Institutional Guidelines: Acting or Interim Appointments of University-level Administrators

Office of the President
Originally Published on July 1, 2022
Updated and Re-published on June 1, 2023

Download PDF: Institutional Guidelines: Acting or Interim Appointments of University-level Administrators

It is the general practice of Western University of Health Sciences to hire the best qualified candidates utilizing a formal search process. However, where there is a critical, immediate, or unforeseen need for an individual to perform specific job responsibilities, such that circumstances prohibit the utilization of a formal search process, appointments outside of the regular search process may be made for University-level administrators according to the guidelines contained herein.

I. PURPOSE: This document recognizes two classes of temporary appointments: temporary vacancies where the permanent incumbent is expected to return (Acting) and temporary vacancies where the incumbent has left the University or is for other reasons not expected to resume the position (Interim). The purpose of this document is to provide a consistent process for the selection of acting or interim appointments of University-level administrators. For purposes of this document, University-level administrators refers to the Provost, SVPs, VPs, and Deans. Please note that all hiring decisions shall comply with all applicable laws and University policies and procedures. The position of President is governed by the Board of Trustees and not subject to this document.

II. SCOPE OF AUTHORITY: Consistent with the By-laws of WesternU, the President or their duly appointed designee, is considered the Appointing Officer for all University-level Administrators. No other person or body is authorized to appoint University-level Administrators, nor to modify or revise the provisions of any appointment or offer of appointment.  For the appointments of Deans, the President designates the Provost as the Appointing Officer. The President reserves the right to amend, modify, or rescind this document with or without prior notice.

III. DEFINITIONS:

a. Acting appointment: The temporary placement of an existing employee in a position due to the absence of an incumbent who is expected to return to the position (e.g., incumbent on approved leave of absence or sabbatical). Upon the incumbent’s return, the acting appointment will return to his/her former position. This appointment is also used when the incumbent is temporarily reassigned or appointed to other duties in the University.

b. Interim appointment: The temporary placement of an existing employee or nonemployee to perform the duties of a vacant or soon-to-be-vacant position while a unit is being reorganized or prior to or while recruitment is underway to permanently select a successor and/or it is expected that the incumbent is unable to remain in position pending the selection of the successor (e.g., unanticipated or sudden departure of the incumbent).

IV. PARAMETERS:

a. Acting or Interim appointments as described herein shall normally be for no less than one month but not more than twelve months. Interim appointments should not exceed one year without a written request and the written approval of the president.

b. An individual serving through an acting or interim appointment must possess at least the minimum qualifications stipulated in the applicable job description or leadership profile.

c. An interim appointee will not be prohibited from applying for the vacancy unless non-candidacy for the permanent position is a condition of the interim appointment.

d. An individual serving an interim appointment is prohibited from serving on a university search committee for the position in which they are appointed during the duration of his/her appointment.

V. SELECTION PROCESS:

a. Expedited Process: Typically, when time permits, the University will endeavor to conduct the search and selection process defined in the Regular Process below. In instances where circumstances do not allow the University to engage in the Regular Process, the University will contact the Chair of the Academic Senate to invite their feedback on a potential appointee(s). Interviews may be conducted if more than one individual is in consideration. Typical scenarios that may necessitate an Expedited Process include but is not limited to imminent, emergent or unforeseen events, accreditation, legal, or regulatory requirements.

b. Regular Process: Subject to Section V.a., the following minimum steps should occur. The Appointing Officer must authorize, in advance, any deviations and/or adjustments to the steps outlined below:

• Determine whether there is a valid need for the Acting or Interim appointment.
  Generally, it is the preference of the University to engage in a formal search process for vacancies. Instances where an incumbent provides notice of their impending departure, the immediate supervisor, in consultation with the appropriate University Officer, shall provide an opinion to the Appointing Officer on whether an Acting or Interim appointment is necessary for the effective operation of the unit or whether a current employee(s) is able to take on additional responsibilities, for a limited time, while maintaining their current job responsibilities. Typically, where an incumbent provides ample notice, an Acting or Interim appointment may not be appropriate.
• Issue an internal call for potential candidates for the appointment.
  a. For non-Dean appointments: The Appointing Officer will provide notice to the key representative groups seeking recommendations for potential nominees. The key representative groups are responsible for the broader dissemination to their stakeholders. The call for recommendations will remain open a minimum of 10 calendar days. For purposes of this section, the key representative groups include the Deans Council, Academic Senate, Student Government Association, Staff Council and University Executive Operations Team.
  b. For Dean appointments: The Appointing Officer will provide notice to the College Administrators, staff, students, and faculty seeking their recommendations for potential nominees. The call for recommendations will remain open a minimum of 10 calendar days.
• A confidential Advisory Group will be activated by the Appointing Officer to assist in the review and recommendation of candidates. The composition of the Advisory Group (“Group”), including the maximum number of members, will depend on the position under consideration and is ultimately decided by the Appointing Officer. At a minimum, the following will occur:
  a. For non-Dean appointments: The member composition will include one representative from Academic Senate, one representative from Staff Council, one representative from University Executive Operations Team, one representative from Deans Council, one representative from the Student Government Association, and at least two (2) members from the campus community at large (i.e. faculty, staff, students, or administrators who do not sit on one of the above named groups).
  b. For Dean appointments: the member composition will primarily reflect the applicable College and include a broad cross-section of stakeholders, including at a minimum, two college administrators (such as a Department Chair, Associate Dean, or Assistant Dean), the college faculty assembly chair, one college faculty member selected by the college faculty assembly, two staff members, and two students.
  c. Notwithstanding the composition guidelines above, the Appointing Officer will also determine whether a Facilitator should be appointed and if so, will appoint that individual. The Facilitator is not required to be selected from the current membership of the Advisory Group. The Facilitator is typically non-voting and assists in the advancement of the process. Typically, the identification and appointment of this Group should be completed within 10 days.
• All nominees will be invited to submit materials for consideration by the Advisory Group. The nominees will be provided a job description, leadership profile or similar document detailing the minimum qualifications for the role. The Advisory Group will only consider candidates who timely submit the required materials. Required materials include but may not be limited to a current CV/resume and letter of interest. The Advisory Group will review all submitted materials to determine qualifications, capabilities, and suitability for the position. Upon the conclusion of their review, the Group will provide their collective recommendation to the Appointing Officer of the nominees (maximum three) that should advance for consideration. In providing this recommendation, the Group will refrain from ranking, rating, or otherwise endorsing any one candidate over another. The Group may provide a summary of strengths and weaknesses for each candidate with their recommendation. This stage should be completed within 14 days. Once the recommendation has been provided to the Appointing Officer, the Advisory Group’s role and process is concluded, and any feedback provided thereafter generally will not be considered.
• The Appointing Officer will provide regular status updates to the applicable constituent group related appointment process. To maintain the confidentiality of the appointment process, all status updates will not include identifying information related to the membership of the Advisory Group, nominees, or collective recommendation of the Advisory Group. Once the Appointing Officer has selected the appointee, a notice will be issues to the applicable constituent group.
• The appointee will receive a written Notice of Appointment. The Notice will describe the nature/scope of the appointment. All acting and interim appointments serve at the pleasure of the Appointing Officer. The appointment may result in a temporary title change and temporary compensation adjustment. It is expected the entire process may take up to six weeks to complete.
  Conclusion of the appointment. Upon conclusion of the acting or interim appointment, employees shall be returned to their former position with the same salary and status as they would have had if they had not served in an acting/interim capacity with the addition of any intervening salary adjustments which have occurred (e.g. across the board adjustments), including any increase that would have been made to the employees regular salary during the acting/interim assignment period.

VI. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: In addition to the commitment to full confidentiality and a commitment to the integrity of the entire process, the specific roles, and responsibilities for all employees in this process, is outlined Appendix A.  No member of the Group may apply for the position under consideration without first resigning from the Group. All members of Advisory Group will be provided with a copy of these guidelines and will be required to sign an acknowledgment confirming that they have read, understand, and will comply with these guidelines, as included in Appendix B.

VII. CONFIDENTIALITY AND COMMITMENT TO THE INTEGRITY OF THE PROCESS: Confidentiality is expected throughout and even after this process. All employees involved in this process, directly, or indirectly, must refrain from discussing Group proceedings outside of Group  meetings and from sharing nominee information with anyone other than fellow Group members during scheduled Group meetings and deliberations.  Confidentiality should also be maintained once the process has been completed.  Group members revealing confidential information about a past or ongoing process may lose their ability to serve on future Advisory Groups or search committees.  In addition, unauthorized disclosures may cause a particular process to be halted and possibly.  All members of the Advisory Group will be required to sign a confidentiality statement confirming that they have read, understand, and will comply with the University’s confidentiality guidelines, as included in Appendix B.  The proper handling of confidential material and information is of utmost importance in safeguarding the rights of applicants who are entitled to confidentiality. Thus, the following guidelines apply:

• All nominee materials are to be considered confidential material. Authorized access to and use of nominee materials is restricted to the Group members and certain administrators (under the direction of, and with the permission of, the Appointing Officer) and  Human Resources staff involved with the process.
• Group members shall not reveal any questions or screening tools or any other information to anyone outside of the Group .
• Group members shall not reveal the names of the persons who are under consideration or reveal any applicant’s ratings or rankings or whether nominees  have advanced.
• All information about deliberations throughout the process is to be kept confidential.
• Any nominee materials printed by any member of the Advisory Group must be given the same protection to ensure confidentiality that was given to the electronic application materials. All materials printed by members of the Group must be shredded (or given to the HR Rep. for shredding) at the conclusion of the process.

Any information not provided to all Group members through the nominee materials is not to be shared or discussed during any phase of the process. This includes prior knowledge of a nominee, information discovered on a website, or otherwise.  Sharing of this type of information is strictly prohibited during the process. Group members shall not gather information about nominees. If a Group member has information about a nominee  and feels that the information is relevant and needs to be shared, that committee member must consult with the the HR Rep., the Facilitator or the Appointing Officer.

Any unauthorized disclosure of information about the process outside of the Group meetings is strictly prohibited.  Awareness of any unauthorized disclosure should be immediately reported to the HR Rep., the Chief Human Resources Officer, or the Appointing Officer as appropriate.  Employees not involved in a particular recruitment must refrain from asking Group members for information about candidates or the status of particular processes.

Preserving the integrity and objectivity of the process is paramount. Consequently, if a Group Member is approached by an employee not involved in the process and questioned about the status and/or sensitive details surrounding the process, the Group member should direct the individual to the Office of Human Resources for any appropriate updates on the search and report this interaction to the Office of Human Resources.   Employees who are not serving on a Group  but appear to be inappropriately interfering with a process, which may include but not limited to actions which can be described as the inappropriate seeking of sensitive information about nominees, process status, or Group  proceedings or attempting to sway, coerce or otherwise persuade Group members,  may lose their ability to serve on future Advisory Groups or  Search Committees and/or may be subject to administrative action up to including dismissal.

Confidentiality must be maintained throughout the process. Any breach of confidentiality will result in the removal of the Group member, and may result in discipline, up to and including dismissal. Further, a breach of confidentiality may result in the suspension of the process for a particular position.

There are limited circumstances under which disclosure of confidential information is authorized, one example being providing information to a WesternU-hired investigator. Authorized disclosures would be discussed beforehand with the Chief Human Resources Officer or the Appointing Officer.  No discussions regarding the process shall take place outside of scheduled Group meetings attended by all members of the Advisory Group.  Any unauthorized disclosure of confidential information by any Group member may result in suspension from serving on any Advisory Group or search committees in the future.

Group members should not give permission for nominees to use them as professional references.  Group members should not engage in discussions with nominees or potential nominees regarding any aspect of the process for the position.  If nominees approach Group members with questions, they should be referred to the Office of Human Resources.

VIII. CONFLICT OF INTERESTS: All Group members must be able to evaluate each nominee fairly and objectively. A conflict of interest occurs when a Group member has, or appears to have, a familial, personal, professional, commercial, and/or financial relationship with a nominee which may compromise, or appear to compromise, a fair and equitable process and outcome. A conflict of interest exists whenever a Group member’s interests or activities have the potential (or perceived potential) to compromise a Group member’s judgment, bias the direction of a search, influence decision-making and/or behavior, and affect gain and advancement.

Group members and others involved in the process must disclose any relationships to applicants that could compromise their ability to be objective and present as an actual or perceived conflict of interest, such as:

• Disclosures must be made if any of the involved Group members share a familial relationship with a nominee whether through blood, marriage, adoption, or otherwise or if a Group member had an intimate relationship with a nominee such as being a current or former significant other, sexual, or romantic partner. For purposes of this policy, familial relationship includes relationships between a Group member or applicant such as: mother, father, son, daughter, grandmother, grandfather, grandchild, brother, sister, cousin, current or former spouse, in-laws, and step-relations of the employee or of the spouse of the Group member; any person for whom the Group  member has been designated as legal guardian; or any person who has ever lived in the immediate household of the Group member.
• Disclosures must be made if any of the Group members (or their immediate relatives) share a financial, commercial, or professional interest with any nominee, such as but not limited to, current or former business partners, landlord-tenant relationship, co-owners of real property, patents or other business interests.
• Disclosures must be made if any of the Group members share an officially recognized mentor-mentee relationship, having served as a former graduate or post doc advisor to the other.
• Disclosures must be made if any of the Group members share a close or personal friendship with any of the nominees.

Group members who possess a conflict of interest related to a nominee will be unable to serve on a Advisory Group. Further, Group members must refrain from being a reference for or lobbying on behalf of any nominee.  During the process, no Group members shall provide tours or additional information about the opening, including specific information about the process that is not afforded to all nominees.  Knowledge that a nominee(s) have been afforded additional information may cause that nominee(s) to be disqualified and/or cause an entire process to be halted and/or cancelled.

Appendix B: Roles and Responsibilities

The sections below are intended to provide general guidelines for the responsibilities of the Advisory Group members.  Roles and responsibilities may vary depending on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the urgency to fill a position, the availability of employees to serve on an Advisory Group, and the type and level of the position.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ADVISORY GROUP MEMBERS: Group members are appointed and must be able to participate fully in all phases of the process.  All members must adhere and commit to the confidential nature of the process, and sign and abide by the General Guidelines and Acknowledgment for Advisory Group and Confidentiality Commitment Agreement and have attended any university sponsored EEO training.  All members must attend all scheduled meetings throughout the process.  If a member is unable to complete any part of the process, that person must withdraw from the Group.  Requests for exceptions to these provisions must be discussed with and approved by the Chief Human Resources Officer.  Group members who violate the integrity and/or confidentiality of the process will lose their ability to participate in a recruitment and hiring process for up to two academic years and then obtain explicit approval from the Chief Human Resources Officer.  The following are examples of the charge, duties and functions of the members:

1. Evaluating all nominees using the same criteria and giving each candidate equal consideration and treatment throughout the process.
2. Complying with all applicable laws or University policies or procedures, including without limitation those related to hiring, non-discrimination, and maintaining strict confidentiality.
3. Protect the confidentiality of all records, deliberations, and consultations related to the process confidential, unless otherwise required by this policy or It is not a violation of confidentiality to report any problems related to the conduct of the process to human resources.
4. Protect the integrity and credibility of the entire process by abiding to all rules and regulations.
5. Maintain confidentiality during and after the entire process, including any and all discussion of the process and nominees or potential nominees with other Group members outside of official meetings of the Advisory Group.
6. Complete thorough and objective reviews of all nominee materials, spending sufficient time evaluating each nominee, and minimizing distractions while reviewing nominee and supplemental materials.
7. Review and score each nominee and all materials submitted prior to the scheduled meetings.
8. If contacted by a nominee, refer the nominee to Human Resources.
9. Commit to being an engaged participant and an active listener during all meetings.

APPENDIX C: INSTITUTIONAL GUIDELINES AND CONFIDENTIALITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT FOR ADVISORY GROUP MEMBERS

As an employee of Western University of Health Sciences, I have been selected to participate on An Advisory Group for the position  ______________________________________________________ (“Group”).

I acknowledge that I have been provided a copy of the Institutional Guidelines: Acting or Interim Appointments of University-level Administrators (“Guidelines”) including the Appendices. I acknowledge that I have reviewed and I understand the Guidelines, inclusive of the Appendices, which include but are not limited to the following:

1. I accept my responsibility, shared by my fellow Group members, to protect the integrity of the institution and the process, as well as the privacy of all nominees.
2. I have read and I understand the roles and responsibilities expected of me as a member of the Group.
3. I certify that I am not a candidate for this process.
4. I agree to disclose promptly to Human Resources any appearance of a real or potential conflict of interest in a relationship between myself and an nominee, as defined by WesternU’s Conflict of Interest Policy and/or the Guidelines.
5. I acknowledge and agree to maintain and preserve the confidentiality of this process. I recognize that, due to the sensitive nature of the process, it is incumbent upon all Group members, and those associated with these processes, to maintain the highest degree of confidentiality throughout and following participation in any process.
6. I shall maintain the confidentiality of all such records received during and following my periods of appointment to the Group. Because this information is solely available to me as a result of this process, I will not discuss, use, forward, print, copy, photograph, record, remove, alter, or otherwise disseminate any Confidential Information, in any forum or manner, that is given, shown, or available to me, or which otherwise comes to my attention, for purposes outside the legitimate scope of my participation in the process.
7. I acknowledge and understand that I will acquire access to a wide range of important and confidential information developed and received about nominees. Recognizing that the treatment of such information gives rise to serious and potentially negative implications for all nominees and Western’s credibility, I pledge my commitment to the following principles:
   a. I will respect the absolute confidentiality of all individual nominees. I will not reveal the identity of or any other information about nominees before or after the process completes its work.
   b. I will be fair, accurate, honest, and responsible in my management of information germane to this process.
   c. I will guard against inaccuracies, carelessness, explicit or implicit bias, and distortion made by either emphasis or omission of information. I understand that explicit biases are those prejudices that we are aware or conscious of, even if we do not wish to admit them and implicit biases operate without our awareness and are automatic and unconscious associations that can influence behavior and decision-making. I recognize that while everyone has some form of bias, it is our responsibility to set them aside and be able to properly screen and make decision based only on common knowledge and information as presented in a nominee’s materials.
   d. I will strive to treat issues impartially and handle controversial subjects dispassionately. I understand that nominees who have held executive positions and made difficult decisions have not been in positions to win popularity contests.
   e. I will give accurate and complete reports on nominees, if called upon to make such reports.
8. I will place the best interests of the University ahead of all special and personal interests, and I will, to the best of my ability, exercise common sense and good judgment in applying ethical principles to search work.

By my signature below, I agree to comply with the Guidelines with respect to my participation in this process. I understand that should I fail to adhere to these Guidelines, including but not limited to the expected Roles and Responsibilities and/or Confidentiality expectations, it could result in my removal from the Group and subject me to discipline, up to and including, dismissal.

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