Hiring Regular Faculty
Job Description
If the position is regular faculty, the first step is to ensure that the job description for the position has been created or updated if it is an existing position. A job description template should be used to ensure that all required elements are included in the description. One job description template is for positions considering hiring faculty members requiring an H1B, as there are certain requirements for the job posting that are spelled out in this template. The regular faculty job description is for all other faculty positions that are not considering international candidates for the position. Human Resources can assist in job description review.
Visit the Document Library for job description templates. Examples of Faculty Job Descriptions can also be found here.
Search Committee
Regular faculty positions require an open, competitive search run by a search committee. It is the responsibility of the department chair to form a search committee. HR suggests that the appointing authority or supervisor for the position not be a member of the search committee. For the purpose of hiring employees, UCCS HR defines supervisor or appointing authority to be anyone who has the authority to hire, promote, discipline, evaluate and direct an employee in the position. This includes, but is not limited to, the dean, department chair, director, appointing authority, or first line supervisor.
A search committee should be broadly representative of UCCS, and its members should be in good standing and able to provide a variety of perspectives on the role and function of the position in question. A good committee might include individuals who will be peers of the new hire, people in a similar position from a different department, in his or her reporting chain, and among his or her “clients”.
The committee must have a minimum of three members that include the following:
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Search Chair
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Diversity Champion
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Two other representatives familiar with the position (members at large)
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An HR Representative
Present at the initial meeting and as a resource throughout the search process
Request to Fill
The department chair should work with a department administrator to complete the Request to Fill form. The Request to Fill is the document that will be routed to leadership for approval in filling a vacancy or filling a new position. This document should contain all pertinent information about the position. The department org chart as well as the full job description should be pasted into the Request to Fill form before the form is sent to Human Resources for review.
In their review of the draft Faculty Request to Fill form, Human Resources will:
- Contact the department with questions or concerns about job description or Request to Fill form
- Complete the initial salary analysis based on the job code and internal equity of similarly situated employees
- Review the position description and work with the department to determine the appropriate class code, minimum qualifications, and salary according to discipline and internal equity of similarly situated employees
- Send the reviewed RTF form to the department to route for signatures through Adobe Sign
Requests
Before a position can be posted, approvals must be obtained. During this approval process, the Budget Office will ensure that the position can be adequately funded.
Approvals must be obtained by the following:
- Human Resources consultant
- Department Financial Administrator
- Budget Office
- Department Chair
- Dean
- Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
- Position review committee
Download Faculty Request to Fill under the Search and Hire Process in the Document Library
Please be prepared to provide HR with:
- Position information
- Salary information
- Position Summary
- Job description
Request to Fill forms will be routed through Adobe sign for signatures.
Next Steps
Once the Request to Fill has been signed by all required approvers, Human Resources will create a requisition in CU Careers and provide a requisition number to the department administrator so that the department can format the posting according to standard posting requirements. Departments are required to include standard legal language and are encouraged to provide an introduction about the department to make the posting attractive to and provide insight for external candidates.
All postings must include a priority date indicating when application review will begin. No priority date may be sooner than two weeks after the initial posting date in order to comply with Equal Opportunity Employment laws.
The committee might also choose to use HireVue for the first round of interviews. Training and information about HireVue will also be given by the HR department during the charge meeting.
When the posting is active, Human Resources will email the link to the active posting to the department administrator who should share the link with other stakeholders and the search committee so that the position can be advertised externally if desired.
As a standard practice, other than the chair, the search committee members will not have access to the requisition until the priority date, as they may not review applicants until after the published priority date.
Candidate Review and Extending an Offer
Prior to interviews, Human Resources will review finalists to ensure that all finalists meet minimum qualifications based on application materials provided via CU Careers.
Reference checks must be completed or letters of recommendation received before moving forward with selecting a finalist.
A background check may also be required, even if the candidate is a current CU employee. The department should initiate a background check after a verbal offer is accepted by requesting that the candidate complete a Background Check Release form and sending the form to Human Resources via hrhelp@uccs.edu. To check if a new background check is needed, reach out to the talent acquisition professional working with you on the request to fill.
When a final candidate has been identified and references have been completed, HR must be notified as to what salary rate the department is interested in offering the candidate. HR will complete a review the requested salary based on an analysis of education, related experience, and other factors of the candidate and internal employees in similarly situated jobs. HR will notify the department if the salary they requested is appropriate and if not, will reach out to the department to discuss. Once HR has notified the department of an acceptable salary to offer, the offer should be extended verbally.
The department should begin to draft a formal letter of offer using templates provided by Human Resources. The letter of offer must be reviewed by Human Resources prior to routing for signatures. The background check must also be completed with no concerns found before the letter of offer is routed for signatures.
The department should direct the candidate to provide any required to Human Resources. Original unexpired I-9 employment authorization documents must be provided in person after the letter of offer is signed and no later than three days of the employee’s start date. If a degree is required for the position, encourage the finalist to request official transcripts as soon as possible as these requests can often take some time and the new employee cannot be entered into HCM prior to receipt of transcripts. Ask the candidate to submit their official transcripts directly to hrtransc@uccs.edu.