions in Workday including coordinating with online job platforms, review candidate applications, update candidate statuses in Workday, communicate with candidates, write offer letters and conduct pre-employment checks.
• Faculty Recruitments:
  • Academic Unit Executive Committees define the position responsibilities and qualifications (subject to approval by the dean and provost), receive recruitment committee recommendations and formulate final recommendations (unranked) that are submitted to the dean.
  • Academic Department Chair prepares the authorization for recruitment in consultation with the Unit Executive Committee; makes recommendations to the dean, the chair and members of the recruitment committee; and in consultation with the recruitment chair, ensures that all support functions required for a fair, efficient and effective recruitment are implemented. At the end of the recruitment, the Unit Chair leads the Executive Committee in providing a written report to the dean on the unit’s candidate evaluations. 

Applicable Positions

1. Positions Included: this policy applies to ongoing positions (besides university staff projects) greater than 50% FTE in the following classifications:
   • Instructional and Non-Instructional Academic staff
   • Faculty
   • Limited appointments
   • University staff including project appointments
2. Exclusions: this policy does not apply to temporary hires (except project appointments). These temporary appointments can include, but are not limited to, temporary university staff, associate lecturers, temporary academic staff appointments, ad hocs, student help, etc.

Policy

Decision to Conduct a Recruitment

Designated hiring authorities, deans/division head/directors and supervisors should carefully evaluate all new and vacant positions with respect to programmatic needs, fiscal resources and unit or University planning goals. Positions may be redefined or reallocated across classifications or units to meet changing instructional needs, enrollment patterns or planning goals. As outlined in the Title Review Policy, a change in job duties which results in the creation of a vacant position must be processed through merit-based recruitment procedures. 

Recruitment Principles

All recruitments will be conducted in a manner that is:

• Open and fair to all candidates.
• Efficient and timely.
• Compliant with federal/state law and UW System/UW-Green Bay regulations. 

While subject to the forces of the labor market, all recruitments will strive to be:

• Effective in generating broad pools of qualified candidates.
• Effective in generating a pool of finalists who are highly qualified, well suited to the position and committed to the ideals and mission of public higher education. 

The recruitment process is designed to ensure fairness and consistency for all applicants. No individual should receive special treatment or be subject to different procedures. To uphold this standard, committee or panel members are encouraged to plan each stage of the process in advance. This allows for collaborative decision-making on the specific procedures to be followed, ensuring a uniform experience for every candidate.

Committee or panel members are encouraged to apply their professional expertise and judgment when evaluating candidates. However, it is essential that all decisions are supported by clear, job-related reasoning and can be explained within the context of the selection criteria.

A process grounded in these principles will yield a pool of highly qualified candidates and also provide a strong legal foundation for the outcome. While support and guidance are available throughout the recruitment process, the ultimate responsibility and accountability rest with the dean, division head or director overseeing the search.

Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action

In accordance with SYS 1202: Equal Employment Opportunity and SYS 1203: Employment of Veterans, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer committed to achieving a diverse workforce and to maintaining a community which welcomes and values a climate supporting equal opportunity and difference among its members. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital or parental status, genetic information, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship status, veteran or military status (including disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, other protected veteran or Armed Forces service medal veteran status), age or disability. Discrimination based upon protected status is illegal and will not be tolerated.

Hiring qualified employees who add diversity to the UWGB community is desirable and beneficial. It strengthens UWGB as a whole and bolsters its ability to provide students with a quality educational experience. 

UW-Green Bay’s hiring practices aim to recruit a diverse pool of applicants for every job vacancy and to remove all forms of bias (intentional and unintentional) from the evaluation of applicants to ensure that no individual receives advantage or disadvantage based upon a protected status.

For this reason, committee members should not solicit information in an application or interview process that would likely reveal a person’s protected status in any of these categories.

There are certain steps that UWGB can take to display a good faith effort in ensuring equal access and opportunity for all applicants:

• Supervisors should carefully analyze each position description to ensure that candidates with alternative, but equally valuable, experiences are not excluded from consideration.
• Minimum qualifications should be stated carefully to avoid excluding individuals who are qualified to perform the responsibilities of the position.
• Those involved in recruitments should take steps to broaden the available applicant pool for each position in creative ways. Recruitment committees may consider advertising in non-traditional locations that may be more likely to reach candidates. UWGB staff may make direct contact with known qualified individuals to share information about the opportunity with them. UWGB can also reach out to people or organizations who may know qualified individuals.
• Dean/division head/directors should review applicant pools to ensure that there is an adequately broad and diverse pool of qualified applicants and take remedial measures if warranted. 
• Recruitment committees/panels are encouraged to ask candidates about experience related to inclusion and belonging during the interview process. To support this recommendation, Human Resources maintains a list of sample Interview Question Bank.

Because equal employment opportunity laws prohibit discrimination, including discrimination in favor of underrepresented groups, UWGB cannot make employment decisions, such as whom to interview or select for the position, based on the candidate's protected status. Instead, recruitment committee members must carefully examine each applicant's qualifications and experiences to determine which one would best serve UWGB's interests, as articulated in the position description, without regard for the applicant's protected status. 

Scope 

At the beginning of the recruitment, departments will determine the scope as described below: 

• Internal: consideration is available to employees (regardless of their classification, employment status or length of service) across all UW System institutions. Faculty recruitments may be internal at the discretion of the provost. In rare cases, a position may be posted only for UW Green Bay employees when experience at UW-Green Bay in a tenured faculty position is required (i.e. Associate Provost).
• External: consideration is available to all applicants internal to the UW System, as well as outside the UW System. 

Positions within job groups identified as underutilized in the current Affirmative Action Program are to be recruited externally, unless an exception is made by the Chancellor.

If an internal recruitment does not gather a well-balanced group of candidates as determined by the designated hiring authority, dean/division head/director and/or affirmative action officer, an external recruitment will be initiated.

The scope of an external recruitment will be defined by the following guidelines:

• University staff, academic staff & limited appointments: The supervisor, in collaboration with the designated hiring authority will identify the scope of the recruitment for review and approval on the Authorization for Recruitment.
• Faculty: All recruitments will be national in scope.

To Ensure Consideration Date

All recruitments will be posted for a minimum of 10 calendar days. A determination may be made after the “to ensure consideration date” to consider additional applicants beyond this date. If this occurs, recruitment chairs must determine and document the adjusted date and review all applicants received by this date consistently. 

References

Per SYS 1275, Recruitment Policies (6.C.) and UW-Green Bay policy, professional reference checks are required for all limited, academic staff, university staff and faculty positions as part of the recruitment and selection process. In addition, a misconduct check with minimum questions as outlined in SYS 1275, Recruitment Policies (6.D.) must be performed for all final candidates for University positions aside from employees transferring positions within the same institution (which are at the discretion of the institution).

The Office of Human Resources utilizes a centralized, automatic reference checking system for both professional reference checks and misconduct checks. At least three professional references, including one prior supervisor, will be contacted.

Before extending an offer to any individual who, within the last 7 years has held a UW System appointment, the Office of Human Resources (HR) will review the UW institutional personnel file(s) of the individual. HR will also obtain the personnel file for employees with prior work history with a state agency upon hire.

If information received through the misconduct check or personnel file review reveals past misconduct, Human Resources will consult with the hiring authority (and the Office of General Council as appropriate) to determine if the misconduct is a disqualifier to employment.

For unique situations, “off list” references may be contacted, however, the committee must work closely with HR in coordinating these types of references. If applicable, once the final interview list is approved, a notification will be sent by HR to all final candidates informing them of the intent to contact “off list” references and allowing the candidates an opportunity to withdraw prior to these checks being conducted.

Job advertisements (postings) and appointment letters will contain notification to candidates of reference check and personnel file review requirements.

Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest

All University of Wisconsin System employees are required to comply with the code of ethics applicable to their employment status. These codes are designed to prevent conflicts between an employee’s private interests and public responsibilities. Please see the UW System website on Ethics and the UW-Green Bay Consensual and Familial Relationships Policy for further information. 

Expense Reimbursement

Payment of expenses related to recruitment is the responsibility of the dean/division head/director. The dean/division head/director should communicate to the recruitment chair the total amount available to cover interview-related expenses. Applicant expense reimbursement should be consistent for all applicants.

Recruitment committees are allowed up to two hosted meals per candidate and for each candidate meal, no more than two employees may be reimbursed, unless an exception is granted by the dean/division head. Meal reimbursement for employees must follow established UW System policy and may not exceed established maximums. Please see the Interview Expenses FAQ Sheet for more information about expense reimbursement.

Hiring a Foreign National

Once the determination is made to hire a foreign national, the recruitment chair, unit chair and/or Dean will be responsible for supplementary documentation regarding the recruitment process, hiring decision and export control.

UWGB will pay routine filing fees for form I-129 for a foreign national hired into a tenured/tenure track position or into a teaching professor series position of at least 50% FTE. UWGB will not pay the I-485 filing fee. Completion and filing of the form I-485 are the employee’s responsibility. If there is a demonstrated business need, fees for premium processing may be paid by UWGB only with the explicit approval of the provost and International Faculty and Staff Services.

For more information about hiring a foreign national, please see the Foreign National Employees website.

Authorization for Temporary Hire

Academic staff, limited or faculty appointments: There is no provision in UWS 10, UWS 3 or UWGB policy for a "temporary" versus "permanent" academic staff or faculty appointment. However, a temporary position can be established. 

University staff: university staff temporary and project appointments are defined in SYS 1256: University Staff Temporary & Project Appointments. 

A position is temporary if it is established with the understanding that it will no longer exist after a specified amount of time. A position with expectation of continued employment is a defined position with ongoing tasks, and no predetermined ending point.

Examples of temporary positions include lecturers hired to teach courses while a recruitment is being conducted to fill a tenure-track faculty position; visiting lecturers; individuals hired as interim directors, deans, etc.; and positions established for a year or less using FTE and salary dollars that are budgeted to a vacant, permanent position or positions. Individuals hired to fill temporary positions will be given a letter of appointment that specifically states that the position is temporary and will be eliminated at the end of the appointment period.

Authorization for a temporary hire should be obtained by following the procedure outlined on the Authorization for Temporary Hire. If recruitment is warranted, or if a university staff project appointment is requested, complete the Authorization for Recruitment. 

Waiver of Recruitment Requirement

An area leader, dean/division head/director or supervisor may request that a highly qualified individual be offered a position without recruitment if hiring the individual would significantly advance the educational mission and strategic priorities of the University and/or bring unique and extraordinary expertise or distinction to the unit and University. Additional information related to waivers can be found in SYS 1275, Recruitment Policies: Guidelines for Utilizing Recruitment Waivers.

Authorization for a waiver is obtained by following the procedure outlined on the Authorization to Waive Recruitment and is at the sole discretion of the chancellor. 

Candidate Confidentiality

All applicants in the recruitment process have basic, fundamental privacy interests that committee members should take care to protect throughout the process. Each applicant for a position at UWGreen Bay may request confidentiality of their identity in the search process. 

Pursuant to Wis.Stat. § 19.36 (7), the University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released.

For the position of chancellor or the position of the vice chancellor who serves as deputy at each institution, except with respect to final candidates, if an applicant makes such an indication in writing, the authority shall not provide access to any record related to the application that may reveal the applicant’s identity. “Final candidate" means each applicant who is seriously considered for appointment and whose name is submitted for final consideration to an authority for appointment. All applicants must be notified before documents that implicate their privacy are released to the campus community, including sharing resumes/CVs of on-campus interview candidates. When documents are disclosed to the campus community, the recruitment chair must redact personal information from the document, including the candidate’s address, phone number and email address.

All public records requests, particularly those requesting records that contain information about individuals, should be immediately referred to the university Records Custodian or the Office of Human Resources.

Application of Public Records Laws Related to Committee or Panel Paperwork

All documents officially generated by the committee/panel are subject to public records requests. Official documents generated as a part of the recruitment process are maintained by Human Resources for the appropriate retention period. This includes candidate applications, correspondence to applicants, forms or procedures generated for use by the group, minutes of meetings and any other records of official actions. After a recruitment has concluded and human resources has closed the search, no recruitment materials should be retained in the individual department.

Individual committee members may wish to adopt some form of note-taking to help keep track of their observations regarding individual candidates. These personal notes are not subject to public records requests and do not become a part of the official file, as long as they are prepared for the individual’s own use and are not shared with others. All personal notes created by individual committee/panel members must be confidentially destroyed at the end of the recruitment.

All requests for committee records should be immediately referred to the university Records Custodian or the Office of Human Resources. 

Application of Open Meetings Laws (does not apply to recruitment panels)

Wisconsin Open Meetings Law requires that "all meetings held by governmental bodies be in publicly held places reasonably accessible to members of the public and shall be open to citizens at all times unless otherwise expressly provided by law."

The general rule for all recruitment committees is that when they act, they must do so publicly, consistent with Wisconsin open meetings laws.

• Each committee meeting must be properly noticed to the public. All meetings of recruitment committees and interview times will be posted and scheduled. Posting of meetings can be local (e.g. unit bulletin board) but must also be posted on the University Calendar.
• Committee meetings must always begin in an unlocked room (preferably with an open door) that will be accessible to members of the public who wish to attend. While members of the public may not participate in the discussions, they may listen and be given access to any handouts provided to committee members in open session.
• Committee members may not meet or make decisions outside of meetings that are properly noticed. For example, committee members may not decide by e-mail whom to interview because the public has not had the opportunity to be informed of the "meeting" or attend it. 

The recruitment committee may move into closed session when it discusses and/or considers data regarding the individual candidates for the position. The Wisconsin Statutes describe two separate exceptions that allow committees to go into closed session under these circumstances: 

• [When] [c]onsidering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(c).
• [When] [c]onsidering financial, medical, social or personal histories or disciplinary data of specific persons… Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(f). 

In order to use these exceptions, the meeting must be properly noticed. The meeting notice must include a statement that explains the reason for going into closed session and cites the statute. For example, the following statement would be sufficient: "The committee will go into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.85(1)(c),(f) to discuss the individual candidates’ qualifications."

Committees must also move into closed session properly. To do so, the chairperson of the committee must announce both the nature of the business to be considered in closed session and the specific statutory exemption that authorizes the closed session. The chairperson’s statement of the reasons for going into closed session must be consistent with the reasons provided in the open meetings notice. The chairperson may efficiently meet all of these requirements by simply reading the quoted statement found in the above preceding paragraph (assuming this statement was also used in the meetings notice). The chairperson must then seek a motion to go into closed session, which must be carried by majority vote. The announcement, the motion and the votes of each member on the motion should be recorded.

Once in closed session, committees should take care to avoid discussing any general business or other committee business that is not covered by the exceptions allowing the closed session.

If the committee plans to move back into open session after discussing individual candidates, they must provide notice to the public ahead of time.

Recruitment chairs should feel free to contact the Office of Human Resources or Secretary of the Faculty and Staff to further discuss the requirements of the open meetings law and ensure understanding and compliance.

Official committee documents, including meeting minutes, will be submitted to human resources at the conclusion of the recruitment. 

Conclusion of the Recruitment

Once the recruitment has concluded, any questions about reasons for non-selection of specific candidates should be referred to the Office of Human Resources. Recruitment committee or panel members are not required to provide any further feedback to candidates regarding the recruitment.

Human Resources will coordinate all new hire pre-onboarding activities. The dean/division head/director for limited, academic staff and university staff employees and the Academic Department Chair for faculty will be proactive in welcoming new hires, providing assistance and ensuring a smooth transition to enhance the probability of success in the new position. 

Letters of Appointment

All terms and conditions of appointment shall be specified in a written letter of appointment. The letter of appointment will be produced in Workday and will contain information regarding type of appointment, duration, salary, general position responsibilities, operational area, length of probationary period, contingencies and recognition of any prior service granted per SYS 1275: Recruitment Policies. 

Procedures

All procedures and forms associated with the recruitment process can be found on the Human Resources website.