Waiver Requests

Request for a Waiver

A department chair/ORU director should submit a letter requesting to waive the open recruitment process to the Office of Academic Diversity and Equal Opportunity (OADEO). Units are encouraged to contact the OADEO, or review OADEO's General Guidelines Web site, for guidance in determining whether or not a request for a waiver of the open recruitment process is appropriate.

WAIVER CATEGORIES

1. Principal Investigator (PI):

In addition to describing the candidate's skills and qualifications (see sample letter format below), the request must state and document that the individual has an award and that the award provides (X) percent of the PI’s salary. A minimum of 50% is required for a PI waiver. Please state total salary (x-portion only). Attach the following documentation to the request letter:

a copy of the "Notice of Grant Award" letter from the agency to the PI (include section showing funding allocation)
a copy of the PI's budget page showing proposed salary and/or effort

2. General:

The waiver request must describe the skills and qualifications of the candidate and provide a justification as to why an open recruitment should not be conducted (see sample letter format below). Spousal/partner issues that are critical in a recruitment/retention effort should be noted in the request.

If the request is for a "change in series," the unit should also address the following factors as appropriate:

Job Evolution: the job has evolved to such a degree that a new job title is warranted to reflect the individual's acquired expertise and increased job responsibilities.
Continuity: the individual will continue to work in the same unit/lab with the same supervisor.
No New Position/No Vacancy: the new job title does not represent the creation of a new position, i.e., a new position in addition to the old position; and the old position is not vacated such that a new individual may be appointed as a replacement.
Contribution: the individual is an integral part of a research program and has contributed to a grant proposal that will fund the grant.
Only One: if there are several individuals in the same series in the unit, the unit supervisor should explain why one person is being proposed for the change in series and others are not.

SAMPLE FORMAT FOR A LETTER

ADDRESSING:

TO: (Appropriate person; see table below)

VIA: Jonathan Welch, Director, Office of Academic Diversity and Equal Opportunity

FROM: Dept/Unit Chair

PARAGRAPH #1:

State what you want; for example: The Department of (X) requests to waive the open recruitment process in order to appoint (full name) to the position of (rank, step), at (%) time, ($) salary, effective (date).

PARAGRAPH #2:

Describe the skills and qualifications of the individual. If the person is at the junior level, describe the educational background and training that has led this person to the threshold of the proposed appointment. If the individual is more senior ranking, describe the area of research, the person's national or international reputation in the field, and the uniqueness of skills and knowledge.

PARAGRAPH #3:

Provide the justification for wanting to hire an individual without an open recruitment. The following items may be of help in developing appropriate details for the justification:

What will this person do for the unit? What function will the person perform?
Describe how the skills of the individual will be used to perform the function?
What are the business (i.e., research, teaching) needs of the unit?
Why is it essential that the unit have someone with the skill set described above?
Are the skills and qualifications of the individual so unique that no one else could be obtained via an open recruitment to do the job? Explain how or why these skills are so unique. (In other words, fully describe the connection between the unit's "business needs," the "function" of the job, and the "skills" of the person.)
For a very senior candidate, how will the skills and qualifications enhance the excellence of the unit and the University?
If the request is for a "change in series," consider addressing the factors presented above under General waivers.

A waiver request must always be signed by the department chair/ORU director. Please include the initials of the person writing the letter/department contact at the bottom of the request.

ADDRESSING AND ROUTING WAIVER REQUESTS

Addressing: Use the table below to identify the person to whom the request should be addressed. OADEO is usually included in the addressees as a "Via."

Routing: Letters should be routed first to OADEO. Exception: Letters from SOM units should be routed first to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

GENERAL CAMPUS (Instructional Positions)
Campus Unit	Address Request To:
Jacobs School of Engineering	Dean Frieder Seible (for LRF) or Assoc. Dean Jeanne Ferrante (for non-LRF)
Division of Physical Sciences	Dean Mark Thiemens
Division of Biological Sciences	Dean Steven Kay
Division of Social Sciences	Interim Dean Jeffrey Elman
Division of Arts & Humanities	Interim Dean Eric Van Young
Graduate School of IR/PS	Kim Barrett, Dean of Graduate Studies
Rady School of Management	Kim Barrett, Dean of Graduate Studies
Colleges	Barbara Sawrey, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education
GENERAL CAMPUS (Research Positions)
All Units	George Tynan, Associate VC for Research
GENERAL CAMPUS (Library/Extension Positions)
University Libraries	Jon Welch, Director of the Office of Academic Diversity and Equal Opportunity (MC 0029)
Extended Studies & Public Programs	Jon Welch, Director of the Office of Academic Diversity and Equal Opportunity (MC 0029)
HEALTH SCIENCES (All Positions)
School of Medicine	Andrew Ries, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, SOM Note: Waiver requests must be routed first to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, who will then forward the request to OADEO for its review. However, Recruitment Plans and Compliance Reports should be submitted first to OADEO, who will then forward the document to the dean's office.
School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences	Jerry Schneider, Dean, Academic Affairs, Emeritus
SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY (All positions)
SIO -- All Units	Ray Weiss, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, SIO

Return to Table of Contents