Reappointment / Non-Reappointment Guidelines

• Faculty Reappointment Cycle General Information



• Who is Included in the Faculty Reappointment Cycle?
• Regular faculty who do not now have tenure or continuing contract should be included in a cycle unless they have been currently reappointed beyond June 30, 2012 (for fiscal year faculty) or August 31, 2012 (for academic year faculty).  The evaluation and reappointment of non AFUM unit faculty, such as non-represented faculty (Union Code= blank) or part-time regular faculty (Union Code= 009), does not need to follow the AFUM time table.



• How is the Reappointment cycle determined?



• The AFUM agreement bases the reappointment cycle (notice of reappointment/non-reappointment) on the years of service in a probationary (tenure track or continuing contract eligible) appointment.  The reappointment cycle for soft money faculty is based on the number of years of regular University service unless otherwise noted in the faculty member's personnel file. All Instructors/Lecturers with on-going (non-fixed length) appointments are included in the first year reappointment round. However, a recent change to the AFUM Collective Bargaining Agreement no longer requires reappointment reviews and notice of reappointment to faculty holding the Instructor or Lecturer rank who have earned Just Cause Protection (more than six years of service). Provisions for evaluating such faculty have not changed and are still in accordance with AFUM Article 10.
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• Appointment Date	Reappointment Cycle
  December 1, 2010-November 30, 2011	1st Year
  December 1, 2009-November 30, 2010	2nd Year
  November 30, 2009 or Earlier	3rd & Subsequent Year
  Faculty holding fixed-length appointments, (Contract Type-= Fix) and all faculty with the rank of Lecturer or Instructor, are included in the First Year Reappointment Cycle (who have not yet achieved "just cause protection")




• Is there a reapp't format for faculty to follow?
  • Tenure/continuing contract eligible faculty with more then 3 years of service in a probationary appointment are encouraged to use a specifically developed format that they wil eventually use for their application for tenure/continuing contract.
• Does prior credit affect the Reappointment cycle?


• No.


• How long may a department recommend for a reappointment term?


• Following the first year, based on performance, tenure track/continuing contract eligible faculty may be reappointed for a one year term.  Second or third and subsequent year faculty may be reappointed for a one or two year term; however, the reappointment of a 2nd or 3rd and subsequent year faculty member, which is not for a terminal year, will guarantee employment for a year beyond the stated term.
   

• First year faculty are normally reappointed for a term greater than one year.
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• Ongoing lecturers/instructors may be reappointed for up to three years.
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• Soft money faculty may not be reappointed for a duration which extends beyond the time for which funding is currently available. The recommendation should clearly distinguish between the term of the reappointment and the duration of funding that is currently available for the position. 
  

• Tenure track faculty should not be reappointed beyond the year of mandatory tenure/continuing contract consideration. For example, a faculty member who is to be considered for tenure/continuing contract in 2012-13 should not be reappointed beyond the end of that academic/fiscal year.
 

• The recommendation concerning reappointment should be to reappoint for a specific term or to reappoint for a terminal year.  The recommendation is for the coming year, beginning July 1 or September 1, 2012, although reappointment of 2nd or 3rd and subsequent year faculty, which is not for a terminal year, will also guarantee employment for the 2013-2014 year. 

Departmental Evaluation Criteria


• ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDELINES
  
  
• AFUM - Article 7, APPOINTMENT, REAPPOINTMENT/NON-REAPPOINTMENT AND CONTRACT STATUS
  
  
• Sections C and D of Article 7 outline a peer recommendation process for reappointment/non-reappointment which is very similar to the process used in promotion and tenure decisions.  The main points of the process are summarized here. 

  Consideration of faculty for reappointment is automatic; the unit member does not have to request consideration.  It is the department’s responsibility to identify those faculty who need to be considered for reappointment in 2011-12 and schedule the review to fall in the appropriate reappointment cycle.  Non fixed length unit faculty whose current appointment ends on or before August 31, 2012 must be considered for reappointment during the coming year.  For those faculty holding joint appointments, both administrative units (the primary and secondary department/college) must evaluate and make a recommendation for the particular action being considered.  The policy for faculty holding joint appointments provides that peer committees consisting of peers from the department(s) and/or unit(s) in which the faculty member holds the appointment are to be appointed by the home academic department chair in consultation with the other department chair(s) or center director(s).

• Fixed Length Faculty
  
  
• To ensure that AFUM faculty holding fixed length term appointments who are to be recommended for subsequent fixed length appointments are evaluated via the regular peer review process, they are included in the first year cycle.  If their appointment is expected to end with the 2011-12 academic year, no action is required beyond notifying the Dean or other administrative officers that the faculty member is not being considered for a subsequent appointment at the present time.  All AFUM unit faculty holding fixed length appointments will receive a notice from Provost Hunter reminding them of the nature of their appointment by March 31 or appointing them to another fixed length term appointment.  It is especially important that department chairs clearly communicate with fixed length faculty about the nature of their positions and potential reemployment opportunities.  Approval of AFUM is required to extend fixed length faculty beyond three years of service.
  
  
• Who Must Be Considered
  
  
• The following AFUM unit faculty should be considered for reappointment by the department peer committee:


• Tenure-track or continuing contract eligible faculty (including faculty who are requesting early tenure/continuing contract consideration during the coming year)          
• "Soft-money" faculty
• Lecturers/Instructors with on-going appointments.


• The following faculty should not be considered for reappointment:
  
• Faculty with multiple-year appointments that extend beyond August 31, 2012


• Faculty who were appointed for fixed-length terms and clearly informed of the nature of their appointments


• Faculty who have indicated in writing their intent to resign at the end of the year, or


• Faculty in terminal-year appointments resulting from non-reappointment or denial of tenure last year.
  
• Peer Committee


• The Chairperson (Dean or Director in units without Chairpersons) must instruct the Peer committee as to its responsibilities following the enclosed time table.


• These instructions to the Peer Committee should include the following points:


• in writing) the names of faculty who must be considered,

          
• the date by which the committee must make a recommendation,

       
• the faculty member must have an opportunity to meet with and address the committee prior to preparation of the written recommendation,

         
• the committee has access to the personnel file of the faculty member being considered,

          
• the committee should evaluate the faculty member before considering reappointment.  Refer to guidelines on faculty evaluation. 


• No administrator to whom a Peer Committee makes recommendations can be a voting member of that committee. The Chairperson should not chair the Peer Committee, nor act as its secretary.  It is, however, important that the Chairperson convene the Committee and be present during the Committee's deliberations. 


• All reports of the Peer Committee must be signed by all members participating in the report.  The names of all Peer Committee members must be listed and a tally of the vote must be recorded. 


• The written Peer Committee recommendation is forwarded to the Chairperson and to the faculty member.  The faculty member has an opportunity to respond, in writing, within one week of receipt of the Peer Committee recommendation by the Chairperson.  (The Chairperson should make sure that the faculty member receives the Peer Committee recommendation and is aware of the right to respond to that recommendation in writing.)


• Once the faculty member has had an opportunity to respond to the Peer Committee recommendation, materials may be added to the file being reviewed for reappointment consideration only in very limited circumstances.  Please call Catherine Pease or John Kidder at x1-1580 if you have questions concerning additional file materials.   


• Chairperson
• • The Chairperson prepares his/her recommendation, distinct from that of the Peer Committee, at the end of the one-week response period or after receipt of written comment, if any.  The Chairperson's recommendation is forwarded to the Dean along with the recommendation of the Peer Committee and the faculty member's written response, if any. A copy of the Chairperson's recommendation should be sent to the faculty member at the time it is submitted to the Dean.
  
  
• Dean


• Upon receipt of the Chairperson's recommendation, the Dean/Director/Associate Provost will make a recommendation to the Provost, and the Provost to the President.  The unit member should receive copies of these recommendations at the same time such recommendations are made.  The unit member will be informed of the President's decision concerning reappointment by letter on or before the contractual deadline. 


• Faculty Member


• The unit member has no right to respond to administrative recommendations or to grieve until formally notified of a negative decision by the President.  Therefore, if a unit member requests the opportunity to meet with an administrator during reappointment consideration, the administrator is not obligated to meet with the unit member. 


• If a faculty member grieves the President's decision, the grievance will be filed with the first administrative officer (Chairperson, Dean/Associate Provost, Provost) making a negative recommendation.  There is no provision in the contract for a faculty member to file a grievance against a Peer Committee.
  
  
 

• Departmental Responsibility Relating to Personnel Materials for AFUM Unit Faculty
  

• AFUM Collective Bargaining Agreement Excerpt from Article 6 -  Personnel File Each campus shall maintain, for official University purposes, one (1) personnel file for each unit member.  This file shall be kept under conditions that insure its integrity and safekeeping and shall contain copies of personnel forms, official correspondence to and/or from the unit member, written evaluations and other appropriate materials relating to the unit member's employment.   Unit members shall be sent a copy of all material placed in the file at the same time it is placed in the file.  Any material or correspondence addressed to a unit member which is to be placed in the file shall be marked cc: Personnel File.  Any material or correspondence not addressed to a unit member which is to be placed in the file shall be sent to the unit member with a notation that such material has been placed in the file.

• To meet these contractual requirements, copy notations for reappointment (or promotion/tenure, continuing contract, etc.) recommendations should follow one of the following formats:
 

cc:        Personnel File
Professor                                       (faculty member)

OR

cc:        Department Chair (for personnel file)
Professor                                       (faculty member)
 Any other copy notations, as appropriate, may be added.