Policy
This policy was a part of the former UPS Policy set that was integrated into the System Administrative Policy set. It applies to all University of Wisconsin institutions except for UW-Madison. For UW-Madison’s policies, please see the Human Resource Design Policies website.
Original Issuance Date: July 1, 2015
Last Revision Date: November 5, 2024
1. Policy Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide a framework for UW System institutions to use in the development of merit-based recruitment, selection, and hiring processes that produce a talented, effective workforce and that reflect UW System’s commitment to the principles of equal employment opportunity, non-discrimination, and diversity.
2. Responsible UW System Officer
Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
3. Scope and Institutional Responsibilities
This policy applies to all UW System Institutions and the UW System Administration, except for UW-Madison.
4. Background
Wis. Stat. § 36.09(1)(e) authorizes the Board of Regents to appoint the requisite number of limited appointees, faculty, academic staff, and other employees. Several Regent actions have served to delegate much of the appointment authority to the UW System President, who in turn further delegates this authority to the chancellors.
Wis. Stat. § 36.115 requires the Board and the UW-Madison Chancellor to establish and maintain personnel systems separate and distinct from Wisconsin’s civil service system as established under Chapter 230 of the Wisconsin Statutes. After the Board of Regents adopted Resolution 11038 (adopted June 7, 2018) for all UW System institutions regarding employee personnel files and reference checks, this policy was modified to address concerns related to sexual violence and sexual harassment.
Faculty and academic staff recruitment policies are outlined in UWS 3.02 and UWS 10.02(1) of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, respectively. The majority of limited appointee recruitments follow established university recruitment policies. However, recruitment procedures for chancellors, senior vice presidents or vice presidents are outlined in Regent Policy Document 20-27, Selection Process for System President, Chancellors, Vice Chancellors and UW System Senior Leadership Positions.
5. Definitions
Please see SYS 1225, General Terms and Definitions, for a list of general terms and definitions.
Definitions specific to this policy:
Employee: Any individual who holds a faculty, academic staff, university staff, or limited appointment with any UW System institution.
Equal opportunity and affirmative action: An active effort to improve the educational and employment opportunities of members of minority groups, women, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.
Merit: The qualifications, experience, standard of work performance, and capabilities of those persons that are relevant to the performance of those duties.
Sexual harassment: See Regent Policy Document 14-2, Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment.
Sexual violence: See Regent Policy Document 14-2, Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment.
State agency: A department or independent agency as defined under Wis. Stat. §15.01(5) and §15.01(9).
UW System institution: Any of the following: UW-Eau Claire; UW-Green Bay; UW-La Crosse; UW-Milwaukee; UW-Oshkosh; UW-Parkside; UW-Platteville; UW-River Falls; UW-Stevens Point; UW-Stout; UW-Superior; UW-Whitewater; UW System Administration.
Misconduct (for the purpose of this policy, is defined as): Shall include findings with respect to sexual harassment, sexual violence, other types of violence, or harassment; workplace bullying; research misconduct; financial fraud or fiscal misconduct; foreign influence violations, grant misuse or grant misconduct; and/or any other type of finding or pending investigation relating to a candidate’s employer’s policies and rules governing faculty or staff conduct that may reasonably be expected to affect a candidate’s appointment.
Final Candidate: The candidate who will be offered the position.
6. Policy Statement
It is the policy of the University of Wisconsin System to use merit-based principles in the recruitment and selection process. Recruitment must be an active process consistent with sound personnel management practices and done in a manner to recruit a diverse, highly qualified group of applicants. Selection must be made according to merit selection principles through a competitive process. As appropriate, internal recruitment may be utilized if consistent with equal employment and affirmative action objectives as well as UW System institutional policies or practices.
UW System institutions must consider affirmative action principles and inclusive excellence in all recruitments to ensure that equal employment opportunity, diversity, and affirmative action goals are addressed. Depending on institutional policies or practices, this may include, but is not limited to, activities such as participation in review and/or approval of a recruitment plan which includes consideration of affirmative action goals and targets for advertising to increase diversity of pools, appointment and orientation of search and screen committee members, development of inclusive position descriptions, development of interview questions, and review of finalists.
UW System institutions provide equal employment opportunity by ensuring that all personnel actions including hire, promotion, tenure, and any term, condition, or privilege of employment are based on the ability to perform the duties and responsibilities assigned to the particular position without regard to age, race, creed or religion, color, disability, sex, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status or political affiliation.
A. Responsibilities
UW System institution human resource departments are responsible for providing oversight and guidance during the recruitment process. UW System institutions may also delegate recruitment responsibilities to other appropriate departments and designate who is authorized to respond to reference checks on behalf of the institution.
B. Review of Personnel File Required for Final Candidate
A UW System institution may not make an offer of employment to any individual who, within the last 7 years, has held a UW System appointment, unless the institution has reviewed the UW institutional personnel file(s) of the individual. Personnel files for employees with prior work history with a state agency must be obtained upon hire.
In reviewing the personnel file, the institution shall determine whether the candidate:
- was ever found to have engaged in any employee misconduct (violations of law, company or university rule or policy, including sexual violence or sexual harassment, or conduct that adversely affected the performance of their job responsibilities); or
- is currently under investigation or has ever left employment during an active investigation in which they were accused of employee misconduct, sexual violence, or sexual harassment
C. Providing Personnel Files
UW System institutions are required to promptly share personnel files upon request of another UW System institutional human resources office or State agency human resources office.
D. Obtaining Employment References
Job related reference information is required as part of the recruitment and selection process for limited appointments, academic staff (including fixed term, terminal positions), and university staff (including project positions). Reference checks may be waived for other types of recruitment such as student help, or university staff-temporary appointments, at the discretion of the university, depending upon the nature of the position, and the level of direct supervision. Reference checks cannot be waived for positions of trust.
Who to ask: Reference checks must be conducted at a minimum with three professional references, at least one of which must be a prior supervisor.
Reference checks must be completed using the centralized, automated reference checking system. An institution may select to not utilize the automated reference checking system for faculty appointments, or in other limited circumstances as determined by the institutional Human Resources department. In these limited circumstances, documentation received by the references must be retained in the recruitment file according to the Wisconsin public records retention schedule. Other considerations: If the final candidate is a current UW employee, and they are internally transferring into a new appointment or they are adding additional appointments within the same institution, the institution may waive the reference check process.
The application process must include a requirement for applicants to disclose any prior UW System or other Wisconsin state agency employment.
E. Required Misconduct Check
Misconduct checks must be performed, at a minimum, for all final candidates for any UW System institution position prior to hire. Misconduct checks for student help positions and for employees transferring positions within the same institution are at the discretion of the university.
At a minimum, misconduct questions must be asked about a final candidate prior to hire as to whether:
- to their knowledge, the candidate was ever found to have engaged in any employee misconduct (violations of law, company or university rule or policy, including sexual violence or sexual harassment, or conduct that adversely affected the performance of their job responsibilities)
- to their knowledge, the candidate is currently under investigation or have ever left employment during an active investigation in which they were accused of employee misconduct, sexual violence, or sexual harassment
The misconduct check must be completed using the centralized, automated reference checking system. An institution may select to not utilize the automated reference checking in limited circumstances as determined by the institutional Human Resources department. In these limited circumstances, documentation received for the misconduct check must be retained in the recruitment file according to the Wisconsin public records retention schedule.
Other considerations: Depending on the specific facts, past misconduct is not an automatic disqualifier.
- Reference information that reveals past misconduct (including any violation of sexual violence or sexual harassment policies) must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis prior to making any hiring decisions, and when appropriate, legal counsel should be consulted.
If the final candidate is a current UW employee, and they are internally transferring into a new appointment or they are adding additional appointments within the same institution, the institution may waive the misconduct check process.
F. Special considerations under the Wisconsin Public Records Law
Wis. Stat. § 19.36(7)(b) provides that applicants for positions may indicate in writing that their identity should be kept confidential. Except for certain high-level positions described below, only the identity of the individual who is hired for the position may be the subject of a public records request.
The following confidentiality language should be included in all UW job announcements (except for those for high-level positions described below):
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. See Wis. Stat. §. 19.36(7).
For the positions of President, Vice President, or Senior Vice President of the University of Wisconsin System; Chancellor, and Vice Chancellor, who serves as deputy at each institution (usually the Provost), the following confidentiality language should be included in the UW job announcement:
The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identities of finalists must be revealed upon request. See Wis. Stat. §. 19.36(7).
G. Letters of Appointment
The terms and conditions of an appointment should be specified in a written letter of appointment. The appointment letter must be signed by an authorized official of the UW System institution and should contain details regarding the following:
- type of appointment (e.g., fixed term, probationary, or expectation of continued employment);
- duration of the appointment (starting date, ending date);
- salary (hourly for nonexempt; salary for exempt);
- general position responsibilities;
- definition of operational area;
- duration of the probationary period (if appropriate); and
- recognition of prior service as part of the probationary period (if appropriate).
Accompanying the appointment letter must be an attachment or link detailing the applicable UW System institution employment regulations, rules, and procedures. If the appointment is subject to the approval of the Board of Regents, a statement to this effect must be included in the letter.
If the Criminal Background Check (CBC) or reference check process cannot be completed before an offer is made, the appointment letter must state that the offer will be withdrawn, or the employment terminated if the individual’s CBC or reference results are unacceptable. The following statement must be used in the appointment letter:
This offer of employment is conditional pending the results of a criminal background check and a reference check process that includes questions regarding employee misconduct, sexual violence, and sexual harassment. If the results are unacceptable, the offer will be withdrawn or, if you have started employment, your employment will be terminated.
7. Related Documents
Appendix 1– Options for Staff Recruitment and Assessment
Appendix 2 – Reference Check Guidelines
Appendix 3 – Background and Misconduct Checks
Regent Policy Document 14-2, Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment
UW System Administrative Policy 420, Travel & Expense – Meal and Incidental Expense (M&IE) Per Diem allowance Reimbursements
UW System Administrative Policy 1261, Personnel Files
8. Policy History
Revision 4: November 5, 2024
Revision 3: March 18, 2024
Revision 2: December 21, 2022
Revision 1: October 14, 2019
First approved: July 1, 2015
9. Scheduled Review
October 2029
Guidance
Guidelines for Utilizing Recruitment Waivers
1. Purpose of Guidelines
This guidance outlines the circumstances under which the general requirement of merit-based recruitment and selection may be waived. The normal practice for both new hires and promotions should be to utilize the merit-based procedures outlined in SYS 1275.2. Publishing Office(s)
This guidance is published by the Universities of Wisconsin Office of Human Resources.3. Affected Stakeholders on Campus
Local institution HR offices and hiring managers are the stakeholders most directly affected by this guidance.4. Primary Responsibility
Local institution HR offices have the primary responsibility for ensuring that their local hiring practices follow SYS 1275, except as indicated in this guidance document.5. Guidelines
The following situations allow for waiver of the merit-based recruitment procedures required by SYS 1275. Local institution policies control whether any particular waiver reason is available for any particular campus.A. New Hire- Special Circumstances
- Unique credentials - the candidate identified on the recruitment waiver request has specific, hard‐to‐find, and unique skill and/or experience that allows only that person to perform the duties of the job. It must be commonly accepted that there are only a few people who possess these necessary credentials, and as a result, there is no value in recruiting for the position.
- Veteran – used when hiring any veteran with a documented 30 percent or more service- connected disability. This waiver requires consultation with UWSHR to ensure that the appropriate documentation has been received and validated by The Office of Veterans Services. See SYS 1203, Employment of Veterans.
- Spousal or partner hire – used for Academic, Faculty, Limited, and University Staff to employ or retain an employee by hiring the spouse/partner. Approval for spousal or partner hire waivers is contingent on the primary spouse/partner accepting employment with the Universities of Wisconsin or continuing in the current position.
- Official training or professional development programs – interns, fellows, trainees, apprentices, or employees maybe be hired into Academic and University Staff appointments after successfully completing official internships, fellowships, apprenticeships or certified professional development programs.
B. Transfer/Reassignment/Reclassification
- Temporary acting appointments – used for Academic Staff and Limited Appointees, up to two years, to meet interim departmental needs. Typically reserved for high-level administrative positions, and used until the recruitment is completed. See RPD 20-27, Selection Process for System President, Chancellors, Vice Chancellors and UW System Senior Leadership Positions.
- Training completion for Post Degree Training titles – used for Post Degree Training appointments, formerly Employees-in-Training (EIT), who have completed their training and are being appointed to an Academic Staff position in the same university department in which they have held the Post Degree Training position for at least 1.5 years. This waiver reason only applies to Research Associate and Postdoctoral Fellow/Trainee within the Post Degree Training titles. See WI Admin Code, section UWS 16. See also SYS 1250, Job Security, Section 4.F.
- Reorganization- used when an existing department, office or school is reorganized and the existing employees within that department undergo title changes incident to the reorganization.
- Position conversion (University Staff to Academic Staff or Limited Appointee/Academic Staff or Limited Appointee to University Staff) – used when position duties change from nonexempt to exempt resulting in a move from University Staff (nonexempt) to Academic Staff or a Limited Appointee (exempt); or when a position’s duties change from exempt to nonexempt resulting in a move from Academic Staff or Limited Appointee (exempt) to University Staff (nonexempt). See SYS 1257, Title Change.
- Employee voluntary reassignment choice – University Staff to Academic Staff or a Limited appointee – used when an employee moves from exempt University Staff to Academic Staff or a Limited Appointee. See SYS 1287, Voluntary Reassignment of Certain Current University Staff to Academic Staff Positions.
- Reactivate concurrent appointment – used when reactivating a concurrent appointment. See SYS 1250, Job Security, section 4.A.
- Faculty to Academic Staff/Academic Staff to Faculty (FA to AS/AS to FA) – used when moving from a Faculty appointment to Academic Staff and vice versa. This is primarily used by divisions for their “track transfers.” Divisions have guidelines that allow the movement between clinical professor, CHS professor, and tenure track. Movement between CHS/clinical and tenure track Faculty appointments involves changing from Empl Class AS to FA or vice versa. OHR allows these appointment changes through the waiver process after the appropriate division and campus committees approve the change. See WI Admin Code, sections UWS 3.01(c), UWS 3.06 and UWS 3.07.
- Performance-related demotion- used when an employee demonstrates an inability to perform up to expectations in an essential function of a position. This may be when an employee fails to perform as required following a promotion and is subsequently demoted back to their previous position (usually during or at the conclusion of the probationary period). May also be used when an employee’s performance deteriorates over time, or when the responsibilities of a position change and an incumbent employee is no longer able to meet the requirements of the position.
C. Assignment of Supplemental Work
- Dual role (Academic staff only) – This waiver reason is used to hire a current academic staff employee in a science/research position, into a second appointment in teaching/instructional work, or vice versa.
- Summer Assignment - fixed-term terminal waiver reason is used for work done during the summer. Pay basis must be summer session or summer service. See SYS 1277, Compensation, section 6.D.
D. Temporary Assignments
- Temporary University Staff – Institutions develop their own recruitment and assessment methods for hiring temporary university staff. See SYS 1256, University Staff Temporary and Project Appointments, section 6.A.I.1.
- Leave of absence temporary replacement (ADA, FMLA, etc.) – used for Academic staff, Limited Appointees and University Staff when a terminal appointment is used to fill a position when an employee goes on a paid or an unpaid leave, and a replacement is necessary until the incumbent returns. Typically used for medical leaves. NOTE: If the incumbent terminates employment and does not return, an open recruitment is necessary to fill the position.
E. Special Appointment Types
- Appointments of 25 percent full-time equivalent or less – used for Academic and University Staff appointments at 25 percent FTE or less. The candidate does not need to be a current UW employee.
- Fixed-term terminal positions with a duration of less than one year – used for Academic Staff Fixed-Term Terminal appointments that will not exceed one year in length.
F. Rehire in Special Circumstances
- Rehired annuitant – used to employ Academic Staff, Limited Appointees, and University Staff who are retired UWSA employees. See SYS 1229, Rehired Annuitants, section 4.A.
- Referral priority/re-employment of individuals impacted by layoff – used to employ former or current UWSA employees who have been impacted by layoff within the timeframe specified on their official layoff notifications. The referral priority/re-employment process applies to employees who have had their employment terminated (only applies to non-performance related) or who have been officially notified that their positions will be eliminated due to funding, budget, or program redirection. See SYS 1232, Layoff for Reasons of Budget or Program, sections 4.D and 4.G. See also WI Admin Code, sections UWS 5.17, UWS 5.18, UWS 12.08 and UWS 12.09.
- International employment rehires – used for Academic, Faculty, Limited, and University Staff in cases where an existing employee’s credentials (work visa, H1B, etc.) expire and the employee must end employment. After appropriate credentials are reestablished, the employee may be rehired using this waiver reason if the employee is determined to be again eligible for employment under USCIS rules. See SYS 238, Payments to Nonresident Aliens.