SUBJECT: Authority to Approve Personnel Actions/Unclassified Recruitment and Selection (see http://www.uwsa.edu/hr/upgs/upg.htm for the most recent and complete guideline)

Issued: 01/05/77
Revised: 09/01/00
(Replaces 05/03/99 Edition)

Section 19.36 (7) Wis. Stats. requires the release, upon request, of names of “final candidates”for appointment to any state unclassified position. Those nominees and applicants who request confidentiality shall have that request honored until and unless the nominee or applicant achieves “final candidate” status. Section 19.36(7)(a) and (b) Wis. Stats. defines “final candidate” as:

“ ... each applicant for a position who is seriously considered for appointment or whose name is certified for appointment and whose name is submitted for final consideration to an authority for appointment to any state (unclassified) position, ... ‘Final candidate’ includes, whenever there are at least 5 candidates for an office or position, each of the 5 candidates who are considered most qualified for the office or position by an authority, and whenever there are less than 5 candidates for an office or position, each such candidate. Whenever an appointment is to be made from a group of more than 5 candidates, ‘final candidate’ also includes each candidate in the group.”

The Office of General Counsel recommends that in searches, “we should advise all nominees and applicants of the law and provide the opportunity to indicate, in writing, if they do not wish to have their identity revealed. We must also advise all nominees and applicants that if they agree to become a final candidate, that their identity must be revealed.”

The following procedures should govern searches:

• Nominees and applicants should be: advised of the new law; provided the opportunity to indicate, in writing, if they do not wish to have their identity revealed; and, advised that if they agree to become a final candidate, that their identity must be revealed.
• Upon request, within two days of the published deadline date, or date of the request, whichever is later, the chair of the search and screen committee, or appointing official, should compile and release a combined list (in alphabetical order) of all nominees and applicants who did not object to revealing their identity. The list should carry the underlined language in the caption preceding the list.
• Ads should contain one of the following statements:
  • Nominees and Applicants, who have not requested in writing that their identity not be revealed, and all finalists names will be released upon request.
    
    
  • Under Wisconsin Statutes, we are required to provide a list of all nominees and applicants who have not requested in writing that their identity not be revealed. Persons agreeing to be final candidates will have their identity revealed as a final candidate.
• Ads which contain either of the above statements may have a “limiting effect” in attracting the widest possible pool of nominees and qualified applicants. As an alternative to using either statement in job advertisements and announcements, the search committee or person with hiring authority may send all nominees and applicants form letters attached as Exhibits A and B. Exhibit A is tailored to acknowledge the receipt of the application and to communicate the essential statutory information. Exhibit B, when completed and returned to the search committee secretary or chair, meets the need for written confirmation of the nominee’s or applicant’s choice for confidentiality or disclosure of their identity, and acknowledgment of the fact that their identity will be made public upon request if they become a finalist. No matter whether institutions elect to use this option or one of the job advertisement statements, search committees and hiring authorities must strictly adhere to the policy of notifying all nominees and applicants by sending them a form with the language in Exhibit B, which must be completed, returned, and retained as part of the search committee records.