Health Sciences Position Control Guidelines

Last updated: February 2026

To ensure the financial viability of the organization moving forward, the University must be cautious when adding new or replacement positions. To this end, there is an active hiring freeze across the University. However, it is recognized that Health Sciences may need to make very limited exceptions to this freeze to maintain our missions of education, research, and patient care.

Position Control Approval Process

To have a new or replacement position be considered for approval, WVU Health Sciences schools/units must submit a completed Faculty and Staff Employee Requisition Form via Shared Services. This form now includes review and approval by Health Sciences Position Control.

To have a new or replacement student position be considered for approval, WVU Health Sciences schools/units must submit a completed Student and Other NBE New Hire Form. This form now includes review and approval by Health Sciences Position Control.

To move the request to the Health Sciences level review, the request must demonstrate one of the six criteria for being deemed mission critical. This is possible via attachment to the Faculty and Staff Employee Requisition Form. Requests will NOT be reviewed unless a detailed description is included that demonstrates the critical nature of the requested position.

Any questions regarding this process should be submitted to Scotti Foltz.

To obtain Health Sciences Position Control approval for a Position or Salary Review, The Health Sciences level review will take up to 10 business days. If the request is approved at the Health Sciences level, it will move to the University level for review. The requestor will be notified in writing once the final status of the request is known. We anticipate that it will take up to 20 business days from when the request has been submitted to the Health Sciences level for review until final status is known.

Previous Commitments

Please know that while we take honoring our commitments very seriously, items within a specific offer letter do not automatically make them mission-critical. All requests must meet one of the six criteria for being mission critical to even be considered for approval.

Exempt from full HSC/Main review

Health Sciences Dean and/or AVP must verify in writing that the request meets one of the criteria for exemption

The following criteria exempt requests from the detailed level review:

100% grant supported faculty or staff positions – salary, benefits, and operational support – commitment that no other sources of revenue can be used to support the position
Clinical positions that are funded 100% by clinical revenues.
Residents and fellows that are 100% funded by clinical revenues.

Required HSC/Main review

Requires Dean, HSC, and Main campus level approval to recruit requested position.

Any position with either a net zero or a positive impact (additional revenue) to your budget by adding the requested position is subject to review by the HSC Position Control Committee. This means that the school/unit will be able to meet their expense reduction target even if the requested position is added.

Any position being requested that does not meet the except criteria AND is not a net zero or positive impact to budget, MUST meet one of the six criteria of being mission critical (listed below) to be considered for HSC central support funding.
If a position does meet one of the six criteria for being mission critical (listed below), the school/unit requesting the position must provide the required evidence and submit the material for Health Sciences level review.

Mission Critical Criteria (must meet one of the criteria below)

School/unit has demonstrated that their existing faculty, graduate students, post docs are at capacity for teaching and a specific core educational requirement cannot be taught unless a new position is hired. Evidence must include a teaching matrix (which includes specific teaching assignments, for this submission, the number of hours per week instructing students, in the lab, classroom, and clinic as appropriate, should be included in the matrix) of current faculty, graduate student, post docs assignments from a minimum of the previous two semesters as well as the upcoming two semesters.
School/unit has demonstrated that a specific skillset or area of focus is needed to teach a core educational requirement and that we currently do not have the skillset or area of focus available amongst the existing faculty, graduate students, post docs. Evidence must include a detailed description of what skillset or area of focus is needed to teach the core requirement and why it cannot be taught by existing faculty, graduate students, or post docs. In addition, are there existing faculty, graduate students, or post-docs who could receive extra training to be able to cover this area. What training is needed? Please include the costs of that training as well as the time commitment to complete the training.
School/unit has demonstrated that the scope of work for an existing grant cannot be honored without the hiring of a new position (partial grant funding requests only). Evidence must the scope of work language from the grant that demonstrates the criticality of this position. Since these positions must be at least partially grant funded, they should be research corporation positions when possible.
School/unit has demonstrated that accreditation is threatened due to the scope of work for the specific request being requested. Evidence must include the accreditation language that demonstrated the criticality of the position being requested. The requestor must demonstrate that other considerations have been made to internally fill the position with existing faculty/staff or that a partnership with another school/unit is not possible.
School/unit has demonstrated that the requested position is a critical support function, including student services, that impacts the scope of work in one of our three core mission areas. Evidence must include a detailed description of the impact on workflow if this position is not hired. The requestor must demonstrate that other considerations have been made to internally fill the position with existing faculty/staff or that a partnership with another school/unit is not possible.
School/unit has demonstrated the need for a clinical position based on the educational requirements for their students or the needs of our patients (partial clinical funding requests only). Evidence must include the type of clinical specialty needed, educational accreditation requirement language, and patient care data that demonstrates the criticality of this position.

Additional Documentation for HSC/Main review

In addition to the evidence that supports the criticality of the position, schools/units must also include the following items with the request.

A letter from the Dean indicating support for the request to recruit
Salary, fringe, start-up, and additional operating costs for the position – market justification
Allocation of effort - % clinical, education, research, service, administrative
Amount of funding being requested from central HSC finances –the duration for funding
Five Year profit/loss statement for the position
Describe how this position shapes the school/unit current budget situation including the potential subvention in the new budget model
The impact of not hiring the position to the school/unit

Health Sciences Position Review Panel

The Health Sciences Position Review Panel will consist of reviewers from finance and strategy, and upon full review, each of our three core mission areas will be represented. An initial review of the materials will be done at the time of submission to ensure all evidence/documentation has been included. The review panel will then be assigned to review the submission. Each reviewer will complete a rubric to assess the request. The review panel will meet and discuss the rubric results. If the position is approved at the Health Sciences level, it will be forwarded for Main Campus review.