Hiring Sessional Academics

Hiring a Non-Canadian Sessional Academic?

You cannot use a Template Based Hire to hire Non-Canadian Sessionals.

Refer to the Procedure for Hiring Non-Canadian Sessional Academics

Sessional Academic Hiring Process

Recruiting and Hiring Process

Once the Department has determined that a Sessional appointment is required, the following process should be completed in order to recruit for and hire the successful applicant in PeopleSoft.

The circumstances under which a Term Certain (Sessional) appointment is appropriate are limited to the following:

  • when the appointment is to replace a continuing staff member who is on leave or on another assignment of duties, or in an emergency
  • when a person with the desired qualifications for an approved Continuing, Contingent Term, or Limited Term appointment is not available at the time the Term Certain appointment is made
  • when the duties connected with the appointment are for a limited period and are expected to be no longer required thereafter
  • when the appointment is for a pilot or developmental project
  • when the appointment is needed to accommodate unexpected enrolment increases
  • when the funds supporting the appointment are only temporarily available to the Faculty or department;
  • in order to enable the offering of a course or group of courses in an area outside of the expertise of current continuing staff
  • when it has not been determined that a course or group of courses will be offered on a regular annual basis
  • in order to accommodate a staff member visiting from elsewhere
  • in order to integrate members of the professional community into the academic program of a Faculty or department as part of a continuing affiliation
  • such other circumstances as may be mutually agreed between the Parties (Board of Governors and The Faculty Association)
  • to provide teaching experience for a registered graduate student (one course per semester for a maximum of two semesters in total)

The circumstances under which the appointment is appropriate shall be included in the letter of appointment for every Term Certain appointment. Term Certain appointments shall be for one or more periods of specified duties within a total duration of twelve (12) months or less. An individual staff member may hold more than one Term Certain appointment concurrently in different Faculties and where this occurs, separate contracts may be created for the duties in each Faculty. Where the duties of the Term Certain appointee are primarily related to teaching, the appointment shall ordinarily be made as a Sessional Instructor [CA 23.2/23.3/23.4].

Sessional Instructor opportunities should be posted on the department or equivalent website for a minimum of ten (10) work days [CA 23.5].

To request an opportunity is posted to the UCalgary Careers website, Submit a Job Opening Request (JOR) for a Sessional Instructor and attach the associated job posting.

Once the recruitment process is complete and you have selected a successful candidate, the Template-Based Hire (TBH) should be initiated. Once the template is complete it should be 'Saved for Later' and the Sessional Instructor Contract letter should be printed, modified as required and sent to the successful candidate.

Once the offer has been signed and returned, along with the Academic Staff Personal Information form, the hire should be completed by submitting the Template-Based Hire form for approvals and then processing the hire in Human Resources PeopleSoft.

How to Process/Hire a Sessional Academic using the Template-Based Hire:

Once the person and job record have been created in the Human Resources PeopleSoft system, the new Sessional Instructor  should be sent their Employee ID (UCID) and a welcome email, including the employee's UCID number and a link to the New Sessional Instructor Checklist. This page outlines all those activities new staff should do to get prepared prior to their first day and then get started once they arrive.

It is imperative to ensure an efficient onboarding experience and that all access required to do their job is provisioned in as timely a manner as possible. An Onboarding Coordinator checklist outlines all of the activities that the department should complete and when they should be completed.