Federal Employee Participation with CIRES Recruiting Actions:

CIRES received clear guidance from the NOAA Cooperative Institute Administrative Office (CIAO) reflecting Department of Commerce Federal Assistance Law Division (FALD) protocols that recruiting actions for CIRES/CU positions cannot include federal employee participation beyond the development of the initial job description.

The University of Colorado-Boulder and CIRES are separate entities from the federal government, and as such the Department of Commerce expects that NOAA federal employees should not be involved in another organization’s personnel processes. CIAO clarified that these boundaries are meant to protect the federal employees from being held personally accountable for unauthorized involvement in a CU/CIRES recruiting process. In an effort to be a responsible NOAA partner, CIRES hiring and recruitment protocols will reflect this federal guidance. 

CIAO indicated that federal employees should be involved with project work only. Therefore, to ensure NOAA mission alignment, federal employees can be involved in co-development of the CIRES position description - including outlining the level and type of expertise needed to fulfill project objectives. Beyond the position description however, the recruitment, application review, candidate selection, hiring and salary decisions will all be driven by CIRES. This protocol is shared by our fellow cooperative institutes throughout the United States.

CIRES values our partnership with NOAA and it’s important to us that CIRES job candidates have the opportunity to interact with federal counterparts to better understand the respective priorities and culture of the federal lab or unit where this CIRES position is co-located. That said, federal employees cannot offer evaluative input on CIRES job candidates. To support this, CIRES suggests interaction opportunities may include: candidate seminars, meet and greets, and/or lab tours as allowable means of engagement between CIRES job candidates and federal partners.These engagement opportunities can include a review of lab/unit priorities/mission, work culture, meeting structure, etc. It should not include any evaluative process or exchange of a candidate’s professional details.

For situations where CIRES does not have a subject matter expert available to support the respective job search, it’s recommended that we seek a non-federal subject matter expert(s) as either members of the search committee or as participants in the candidate interview process.

Please note this protocol reflects the expectation of The Department of Commerce Federal Assistance Law Division and CIAO. Federal employees should consult with their supervisory up-line with questions. CIRES is communicating this expectation for the awareness of our CIRES employees based in NOAA units. 

This protocol is subject to change per federal regulations.

CIRES employees who have questions may reach out to CIRES HR (cireshr@colorado.edu).