Recruitment Information for Supervisors

In accordance with University policy, all position vacancies (except student positions) must be advertised for a minimum of ten business days on the University's on-line recruitment website unless an exemption applies or an exception has been granted. This site is the official means of advertising position vacancies at UWF and is updated daily.

Requests to recruit shall be submitted to Human Resources online through PageUp. The PageUp system is accessed via the MyUWF Desktop. Employees log into the PageUp system by utilizing the PageUp app in MyUWF.

When completing a job posting, it must be routed electronically to each appropriate level for authorization for the particular position. If you do not know your Supervisor Chain of Command, check your SCOOP profile through MyUWF. The typical routing process is as follows:

1. Send to Supervisor.
2. Supervisor sends to Department Head.
3. Department Head sends to Dean/Division Head.
4. Dean/Division Head sends to Vice President (VP). (There is also an option to send to Sponsored Research. You will route there only if approval from this department is required for your posting).
5. VP sends to Human Resources

 

The Hiring Official is the individual responsible for making the hiring decision and for the integrity of the hiring process. They will determine if the recruitment must be conducted under the Florida Sunshine Law. Visit the Sunshine Recruitment page for more details on recruitments conducted under the Florida Sunshine Law.

A search committee must be utilized for the hiring process of any position at the Director level or higher and in the hiring process of any ranked Faculty position, other than Visiting, Adjuncts, Instructors, Lecturers, and Post-Doctoral Associates. A search committee may, but is not required to, be utilized in the hiring process of any position below the Director level or the following Faculty positions - Faculty position vacancies (except Visiting, Adjuncts, Instructors, Lecturers, and Post-Doctoral Associates).

A search committee under Florida Sunshine Law has decision-making authority to screen applicants and determine which applicants to reject from further consideration. The search committee may develop selection criteria, rank applicants, identify interviewees, and select finalists. There are requirements regarding public notice of the meeting, interviews, taking minutes, etc.

Any recruitment effort that utilizes a search committee (even where a search committee is not required) must comply with the Florida Sunshine Law meeting requirements, which are:

• meetings must be open to the public,
• meetings must be publicly noticed on the UWF Public Meetings web page for a minimum of seven days,
• minutes of the meeting must be taken, and
• communication between search committee members on the subject of the search are limited to the publicly-noticed Sunshine meetings only.

Human Resources is available to discuss your search and assist you in determining whether to conduct a search under Florida Sunshine Law guidelines by emailing hr@uwf.edu or calling 850.474.2694.

A search committee must be composed of a minimum of three individuals designated by the Hiring Official. The Hiring Official shall designate one member of the search committee to serve as the search committee chairperson.

UWF has a commitment to diversity, and our commitment must be reflected in our search committees. When hired, UWF employees are asked to voluntarily provide information regarding their gender, race (Asian, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or White) and ethnicity (Hispanic or Latino). Using this information, Human Resources evaluates the composition of the search committee to ensure that the committee is composed of individuals of various genders, races, and ethnicities. When this information is unknown, for example, if a search committee member is not a university employee, the search committee member may be asked to provide gender, race, and ethnicity information.

There is no requirement as to the number of different races or ethnicities, as long as all of the committee members are not the same gender, are not all the same race, and are not all the same ethnicity. An individual in the field of multi-cultural studies, diversity studies or an employee in the Office of Diversity and Equity or a similarly focused department can serve on a search committee to provide race or ethnic diversity, even if that individual is not racially or ethnically different from the other members of the search committee. Human Resources will advise the Hiring Official as to any changes needed to achieve a diverse search committee. If an exception to the search committee composition requirements is requested, the Hiring Official shall document the justification in writing to the Dean, Director or supervisor at an equivalent level.

Search committee members may include members of the hiring department or other departments, community members, or students who have relevant knowledge of the functions and requirements of the vacant position.

Advisory Groups may be utilized for the hiring process of any position below the Director level or the following faculty positions - visiting positions, adjunct, instructor, lecturer, or post-doctoral associate. The Hiring Official selects group members and an Advisory Group Chairperson (if deemed necessary).

Advisory Groups may include members of the hiring department or other departments, community members, or students who have relevant knowledge of the functions and requirements of the vacant position.

Advisory Groups do not have decision-making authority and cannot screen applicants or determine which applicants to reject from further consideration. They do not develop selection criteria, interview questions, rank applicants, identify interviewees, or select finalists. There are no requirements regarding public notice of meetings, interviews, minutes, etc. for Advisory Groups.

Advisory Groups only provide candidate strengths and weaknesses to the Advisor Group Chairperson and/or Hiring Official. They can neither make decisions nor have any open discussion regarding candidates or recruitments.

All University Work Force position vacancies at the Academic Advisor level or higher and all Faculty position vacancies (except Visiting, Adjuncts, Instructors, Lecturers, and Post-Doctoral Associates) must be advertised for a minimum of ten business days in at least one external publication that is targeted to recruitment of gender and racial/ethnic minority candidates. HR has a list of Advertising Resources available for departments to review, but there are many external publications for diverse recruitment. Email HR or call 850.474.2694 if there are questions regarding a specific publication.

From October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025, open positions will be advertised in the publication, Insight Into Diversity, at no additional cost to departments. Insight Into Diversity will automatically pull jobs from the UWF Careers site daily so no action is required by departments other than the usual job posting process via PageUp. Inclusion in Insight Into Diversity will pull Faculty, OPS, and University Work Force postings.  

Each external print and electronic position advertisement should include the following:

• The University of West Florida is an Equal Opportunity/Access/Affirmative Action/Disabled/Veteran employer. Any individual requiring special accommodation to apply is requested to advise UWF by contacting UWF Human Resources at 850.474.2694 (voice) or 850.857.6158 (TTY). A criminal background check is required for successful candidates. E-Verify is required for employment. All applications for employment at the University are subject to the Florida public records
• Position Title. The official UWF position title and any working title used to better describe position duties.
• Position Number.
• Full Time Equivalent (FTE).
• Physical job location.
• Pay Information or pay range. The Human Resources Department may assist Hiring Officials in determining hiring pay ranges.
• Minimum qualifications for the official UWF classification along with any preferred qualifications.
• Application deadline or preferred response date.
• A statement indicating where and how applications may be submitted.

Once the advertisement is created, attach the document in the job posting in PageUp for review/approval by Human Resources.

UWF utilizes Graystone‌ for placing advertisements in selected publications. Advertisements must be approved by Human Resources prior to sending them to Graystone. Once approved, Human Resources will contact the department with Graystone’s information.

Departments will receive an emailed quote from Graystone that requires approval before they will post in selected publications. Human Resources does not pay for advertisements; therefore, Graystone will bill departments directly.

Please forward advertisement proofs and invoices from Graystone to jobs@uwf.edu to be included as part of the official job record for retention purposes.

At the position closing date or preferred response date (as applicable), Human Resources will review the pool of applicants who have met the posting minimum education requirements, for gender and racial/ethnic diversity. This is accomplished by utilizing U.S. Census Bureau demographic information for the job group and relevant geographic recruitment area for the vacant position. If the applicant pool contains a significantly less than expected percentage of applicants who are gender and/or racial/ethnic minority applicants, the Hiring Official may be required to extend the position advertising time, re-advertise the position or advertise the position in additional media sources that are targeted to recruitment of gender and racial/ethnic minority candidates.

Certified applicant pools may be reused by the hiring manager as long as three conditions are met:

1. positions have similar pay rates,
2. positions have similar minimum qualifications, and
3. posting that resulted in the applicant pool is within six months of the pool approval.

Under the direction of the Hiring Official, interviews are scheduled and conducted.

The Hiring Official selects the interview format required for the specific recruitment (i.e., phone, online, in-person, presentations, lunches, etc.).

For recruitments utilizing an Advisory Group, the Hiring Official provides any and all interview questions. For Sunshine Recruitments, the Hiring Official may provide interview questions or the Search Committee/Chairperson may formulate interview questions.

Refer to the Examples of Behavior Based Interview Questions document for additional information.

The applicant selected for a position vacancy (the finalist) should be the applicant who best meets the position requirements, selection criteria, and needs of the department. 

All employment offers should be made through PageUp, this routes the finalist through the pre-employment process (Background Screening and Statement on Controlled Substance Conviction).

Instructions for creating offer letters are located in PageUp. The PageUp system is accessed via the MyUWF Desktop. Log into the PageUp system by utilizing the PageUp app in MyUWF.

As with the requisition, the offer letter must be routed electronically to each appropriate level for authorization. To access your appropriate Supervisory Chain of Command, check your SCOOP profile via MyUWF.

Hiring Officials or designees should complete reference checks for all positions (except student positions) prior to making an offer of employment. Human Resources has a Reference Check Template available for departmental use. A minimum of two completed reference checks are required with one reference check being provided by a current or previous supervisor. 

Obtain approval from the candidate before checking references. Employment eligibility shall be determined through verification of work history, official transcripts from an accredited college or university, if applicable, reference checks, and criminal background screenings.

A completed background screening is required prior to an official start date. Human Resources will notify the contact person/Hiring Official when the background screening is completed.  A background screening will not be approved until a minimum of two completed reference checks, including one completed reference check from a current or previous supervisor, have been submitted to Human Resources.

Additionally, a Staff Applicant Eligibility Certification Form must be completed for all University Work Force recruitments and emailed to jobs@uwf.edu prior to routing an offer letter or attach as an Offer Document with the contingent offer letter in PageUp. Official sealed transcripts must be sent to Human Resources, if required for the position, with the exception of Faculty.

At the conclusion of the search process, all search documents (interview questions, matrices, spreadsheets, search committee minutes, reference check forms, etc.) must be electronically sent to jobs@uwf.edu or attached to the document section of the job posting in PageUp. This includes Sunshine Recruitments, closed searches that utilized an Advisory Groups, and those searches that only utilized the Hiring Official to make the hiring decision.

Hiring Officials or designees should complete reference checks for all positions (except student positions) prior to making an offer of employment. Human Resources has a Staff Reference Check Template and a Faculty Reference Check Template available for departmental use. A minimum of two completed reference checks are required with one reference check being provided by a current or previous supervisor. 

Obtain approval from the candidate before checking references. Employment eligibility shall be determined through verification of work history, official transcripts from an accredited college or university, if applicable, reference checks, and criminal background screenings.

A completed background screening is required prior to an official start date. Human Resources will notify the contact person/Hiring Official when the background screening is completed.  A background screening will not be approved until a minimum of two completed reference checks, including one completed reference check from a current or previous supervisor, have been submitted to Human Resources.

Offer letters must be submitted via PageUp to finalists for all positions posted in the system. Instructions to create offer letters and offer letter templates are provided on the PageUp Dashboard. The offer letter will route through the selected departmental approval process in PageUp and will lastly come to Human Resources for review. Human Resources will review the offer letter and contact the department if additional information or corrections are needed. Once the offer letter is approved, the offer will be sent to the finalist and the Supervisor/Department Admin/Initiator will receive an email from PageUp advising of such. Additional PageUp emails will follow as the finalist accepts/declines the offer and as pre-employment documents are completed.

Departments should submit the New Hires Needing Essential Documents Form to Human Resources and ask your finalist to review the information on the Human Resources’ New Hire web page. The new hire essential documents will be collected by Human Resources and the Department may have the Personnel Action Form prepared and sent along to HR. To locate the Personnel Action Form, please log into MyUWF and enter Personnel Action Form in the search box. All Personnel Action Forms are now routed for signature via DocuSign. Please consult with your Business Manager for specific instructions on how your Division is handling this process. Department contacts will receive an email from HR stating that the pre-employment paperwork is complete. Once the finalist is cleared for hiring then the department should change the remaining applicant statuses in PageUp (See How to Update Applicant Statuses and Create Status Emails).

After the Pre-Employment Paperwork/Background Screening is complete, you may make an official offer and set up the candidate's start date. 

Sign new employees up for New Employee Orientation. Contact Human Resources at 850.474.2694 for dates and times or check the Professional Development Calendar in MyUWF.

The Hiring Official or designee is responsible for maintaining applicant statuses in PageUp for recruitments in their area. For detailed instructions on updating applicant statuses in PageUp, refer to the PageUp Guide on How to Update Applicant Statuses and Creating Status Emails.

At the conclusion of the search process, all search documents (interview questions, matrices, spreadsheets, search committee minutes, etc.) must be electronically sent to attached to the document section of the job requisition in PageUp. This includes Sunshine Recruitment, closed searches that utilized an Advisory Group, and those searches that only utilized the hiring official to make the hiring decision.

Faculty Associates and courtesy appointments must have a completed background screening on file in Human Resources prior to the commencement of any activities for the university, on the university’s behalf, or at any university location. Faculty Associates or courtesy appointments that are instructional require a  minimum of two completed reference checks, including one completed reference check, from a current or previous supervisor, on file in Human Resources prior to the commencement of any activities for the university, on the university’s behalf, or at any university location.

For assistance, please email HR or call 850.474.2694.