University Workflow Automation: Adjunct Faculty Hiring

Image One was recently called in by Southeastern University to streamline and automate their adjunct faculty hiring process for up to 200 agreements covering 2,000 courses/teaching assignments per year. All of this was being done manually, and on paper.

Needless to say, it was a gigantic headache.

Workflow Process

Our first step was to work with Southeastern University to document their manual, paper-based workflow for adjunct faculty hiring. We then replicated it as an electronic workflow while being mindful to find ways to modify the process and cut out steps by taking advantage of workflow automation software.

The following is how Southeastern’s automated adjunct faculty hiring workflow process works now:

• Selection of Job Applicant: applicants fill out a credential form online and attach transcripts, which is then sent to the associate provost
• Accreditation Approval & Background Check: the associate provost’s approval triggers an email to HR to request a background check, which can be made electronically
• Communication with the Approved Candidate: an email is triggered for applicants passing the background check
• Adjunct Master List: a list of everything a candidate has taught is integrated within Jenzabar with some data manually entered and some data automatically populated from Jenzabar/master database, which is then made available to deans and chairs to delete any inactive entries
• Updated Background Checks: if any applicant in the system hasn’t taught in whatever timeframe is applicable, they need a new background check is initiated or they go back through the hiring process
• Teaching Agreement Distribution: each candidate gets a contract via web form with address information, name, etc. populated into the contract from the master database; once candidates sign the agreement, the database is updated and it triggers an email that the candidate is eligible to teach a course this year; candidates are given 30 days to sign the agreement with reminders every 10 days if it is not signed
• Teaching Assignment Distribution: this email includes what the faculty member might teach, the pay rates and if they agree to teach this course for this pay; if a candidate rejects a course it triggers another process taking them off the teaching assignment list and that another candidate is needed to teach this course, and the registrar isnotified by the academic department that this person needs to be taken off the adjunct master list
• Account Creation: the adjunct faculty member then gets entered into Southeastern’s system once they have accepted a teaching assignment; IT is notified to create them a log in and user’s account once a faculty ID is assigned by the provost’s office within Jenzabar
• Welcome Letter and HR Forms: this is a pre-populated form with the ID# and login that is automatically sent out in the last step; the adjunct faculty member completes the W-4 and I-9 forms and returns to HR for entry into the ADP Payroll System

Read more about our experience working with Southeastern University in our case study here

Other University Workflows

The same type of process above can be applied to a wide range of workflows within universities, including admissions, financial aid, transfers, student advising, AP invoice processing, purchase requisitions, donor file management, gift contract management, and much more.

Talk with us today to learn how to streamline and automate your adjunct faculty hiring process, or other manual, paper-based processes.

Contact us to learn more about university workflow automation