Consistent with University policy and best practices, the University of Utah has open and transparent processes for selecting those who will serve in faculty positions.
For detailed discussion around a variety of strategies for successful faculty searches and hires, see the hiring guide below.
Steps and instructions for the Search, the Appointment , and the Hire (ePAF) are also found below, along with additional resources for the search committees, staff admins/embedded HR Analysts, and approvers (Chairs/Deans) in the PeopleAdmin & PeopleSoft systems:
**CLICK HERE FOR THE FACULTY HIRING GUIDE**
Topics include: Recruitment, Confidentiality, How to Write Effective Job Announcements, Current Best Practices to Ensure Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, How to Chair a Search Committee, and much more!
Strategic Diversity Plan for Faculty Hiring & Retention (Updated 10/12/21)
Faculty
Searches
Faculty Searches include three main steps -- approval to search (Opening a Posting), approval to interview (Faculty Search Updates) and approval to offer (Hiring Proposal).
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- Search Committee Training (via Bridge) - currently under revision
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- Faculty Hiring Guide (Uploaded 10/12/21 & Revised 2/14/22)
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Topics include: Recruitment, Confidentiality, How to Write Effective Job Announcements, Current Best Practices to Ensure Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, How to Chair a Search Committee, and much more!
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- Search Committee PeopleAdmin User Guide - currently under revision
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- Faculty Hiring Guide (Uploaded 10/12/21 & Revised 2/14/22)
- PeopleAdmin Guide (to be updated)
- PeopleAdmin Guide for Approvers (to be updated)
- Faculty Posting Quick Guide (to be updated)
- Faculty Advertising Venues (updated 01/05/21)
- Faculty Search Flow Chart - Coming Soon!
- Career-line Faculty Search Overview (updated 4/21/22)
- Tenure-line Faculty Search Overview (updated 4/21/22)
Faculty Appointments
A faculty appointment signifies that the individual has been vetted and meets the standards to be a faculty member in a particular category and rank at the University of Utah.
Faculty appointments (including Librarians) are ultimately made by the president, after significant input from the department faculty and chairperson (signified by the vote of the faculty), and approvals from the college dean and the cognizant vice president.
Department faculty vote on the appointment of new faculty members, and will specify the academic rank (Assistant/Associate/Professor) as well as the faculty category (Tenure-line, Career-line [Lecturer/Research/Clinical], Adjunct, or Visiting) and the appointment term length (as applicable).
For tenure-line faculty members, appointments and employment coincide. For all other types of faculty, appointments and employment are connected -- but are separate and distinct processes.
Department Chairs, in consultation with their deans, make decisions about employment, including such issues such as responsibilities/expectations, salary, and effective dates of the employment.
In order for a department chair to employ a faculty member, they must have been appointed through the process described above. Employment contracts may be year-to-year or may be multi-year, but please keep in mind that contract length must never exceed the appointment length. (Example: an appointment length for a new career-line faculty member is for a term of 3 years, but the contract covers only one academic year and a new contract will be provided the following year).
Faculty Hire ePAFs
Once the search process is complete (if required), a vote has taken place for the faculty appointment, approvals for the appointment and hire have been received, and the offer for the position has been accepted, a Faculty Hire ePAF will need to be submitted to finalize the hire.
PeopleSoft is the University’s application used to submit ePAFs (electronic personnel actions). The eForms portal allows for ePAF submission as well as verification of employment eligibility (eI-9) for new hires. The routing process and required documentation for ePAFs incorporates the necessary approvals for the faculty appointment, as well as the faculty contract details (salary, FTE, start date, etc.).
Click here for more information and resources about all types of Faculty ePAFs
Adjunct Appointments
- Adjunct appointments are for limited terms (between 1-5 years). In order to be reappointed for a subsequent term, a formal review of the adjunct must take place, and the department faculty must vote to reappoint.
- Since adjunct faculty are part-time (less than .50 FTE), a search is not required in order to make an appointment.
Emeritus Faculty Appointments
- Emeritus status is an honor given to retired faculty members and certain administrative officers who have served meritoriously during the span of their careers.
- Appointments to emeritus status are made by the Board of Trustees on recommendation of the department faculty, department chair, dean, senior vice president, and the president.
- Univeristy Regulations Regarding Emeritus Status
- Emeritus Faculty Request Procedure – Coming Soon!
- Emeritus Faculty Request Form Word PDF – to be updated
Career-line Appointments
- Career-line appointments (Lecturer/Research/Clinical) are for limited terms (between 1-5 years). In order to be reappointed for a subsequent term, a formal review of the career-line faculty member must take place, and the department faculty must vote to reappoint.
- Since career-line faculty are full-time (.50 FTE and above), a search is required in order to make an appointment.
Joint Appointments
- Joint appointments of faculty members are made in the situation where two faculty-appointing units (academic departments) wish to collaborate in offering a joint appointment to an individual faculty member or to a prospective recruit. With a joint appointment, the faculty member will hold tenure/be on the tenure-track in both departments. Tenure, as well as all rights and obligations that accompany the faculty position, will reside in both departments. Since each department reviews and evaluates their faculty for retention, tenure, and promotion (RPT) based on separate guidelines, for each RPT action there will be two separate reviews (one based on the guidelines for Dept X, and one based on the guidelines for Dept Y).
Visiting Appointments
- Visiting appointments are for limited terms (between 1-3 years). After 3 years, the individual may not remain in the visiting position.
- Visiting faculty can be either full-time or part-time, but since they are not permanent faculty, a search is not required in order to make an appointment.
Shared Appointments
- Shared appointments of faculty members are made in the situation where a unit that does not have the authority to appoint faculty wishes to collaborate with a faculty-appointing unit (academic department) and “share” some of the faculty member’s responsibilities. With a shared appointment, the faculty member will hold tenure/be on the tenure-track in only the academic department. The shared-appointment unit will offer input in faculty reviews, and will often provide financial or other resources for the faculty member who then conducts teaching, research, and/or service on behalf of the shared-appointment unit.
Tenure-line Appointments
- Tenure-line appointments for faculty (including Librarians) are not term-limited. Pre-tenure faculty have a probationary period prior to receiving tenure, in which annual informal or formal reviews occur. After tenure, formal reviews take place every 5 years.
- Since tenure-line faculty are full-time (.50 FTE and above), a search is required in order to make an appointment.
Courtesy Adjunct Appointments
- Departments may wish to provide a courtesy adjunct appointment to existing tenure-line faculty in other departments. These courtesy appointments allow for official relationships and are sometimes used to facilitate advising graduate students from those departments in the faculty members' areas of expertise.
- Courtesy adjunct appointments are for limited terms (between 1-5 years). In order to be reappointed for a subsequent term, a formal review of the adjunct must take place, and the department faculty must vote to reappoint.
Endowed Chair Appointments
- Endowed Chair appointments are additional appointments for faculty members who have been vetted and meet the qualifications outlined in an Endowed Chair Gift Agreement. Endowed Chair appointments are term-limited, and must have a formal review in order to be reappointed.
- Endowed Chair appointment and reappointment procedures are governed by the specific Gift Agreement.
Administrator Appointments
- Faculty members may additionally be appointed to serve as chairs, deans, and other administrative officers. The University has an open and transparent process for selecting, compensating, and reviewing individuals who are appointed to these roles.
- For administrative positions at .50 FTE and above, a search (either internal or external) is required in order to make an appointment.
- SVPAA Guideline: Appointments of Faculty to Administrative Positions
Non-faculty Instructional Appointments
- From time-to-time, academic departments might need to temporarily employ non-faculty instructional personnel to teach a credit-bearing course. Non-faculty instructional personnel”means any individual who does not hold a faculty appointment at the University (in any of the faculty categories described in Policy 6-300), but is employed by any course-offering academic unit of the University to teach any credit-bearing course. (Course-offering units and credit-bearing courses are as described in Policy 6-001 and Policy 6-100). Such personnel may include those classified as academic staff (associate instructors, or research associates), as well as graduate student instructors of record, or postdoctoral fellows. (Such categories of non-faculty academic personnel positions are as described in Policy 6-309: Academic Staff, Educational Trainees, Postdoctoral Fellows and Medical House staff).
- Non-faculty Instructional Personnel are intended for short-term teaching assignments (typically only one semester). Should there be a need for the person to continue teaching for the department, the department should vet the individual and appoint them to one of the University’s faculty categories.