Direct Appointments

When processing a direct hire in the College of Science (COS), the Hiring Authority should schedule time to talk with the COS Director of Human Resources and Employee Relations to explore the appropriateness and options available for the request. By default, all recruitments go through the normal advertising and interviewing processes.

Some reasons for requesting a direct appointment include:

• The identified individual has a unique set of skills that are incredibly difficult to find, making them uniquely qualified;
• The funding was allocated to a specific PI and only that person can perform the work; and/or
• Critical project milestones are imminent and there isn’t sufficient time to complete the normal recruitment process.

The Hiring Authority will then obtain formal permission for the rank and salary of the candidate’s direct appointment from the Department Chair or Research Center Director (if different from the Hiring Authority). The Hiring Authority sends a Direct Appointment Request Memo and the candidate’s CV to COSHR@gmu.edu with the justification for the direct hire.

At a minimum, the justification must include:

• the name and credentials of the candidate
• a brief description of the work to be performed, and
• why the candidate is uniquely qualified to perform that work.

Human Resources in the College of Science will send a formal request to the Compliance, Diversity, and Ethics Office (CDE) with the initial request from the Hiring Authority and candidate CV attached. The CDE Office will then reply to the College of Science with the final decision, which COS then conveys to the local HR administrator.

The local HR administrator will prepare the Hiring Proposal in the Provost’s RTS system, and they will attach the approval from the CDE Office. The Hiring Proposal will then route through the normal review and approval process.