Hiring Academic Secondments

Academic Staff

The University of Calgary recognizes secondments as a valuable approach to supporting employee development and engagement while addressing the organization’s staffing needs. Secondment opportunities promote organizational flexibility by enabling academic staff members from diverse faculties or units to provide their expertise and transferable skills to fulfill a role or project. 

A secondment allows an academic staff member to temporarily perform the duties of an existing position or undertake a special project in another faculty or unit while retaining their primary position within their home faculty. 

Academic secondment opportunities are available to academic staff members who hold a continuing, limited-term, or contingent-term rank appointment with the University.  

For details on academic secondment agreements, please refer to the Academic Secondment Guidelines (Coming Soon) and Decision Map. 

An external secondment is a temporary assignment of an academic staff member to an organization outside the University. This arrangement is designed to support professional development by allowing the individual to gain experience in an external environment, contribute expertise to a specific project, or collaborate on initiatives that align with both the University’s objectives and the needs of the external organization. 

For further information regarding external secondments, please contact academic.contracts@ucalgary.ca.  

An internal secondment is a temporary assignment of an academic staff member to another faculty or unit, aimed at fostering professional development by providing experience in diverse work environments, undertaking a special project, developing, or revising a specific program, ensuring diverse disciplinary perspectives and representation or addressing a particular need within the University. There are two types of internal secondments, described below. 

Rank Secondment 

A rank secondment is an internal secondment where a portion of an academic staff member’s primary workload (research, teaching, and/or professional duties) is temporarily allocated to another faculty or unit within the University, while maintaining their current rank. This arrangement allows the staff member to contribute their expertise to the seconding unit without assuming a new position, while retaining their primary appointment and responsibilities within their home faculty or unit. 

Administrative Secondment 

An administrative secondment is an internal secondment where an academic staff member temporarily assumes an administrative role in another faculty or unit within the University. This role is independent of their rank appointment and involves specific responsibilities aligned with the needs of the seconding unit, while the staff member retains their substantive rank appointment in their home faculty. 

In some instances, an internal secondment arrangement may involve a combination of both a rank secondment and an administrative secondment. 

Please visit the Hiring Administrative Appointments website for more information. 

Hiring Process for Internal Secondments

For internal secondments, the Dean or equivalent from both the primary and secondary faculties or units collaborate to negotiate the terms of the secondment agreement.  

  • Determine the type of secondment: rank or administrative appointment, and 
  • Confirm the associated funding structure:  
    • Rank Secondment uses the FTE-cost sharing funding model 
    • Administrative secondment uses the teaching release funding model 

Refer to the Academic Secondments Decision Map for assistance in determining secondment type and requirements. 

Both Deans/equivalents are responsible for approaching the prospective academic staff member to finalize the secondment arrangement. 

The formal advertising (posting) process is not required for internal secondments.  

The Job Opening Request form (coming soon) is utilized to create or update position details, secure necessary hiring approvals, validate funding or budget when applicable, and gather all required information for posting a job, if needed. A JOR or position number is not required for a rank secondment. 

A JOR is required for administrative secondments in the following scenarios: 

  • Hiring a new appointment which requires the creation of a position number, 
  • Hiring into an existing appointment where a position number did not previously exist (new position number needs to be created), 
  • Hiring into an existing position where the appointment information has significantly changed (see FAQ below), 
  • Hiring into an existing appointment that needs to be posted to the Careers website. 

Refer to Submit a Job Opening Request for an Academic Administrative Appointment for detailed information and step-by-step instructions on completing the process. 

Administrative Secondment 

The Recommendation for Administrative Appointment (Academic), previously known as the ‘AE4H and AE4R,’ must be completed by the faculty/unit to recommend an administrative secondment to the Provost. This form is prepared using information provided by the hiring manager. A reference guide has been developed to assist in completing the Recommendation Form. 

Additionally, a Job Description for the administrative secondment must be submitted, detailing the specific responsibilities and terms of the role. 

After completing the Recommendation form, it should be submitted along with the job description to hracadem@ucalgary.ca. People and Culture will review the submission and forward it to the Provost’s Office for final approval. 

Rank Secondment 

The Recommendation for Rank Secondment (Academic) form must be completed by the faculty/unit to recommend a rank secondment to the Provost. This form is prepared using information provided by the hiring manager. 

Additionally, a Job Description for the rank secondment must be submitted, detailing the specific responsibilities and terms of the role. 

After completing the Recommendation form, it should be submitted along with the job description to hracadem@ucalgary.ca. People and Culture will review the submission and forward it to the Provost’s Office for final approval. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about Academic Secondments

The Dean or equivalent from the faculty or unit seeking to second an academic staff member from another faculty or unit initiates discussions by approaching the Dean or equivalent of the academic staff member’s primary faculty. The Deans will then consult with the academic staff member to finalize the secondment arrangement. 

See Academic Secondments Decision Map.

No. A secondment cannot result in a change of rank (ie. Promotion). 

Yes, documentation is required for a secondment and varies based on the type. 

Internal Secondment 

External Secondment 

  • Application for Secondment/Exchange Agreement  
  • The formal agreement must be finalized between the external agency and the University.    

Yes, a secondment agreement can be extended with the consent of all parties. To ensure timely processing, the necessary documentation should be completed and submitted ninety (90) days before the current secondment's end date. 

Administrative secondments require a position number. If a position number does not already exist, a Job Opening Request (JOR) must be submitted to create one. The JOR and position number must then be included on the Recommendation for Administrative Appointment (AE4). 

Rank secondments and external secondments do not require a position number or Job Opening Request to be submitted. 

All administrative appointments, including internal secondments, require a position number. A new position number is required in the following scenarios: 

  • Hiring a new appointment where a position number does not exist, 
  • Hiring into an existing administrative appointment where a position number did not previously exist, 
  • Where an administrative role is shared among two or more staff members, each individual must have their own unique position number; a single position number cannot be shared. To create additional position numbers, a JOR submission is required. Before submitting a JOR, please reach out to hracadem@ucalgary.ca to confirm the feasibility of shared administrative roles. 
  • In cases where an appointment is being recommended for short-term coverage of another staff member holding an administrative appointment, contact hracadem@ucalgary.ca.  

The following sections should be included in the job description. It may be helpful to review job descriptions previously created in the faculty or unit for the same or similar roles. 

Position Information:  

  • Job Title 
  • Faculty/Department description 
  • FTE 
  • Teaching release (if applicable) 

Nature of Work:  

  • Identify the business title of the person to whom this position reports, 
  • Include the number and types of positions that directly report to it, 
  • Identify any key contacts this position works with, 
  • Areas of impact (e.g. Department, Faculty, campus wide). 

Primary Purpose: 

  • In approximately two to five sentences, summarize the main function of the position and the key activities to describe the purpose. This brief descriptor should give a high-level overview of the position and should not describe the function or purpose of the business unit or department.  

Questions to assist you:  

  • What is the main purpose or function of the position? 
  • What does this position set out to accomplish? 

Accountabilities, Tasks, Duties: 

  • List the specific, regular, and ongoing accountabilities and responsibilities that make up the core functions of the role.

No. SLT appointments are not included in the academic secondment guidelines as they are excluded from the bargaining unit.