Alexander Luzula | Assistant News Director
FIU has announced an immediate hiring pause on candidates from several countries, including China, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Vice President of Research and Graduate School Dean Andres Gil, as well as Senior Vice President of Human Resources, El pagnier K. Hudson called for an immediate pause on hiring candidates from certain countries of concern in compliance with legislation SB 846.
The bill lists China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela as countries of concern that universities are prohibited from negotiating with.
Passed unanimously by the Florida House and Senate and signed into law earlier this year, “the prohibits state universities from entering into agreements or engaging with said countries of concern or citizens of these countries without the approval of the State University System’s Board of Governors.”
Gil and Hudson’s statement, which was circulated to all deans, department chairs, graduate program directors, and human resources liaisons, called for an immediate pause on hiring candidates and on-boarding non-paid research scholars until the state Board of Governors can create a new vetting process to approve said candidates.
The hiring pause also extends to active offers and recruiting to candidates, as well as graduate students interested in assistantships.
“FIU is not the final approver in this process – the process for each candidate will take several months, and we cannot guarantee any employment or position for individuals from countries of concern unless the process is completed and subsequently approved by the [Board of Trustees] and the [Board of Governors],” said the statement, which was first circulated internally on Dec. 20.
While the standards for the new vetting process are currently unclear at the moment, screeners shall consider “the nature of the research and the background and ongoing affiliations of the applicant”.
Applicants include “citizens of a foreign country and who are not permanent residents of the United States, or who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States who have any affiliation with an institution or program, or at least 1 one year of prior employment or training.”
Neither Gil or Hudson were available for comment at this time.
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