Revision Date: 03/09/2026
Last Review: 03/09/2026
Responsible Office: Office of Human Resources/EEO Officer
Policy:
To attract qualified and diverse applicants, a variety of recruiting and selection actions may be employed when seeking individuals to fill campus faculty and staff positions at all levels. Regardless of actions taken, all state and federal affirmative action and non-discrimination laws shall be followed. Search procedures should be conducted in a timely and professional manner and respect the individual’s rights to confidentiality to the extent permitted by state law.
Definitions:
Applicant: an individual who has applied for a position or a nominee who has agreed to be considered for the position.
Candidate: an individual who has been invited and has agreed to a formal interview.
Nominee: an individual whose name has been submitted for consideration by a third party.
Procedures:
Pre-Approval Forms and supporting documentation are submitted to the appropriate Vice President/Provost and the EEO Officer for review. No appointment is final until approval has been received from the President and the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System. Initial appointments are made at a rank and salary commensurate with personal qualifications, educational attainment, individual experience, and job market considerations in relation to available positions as determined by personal communications between the appointee and the proper budgetary administrators. The Unit Head is responsible for the determination that the applicant’s proficiency in oral and written communication is appropriate for the assigned responsibilities. (The certification form is to be included in the EEO packet or with the appointment form as appropriate.) Official transcripts must be submitted for review along with or prior to submission of the employment package. These transcripts, to be reviewed by the employing unit and the Office of the Provost, must verify the academic credentials and coursework of the applicant. If not, as is sometimes the case with foreign academic records, external assistance may be required to verify academic credentials and coursework. Appointment of faculty cannot be completed until official academic credentials have been verified.
Equal Employment Opportunity Searches
When faculty and staff vacancies occur, the procedure outlined in the University’s Workday Canvas module “Unclassified Full-Time Position Hire” should be utilized. Requirements and responsibilities of the position will be formalized in a job announcement that will be widely advertised in a manner which attracts a diversified and broad range of candidates. All positions are advertised in at least a minority journal by the Office of Human Resources.
Prior approval for conducting such a search must be requested through the appropriate channels (i.e., Director/Unit Head, Dean, appropriate Vice President/Provost, President)
Following receipt of applications, the Search Committee will review all applications and make recommendations to the appropriate Director/Unit Head. The recommendations will proceed through appropriate on-campus channels (i.e., Dean, appropriate Vice President/Provost, EEO Officer, President). After approval of the request to offer, the Department will be notified by the President’s Office to proceed with the Offer of Employment. After acceptance of the employment offer the department can continue the hire process. The signed job offer letter, new hire form, position description and search procedure must be included in the EEO packet. Employment is subject to final approval of the President of the University and the University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors. Employment is also contingent upon the completion of a background check by the University.
Other Searches
When vacancies occur, the procedure outlined in the University’s Workday Canvas module “Unclassified Full-Time Position Hire” should be utilized. There are rare occasions, however, which warrant the utilization of an alternate form of search if the appropriate permission is attained. Those situations are discussed below.
Acting Appointments
On occasion, units on the campus have a need to make temporary or acting appointments, to fill important positions quickly and with minimal disruption. Such appointments may, with permission of the Dean, appropriate Vice President/Provost, EEO Officer, and President, be made without benefit of a regular search and selection process.
Upon approval of appropriate parties, qualifications necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of the position should be developed to identify a pool of people to be considered for the acting appointment. Following consideration of the prospective candidates, the Director/Unit Head should forward his/her recommendation with a rationale supporting the selection of the person chosen, and a list of others who were considered, stating their racial or ethnic origin and gender.
Rationale: While the primary value of acting appointments is continuity of services, these appointments have the potential to provide invaluable training and exposure for those people appointed, enhancing their credentials as candidates for future permanent appointments. As such, they provide unique opportunities for preparing individuals for roles of greater scope and responsibility. Given this potential, the University could, whenever appropriate, be instrumental in identifying women and minorities in temporary or acting capacities, as well as in permanent appointments.
Internal Searches for Directors and Unit Heads
Under various circumstances, units sometimes wish to appoint current faculty or staff to leadership in departments and programs through the process of an internal search. Such occasions offer valuable opportunities for promoting knowledgeable and experienced campus personnel to positions of greater responsibility and leadership.
Units wishing to make appointments utilizing an internal search must first request permission from the Dean or Director, appropriate Vice President/Provost, EEO Officer, and President. The request should include a rationale for making the appointment outside of the regular search procedure and procedures to be utilized for identifying a pool of candidates. Upon receiving approval, the unit would then follow the procedure for conducting searches for permanent appointments, except for external advertising.
Rationale: This would alleviate the necessity for an official search if it were not deemed advisable or necessary. Due to budget limitations, it is sometimes necessary to fill positions from within. It would also give the University the opportunity, whenever possible, to identify and appoint employees from under-represented groups to such positions.
Reorganization Appointments
As a result of internal reorganizations, units may wish to appoint current employees to different or newly created positions. Such instances offer valuable opportunities for promoting knowledgeable and experienced campus personnel to positions of greater responsibility and leadership.
Units wishing to make appointments because of internal reorganizations must submit a request through the Dean or Director, appropriate Vice President/Provost, EEO Officer and the President. The request should include a position description, a rationale for making the appointment outside of the regular search procedure, the procedures to be utilized for identifying a pool of candidates to be considered for the position, and a list of those to participate in the decision-making process.
Following consideration of prospective candidates, the Unit Head and Dean/Director should submit a recommendation for appointment, a rationale supporting the selection of the person chosen, and a list of other people considered, stating their racial or ethnic origin and gender.
Rationale: Same as that for Internal Searches for Directors and Unit Heads.
Exceptional Faculty and Staff Appointments
Most faculty appointments and staff will require a search. There are rare circumstances, however, in which a Department/Unit or College may request a waiver of the search requirement. These circumstances include opportunities to appoint faculty and staff of exceptional caliber, opportunities to appoint faculty who would be fully funded by their own research grants, and opportunities to appoint faculty or staff who help meet university EEO guidelines.
Request for waiver of search requirements should include a description of the candidate; a rationale for making the appointment and how the appointment enhances the quality of the program in terms of departmental research, curriculum, and the recruitment of other faculty or graduate students, etc.; evidence of departmental review and support for the appointment of the candidate; the proposed salary offer; starting date of the appointment; and terms of the appointment.
Rationale: If appointments fall into any of these categories, such a procedure would not require the expenditure and time involved in an unnecessary search.
Part-time and Temporary Appointments
Part-time and temporary appointments are extended to people of satisfactory professional qualifications who perform temporary teaching, research, or administrative support functions as needed. Part-time and temporary personnel are usually selected from a pool of applicants by the employing Department or Division Head. Employment recommendations are then forwarded to the Dean, Provost, and President. Such people are appointed for a specific academic term.
Part-time and temporary personnel are acquainted with their duties by the appropriate Department or Division Head. Using the University evaluation system in place for unclassified employees, the performance of part-time and temporary personnel is evaluated at the Departmental or Division level using criteria appropriate to specific appointments.
Graduate Assistants
Students appointed with the title of graduate assistant (including research and teaching assistants) must be admitted to a graduate degree program and enrolled full-time (minimum 6 hours) each quarter (Fall, Winter, and Spring) during the appointment period. If appointed during the Summer Quarter, they must be enrolled in at least one class in the Summer Quarter and be enrolled full-time in the preceding Spring Quarter and anticipate full-time enrollment in the subsequent Fall Quarter. These criteria apply to departmental, state-funded, and externally funded assistantships. Such appointments are not subject to retirement or social security withholdings, and appointees do not participate in university fringe benefit programs.
Graduate Assistantship Guidelines setting forth the University-wide policies pertaining to graduate assistantship administration are available from the Graduate School, College Directors of Graduate Studies, or (Refer to Policy 2310).