What Kind of Appointment Do I Need?

NON-FACULTY, NON-STAFF APPOINTMENTS

No appointment necessary for 10-days or less when visiting Caltech. You will need to collect primary emergency contact information for the visitor but nothing else is required. If your visitor needs a card for building access, please contact Stefany Nielsen. Foreign nationals must have appropriate visa status. If your visitor is an undergraduate, please see the VURP page. If the visitor is a graduate student, see the VSR page.

Visitor - Visitors are not considered to be members of the faculty. Appointments are made on a full- or part-time basis, with or without stipend. This position must not be considered a pathway to permanent employment. An appointment must be proposed by an active professorial faculty sponsor/host. The sponsor/host is responsible for making the appointee's visit to the Institute mutually beneficial and interacting with the appointee through regular on-campus meetings and communications. Appointee must clearly understand the voluntary and/or temporary nature of their Caltech affiliation and have a position elsewhere. Appointees are not permitted to be principal investigators or co-investigators on sponsored research grants and contracts. If an international visitor requires a J1 visa, their salary must be above $48k or host will need to supplement to bring their salary up to $48k (for J1 visa purposes only). Visitors are eligible for health insurance if applicable.

Visiting Associate – Visiting associates may be appointed beyond a cumulative total of five years only on the basis of recommendations resulting from a review process setup by the cognizant division chair. Reviews through the IACC are required every five years. Appointments are made on a full or part-time basis with or without stipend. Visiting Associates are required to spend at least 30 days a year or more on the Caltech campus. The sponsor is responsible for making the appointee's visit to the institute mutually beneficial and interacting with the appointee through regular on-campus meetings and communications. The appointee's credentials must be such that would qualify them for Caltech voting faculty membership (not postdoctoral scholars or visiting graduate students) The appointee must hold a faculty position or its equivalent outside Caltech, which he/she retains simultaneously with the Caltech appointment and to which he/she can return upon completion of the Caltech appointment. This appointment must not be allowed to become an independent or quasi-independent research position at Caltech. Appointees are not permitted to be principal investigators or co-investigators on sponsored research grants and contracts. If an international visitor requires a J1 visa, their salary must be above $48k or host will need to supplement to bring their salary up to $48k (for J1 visa purposes only). Visiting associates are eligible for health insurance if applicable.

Guest – A Guest has no formal appointment or contract with Caltech, is not on the Caltech payroll and is not volunteering services to the Institute but is on campus as a "guest" of an Institute Department or Division for a predetermined length of time up to a two-year maximum. Although Guest usually identifies individuals who are conducting short-term projects or collaborating with Institute employees on research, this term may also include closely allied ancillary groups needing campus access. An individual may not be a guest at the Institute in the same capacity in which they were employed at the Institute, or which is essentially similar to the individual's regular work at the Institute. Guests should not displace regular employees or duties that a paid employee would otherwise perform. Foreign nationals may not have guest status unless they have an appropriate visa status. A visitor for tourism authorization (WT or B-2) does not authorize an individual to engage in the performance of guest services at Caltech.

Volunteer - Caltech volunteers are individuals who donate their services to Caltech, freely and without pressure or coercion, for civic, charitable, or humanitarian purposes without the promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation. A Volunteer can be paid only for reimbursement of reasonable expenses related to their volunteer activities. To qualify as a Volunteer, the individual must be willing to provide services according to these guidelines.

Minor Volunteer - A minor is any person under the age of 18 years who is required to attend school. Under state and federal law, minors may not be employed in any hazardous occupations, and Caltech places the same restrictions on volunteers. Processing for minor volunteers can take up to 4 weeks.

External Affiliates - An External Affiliate is an individual whose working group/organization has a formal working relationship with the Institute.

Examples of External Affiliate groups includes Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), USGS, California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA), Caltech Y, Caltech Employees Credit Union (CEFCU), Caltech Childcare Center (CCC), JPL Child Education Center (CEC), Glendale Community College or Pasadena Community College work study students, temp employee agencies, and other organizations that have MOUs Facility Use Agreement or other contracts with Caltech. Appointments have a two-year maximum.

PLEASE CONTACT STEFANY NIELSEN AT [email protected] WITH QUESTIONS