Update

Effective June 3, 2026, Contract Appointment, Limited Appointment, Short-Term Exception (STE), and Temporary Employee (TES) will NO LONGER need to use this form.

Effective May 26, 2026, equity increases, stipend requests, reclassifications, and funding-related temporary layoff support will NO LONGER need to be approved by AAFA or the EVC office during this pause period.

2025 Staff Hiring Pause Exception Guidance for Academic Affairs

Staff Hiring Pause

Effective February 19, 2025, UC San Diego is pausing hiring for core and non-core funded positions.[Effective Jun 3, 2026, use the SHiPER form ONLY for Career Recruitment and Staff Promotion.] The pause will be in place until further notice, and may be amended if circumstances change. The campus will be notified of changes by email and on this page.

There are blanket exceptions during the hiring pause for appointments that are short-term, temporary, and directly supportive of education/research. The positions subject to the blanket exception include:

Non-academic Student Employees
Academic Student Employees (Teaching Assistant, Tutor, Reader, Associate-in)
Graduate Student Researchers
Unit 18 Lecturers
Non-Student Tutors
Summer Session Teaching Appointments
Postdocs
Extensions of existing Contract and STE positions (including those requiring the creation of Job Descriptions)

Please be conservative when evaluating the availability of funds. Any costs related to appointments under the blanket exception - including costs related to the termination of such appointments - must be covered by the respective departments; central support will not be available.

For an overview of university-wide guidance, please see the FAQ located here on Blink.

If you have additional questions about the exception process, please email them to evc-staffhr@ucsd.edu.

Submit an Exception Request

Updated Instructions for HireOnline

Central HR has updated the instructions for routing requisitions during the current Staff Hiring Pause. View these instructions on how to upload the Exception Request Approval in HireOnline.

Exception Request and Criteria

New Recruitments (includes replacement positions) and Position Actions

Any academic unit (department or school) requesting an exception can submit a request form.
- This process is applicable to new Career and the staff promotion program.
- 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 EVC-HR 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 apporoval.
- Administrative units will be notified by email.

Exception Criteria

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?

Routing and Exception Form Office Hours

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

process map

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.