Hiring Project Personnel

Introduction

On a sponsored project, a most important aspect of getting underway is hiring staff. There are several types of positions and appointments at IUP, and different offices are involved in making them. This chart indicates the office to contact for hiring various staff. Contact the designated IUP RI Project development officer to determine the most appropriate course of action to ensure the project hires are done in compliance with IUP, IUP RI, and federal and state regulations.

Background investigations must be conducted for all successful candidates for instructional and non-instructional vacancies prior to extending offers of employment. The investigations are submitted by the Office of Human Resources, and normally the results are obtained within 24-48 hours. The Background Investigation Policy is available on the IUP Human Resources Policy webpage.

Faculty Appointments

Project directors are responsible for arranging the appointment of faculty to externally funded positions. The academic department of the project director initiates the paperwork that often requires the approval of the Dean’s and Provost’s offices. Project directors must follow the policies of the Department of Human Resources who, in turn, are governed by the APSCUF (collective bargaining unit) guidelines for hiring faculty. The project development officers at the IUP RI are knowledgeable in the topics listed below and can assist with the required paperwork.

Types of Faculty Appointments:

When hiring any new faculty members, please refer to the Faculty Hiring Procedures. In externally funded projects, faculty appointments can include the following situations:

• Request for Alternate Workload Assignment: Releasing faculty from academic year duties in order to devote time to an externally funded project usually involves two steps: (1) releasing the faculty member from teaching through an Alternate Workload Equivalency; and (2) hiring a faculty replacement to assume those academic assignments for a designated period.
• Faculty Replacement: To cover classes affected when faculty are released from teaching, departments frequently hire temporary faculty. The process for hiring faculty replacements is the same as for hiring temporary faculty, although some departments may choose not to hire faculty replacements.
• Hiring a Grant-funded Faculty Researcher: Because of their knowledge and expertise, these faculty researchers may have already been identified in the proposal and were included in the program plan and budget.
• Summer Contract Employment: Hiring faculty on summer contracts is often included in externally funded projects. Note that one credit hour of work = one week of pay, and that total summer contract employment cannot exceed 12 credit hours.
• Faculty Overload: Check with your grant accountant for clarification concerning allowable overload payments.
• Educational Leave: In the case of post-doctoral fellowships or other off-campus opportunities, an educational leave may be negotiated with the Provost’s Office in accordance with the faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The following table outlines some of the key elements project directors must know in order to hire faculty for externally funded projects.

Note: All forms can be administered by the college dean or be found at X:\Public\Academic Information. Summer Contract forms are available from the associate VP for Academic Administration Office.

Before the IUP faculty appointment can be made, the Pre-employment File must include three letters of reference and the candidate’s vitae. The Personnel File must include all correspondence with the candidate, official transcripts, the departmental faculty recommendation, the department chairperson’s recommendation, the English Fluency Form, and New Faculty Information Form. Faculty appointments are made for a nine-month academic year appointment. Summer employment is handled through summer contracts in addition to the academic year appointment.

Staff Appointments

The Office of Human Resources coordinates the hiring of all staff, managers, administrators, and grant funded program coordinators, consistent with the university’s hiring policies/procedures and collective bargaining agreements. The Office of Human Resources works closely with the Office of Social Equity when hiring all employees.

Prior to submitting a grant proposal:

• Provide a description of responsibilities to a classification manager in the Office of Human Resources who will classify the position.
• If time does not permit, obtain a verbal assessment of the position classification.
• Use the entry-level salary in the grant proposal.

While there are several unions and collective bargaining agreements in place at IUP, most grant-funded staff positions are governed by two unions. Grant-funded program coordinators are represented by SCUPA (State College and University Professional Association), while AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees) represents support staff such as secretaries, laboratory assistants, and typists.

Project directors are responsible for complying with all articles of the collective bargaining agreements. Information about these articles may be found in the bargaining agreements or from the Office of Human Resources.

To help project directors understand the steps involved in the hiring process and the estimated time for filling new positions, the Office of Human Resources has provided a Hiring Timeline.

Grant Funded Program Coordinators

When hiring program coordinators, please refer to the Search Procedures Guidelines. Grant-funded program coordinators, as temporary positions, are the equivalent of state university administrators. Professional positions wholly funded by grant money can be classified as grant-funded program coordinator.

Position Continuation:

Grant-funded program coordinators are considered temporary positions held only for the term of the grant and its renewal, if any. For renewed grant-funded projects, the annual service increment (step increases) may be provided to a grant-funded program coordinator only if the increases were budgeted. Other matters affecting position continuation include the following:

• The employer notifies the Office of Human Resources when a grant will not be renewed, and they, in turn, provide the professional employee with sixty days notice.
• If the professional employee plans to resign or leave employment, a minimum two-week notice is preferred.

Clerical Support

When hiring clerical workers, please refer to Staff Hiring Procedures.

Position Continuation:

If grant-funded AFSCME positions are not continued because the grant is not renewed, and if an employee has been hired for one year or more, the employee holds furlough/bumping rights to other positions as provided in the Agreement. The project director contacts the Office of Human Resources as soon as notice is received that the grant will not be continued. The AFSCME Union is notified within thirty days, or as soon as the university receives notification of nonrenewal. The Office of Human Resources is responsible for notifying AFSCME and the employee and for preparing all correspondence regarding furlough/bumping rights.

Managers

When hiring new managers, please refer to Managers Hiring Procedures.

Student Employees

Project directors may hire undergraduate or graduate student employees as university/grant employees or as graduate assistants. Federal Work Study funds cannot be used to hire student employees on a grant.

Consultants/Speakers/Honorarium and International Procedures

When hiring consultants or speakers, please refer to the attached procedures. This information is required on a service requisition (through Purchasing) to process payment. Also included are documents and guidelines the IRS requires for international consultants/speakers/honoraria, which must be completed and forwarded to the Payroll Office for review.

Hiring through the IUP Research Institute

Provided specific criteria are met, project directors may be able to hire employees through the IUP Research Institute. Temporary positions that do not fall within the parameters of a bargaining unit position are an example. Consultants or independent contracts may also be “hired” through the IUP RI if the IRS guidelines are met. Contact the designated IUP RI project development officer to determine the most appropriate course of action to ensure the project hires are done in compliance with university, RI, and federal and state regulations.

Using the Continuing Education/Centers and Institutes Contract Approval Form

The Continuing Education/Centers and Institutes Contract facilitates payment for teaching and non-teaching services that are short-term and provided by both IUP and non-IUP employees.

Obtaining the Form:

The contract is carbonless and produces four copies on papers of various colors. It can be purchased through Central Stores.

Criteria for Using the Contract:

The contract is used to pay for short-term services performed by IUP and non-IUP employees. Guidelines include:

• May hire without advertising or searching
• IUP employees’ service must not conflict with primary responsibilities and duties.
• Service performed by IUP employees must be unrelated to the employee’s principle employment
• IUP faculty income during a calendar year may not exceed 120 percent of their annual salary.
• IUP employees must use annual/personal leave if service occurs during the employees’ normal working hours.
• Students cannot be paid through a contract.

Wages and Benefits:

The hourly rate varies, but cannot exceed the existing rate of pay for IUP employees. The rate is determined by the project budget and can be less than the usual IUP employment rate. Only “state paid” fringe benefits, including Social Security, retirement, worker’s compensation, and unemployment, are calculated against the hourly wage at 17.7 percent for an IUP employee or 8.41 percent for a non-IUP employee. For example, payment of $500 for services x 17.7 percent for benefits would equal a total charge of $588.50.

Completing the Form:

• At the top right, be sure to put the SAP cost center number that the expense is charged against.
• Complete Part A (Employee's Name and Address; Maximum Hours allotted to the Project = total salary divided by hourly rate; rate per hour - total amount of salary only, excluding benefits; Contract Not to Exceed = salary plus benefits; Service Dates = when the employee's work begins and ends on the project; Program Director's Name and IUP Address)
• Complete Part C (Describe what the employee is doing for this project.)
• Read Part D
• Complete Part E (Employee signs and dates; employee provides SSN; employee answers two questions related to pension plans.)
• Complete Part F (Program director signs and dates; program director forwards to dean)
• Dean signs and forwards to assistant dean for Research
• Assistant dean signs and sends back to program director
• The contract has one original and four copies. The blue copy is kept by the program director for his/her files. The yellow copy is provided to the employee by the program director requesting the service. The gold and pink copies are signed by the program director and forwarded to Payroll Services after the service is complete to authorize payment.
• Once the program director receives the fully signed contract, the program director removes the blue and yellow copies and sends the original (white) contract along with the gold and pink copies to Payroll Services for processing

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