The procedures, tools and resources below will help you through the recruitment and appointment process from start to finish.
Academic Searches and Hiring
March 14, 2025
The School of Medicine has implemented a temporary pause on the recruitment and hiring of most staff and faculty. To request an exception for faculty (tenure and research scientist tracks), use this form. For standard, dually employed clinical track faculty offers, continue to use the FireForm process here.
The Executive and Faculty Recruitment team has developed a number of tools and resources to convert complex recruitment processes into realistic action plans. We also partner with departments to provide consultation and tools to assist in areas such as advertising, sourcing diverse candidate pools and competency-based evaluation of candidates.
Contact Faculty Affairs at acadadmn@iu.edu for questions about recruitment of academic employees.
Tools
- Academic Appointment Type Titles Guide
- Checklist For Academic Recruitment
- IU School of Medicine Academic Recruitment Guidelines
Resources
A national search is required for all AC1 positions, except postdocs and visiting (temporary) positions. However, even in cases where a search is not required it may still be in the best interest of the department to conduct a search.
A search waiver request should be submitted when an exception is sought to bypass the national search requirements. Search waivers are reserved for rare circumstances that include the reasons listed below. They should not be sought in cases where conducting a national search is merely less convenient. Having a well-qualified candidate is not an appropriate justification for a search waiver request. Some intradepartmental transfers or changes to the full-time equivalent (FTE) percentage of an existing appointee may not require a national search or a waiver. Transfers from one department to another require either a national search or a waiver, unless the appointee already has a joint appointment in the new home department. Departments should consult with Faculty Affairs to determine the best direction for recruitment needs.
Please note, submission of a search waiver request even with proper documentation does not guarantee an approval. While FAPD may approve a waiver request, the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) makes the final decision and handles each request case by case.
Procedure
The following items should be submitted in PeopleAdmin. See instructions in the Academic Recruitment Guidelines for creating a search waiver.
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Offer Packet
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Position Description: A document detailing the specific qualifications, skills and experience needed for the position
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Candidate’s CV
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Detailed Justification: A justification letter signed by the hiring authority (e.g., chair, dean, director) and addressed to IU Indianapolis Office of Equal Opportunity. The letter must include a thorough explanation of the reason for the waiver as well as an expected start date. Examples of search waiver circumstances:
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Change from visiting to permanent: visiting appointee being hired into a permanent, non-visiting position when the visiting appointment was a result of a national search.
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Change in permanent appointment type: current employee’s academic appointment type does not align with the evolving needs of the position or career trajectory has changed (e.g., tenure track to clinical track/scientist track). National search is required to move from a non-tenure track to a tenure track position.
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Dual career situation: recruitment/retention of a faculty member requiring the appointment of an accompanying spouse or partner
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Endowed chair: recruitment of a distinguished scholar or nationally renowned professional who has demonstrated academic excellence in their field and an emerging national or international reputation that will be completely supported by endowed chair or professorship funding
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Negotiated Hires: circumstances where a candidate negotiates for the relocation of team members (e.g., lab members)
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Reduction in force: a qualified employee may be placed in a non-tenure track, AC1 position in lieu of termination due to lack of funding or discontinuation of an educational program or course
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Research written into a grant application: individuals can be hired without a national search if they serve as the principal or co-principal investigator of approved research grant(s) and salary support is clearly secured through extramural funding.
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Succession planning: an individual identified as a successor for a high level or key position that has been trained to fulfill the duties of the incumbent.
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Unique individual: role to be filled is in an extraordinarily competitive, niche or narrow field, such that the recruitment of an individual with the requisite credentials represents a unique opportunity
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Urgent/unforeseen department circumstance: circumstances that the department could not have foreseen, had little to no advance warning of or no control over (e.g., unexpected attrition, death, emergent clinical or teaching needs)
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If the search waiver is not approved, please proceed with the standard search and screen process for academic appointees.
A standard offer letter is required by the university for all hires, even when a departmental or IU Health Physicians-IU School of Medicine joint memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been used. Instructions for submission of offer packets is in the Academic Recruitment Guidelines. Once an offer packet has been approved, units are responsible for sending the offer letter and offer letter enclosures to the appointee for completion.
Contact Faculty Affairs at acadadmn@iu.edu for questions about offers or MOUs for academic employees.
Offer Packet Forms
Offer Letter Enclosures
Human Resources Management System (HRMS) eDocs are used to manage academic appointments (AC1, AC2, ACNP). Guidance and help with eDocs are available at the HR eDoc Resources Center and eDoc training page.
The Academic eDoc Processing Checklist is required for all AC1, AC2 and ACNP Hire/Transfer eDocs, in addition to the documents identified within the checklist.
Contact Faculty Affairs at acadadmn@iu.edu for questions about appointments and eDocs for academic employees. For student academic appointees (AC3s), please see the IU Indianapolis Graduate Office. Postdoctoral fellows on training grants (FLP) are managed by IU School of Medicine's Postdoctoral Affairs office and medical residents/fellows are managed by the school's Graduate Medical Education office.
Resources