COVID-Related Hiring Freeze

Due to the budget losses precipitated by COVID, MUS-OCHE has instituted a hiring freeze, which applies to all contracts at the University of Montana. We have worked out the following system, which exempts TA-RA offers that were sent out prior to April 22^nd, provided they were based on general funds allocated by the Graduate School. These guidelines apply to contracts for AY ‘20-‘21 (Fall ’20-Spring ’21). 

General Fund Supported TA-RA Contracts

If you have responded to the Graduate School with the names and details of TA/RA offers to students from general fund-supported sources, outstanding as of 04-22, you do not need to request a hiring exception for those positions so long as we have a contract and documentation of student acceptance by 06-01. 

Grant-Funded TA-RA Contracts

If your graduate contracts are entirely supported by grant funds, they will be expedited for approval under an OCHE-granted exception to the hiring freeze.  These contracts will follow the normal approval process: OSP, then the Graduate School, and finally HR. You do not need to fill out a “Hiring Exemption Request Form,” but you do need to submit a contract as soon as possible, preferably by June 1^st if grant funds are available.   

Contracts with a Mixture of General Fund and/or Designated Funds

If graduate TA/RA contracts are supported by any mixture of college funds or sources other than the Graduate School funds referred to above, the position is not exempted from the hiring freeze, and departments must submit a “Hiring Exemption Request Form” to the college Dean, who will forward them to the Provost for approval. If UM Administration and OCHE approve those hires, they will come back to the Graduate School, where we will approve the TA-RA in-state tuition waiver (where applicable) and send them to H.R. Contracts must be submitted by June 1^st.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Graduate School for clarification: Kelly.speer@umontana.edu.