Memorandum

The purpose of this memo is to inform you of an important change to the way NC State handles outstanding researcher (OR) petitions for some employees.

The International Employment unit within University Human Resources assists departments and units with providing permanent residence sponsorship for employees when requested by a sponsoring unit or department. One potential path for permanent residence for faculty members and researchers is the OR petition, which employees cannot file on their own.

Historically, International Employment has supported OR petitions regardless of an employee’s reappointment status, tenure status or research title. However, to better align with the practice and guidance of the UNC System Office and other system institutions, effective immediately, the International Employment manager will review eligibility for an OR petition for faculty members only after they have been approved for reappointment or granted tenure. Researchers must have achieved the rank of senior or principal research scholar to be considered for an OR petition. An exception request can be made to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost in exigent or unusual circumstances.

When a faculty member or senior researcher meets this revised criteria, the International Employment manager will review the employee’s background against the relevant OR criteria to determine whether this type of petition is feasible as compared to other available permanent residence options. Employees still retain the ability to self-petition for permanent residence in a category similar to outstanding researcher.

Why Are We Making This Change?

We anticipate this change will:

• Increase consistency between OR petitions and reappointments or tenure determinations. Fewer discrepancies between these processes will reduce liabilities for institutions.
• Improve and strengthen future OR petitions and increase the potential for approval. As a result of the change, faculty members and senior researchers will have more time to gain additional professional credentials and make professional connections that will bolster their petitions.
• Reduce the backlog of OR cases, resulting in the ability to process future OR cases more quickly after receiving them. The change will provide more efficient processing of OR petitions to better meet the needs of these critical members of the NC State community, leading to timely outcomes once an OR petition is started.

Thank you for supporting this important change. If you have questions, please contact International Employment Manager Jill Blitstein at jill_blitstein@ncsu.edu.

cc: Tim Danielson, Associate Vice Chancellor, University Human Resources