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PROV-026: Faculty Wage Employment

Date: 06/13/2014 Status: Final
Last Revised: 02/28/2024
Policy Type: Executive Vice President & Provost
Oversight Executive: Executive Vice President and Provost
Applies To:

Academic Division.

Reason for Policy:

Establishes the terms and conditions governing faculty wage employment.

Definition of Terms in Statement:
  • Faculty Wage Employee:A faculty employee who is hired to complete a short-term and/or part-time academic work assignment, such as teaching one or more courses for one or two academic terms. Faculty wage employees are not eligible for leave or other benefits and are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act.
  • Full-Time Equivalent (FTE):A unit that indicates the workload of an employee or student in a way that makes effort comparable across various contexts. An FTE of 1.0 is equivalent to a full-time employee or student, while an FTE of 0.5 signals half of a full work or academic load.
  • Regular Semester:Fall or spring academic terms. All references to “semester” in this policy refer to a regular semester.
Policy Statement:

Faculty wage employees may be hired in the schools and should be limited to teaching responsibilities (which may include delivery of on-line or in-person instruction and course-specific advising, as well as developing or reviewing curricula, grading, preparing course material for on-line delivery). Faculty wage employment for research or other non-instructional functions in the schools or in other units reporting to the executive vice president and provost is rare and requires advance written approval from the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost (EVPP). Faculty wage employment is not allowed in other units of the University.

Faculty wage employment is usually less than 0.5 FTE (teaching fewer than 6 credits1 or the equivalent of no more than 19 hours per week); is offered for only one or two semesters at a time; and applies to faculty employees paid solely through the University’s Goal Pay process. Faculty members with salaried appointments (full- or part-time), other full-time University employees who receive wage payments in addition to their salary, and retired, formerly-salaried UVA faculty re-hired as wage employees are not governed by this policy.

Employment of 0.5 FTE or more (teaching 6 credits or more) may be made on a wage basis for one semester only. Employment of 0.5 FTE or more that is anticipated to last longer than one semester should be created and searched as non-tenure-track faculty salaried appointments in accordance with the Policy on Employment of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty. In rare, extenuating circumstances, wage employment of 0.5 FTE or more that is expected to last for one semester only may be renewed on a wage basis for one additional term with the advance written approval of EVPP.

Employment in any department or school at the University applies toward the FTE limit. In the event one individual emerges as a preferred candidate in searches for a wage position in two or more schools and the positions are anticipated to last for at least two semesters, the hiring schools may combine resources in order to hire the individual as a non-tenure-track faculty member without an additional search only in the following circumstances:

  • The individual’s responsibilities are limited to teaching;
  • The appointment as a non-tenure-track faculty member is for one non-renewable term; and
  • The hiring schools will create and search for a non-tenure-track faculty position in the event they wish to continue the position beyond one term.

Faculty wage employment is not eligible for consideration for the Expectation of Continued Employment (ECE) or employee benefits. In the event an individual who has been employed on a wage basis is subsequently hired as a member of the tenure-track or non-tenure-track faculty, time served in the faculty wage position does not count toward the probationary period on the tenure track or toward the length of service required in order to be considered for ECE.

While not required, individuals hired on a faculty wage basis may hold the title of Instructor or Lecturer.

Individuals employed on a faculty wage basis may not be responsible for supervising other employees or faculty except when they are assigned graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) or other student employees to support the delivery of a course. They also may not serve as a principal investigator on a grant.

Faculty wage employment carries no expectation of renewal. Schools wishing to renew a faculty wage employee for another term should, whenever possible, notify the individual at least two months prior to the expiration of his/her current employment term.

  1. Disciplinary Termination and Grievances:
    The decision of a school or unit not to renew a wage employee is final and may not be appealed.

    A faculty wage employee may be terminated at any time for cause as determined by the dean of their school.

    If a dispute arises over whether the individual was terminated in accordance with the terms of his/her employment or the terms of this policy, the individual should attempt to resolve the dispute directly with his/her administrative supervisor and/or dean. In the event such resolution is not possible, the individual may request a meeting with the provost or his/her designee within fifteen (15) calendar days of the termination date and shall have an opportunity in that meeting to explain or document the reasons for the disagreement. The final decision regarding termination for cause shall be made by the provost or his/her designee within fifteen (15) calendar days of the meeting and may not be appealed further.

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1The Board of Visitors defines a full-time teaching faculty workload as 24 credits per academic year or four courses per semester. One three-credit course is 0.25 FTE per semester.

Procedures:

Faculty wage positions must be posted in Jobs@UVa. Faculty wage positions filled by employees with an active assignment in the University’s employment system do not need to be re-posted using these guidelines so long as the employee is being reappointed to the same position for which a search was conducted. This includes emeritus faculty who are hired post-retirement.

When seeking multiple hires within a single department in a given term, schools may post a single listing in Jobs@UVa for each department, identifying all of the sub-specialties or areas of expertise for which instructional faculty are sought. In addition, departments must advertise the posting on relevant national websites. While Jobs@UVA automatically feeds job postings to national websites, schools also are strongly encouraged to post faculty position announcements through discipline-specific websites, publications, and other venues.

Candidates will apply through Jobs@UVA by submitting their curriculum vita, letter of application, a brief statement of their teaching philosophy, along with any other information required by the school in its posting. After the posting has been active in Jobs@UVA for ten (10) calendar days, departments may interview individuals from the pool of candidates. No search committee is required. After completing the appropriate EOCR training, the hiring official may select an individual for interview and submit a hiring proposal through Jobs@ if the interview and at least three (3) of the candidate’s references are satisfactory.

Candidates for a faculty wage position are subject to the University’s policy HRM-034, Faculty Background Checks.

Once a candidate is selected for hire, schools should determine whether the individual is currently employed or is being considered for employment elsewhere at the University to ensure proper coordination across schools and units and compliance with University policies.

Requests for approval to hire an individual on a wage basis at 0.5 FTE or higher for one additional semester due to extenuating, unexpected circumstances should be directed to the associate vice provost for administration & policy development in EVPP.

Major Category:
Executive Vice President & Provost Policies
Next Scheduled Review:
06/13/2017
Approved By, Date:
Executive Vice President and Provost, 06/13/2014
Revision History:

Changed rank to title in Policy Statement 2/28/24.