Staff Resources

The University Services Fee (USF) provides visiting scholars and student researchers with access to UC Berkeley's world-class facilities and resources, as well as quality career and professional development programming and resources offered by the VSPA. 

To receive an official affiliation with the university, payment of the USF is required before the approval of appointments or reappointments in the VSPA Gateway system. For more details about the fee, please visit our USF page.

To initiate new or renew appointments for visiting scholars, student researchers, and postdoctoral researchers, the first step is to be granted access to the VSPA Gateway, our online application system. If your department receives HR services from a BRS region, please initiate the request with your assigned HR Partner by submitting an HR Service Hub ticket. Gateway preparers should have their Berkeley Regional Services team manager submit a request to vspa@berkeley.edu with your name and the list of departments to which you should have access. Please allow 1-2 business days for the change to be made. If it is an urgent request, please indicate this by including "Urgent" in the subject line of the message. If you will also be processing living allowance payments, disbursement preparer access should also be indicated in the request.

Once you have been granted access to VSPA Gateway, sign in with your CalNet credentials to begin submitting applications. Check out our Gateway Tutorial Guide for detailed step-by-step instructions.

Review the corresponding criteria for the visiting scholar and visiting student researcher titles to ensure applicants meet eligibility requirements prior to submitting an application for approval in Gateway. 

Gateway Funding Information:  In the "Financial Support While at UC Berkeley" section, please provide:

• The Name of the Funding Agency (or other institution or type "Self" if using personal funds)
• Select the Type of Funding Source from the drop-down menu, and if "Other" is selected, provide a description
• Provide a dollar amount in the "Amount per Month" field
• Proof of funding for domestic scholars is not required

NOTE: Remote appointments are not permitted; all visits must be conducted on campus.

Visiting scholars may not hold a concurrent appointment at UC Berkeley (e.g., Lecturer title to teach). 

Title Code Designation: Any individual whose intention is to conduct any form of research on campus in a visitor capacity (non-employee) must be in a research title such as Visiting Scholar (Title Code: CWR015) and Visiting Student Researcher (TC: CWR003, CWR016). Please be advised that it is inappropriate to onboard them into non-research titles such as a Staff Volunteer (TC: CWR011) or Affiliated Organization (TC: CWR014) when the VS or VSR title is applicable. Please review the UCPath Contingent Worker User Guide for additional information. VSPA provides export control screening of all visiting researcher titles to protect the university and comply with federal guidelines. Onboarding these researchers into inappropriate guidelines prevents us from conducting required visual compliance screening.

In the rare case when a department or faculty sponsor wants to appoint a visiting scholar or visiting student researcher who does not meet UC’s eligibility requirements, the department chair and faculty sponsor are obligated to request an exception from the VSPA. VSPA staff will contact the HR Partner upon reviewing the submitted application to request the required documentation for an exception to the policy. See the Exceptional Approval Policy page on how to request an exception to the policy and what documents are required. 

An individual who completed their Ph.D. within the past five years is to be appointed a postdoc. If they have a postdoc appointment at another institution and would like to visit UC Berkeley, request exceptional approval to appoint them as a visiting scholar. Visit the Exceptional Approval Policy page on how to proceed. 

For postdocs who have completed the cumulative five-year maximum, departments/faculty supervisors may request for a 6th-year exception through their respective Dean's Office for final approval by the Vice Provost for Faculty. Approval letters should be sent to the VSPA upon receipt so that the scholar's Gateway record may be updated.

Requests for appointment date changes should include the reason for the requested change. Please keep in mind that appointment end dates for VSRs may not be after their anticipated graduation date. If the appointment end date is a date after the anticipated graduation date approved in the application, let us know the new anticipated graduation date.

Circumstances may arise where a visiting scholar or visiting student researcher needs to withdraw their invitation to visit UC Berkeley. In the event of a cancellation, send an email to vspa@berkeley.edu with the name of the scholar and the reason for the cancellation.

Visiting scholars and visiting student researchers may not receive compensation for work on campus, but may receive a living allowance of up to $30,000 if a department or faculty sponsor wishes to help them defray the cost of living in the Bay Area. Visit the living allowances page for full instructions on how to request a living allowance. Please review our Stipend Tutorial guide for additional assistance.

International visiting scholars and visiting student researchers must hold the appropriate visa when conducting research on campus, the most common being the J Exchange Visitor visa. B-1/B-2 visas and Visa waivers are not appropriate for these titles.

Remote appointments are not permitted; all visits must be conducted on campus.

For more information on the university's visa policies for these titles, please visit the Berkeley International Office (BIO) website to learn aboutthe appropriate visa types and those that are not permitted. Additionally, please review BIO's website for details on the minimum financial requirements for these positions.

External Visa Holders (including Fulbrights):

To ensure compliance with university policies, visiting scholars and visiting student researchers on an external visa must provide the following documents:

• Identity – A valid government-issued photo ID that includes personal data, such as a passport page.
• Immigration Authorization Period – A valid DS-2019 (for J-1 visas), I-20 (for F-1 and F-1 OPT visas), EAD card or a similar official USCIS immigration document indicating the start and end dates of the individual’s authorized stay in the U.S. This ensures that the Berkeley appointment falls within the visa program’s authorized period.
• Authorization to be at Berkeley – Authorization from the home institution confirming that the individual is permitted to be at UC Berkeley, including the corresponding UCB appointment dates. This may be provided in the form of a brief memo from the university or a faculty member on official letterhead. 

VSRs: If an F-1 I-20 CPT lists the University of California, Berkeley, and the respective appointment dates, it will satisfy both the authorization period and the authorization to be at Berkeley requirements.

Fulbrights: The Fulbright award letter will suffice as documentation for the Immigration Authorization Period, as VSPA approval is required before the DS-2019 certificate can be issued. The DS-2019 should be submitted to VSPA when Fulbright issues it so it can be added to the scholar's record.

• Stipends - For VSRs receiving funds from Berkeley, a completed F-1 CPT page naming UC Berkeley as the "employer" with corresponding UCB visit dates is required. If a scholar is on an H-1B visa through their home institution, authorization to receive funds is typically provided by the supervising principal investigator (PI) or authorized university representative on official letterhead.

Note: Some document requirements may vary depending on a scholar's visa program and legal status. VSPA will follow up when applicable.

The documents should be combined into a single PDF file and uploaded to the external visa document field in the scholar's Gateway application before submission for approval.

Should a visiting scholar, visiting student researcher, or postdoc require accommodation assistance, visit our Disability Support Services page for information on who they can contact for help.

The VSPA serves as a steward of the University's policies, practices, and procedures related to postdoctoral scholars, visiting scholars, and visiting student researchers. As such, we are available for consultation on how to ensure that the postdoc and visiting appointments that you facilitate are compliant. Please reach out to the VSPA for guidance or if you have any questions.

Once a semester, join us for a town hall with VSPA where we provide an overview for new HR Partners and other important updates. Look out for our announcement to save the date. You may also contact us to schedule a one-on-one with your team and VSPA. 

Encourage new postdocs, visiting scholars, and visiting student researchers to attend VSPA's monthly New Affiliate Orientation, held every first Thursday of the month from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. We invite campus partners to provide expert insights on their areas of campus services and review postdoctoral appointment protocols and benefits. New postdocs can register for upcoming orientations after their appointment start date.

We appreciate you referring postdocs, visiting scholars, and visiting student researchers to our Resources page, which offers career and professional development, as well as wellness resources designed to help them thrive and succeed at UC Berkeley and beyond.