The woman who hired me was a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. She interviewed candidates, selected the person she wanted to hire, and had UPMC extend an offer. The process with UPMC took a while, I have never had such a thourough background check! The only reason the process was so quick is that my future boss had them rush it as the staff member I was replacing had a specified end date and she wanted me to be at least slightly trained by her.