2025 Staff Hiring Pause Exception Guidance for Academic Affairs

• Any academic unit (department or school) requesting an exception can submit a request form.
  • This process is applicable to new Career, STE positions, contract appointments, temporary employees (TES), equity adjustments, stipends, reclassifications, the staff promotion program, and funding-related temporary layoff support.
  • The home department should submit the form to their chair for review and approval.
  • The form will be routed to the appropriate school dean’s office for review and approval.
  • Upon approval by the school dean’s office, the form will route to the AVC-FA for review then will be routed to EVC.
  • For funding-related temporary layoff support requests, once the school approves the form will route to the AA Budget & Finance office for approval.
  • The academic unit and the cognizant dean will be notified by email.
• Any administrative unit (including colleges) requesting an exception for hiring NEW staff can submit a request form.
  • The administrative unit should submit the form.
  • The form will be routed to EVC HR for review.
  • The form will be then routed to AVC Finance & Administration for review.
  • Upon approval by AVC Finance & Administration, the form will route to the EVC for review.
  • Administrative units will be notified by email.

• The Hiring Department will document answers to the following questions prior to submitting an exception request:
  • Is the position core funded? If not, how is it funded? If funded from grants, how long is the funding source available?
  • Is the position mission critical? If so, how?
  • What is the consequence of not filling the position?
  • Can the work be reallocated through reorganization within the unit?
  • Can the position be temporarily backfilled with available talent from another area that has capacity?

All Academic Affairs exception requests require EVC approval.

• EQUITY INCREASES: 
  • To request an EQUITY increase for staff, departments must first submit an exception request form for pre-approval. Once they receive the pre-approval, departments/units can then submit the request through the Equity module, uploading the pre-approval as supporting documentation for the equity review. 

• STIPENDS:
  • To request a STIPEND for staff, departments must first submit an exception request form for pre-approval. Once they receive the pre-approval, departments/units can then submit the request through the Equity module, uploading the pre-approval as supporting documentation for the stipend review. 

• RECLASSIFICATIONS: 
  • To request a RECLASSIFICATION for staff, departments must first submit an exception request form for pre-approval. Once they receive the pre-approval, departments/units can then route the request through JDOnline and upload the pre-approval as supporting documentation for the review. 
    
    

What about recruitments in Academic Affairs submitted but not completed before February 19, 2025?

HR has provided each VC office with a list of pending recruitments to decide whether to continue or cancel, depending on the recruitment stage.

For Academic Affairs, all hiring actions, including those in HireOnline before February 19, must go through the Kuali Build exception approval form for consistent review.

• If a position is in progress and approved, EVCAA Director of HR Mel Chiles or AVC Carter Dubois will enter it into the HR spreadsheet for continued processing.
• If a position is approved via the Kuali form but not already in progress, the approval must be attached in HireOnline through the normal recruitment process.
• If a recruitment is too far along or poses a reputational risk, it may continue. They need to submit the Kuali form, and if approved, they can move forward.

In addition Equity, Stipend, or Reclassification must be submitted through the Kuali form.

Here is a summary of how the exception request form routes for approval:

Link to larger view of workflow

Want to learn more? Watch the video from the hiring pause exception request office hour (March 3, 2025) to hear more about what the form requires and other frequently asked questions.