HRAP Employee Recruitment Policy Implementation Status Update

Monday, October 2, 2023

As outlined in the Administrative Memorandum dated June 30, 2023, effective July 1, 2023, the USG Human Resources Administrative Practice (HRAP) Manual Employee Recruitment policy specifies, among other terms: 

• recruitment procedures shall be free of ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths (including diversity statements);
• hiring, promotion or tenure decisions must be purely based on the institution's ability to achieve its mission and strategic priorities in support of student success; and
• the screening process should not extend beyond the stated mission and values of the institution and functional expectations of the departmental unit. 

As noted in the August 30, 2023 ArchNews, UGA was required to submit an implementation plan to the University System of Georgia. That plan required additional steps to be taken to implement this new policy language and to provide support resources by October 1, 2023. In response to this plan, UGA has established a framework for employee recruitment, and the support and guidance materials are now available. The following materials are now available on the UGA HRAP Employee Recruitment Implementation site. These materials can also be found on the University Human Resources (UHR) and Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) websites as appropriate.

• UGA Policy on Recruitment
• Guidance for Direct Appointments. This document outlines the new search waiver procedures for the full-time regular appointment of faculty and staff.  
• Guidance on Employee Recruitment Training
• Required training can be accessed at the UGA Professional Education Portal (PEP) by searching for UGA Employee Recruitment Training. 

Anyone currently involved in an active search or hiring process must complete the training. In the future, hiring managers will be required to confirm through University Human Resources (via email to pep@uga.edu) that those involved in the search or hiring process have completed the training.

University Human Resources and Faculty Affairs are developing an in-person training option and will notify the leaders when that option is available.

Any unit currently implementing its own training program for recruitment should cease that program until obtaining approval from the Senior Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer to ensure that the training meets policy requirements.

The cross-functional working group that was formed to develop and implement this plan, which includes representatives from University Human Resources, the Office of Faculty Affairs, the Office of the Provost, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the Office of Legal Affairs, the Equal Opportunity Office, and the Division of Marketing and Communications, will continue to provide support to ensure alignment of processes and procedures across the university.