September 22, 2020

To:    Academic Affairs Leadership - Deans, Department Chairs, Directors, Assistant Deans, Business Officers
From:   David Marshall
Re:    Revised Review Process for Staff Job Openings in Academic Affairs


The campus has revised the Staff Job Opening review process that was announced on April 24, 2020, by Associate Chancellor Chuck Haines and Vice Chancellor Garry Mac Pherson. However, due to the imminent financial difficulties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy, we must continue to be cautious when filling staff vacancies. The review of requests for new staff and non-senate academic job recruitments will continue, following the process and using the criteria described below. This revised, streamlined process should allow us to review requests with due diligence and to act upon them in a timely manner.


Review of New Staff Job Openings:

If a vacant position is determined to be mission critical and/or essential to business operations, a department preparer will submit a Job Opening Request. The form will automatically route to the Department Chair/Director for approval. It will then be routed to the next level of authority, most often the College, School, or Divisional Dean or Associate Vice Chancellor. Following this, the form will be sent to my office via Christian Villaseñor, Director of Finance and Administration. After a careful review, you will be notified if the request is approved for recruitment.

To support the Temporary Work Opportunity Program (TWOP), you may be asked to advertise the position internally for five (5) workdays. If no viable candidates from the TWOP apply, you will be allowed to open the recruitment to all qualified candidates.

When completing the “Rationale for Filling the Job Opening” section of the Job Opening Request form, please address the following revised and updated questions:

  • Is the role mission critical and/or essential to operations?
  • If there is a budget reduction, would this position still be a priority and not subject to a lay off even if positions have to be eliminated?
  • Will a deferral in filling the position result in significant operation disruption or place compliance at risk?
  • Are there any qualified staff in the unit who could take on the additional duties or have duties reassigned?
  • Is there any other temporary solution that could address the staffing need until we have more information about the budget?
  • Will this position be funded by an extramural research grant? If so, what are the projected dates of the award?
  • Have administrative processes been reviewed to ensure that non-essential tasks can be eliminated (especially in the current remote workplace) in order to reassign essential tasks to others in the office?

(Note: include an organization chart that shows the placement of this position, along with any supporting documents.)


Review of New Academic Employee Openings:

Academic employees will continue to have the following review process:

  • There will be no change to the current process of hiring Senate faculty.
  • Hiring of other instructional employees (Unit 18 lecturers, Associates, and Teaching Assistants) are to be reviewed by the appropriate Dean in the context of Temporary Sub -0 allocations.
  • There are no changes to the current processes for hiring of non-instructional academic employees (e.g., professional researcher, project scientist, specialist, postdoc, Graduate Student Researcher, academic coordinators, etc.) paid on extramural funding.
  • Prior approval will be required for the hiring of non-instructional academic employees paid on state funds. The department will need to complete the Academic Employee Job Opening Request form. The request form, including the departmental endorsements, should be submitted to June Betancourt in Academic Personnel (june.betancourt@ucsb.edu) for further routing and review. If the request is approved, a copy of the finalized Academic Job Opening Request form must be submitted with the appointment case.


Strong financial planning strategies will help us fulfil our academic mission of teaching, research, and service. The availability of even temporary salary savings will help units in any budget reduction scenario. I appreciate your partnership in the responsible management of our budget, and I am grateful for your continuing efforts on behalf of our campus.

Thank you.