UW–Madison is best served when it has a highly talented, diverse pool of interested and qualified applicants and a selection process designed to ensure fair, open, and timely recruitment and competition.
Unless otherwise noted, this policy applies in all situations in which UW–Madison recruits, assesses and/or selects talent to fill Academic, Faculty, Limited, or University Staff vacancies.
This policy can also be used to recruit, assess and/or select temporary employees, student employees or Post-Degree Training, although it is not required for these employment categories.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is committed to hiring the right talent to ensure that our university continues to be a world-class institution of higher education. Our goal is to provide opportunities for talented people from all backgrounds to help us maintain a highly productive, welcoming, empowering, and inclusive community. UW–Madison encourages women, minorities, veterans, and people with disabilities to apply for our vacancies.
To meet this commitment UW–Madison fills vacancies through civil service processes. Therefore, the primary objectives of this policy are recruiting well-qualified and diverse applicant pools; assessing applicants in a timely, fair and transparent fashion; treating applicants in a customer-friendly, unbiased, fair and equitable way (consistent with university policy and state and federal laws); and selecting the best candidates. Consistent with this policy, UW–Madison is an equal opportunity employer that hires without regard to, but not limited to, the following: gender, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, creed, religion, age, marital status, disability, genetic information, political affiliation, ancestry, status as a veteran or disabled veteran, or other classifications protected by state or federal laws.
Open recruitment for specific Academic, Faculty, Limited, Temporary and University Staff vacancies is not required when certain criteria is met. All waivers of the recruitment process must be approved by OHR before the position is offered. Waivers are used in situations when it is helpful to do a direct hire of an otherwise qualified applicant, for example temporary, acting or interim appointments to fill a vacancy or when an employee goes on leave.
The recruitment, assessment and selection process supports the university’s need to identify the best-qualified candidate for each position. UW–Madison also recognizes that it is important to provide applicants with a timely, transparent and positive experience. Consequently, hiring administrators must:
UW–Madison will use a variety of recruitment, assessment and selection strategies to ensure processes are consistent across campus while also allowing units to tailor their approaches to their specific personnel needs.
For Academic Staff vacancies only
Referral priority: Opportunity for a laid-off employee or for long-term Academic Staff non-renewed for reasons other than performance to be considered for a vacancy prior to proceeding with open or internal recruitment. (See ASPP 3.06 Referral Priority and ASPP 5.09 Reappointment Rights and Referral Priority)
UW–Madison uses different recruitment methods to support best-qualified selection and diversity. The hiring administrator must evaluate each vacancy to determine which of the following recruitment approaches to use:
Hiring decisions will be based on qualifications and merit. The hiring administrator should develop predetermined, job-related, and nondiscriminatory criteria and benchmarks (including any minimum qualifications) to assess each candidate’s qualifications, decide whom to interview, and work with the hiring manager to ultimately select the best-qualified for each vacancy. Hiring administrators are encouraged to use a variety of assessment tools.
The hiring administrator must proactively post and advertise for all vacancies. Passively posting a vacancy on the OHR website or advertising a vacancy in one publication is not enough to attract the best pool of applicants. Recruiting widely and aggressively will help attract a more diverse pool of qualified applicants. Additionally, hiring administrators must ensure the following:
The hiring administrator must uniformly apply pre-developed criteria to all applicants. Regardless of hiring techniques, the hiring administrator is responsible for ensuring that only job-related information is considered and that the recruitment, assessment and selection process is fair and nondiscriminatory. UW–Madison is an equal opportunity employer and does not hire based on gender, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, creed, religion, age, marital status, disability, genetic information, political affiliation, ancestry, or other characteristics protected by state or federal laws.
In addition to applying pre-developed criteria to all applicants, the hiring administrator should deploy specific strategies during the assessment and selection process:
After a candidate is hired, the hiring administrator should notify each candidate who was not selected, in a timely manner. The hiring administrator must also satisfy affirmative action reporting requirements and retain records in a formal Search File as needed.
To support departments in conducting an efficient, effective and compliant recruitment, assessment and selection process, OHR will review and approve the overall division recruitment, assessment and selection plan which includes processes and procedures used by divisions and departments. This will include reviewing recruitment records and assessment processes annually.
If contacted for candidates’ names, hiring administrators should direct the requestor to the UW–Madison Public Records Portal. The UW–Madison Office of Compliance will review the request and work with OHR and the appropriate division to complete the request.
UW–Madison must provide a reference check regarding current or former employees when a potential employer makes a reference check request. The potential employer should receive an objective evaluation of the candidate’s training, experience, skills, abilities, and job performance as they relate to the duties and responsibilities of the job they held at UW–Madison. As part of the information conveyed to the employer requesting the reference check, divisions must indicate that the employer can receive information regarding whether the employee has ever been found to have engaged in, or left during an active investigation into allegations of, sexual violence or sexual harassment against them.
When the potential employer is another UW System institution or State agency, the personnel file of the current or former employee must be shared upon hire. See UW–Madison’s Employee Personnel Files policy.
Claims of wrongdoing and unlawful discrimination
| Office of Affirmative Action Planning and Programming (OAAPP) |
|
|---|---|
| Office of Human Resources (OHR) |
|
| College/School/Division HR |
|
| Hiring Administrator |
|
| Hiring Manager |
|
| Job Applicant |
|
3/26/2020
