PROV-006: Extending Offers of Employment to Faculty in Academic Areas
Date: 10/29/2009 Status: FinalEstablishes guidelines governing offers of employment to prospective members of the faculty and faculty wage employees in the academic areas.
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Academic Areas:
Schools and units reporting to the executive vice president and provost.
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Academic Employment:
All faculty positions classified as academic, including tenured and tenure-track faculty members, as well as non-tenure-track faculty engaged primarily in teaching or research activities and faculty wage employees hired in accordance with policy PROV-026, Faculty Wage Employment.
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Conditional Offer:
An offer of employment made to a final candidate that is contingent on the completion of the background check inquiry and verification that the candidate is eligible for employment in the position.
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Designated Academic Hiring Official:
Persons designated to extend conditional offers of employment to faculty members in the academic areas of the University on behalf of the University. The president, the executive vice president and provost, and academic deans and the University librarian are designated academic hiring officials. Hiring authority may be delegated in writing by one of these individuals with the written approval of the president or the executive vice president and provost.
An offer of employment in the academic areas of the University represents the culmination of the hiring process and may be extended only after:
- the required background check is completed in accordance with policy HRM-034, Faculty Background Checks; and
- in the event the candidate is being offered tenure at the University, the tenure review process is completed in accordance with policy PROV-017, Promotion and Tenure.
Any degree qualifying an individual for employment as a faculty member at the University must be earned from an institution accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (or, for institutions outside the U.S., an equivalent body).
In most cases, a conditional offer letter is the means of offering a faculty appointment to a candidate. The terms of employment must be determined and a conditional offer letter issued to the candidate by a designated academic hiring official. Only designated academic hiring officials or their designee (as approved in writing by the president or the executive vice president and provost) may extend a written offer of employment. An offer issued by anyone other than a designated academic hiring official is not valid.
All offers of faculty employment in the academic areas of the University are conditional until approved by the executive vice president and provost, the president, or the Board of Visitors, as required.
Offer letters should be generated using the University’s offer letter template (see Procedures below). Offers that deviate from the required template must be reviewed and approved by the executive vice president and provost. Verbal offers of academic employment are not considered binding; all offers of academic employment must be extended in writing by a designated academic hiring official and accepted in writing by the faculty candidate to be considered binding. A candidate may not start work until the offer letter has been signed and returned to the designated academic hiring official by the candidate.
Once a decision has been made to extend an offer of faculty employment, the designated academic hiring official generates an offer letter using the University’s offer letter template.