Unpaid Appointments

The University makes unpaid appointments (UPA) available to help address a variety of needs stemming from the breadth of partnerships and work performed across the university, such as granting access to university facilities and resources, or to perform services as a recognized volunteer. 

Types of Unpaid Appointments

Unpaid appointments are categorized by the type of role they hold within the organization. All unpaid appointments must adhere to one of these categories and automatically expire at the appointment end date. Each type of unpaid appointment has different documentation requirements in order to initiate the request for appointment. Failure to include the required documents will result in the request being denied or recycled for review and re-submission.

Request Process

Follow the process below to submit a request for an unpaid appointment. While some appointments may be processed sooner, please allow 10-15 business days for processing. Notification of fully executed unpaid appointment, or denial of request, will be sent to the sponsoring supervisor indicated on the request.

1. Department determines appointment type and gathers required preliminary approvals. See sections "Types of Unpaid Appointments" and associated "Required Preliminary Approvals" for additional information.

2.  Department collects all appointee specific information required for UPA. MU/UM has created a KUALI startup request form to help with gathering the required approvals and attachments prior to entry into PeopleSoft.  KUALI will deliver completed request forms to the division’s appropriate processing group, allowing any division to utilize this form. University Shared Services customers should always use this form.

   The following are required to initiate the unpaid appointment:

   1. Appointment Type and Job Code
      1. Legal First Name
      2. Legal Last Name
      3. Date of Birth for all appointment types except Conditional and Emeritus
      4. Cell phone number for Guest Affiliate and Volunteer
      5. Start Date
      6. Term Date if appointment will last less than policy limit
      7. Appointee Personal Email Address
      8. Business Unit (COLUM/UMSYS)
      9. Department (DEPTIDs only)
      10. Sponsoring Supervisor’s Employee ID
      11. Justification for the unpaid appointment
      12. Duties Location
          1. Remote, Hybrid, or On-Site
          2. Location of work if outside of Missouri
      13. Appropriate approvals in ePAF attachment format
3. Department ePAF Initiator creates UPA eForm in PeopleSoft HR Production (PSHR) via "Unpaid Appointments" tile.
   1. Users with the ePAF-Initiator security role will be able to submit the UPA eForm inside PeopleSoft HR.
   2. See UPA Form Technical Guide (PDF) for step-by-step instructions.
4. Campus HR Approval (HR/Payroll Operations) eForms for all unpaid appointment types will be routed directly to the Campus Approver for review.  Review consists of correct appointment type and job code as well as inclusion of all required approvals and supporting documents.
   1. Once approved:
      1. Guest Affiliate and Volunteer appointments will be required to complete a preboarding questionnaire and criminal background check.  These appointments will receive an automated email from PeopleSoft@umsystem.edu with directions to complete.
      2. Conditional, Education Partner, Emeritus, Visiting Student will automatically be executed* into PS Job Data. 
         1. *Note: appointments requiring an emplid review or those flagged for rehire eligibility will proceed to the Final HR Approver for final review and approval.
5. Final HR Approval (Campus Recruit Operations)
   1. Unpaid appointments requiring Final HR Approval include those:
      1. with rehire eligibility flags
      2. needing an emplid confirmed
      3. with Guest Affiliate and Volunteer Appointee forms
   2. This step also initiates the Criminal Background Check (CBC)
   3. If no concerns are found in screening questions or rehire eligibility, Recruit Operations will initiate a CBC using the university’s current CBC vendor.  The appointee will receive an email from the vendor to initiate the Criminal Background Check.
   4. Recruit Operations will review and adjudicate CBC results.
   5. Once approved, the eForm will be executed and Job Record created. 

Questions?