Hiring Rank Academic Appointments

The hiring process begins by identifying a vacant position and determining the attributes of the role. Before proceeding, consult your HR Partner, Finance Partner and faculty leadership to ensure the role aligns with the Ahead of Tomorrow model and fits within the faculty or unit budget.

Budget information and accounting details for the position will be required to complete the Job Opening Request form (Step 4).

Once the vacancy requirements have been confirmed, proceed to Steps 2 and 3.

A formal academic selection committee must be formed as defined in the GFC Handbook (Part C section 3.1) and the Faculty Guidelines. Selection committees should be composed of individuals from diverse backgrounds to provide varied perspectives.

To prepare for this role, all members of academic selection committees are invited to attend an Equitable and Inclusive Hiring for Academic Selection workshop. For more information and to register, click here. 

As the selection committee is being finalized, the hiring manager can proceed to Step 3.

Prior to drafting/requesting a job advertisement for the position, hiring managers must review the Guidelines for Position Posting for requirements, especially in relation to immigration considerations.

Once the position posting is prepared, proceed to Step 4.

For assistance with preparing a job posting, contact hracadem@ucalgary.ca. 

The Job Opening Request (JOR) is used to obtain authorization to hire, create/update position information as needed, and collect the details (position posting from Step 3) required to post a job for academic roles.

Faculties and units are responsible for submitting the Job Opening Request to advertise the position vacancy and begin the recruitment process. For details, see the Job Opening Request Reference Guide.

Advertising Details:

• A position must be advertised both nationally and within the campus community for minimum 30 calendar days.
  • Hiring managers must review the internal posting and notify People and Culture to proceed with external posting if no changes are needed.
• People and Culture will post the role to University Affairs (UA) and the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) to fulfill advertising requirements for foreign nationals.
  • Note: it takes one business day for posting to appear on these sites once submitted by People and Culture.
• Ads should also be posted on relevant online job boards and professional journals widely circulated within the discipline.
• Departments may place additional ads to attract diverse candidates. Refer to the External Advertising Guidelines for a list of common sites.

Important Action Required:

1. On the first day the job advertisement is posted, the hiring manager must take a screenshot or print off the advertisement on each site it is posted, including the UC Careers site. 
   • The date of screenshot/printing must be indicated at the bottom, and
2. On the final day the job advertisement is posted, the hiring manager must take a screenshot or print off the advertisement after the one month posting period is completed.

Note: it is recommended to set a calendar reminder to ensure these important steps are not missed. If these steps are missed it can impact hiring non-Canadians and may require reposting.

To make changes to an existing posting, contact hracadem@ucalgary.ca.

Once the Job Opening Request has been completed and the job postings are active, proceed to Step 5. 

The Managing Academic Applications Reference Guide is available to support hiring managers and administrators in reviewing candidates in Peoplesoft.

All applicant files should be reviewed and assessed based on the established selection criteria. A shortlist of candidates should be created accordingly.

• If the shortlist includes international candidates, please contact hrimmigration@ucalgary.ca and refer to the Hiring Foreign Academic Staff website.

For candidates not shortlisted, committee members must clearly document the reasons for their exclusion, ensuring the justification aligns with the qualifications, skills, abilities, and experience outlined in the job advertisement and criteria.

Additional Resources:

• Academic Selection Toolkit – outlines best practices in recruitment and selection, equitable and inclusive hiring, legislative requirements, and University policies.
• Declaration On Research Assessment (DORA) - global initiative to encourage the development and promotion of best practices in evaluation of researchers and the outputs of scholarly research.

Once a shortlist of candidates has been identified, proceed to Step 6.

The Academic Selection Toolkit (Lesson 13) provides information on preparation for interviews including:

• Pre-screening questions
• Interview preparation
• Details and considerations for arranging campus visits
• Additional links and resources for the interview process

After determining the shortlist of candidates, prospective candidates are invited for an interview on campus. Interviews and visits to campus should be carefully planned; candidates are also evaluating the search committee and the university at this time.

Additional Resources for Interviews and Campus Visits:

• Sample Interview Guide
• Sample Interview Questions
• Why UCalgary: Total Rewards at UCalgary
• Information for Candidates 
• Alberta Human Rights Commission’s Pre-employment inquires information sheet
• Zoom Interview Guide for Academic Selection Committees
• Hospitality and Travel Expenses Policy  

Once interviews have been completed, proceed to Step 7.

1. Committee recommendation to the Dean

The Chair of the Academic Selection Committee is responsible for:

• Making a recommendation to the Dean on the top-ranking candidates
• Preparing a list of candidates that met the requirements for the position
• Providing a written report on the process that led to the selection of the top-ranking candidates.

After the search is complete, schedule a final meeting with the selection committee to debrief.

Important Action Required: Faculties must contact the Immigration Services Team as soon as possible when recommending a foreign national (non-Canadian candidates) to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process. Please refer to the Hiring Foreign Academic Staff website for details.

2.      Offer Negotiation

The Dean (or delegate) will:

• Utilize the Verbal Offer Checklist* to make a verbal offer to the candidate, 
• Follow-up the verbal offer with an email outlining the terms of offer,
• Utilize the Dual Career Hire Reference Guide* when proceeding with a Dual Career or Strategic Hire.
• Important: any negotiated non-standard items must be approved by the Provost & Vice-President (Academic). See the Academic Hiring Standards for details.

*Located on the Faculty Academic Processes Teams sites.

Once the verbal offer has been accepted by the candidate, proceed to Step 8.

After the verbal offer has been accepted, the faculty or unit must provide the candidate with the Academic Personal Information Form to facilitate the offer package preparation.

To request an offer package, submit the Request for Offer Letter (Academic), Academic Personal Information Form, and required documents to hracadem@ucalgary.ca. For assistance in completing the Request for Offer Letter, please refer to the Reference Guide.

People and Culture will prepare the offer package, facilitate approvals, distribute of the offer and related documents, and process the hire in the system. Faculties and units can track the progress of the hire using the Academic Appointment Tracker (linked in the Faculty Academic Processes Teams sites).

Once the candidate has been hired, proceed to Step 9.

Once the candidate accepts the offer, the next step is onboarding. 

Onboarding ensures new faculty members have the tools and information needed for success. It requires collaboration across the hiring and onboarding teams. 

While Reports to Managers are accountable for onboarding, others, like Onboarding Coordinators, also play a key role. Contact your department’s Onboarding Coordinator to begin the process.

Resources to support Onboarding:

• Onboarding Checklist
• Academic Onboarding Checklist
• Onboarding Academic Staff (managers checklist)
• Onboarding Academic Staff (coordinators checklist)
• Academic Onboarding (at a glance)

The CRC Toolkit supports the recruitment and selection process for Canada Research Chair (CRC) positions, detailing the necessary steps for hiring. 

The toolkit introduces best practices in recruitment, hiring for diversity, legislative requirements, University of Calgary’s policies and practices as well as the Canada Research Chair Program (CRCP) equity, diversity and inclusion practices.

The Job Opening Request form 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 is required for Chair appointments in the following scenarios: 

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

Refer to the Job Opening Request Reference Guide for Research Chairs for detailed information and step-by-step instructions on completing the process.

To request an offer package, submit the Request for Offer Letter (Academic), Academic Personal Information form (for employees new to the University), and required documents to hracadem@ucalgary.ca. 

For assistance in completing the Request for Offer Letter, please refer to the Reference Guide. 

Note: Completing the rank appointment details section of the form is not required when hiring solely for a Chair appointment.

People and Culture will prepare the offer package, facilitate approvals, distribute of the offer and related documents, and process the hire in the system. Faculties and units can track the progress of the hire using the Academic Appointment Tracker (linked in the Faculty Academic Processes Teams sites).