GENERAL INFORMATION

This procedure is designed to support the University’s commitment to an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action program, to facilitate placing academic employees on the payroll while providing necessary fiscal control, and to help ensure that accurate and up-to-date personnel records exist.

This procedure applies primarily to the recruitment and initial appointment of academic employees.  It applies to the reappointment of such employees; that is, their rehiring by the University after resignation, termination or most commonly, expiration of term.  Reappointment involves a break in service and is distinct from renewal of term, discussed in the procedure titled “Change in Status, Academic and Professional Employees.”

Faculty appointments and reappointments include only titles with academic rank (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Librarian, Associate Librarian, Sr. Assistant Librarian and Assistant Librarian), or titles with qualified academic rank (one of the above titles preceded by "visiting", “acting”, “adjunct”, etc as well as lecturers) as defined in the Policies of the Board of Trustees.   Appointments to administrative positions with concurrent academic rank are to be processed as professional service appointments and should include information concerning academic rank and term.  Refer to the procedure # 603 entitled Recruitment and Initial Appointment, Professional Employees.

Processing of appointment/reappointments for academic-titled individuals takes place only after specified preliminary actions are completed, including meeting equal employment opportunity/affirmative action requirements, position use approval has been given by the appropriate Vice President and the Budget Office, the usability of the line/position has been communicated by the Office of Human Resources, a signed acceptance has been received in writing and the required paperwork has been completed by the prospective employee.

Actions Required Before and During Recruitment

In the case of a newly established position or a reclassified position, classification procedures must be fulfilled and verified by the Office of Human Resources.  In addition, the department or end user must confirm that the title they propose is appropriate for the position at hand. Further, it must be confirmed that the position has been approved budgetarily and this is accomplished by the department doing the appropriate web form to Human Resources. Once all requirements have been met and forms processed, the Office of Human Resources is responsible for communicating back to the department indicating approval of the line for use.  Recruitment should not begin until this occurs.

It is important to note that recruitment for positions is impacted by actions of other SUNY units.  Also, as per the UUP Agreement, employees who have been retrenched from our University have the right of first refusal for available positions involving duties and responsibilities that are the same as or similar to the duties and responsibilities of the position from which the person was retrenched.  Article 35 requires that retrenched employees from this and other SUNY units be given “special consideration” for available positions (which may not be the same or similar to their previous position) for which they are otherwise qualified.

In the event that retrenchment, either on this campus or at other SUNY units has occurred, the Director of Human Resources should be consulted with regard to rights of retrenched employees as recruitment occurs.   He/she will then provide additional guidance to University managers on the subject of impact on recruitment efforts. 

Affirmative Action procedures, including required paperwork and communication with that office must occur prior to any recruitment.  The Affirmative Action Office provides a packet of materials to individuals responsible for recruitment.   In that packet is an array of forms to be completed including three Affirmative Action forms (part I, II and III) as well as a professional vacancy form, which must be completed for contractually, required posting and advertising within SUNY and on campus. 

According to Article VII of the Faculty By-Laws, a formal recommendation will be submitted to the administration by the Initiating Personnel Committee for initial appointments at the Associate Professor and Professor levels and for all appointments with tenure.  Also, in accordance with the Faculty By-Laws, such recommendations will be reviewed by the appropriate University Personnel Committee, if needed.

Claimed credentials of candidates must be verified by either the department, the chair of the search committtee, or the appropriate Dean's office prior to the final offer of employment to the candidate.

Processing of Faculty Appointments/Offer letters

Once recruitment has occurred and a successful candidate identified, upon completion of the final paperwork with the Office of Affirmative Action (form III), and assurances from the Office of Human Resources that the line to be used is approved, the department or dean’s office should proceed to send an offer letter to the prospective employee.  Sample offer letters are provided to departments by the Human Resources Office to ensure that they meet contractual and state policy requirements.  The offer letter should include the following attachments:  An oath of office card, an acknowledgement card, a reprint of the Policies of the Board of Trustees and reference to where the UUP Agreement may be accessed for review.  Copies of the Agreement will be provided to the new faculty person upon arrival to the University by the local UUP chapter.  The terms and conditions of employment as outlined in the offer letter are critical to both the employee and the University. 

To accept the offer, the prospective employee must sign and date the acceptance on the copy of the offer letter and return it the designated person in either the department or dean’s office, along with signed paperwork.  It is critical that the prospective employee also understand the need to complete required paperwork in the Office of Human Resources within their first few days at the University, including tax forms and an I-9 form.  An I-9 form is federally required and confirms an individual's employment and identity. It must be filed within the first three days of employment or the person cannot be placed on the University’s payroll.

Once the individual has accepted the offer, the appropriate HR smart form must be completed and routed to Human Resources. That smart form is then received by the HR office and input into the Oracle HR system, the SUNY HRMS system and other required systems. Additional documents that should accompany new appointments include a copy of the faculty person’s vita and other supportive documentation as deemed relevant.

Presidential Confirmation Letter

When the Office of Human Resources has received all required documents and has input the information into the required systems, it will prepare for the President a confirmation letter to the new employee.  This letter contains presidential confirmation of all legal aspects of the appointment. 

Academic appointments with tenure must be approved by the Provost and the SUNY Chancellor’s office.  Arrangements for such approval are made by the Office of Human Resources on behalf of the President of the University.  Consequently, such announcements of appointments should not be made until all necessary approvals are gained from the Chancellor. 

Reappointment

Reappointment means the rehiring of an academic employee, who, following the initial appointment experienced a break in service resulting from resignation, termination, or expiration of term.  A leave of absence of any type is not considered a break in service.  Since a complete appointment package was prepared at the time of initial appointment, reappointment may be processed using the following procedures:

¨       A HR smart form sent to the HR Office to reappoint the person back to the line assigned. Once approval is gained by the Vice President, Budget Office and communicated back to the department of Human Resources.

¨       The Human Resources Office will input the appointment into other required systems of record

¨       A confirmation letter will be prepared by the Human Resources Office on behalf of the president

¨       The employee should seek assistance in the Human Resources Office regarding what required paperwork must be completed, including tax forms, a new I-9 form, etc.  Also, he/she should seek information from Human Resources regarding whether or not prior earned accruals will continue in place or not and regarding benefits issues such as retirement, etc.