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Unpaid Appointments

Unpaid appointments (UPA) are provided to individuals for a variety of reasons, including access to university facilities or resources or to perform services as a recognized volunteer. An unpaid appointment may be granted based on business need. If approved, individuals granted an unpaid appointment may have access to university resources and facilities and represent the University of Missouri.

See HR-513 Volunteers and Other Unpaid Appointments for more information.

Unpaid appointment types:

  1. Guest Affiliate appointment
  2. Conditional appointment
  3. Education partner
  4. Emeritus appointment
  5. Vendor appointment
  6. Visiting Student
  7. Volunteer appointment

NOTICE: As of 10/1/2025, the updated policy and process will take effect. We will continue to work on any existing unpaid appointments hired previously to 10/1/2025 moved over to correct categories through the end of 2025. Appointments will automatically expire at the appointment end date. Approval is required to extend appointments.

Security Access Needed to Initiate Unpaid Appointment Requests
User must have the appropriate PSHR security roles (Manager Self Service or UPA Initiator)

Campus Process

To get started, you will need to determine which appointment type you’re needing to hire for and gather the required documents to submit this request to your unit’s HR Business Partner. Failure to not include the required documents will result in the eForm being denied or recycled for review and resubmission. This process, from start to finish, could take up to 10 business days depending on the requirements needed for each appointment type.

  1. Department Initiator gathers ALL appropriate documents and approvals for this unpaid appointment. The Unpaid Appointee Intake Form will assist you in getting all of the information pulled together in order for you to initiate the appointment request. See Required Preliminary Approvals and MOUs below for more information about what is required. 

    Unpaid Appointee Intake Form

  2. Department Initiator logs into PeopleSoft HR Production to initiate the eForm through the “Unpaid Appointments” Tile and attach the Required Preliminary Approvals and MOUs referenced in Step 1. Please review the Unpaid Appointment Form - PeopleSoft Training Guide for more information about the PeopleSoft process.

  3. Campus Approver reviews eForms for all unpaid appointment types. eForms for Conditional, Education Partner, Emeritus, and Visiting Student appointment types are processed into PeopleSoft HR Production upon approval from the Campus Approver. eForms for Guest Affiliate and Volunteer appointment types require additional processing steps (Step 4 and 5). 

  4. Appointees of Guest Affiliate and Volunteer unpaid appointment types are required to complete a preboarding questionnaire, attestation, and criminal background check (CBC) after the Department Initiator submits the eForm. The appointee will receive an automated email from PeopleSoft@umsystem.edu with instructions for completing the preboarding questionnaire and attestation. Subsequently, the appointee will receive a second email from our criminal background check vendor to provided the necessary information to initiate the background check screening.

  5. Final HR Approver reviews eForm for Guest Affiliates and Volunteers unpaid appointment types and initiates the CBC procedure. If a CBC is needed, the appointee will receive an email from First Advantage, the University of Missouri System's background check provider, with instructions for submitting the necessary information to start the background check. After the university receives successful background check results, or if a CBC is not needed, the Final HR Approver will approve eForm to create the record in PeopleSoft HR Production.

Processing Requirement Summary

See below for processing requirements for each appointment type.

 Unpaid appointment table

Required Preliminary Approvals and MOUs

Before initiating an unpaid appointment, certain approvals and agreements are required. These include unit approval from leadership and may include compliance checks for international or research-related work and documentation for visiting scholars or education partners. All necessary approvals and supporting documents must be attached when submitting the eForm.

  • All Unpaid Appointment Types
    • Unit Approval is REQUIRED for all unpaid appointment appointees.
    • Unit Approval should come from the  Dean, Vice Chancellor, or Vice Provost.
    • Send Email template for Unit Approval Request to facilitate Unit Approval.
      • Include the appointee name when sending the email.
      • If the Department Initiator is not the sponsoring supervisor of the unpaid appointment, then sponsoring supervisor approval will also be needed. Include both the sponsoring supervisor and the Dean, Vice Chancellor, or Vice Provost on the Unit Approval Request.
    • Attach Unit Approval email when initiating eForm.

  • Unpaid Appointments Working Internationally or With Funded Research
    • Research Security and Compliance (RSC) approval is REQUIRED for appointees that will be working internationally or with funded research.
    • Complete Research Security and Compliance Questionnaire and attach email approval from RSC to eForm when initiating eForm.
    • RSC should provide feedback within 72 hours of submission.
  • Visiting Student Unpaid Appointments
  • Education Partner, Vendor, and Visiting Student Unpaid Appointments
    • Employer Agreement/MOU is REQUIRED for Education Partners, Vendors, and Visiting Students.
    • Attach Employer Agreement/MOU when initiating eForm.

Campus Approver Review

The HR Business Partner serves as the Campus Approver for each unit they support and will receive a notification after the Department Initiator submits an eForm for any Unpaid Appointment type. The HR Business Partner will review the answers and determine whether the eform can be routed forward or recycled for more information or rework.

HR Business Partners should confirm all necessary approvals are attached to the eForm and then approve the eForm to move it to the next step in the process.