To find your HR Business Partner please see: L&S Human Resources/Payroll Office Department Contacts. 

Position Approval Required (STS Approval)

Prior approval for most short-term instructional staff (STS) positions is required. How to request approval:

• STS Process: https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/88848
• Link to request form: https://forms.office.com/r/AX5bBmMYTT 
• Request form instructions: https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/119153

Additional approvals are needed for some situations, as described below.

The hiring processes for STS titles are described below, grouped based on whether they can be hired directly, or require a PVL/PVL Waiver: 

I.    Lecturer, Teaching Specialist, Teaching Faculty

II.   Adjunct Faculty, Emeritus Faculty, L/I Faculty, Lecturer (SA)

III.  Visiting Faculty

I. Titles Hired via PVL or PVL Waiver 

Most short-term instructional staff in the College of Letters & Science are hired with academic staff titles such as:

• Lecturer
• Teaching Specialist (formerly Faculty Assistant)
• Teaching Faculty (formerly Faculty Associate)

As a general rule, academic staff positions at L&S are expected to be posted for open recruitment via a Position Vacancy Listing (PVL) in order to ensure that the positions are made available to the public as much as possible and to help generate the widest possible applicant pools for L&S as a whole.  However, a waiver of open recruitment via PVL Waiver is allowed in some circumstances (see Process: PVL Waiver section below).

• For academic year appointments in the above three titles, a PVL or PVL waiver is required.
• For summer term appointments in the above three titles, a PVL or PVL waiver is only required if the candidate does not currently have a spring semester appointment with the same title in the same department.  See the HR COP KB for information on the JEMS Summer Hire function

Reappointment: An employee currently in a fixed-terminal instructional academic staff title might be able to be reappointed in a consecutive semester.  If the employee was hired via open recruitment PVL, the PVL must have included language stating that there was a possibility of reappointment or extension.  If the employee was hired via PVL waiver, the waiver reason must continue to be applicable.  Note that summer employment is excluded from this consecutive semester requirement, i.e., an employee who was hired in a spring semester appointment may be reappointed in the following fall semester without having had a summer appointment in between.

Reappointment Limitations, and Converting Terminal STS to Renewable: Per Academic Staff Policies and Procedures: Chapter 2 -Academic Staff Appointments (ASPP), terminal instructional appointments have a limit of three consecutive academic years.  Reappointment beyond the third year requires the appointment to become fixed-term renewable (03 continuity). Work with your STS HR Business Partner to convert a terminal STS employee to renewable.

Process: Open Recruitment PVL 

See OHR's Recruitment Toolkit for helpful information on requirement best practices, including Steps for Hiring.

The minimum posting time for STS titles is two weeks. The approval process for a PVL can take a week or more, so please plan accordingly.

1. Most short-term instructional staff positions should have received prior approval through the short-term staffing planning exercise, regardless of the funding source.  If your department needs to fill a short-term staffing position after the exercise deadline has passed, contact teach.learn@ls.wisc.edu . 
2. Create and department-approve a PVL via the JEMS PVL System and email the PVL number to your STS HR Business Partner.
3. Your STS HR Business Partner will review your PVL and will contact you with any questions or concerns before approving at the division level.  After division-level approval, the PVL will be reviewed and approved at the campus level by the Office of Human Resources (OHR). After the PVL status is "Comp Admin Approved", log in to TREMS to create a Job Card.  List your STS HR Business Partner as the division approver.
4. Both L&S and OHR will review the TREMS Job Card.  After OHR approves the Job Card, they will release the PVL.  The Primary, Administrative and Alternate PVL contacts will receive an automated e-mail when the PVL is released for open recruitment.
5. You may only make an offer once the PVL's assured consideration date has passed.  When that date has passed and you have identified the finalist to whom you would like to make an offer, initiate the candidate’s SH/SV reference check via JEMS PVL. 
6. Submit a draft appointment letter to your STS HR Business Partner for review, along with the finalist's c.v. or resume.
7. Your STS HR Business Partner will review the draft appointment letter, make any corrections, and send you the final appointment letter with the approval designation.  Make the noted corrections, if any, to your draft letter and send back to your STS HR Business Partner a signed version of the final appointment letter.  Your STS HR Business Partner will upload the signed letter to TREMS and will generate an e-mail from TREMS to the candidate that contains instructions on how to view the appointment letter and to accept the offer.
8. After the candidate accepts the offer in TREMS, the candidate's information will flow from TREMS to JEMS Hire (Draft status).  D and C Departments review and department-approve the JEMS Hire entry.  C departments complete and submit a Hiring Form (link) to their HR Business Partner. Your HR Business Partner will review and push the job to HRS. 

Process: PVL Waiver (Waive Open Recruitment; Direct Hire) 

As a general rule, academic staff positions at L&S are expected to be posted for open recruitment in order to ensure that positions are made available to the public as much as possible and to help generate the widest possible applicant pools for L&S as a whole.  However, a waiver of open recruitment (also referred to as direct hire) is allowed in some circumstances.  See the OHR Recruitment Toolkit for the list of waiver/direct hire reasons.

Please note the approval process for a PVL waiver can take a few days, so please plan accordingly.

1. Most short-term instructional staff positions should have received prior approval through the short-term staffing planning exercise, regardless of the funding source.  If your department needs to fill a short-term staffing position after the exercise deadline has passed, contact teach.learn@ls.wisc.edu
2. Create and department-approve a PVL waiver via the JEMS PVL System. Initiate the candidate’s SH/SV reference check via JEMS PVL
3. Submit a draft appointment letter to your STS HR Business Partner for review, along with the finalist's c.v. or resume. 
4. Your STS HR Business Partner will review your PVL waiver and draft appointment letter and will contact you with any questions or concerns before approving the PVL waiver at the division level.  After division-level approval, the PVL waiver will be reviewed and approved at the campus level by the Office of Human Resources (OHR). 
5. Your STS HR Business Partner will make any corrections or other necessary edits to your draft appointment letter and will send you the final appointment letter with the approval designation.  Make the noted corrections, if any, to your draft letter and send back to your STS HR Business Partner a signed version of the final appointment letter.  Also send the signed appointment letter to the candidate and place a copy of the letter in the candidate's department personnel file. 
6. After the PVL waiver and draft appointment letter are approved, D and C Departments enter the position into JEMS Hire.  C departments complete and submit a Hiring Form (link) to their HR Business Partner. Your HR Business Partner will review and push the job into HRS.

See L&S Letter Templates for Short-Term Staff for additional details regarding the appointment letter and associated links.

II. Titles hired directly (not via a PVL or PVL Waiver)

A PVL or PVL waiver is not used when hiring short-term instructional staff at L&S in the titles listed below (although Visiting Faculty may be openly recruited via PVL if desired). However, all short-term instructional staff positions using the titles below should have received prior approval through the short-term staffing planning exercise, regardless of the funding source.  If your department needs to fill a short-term staffing position after the exercise deadline has passed, contact Teaching and Learning at teach.learn@ls.wisc.edu .

When making a hire using one of the titles below, follow the specific instructions for the given title.

These hires do not go through JEMS PVL. D and C departments enter the position in JEMS Hire and initiate the SH/SV check in JEMS Hire. C departments complete and send the Hiring Form to the HR Business Partner and work with their HR Business Partner to initiate the SH/SV check.

• Adjunct Faculty
  
  • Use  
    • This set of academic staff titles is appropriate for candidates who are not employed at an academic institution, whose professional career is primarily outside of university instruction, and who possess special or unique qualifications to teach.  Appointment duration is a maximum of three years with the possibility of renewal.
    • The candidate’s title, pay rate and basis will be made commensurate with the candidate’s qualifications and department/college salary equity considerations.
  • Additional Approvals
    • An adjunct appointment must have the approval of the departmental executive committee (see Guidelines for Adjunct Faculty “Department Executive Committee” section at bottom of page). 
      The hiring department must also obtain approval for the adjunct position from the department’s associate academic dean.
  • Process  
    • Submit a draft appointment letter (see https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/61990 for draft template letters) to your STS HR Rep for review, along with the candidate's c.v. or resume and a memo from the department chair that address the criteria detailed in the Guidelines for Adjunct Faculty policy. 
• Emeritus Faculty

  • Use

    • This set of academic staff titles is appropriate for candidates who have retired from a faculty position at UW-Madison and have been granted emeritus status. Title is based on rank held at the time of retirement (Professor Emeritus, Associate Professor Emeritus, etc.)  

    • L&S policy is to appoint emeritus faculty and instructional academic staff at the same percentage level as lecturers within a department. Pay rate is typically based on the L&S rate for Senior Lecturers.

    • All Rehired Annuitants need to be aware of special forms, requirements and considerations related to being a rehired annuitant and the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS).  

      • See OHR Rehired Annuitant

      • See L&S KB - Rehired Annuitants

  • Additional Approvals

    • None

  • Process

    • Submit a draft appointment letter (see https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/61990 for draft template letters) to your STS HR Rep for review, along with the candidate's c.v. or resume

• L/I Faculty
  • Use
    • This set of academic staff titles is appropriate for candidates who hold a faculty position at another UW System institution and are sought by a department at UW-Madison to teach in their unit.  These are known as "Faculty L/I (Location/Institution)".
    • Title is based on rank held at the home institution (Professor L/I, Associate Professor L/I, etc.). If a paid appointment, L&S policy is to pay Faculty L/I based on their home institution rate. Either an Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA) or Inter-Institutional Overload (IIO) may be required. Please contact your STS HR Rep for guidance.
    • Appointment duration is a maximum of three years with no expectation of renewal.
  • Additional Approvals
    • An L/I appointment must have the approval of the departmental executive committee.
  • Process
    • Submit a draft appointment letter (see https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/61990 for draft template letters) to your STS HR Rep for review, along with the candidate's c.v. or resume and department executive committee approval.
• Lecturer (SA)
  • Use
    • This student assistant title is used for any current graduate student enrolled at UW-Madison who is eligible for an assistantship appointment , will teach as a short-term lecturer and will be designated the instructor of record.  See these KB’s for more information:
      • LSA appointments in L&S: Selection, Hiring and Supervision for hiring and supervising criteria
      • LSA appointments in L&S: Supervision, Support, Evaluation
  • Additional Approvals
    • None
  • Process 
    • Submit a draft appointment letter (see https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/61990 for draft template letters) to your STS HR Rep for review, along with the candidate's c.v. or resume.

III. Titles which may be hired directly, or via a PVL/PVL Waiver

• Visiting Faculty    **NEW INFORMATION (July 2023); revised **
  • While these positions are not typically posted for open recruitment, they may be posted for open recruitment via PVL if needed.
• Posting Visiting Faculty for open recruitment: 

• • Use
    • This function is used for individuals who come from outside the UW System for temporary academic assignments. Normally, the prefix will be comparable to the rank held at the individual's home institution.
    • There may be cases where an individual's assignment at the UW-Madison is temporary, but no "home institution" is involved. In those instances, a visiting faculty title may still be used, with the appropriate level determined by the department executive committee after reviewing the individual's credentials in comparison with similarly qualified members of the UW-Madison faculty. Documentation supporting the selection of a visiting title must be provided to the appropriate dean's or director's office.
    • Typically these position perform instructional and scholarly duties similar to tenured and tenure-track faculty in the department or program (research, teaching and service), but may in limited circumstances only teach or perform research. 
    • Generally, such appointments do not last longer than one year and may not exceed two years without the approval of the Chancellor or his/her designee.
    • Additional Approvals
      • In addition to STS position approval noted at the top of this KB, if the individual does not have a home institution, the department must also approve the level and pay rate.
  • Process
    • Submit a draft appointment letter (see KB https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/61990) and the candidate’s c.v. to your STS HR Business Partner for review.
      • If the individual has a home institution, obtain a memo from the candidate’s home institution that states their current title, pay rate and basis (9 month, 12 month, etc.) and that they are on leave from their home institution, and provide this to your HR Business Partner.   
      • If the individual does not have a home institution, provide a short justification for the request, to your HR Business Partner. The justification should include the approval for the level and pay rate, as determined by the department's executive committee.

* Centralized Departments do not use JEMS HIRE; instead they submit a Hiring Form to their HR Business Partner