Hiring University Staff

Hiring University Staff

Resources for Hiring University Staff

Hiring Requirements
Job Descriptions

Requirements for Hiring University Staff

A search for university staff requires the following steps:

  1. Review and update/create Job Description for the position
  2. Formation of a Search Committee
  3. Compensation and job analysis
  4. Completion and approval of a Request to Fill
  5. Hold initial search committee meeting before posting the job 
  6. Posting the position on CU Careers
  7. Review of applicants by search committee
  8. Search committee provides disposition reasons to support person
  9. HR verifies that finalists meet minimum qualifications
  10. Reference checks for final candidate only
  11. Selection of a final candidate
  12. Submit name of final candidate to HR for completion of salary analysis
  13. Background check for final candidate only
  14. Notification and disposition of all candidates other than finalists
  15. Formal letter of offer after background check is completed
  16. Notification and disposition of candidates and remove posting 

Job Descriptions

If the position is university staff, 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.

The supervisor or appointing authority can work with a department administrator in creating/updating the job description. Human Resources can assist in job description review. 

Search Committee

University staff positions require an open, competitive search run by a search committee. It is the responsibility of the appointing authority 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:

  1. Search Chair
  2. Diversity Champion
  3. Two other representatives familiar with the position (members at large)
  4. An HR Representative

    Present at the initial meeting and as a resource throughout the search process

     
Request to Fill

Request to Fill

Once the position description has been finalized, the appointing authority 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 position description should be pasted into the Request to Fill before the form is sent to Human Resources for review.

request to fill
Process & Approvals

In their review of the draft Request to Fill, Human Resources will:

  • Ensure job duties and minimum qualifications are appropriate based on the requested job code
  • Complete a compensation analysis based on the job code and job description
  • Work with the department to determine appropriate salary and adjust job code if necessary
  • Contact the department with questions or concerns about job description or Request to Fill form
  • Route the final version of the Request to Fill for signature approvals using Adobe Sign

Request to Fill Approvals         

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
  • Supervisor or Appointing Authority
  • Dean or Director
  • Budget Office
  • Appropriate Vice Chancellor
  • Position Review Committee
Staff Request to Fill

Download Staff 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
  • Minimum & Preferred Qualifications

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 standardized posting requirements. Departments are required to include standardized legal language and are encouraged to provide an introduction about the department to make the posting attractive to and provide insight for external candidates.

The posting in CU Careers will not be made active until after the initial search committee meeting has been held. This allows the committee to ask questions about the job description and minimum qualifications before they are finalized by making the posting public and allows committees to determine if there are avenues for posting that they would like to pursue. Any cost and administrative burden for posting outside of CU Careers is the responsibility of the department.

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. Some positions may include a priority date beyond the two-week minimum. These instances should be discussed with Human Resources.

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.

All postings must include a salary range or one salary amount.

When the posting is active, Human Resources will email the link to the active posting to the department administrator who should share the link if desired with other stakeholders and the search committee so that the position can be advertised externally. 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.

The chair of the search committee should be providing a list to the department administrator each time the committee determines that applicants will not be moving forward. As part of candidate care, the department administrator will move the applicants in the workflow in CU Careers and send correspondence to the applicants to CU Careers to let them know they will not be moving forward in the process.

Candidates
Candidate Review

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 using SkillSurvey must be completed. If the position is at the assistant director level or higher, reference checks should also be conducted via phone on references provided by the approved candidate.

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.

Offer
Extending an Offer

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.

The new employee should be encouraged to attend New Hire Orientation, unless they have already attended, and can register for orientation as soon as they have signed their letter of offer. Orientation is offered once per month.

Forms & Templates