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Implementation of HRAP Employee Recruitment Policy

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

 

TO: UGA Faculty and Staff
FROM:     Juanita W. Hicks, Senior Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer


The University System of Georgia (USG) has made changes to USG Human Resources policies, effective July 1, 2023. These changes ensure compliance with the revised Board of Regents Policy 6.5: Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom (revised May 16, 2023) and implement a new USG Human Resources Administrative Practice (HRAP) Manual Policy on Employee Recruitment.

These policy revisions apply to all USG institutions, including the University of Georgia. The following will outline key points from the HRAP Policy on Employee Recruitment for UGA’s implementation efforts.

Key points from the USG policy include:

  • The University System of Georgia is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
  • Employee recruitment procedures shall be free of ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths (including diversity statements).
  • Hiring, promotion, or tenure decision(s) must be purely based on the University’s ability to achieve its mission and strategic priorities in support of student success.
  • The employee screening process should not extend beyond the stated mission and values of the University and the functional expectations of the departmental unit.
  • Departmental units may not develop mission or value statements not aligned with the overall Institutional mission and values.

 

UGA implementation of the policy includes:

  • A cross-functional working group was formed to carry out implementation, including representatives from University Human Resources (UHR), Office of the Provost, Office of Institutional Diversity, Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA), Office of Legal Affairs, Equal Opportunity Office, and the Division of Marketing and Communications.
  • UHR and OFA are partnering with Human Resources (HR) liaisons in the schools, colleges, and other units to identify and amend potentially non-compliant employment postings from their units and to advise on in-draft and future postings.
  • UHR will provide guidance on centralized training for employee searches by September 14, 2023. To comply with the USG policy, individual units and departments are not permitted to mandate training for departmental employees beyond training approved by the President and Chief Human Resources Officer.
  • Vice Presidents and Deans have been asked to confirm that units reporting to them have taken the necessary steps to comply with the HRAP Employee Recruitment Policy.
  • The President and Chief Human Resources Officer will confirm to the USG that unit reviews have been completed, non-compliant activities have been stopped, and that a timeline has been developed for the completion of policy development/changes, communication, and training by the USG’s deadline of September 1, 2023.

UGA Human Resources will maintain the cross-functional working group mentioned above and others to develop additional guidance and resources to support you and your teams. For questions, please contact hrweb@uga.edu, with the subject line “HRAP Employee Recruitment Inquiry.”

 

 

 

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