Search Waiver Categories
Emergency Hire
There is an urgent and unanticipated need to fill a position, there is not enough time to conduct a search, and the candidate has the expertise and is available to begin immediately. Emergency search waivers are made for a limited period of time, not to exceed one year. If the position is to be filled beyond the duration of the waiver, an open search must be conducted.
Urgent Patient Care Need
The appointment would alleviate a critical, unforeseen, and ongoing need in a specific area of patient care. An approved search waiver for urgent patient care need can be of indefinite duration.
Spousal/PartnerHire
The successful recruitment or retention of a senate faculty member or an individual in a senior leadership position (e.g., senior management group (SMG) member) is ultimately dependent on an academic appointment for the individual's spouse/partner. A spouse/ partner hire into a campus appointment is not an entitlement. Every spouse/partner hire must meet the qualifications and standard of excellence for the appropriate appointment. A spouse/partner hire is contingent on ultimate employment or retention of the associated individual. A spousal/partner search waiver can be of indefinite duration.
Continuation of Training*
The candidate is a trainee of the campus (e.g., undergraduate or graduate student, postdoctoral scholar, fellow) who remains for a short period of time to complete a research project begun while in student or trainee status, or for a trainee who is hired by the campus to complete a clinical training program. The candidate began working on the research project for which the waiver is requested a minimum of three months prior to the completion of the program/training. The appointment must start within three months of the end of the student or trainee status, and is allowed for a limited period of time, not to exceed 18 months. The “clock” starts immediately following the end of student or trainee status, even if the request for the waiver is not made until a later date.
A pre-training waiver may also be requested for a candidate who has accepted admission to a graduate program and seeks to receive training prior to fall enrollment. In these cases a candidate can be hired into an appropriate academic title (typically the Junior Specialist title) as early as June 1st of the enrollment academic year.
*For represented positions subject to a collective bargaining agreement, refer to the current collective bargaining agreement regarding appointment length and whether additional documentation is required.
PI/Co-PI/Leadership Status
The candidate will be paid 50% time or more of their total effort from extramural funds awarded to the candidate, and for which the candidate is named as PI/Co-PI or holds an equivalent leadership role on the extramural funds. A search waiver based on PI/Co- PI/leadership status may be granted for the duration of funding; however, appointments can be made for a shorter period of time. Waivers remain in effect as long as funding continues; this may encompass multiple awards. Please upload a copy of the grant, including both the front page, and the budget page and documentation evincing approval from the Vice Chancellor for Research for appointments that require Exceptional Principal Investigator status. (For information on PI Status, please see: https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/research-policies/principal-investigator-status.)
This search waiver category is also appropriate for appointees in the Adjunct Professor series who are not currently drawing salary from their extramural funds but may receive pay at a later date, if assigned university teaching.
Research Team
A candidate is part of the existing research team of a new faculty member. A search waiver may be granted, but the waiver is only valid for an individual team member as long as s/he remains with the same research team and in the same series.
Multiple Affiliated Employers
Appointees whose position is dependent on two employers: a primary employer that is formally affiliated with UC and the UC campus. If an open search equivalent to a UC- search is conducted by the affiliate, the appointee may be granted a search waiver for the UC position. A memo from the affiliate's Academic Personnel Office or Human Resources must be uploaded by the hiring unit to confirm the appointee was hired from an open search by their primary employer. A search waiver may be granted, but the waiver is only valid for the period of time in which the candidate continues to be employed by the affiliate.