4.04 Appointment AA SDR

POLICY OVERVIEW

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSC-H) seeks to continually enhance the quality of its faculty through the appointment of excellent scholars and clinicians to the faculty. The president has the authority to appoint non-tenured tenure-track and nontenure-track faculty members to the UTHSC-H faculty, and to recommend the appointment of faculty with tenure. The president delegates to department heads and deans the authority to recruit qualified candidates for faculty positions and to recommend to the president that they be appointed to the faculty. The president, in turn, recommends the faculty appointment to the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System who approve all faculty appointments.

The president may recommend the appointment of faculty with tenure. Recommendations for appointment of faculty with tenure must be approved by the UT Board of Regents.^a

The duties, rights, and privileges of the faculty are fixed and defined by the Board of Regents, subject to state and federal laws.

All appointments will be based on merit. The UTHSC-H president is authorized to investigate thoroughly the character, integrity, scholastic achievement, and other relevant qualities and qualifications of any prospective faculty member before appointing him or her to the UTHSC-H faculty. The UTHSC-H president is not to recommend nor will the Board approve the appointment of any person whose qualifications and conduct are not exemplary.

No religious qualification may be required for appointment to any office or position connected with the UTHSC-H. ^b

The UTHSC-H requires all applicants to pass a health assessment that confirms fitness for the position for which they have applied. (Refer to 2.24 Physical Assessment.)

PROCEDURE

The specific procedures that are to be applied in making recommendations for faculty appointments may vary somewhat within the UTHSC-H, depending on which school is involved; a preliminary consultation with the appropriate dean will clarify questions of procedural detail.

I. Initial Salaried Appointments

Procedures for initial salaried appointments vary depending on the tenure status of the candidate's proposed position: nontenure track; tenure track; or with tenure. The procedures described in Section A. below apply to all three categories.

A. General Procedures for All Faculty Appointments. (See also 4.03 Recruitment.)

To initiate a recommendation for a salaried faculty appointment, a department chair/equivalent should submit to his or her dean the following:

a detailed letter proposing the academic rank, annual salary rate, tenure status, and responsibilities with documentation of qualifications of the prospective faculty member;
a biographical data sheet/curriculum vitae and list of publications;
an official transcript from the academic institution at which the candidate's terminal degree was awarded and/or a copy of medical or dental board certification;
Affirmative Action Search Summary form(s);
a Personnel Action (PA) to effect the appointment within PeopleSoft.
a proposed letter of appointment to the candidate that defines expectations of the chair.

The dean should review the materials and verify that the position and the funds are available. The dean will forward the packet to the executive vice president for academic affairs to review, particularly to assure that Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity procedures have been adequately followed.

Appointments of faculty to tenure-track positions and of faculty with tenure must be sent to the school appointment, promotion, and tenure committee for its review and recommendation to the dean who will then submit the proposed appointment to the university Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee for its review and recommendation to the president.

B. Procedures for Tenure-Track Faculty Appointments

For tenure-track faculty appointments, the following actions are required in addition to the procedures listed in Section I. A.:

the department chair prepares a letter of recommendation to the dean of his or her school for the dean's and the UTHSC-H president's signatures;
if the dean approves the appointment, he or she signs the letter and sends it to the financial services Payment and Account Facilitation (PAF) Team;
the PAF Team reviews the letter of recommendation and the PA described in Section I.A. and forwards the letter to the executive vice president for academic affairs, who reviews the recruitment process and the selected candidates and advises the president on approving the appointment;
the executive vice president determines whether or not to forward the letter of recommendation to the president. If the appointment is approved*, the president signs it, and returns it to the PAF Team;
on receipt of the approval letter from the president, the PAF Team approves the PA described in Section I. A., then completes a faculty appointment worksheet and sends it to the Financial Administrative Services Team (FAST);
the FAST prepares the appointment letter and sends it to the dean or other designated official for verification and transmittal to the faculty member, who signs the letter and returns one copy of it to the FAST.

* If the appointment is not approved at this step, the executive vice president for academic affairs confers with the dean as to appropriate next steps.

C. Procedures for Tenured Faculty Appointments

Appointments of faculty with tenure should, whenever possible, be included in the annual Operating Budget for approval by the Board of Regents. In those cases, only the procedures listed in Section I. A. apply.

All faculty appointments with tenure that are not included in the annual Operating Budget must have the approval of the UTHSC-H president and the UT System executive vice chancellor for health affairs, and subsequent ratification by the Board of Regents via the docket. In these instances, the following actions are required in addition to those listed in Section I. A.:

the dean prepares a letter of recommendation to the executive vice chancellor for health affairs for the president's signature and sends it to the PAF Team;
the PAF Team prepares a Request for Budget Change (RBC) and forwards it to the president along with the letter of recommendation to the executive vice chancellor for health affairs;
the president signs the letter of recommendation indicating approval or disapproval of the appointment, signs the RBC in the case of approval, and returns the RBC and the letter to the PAF Team;
the PAF Team sends the RBC and the letter of recommendation to the executive vice chancellor for health affairs for approval;
on receipt of the approved RBC from the executive vice chancellor, the PAF Team approves the PA in PeopleSoft, completes a faculty appointment worksheet, and sends it to the FAST;
the FAST prepares the appointment letter and sends it to the dean or other designated official for verification and transmittal to the faculty member, who signs the letter and returns one copy to the FAST.

The PAF Team holds all approved RBCs for inclusion in the RBC section of the institutional docket. The PAF Team sends the RBC section of the docket to the office of the executive vice president for administration and finance for inclusion in the docket according to UT System deadlines.

Appointment letters sent to faculty members in MSRDP are distinct from those sent to other faculty members and are intended to ensure that MSRDP faculty members are aware of their responsibility regarding professional fees, research funds, and outside bank accounts. After the initial appointment, these letters are sent to faculty members annually.^c

II. Joint Appointments

Joint appointments designate faculty appointments to more than one department, school, or institution with financial support for the position shared by the units concerned. Joint appointments may be at different ranks reflecting different levels of competency and scholarly achievement in different fields. Recommendations for promotion in rank for jointly appointed faculty should be made only after consultation between the administrative officials of the department, school, or institution, as appropriate, depending on the nature of the appointment.

A request for a joint appointment should follow the same guidelines described in Section I. A. with the following exceptions:

the department chairs/equivalents submit the materials to their respective deans;
a completed Affirmative Action Search Summary form is not submitted, unless the joint appointment is an initial appointment to the UTHSC-H;
the dean reviews and makes recommendations on the faculty appointment;
if the appointment involves more than one school within the UTHSC-H, the signatures of both deans are required on the letter of recommendation submitted to the president;
the president reviews the recommendations from the dean or deans before making his or her final recommendation.

III. Cross Appointments

Cross appointments designate faculty appointments to more than one department, school, or institution with financial support for the position from one unit. Cross appointments may be at different ranks reflecting different levels of competency and scholarly achievements in different fields. Recommendations for promotion in rank for cross appointed faculty should be made only after consultation among the administrative officials of the department, school, or institution as appropriate, depending on the nature of the appointment.

A request for a cross appointment is initiated by the department chair/equivalent of the school not contributing salary. After obtaining the approval of the faculty member's primary department, the chair/equivalent submits a detailed letter to the dean proposing the academic rank and responsibilities of the position with documentation of the qualifications of the prospective faculty member. (Refer to the Section I. Initial Salaried Appointments section for complete guidelines.) Cross appointments are included in the annual operating budget.

IV. Without Salary Appointments

Without salary (WOS) appointments designate faculty appointments of individuals who participate in UTHSC-H teaching programs on a volunteer basis without remuneration.

All WOS appointment titles at the UTHSC-H must be used with the prefixes "Adjunct" or "Clinical" (as appropriate) with the following exceptions: WOS appointments may be granted in the titles of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and Instructor when the prospective faculty member is salaried at another component of The University of Texas System within the same city, as in the case of faculty being appointed from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, or in the case of appointments to emeritus titles.

To request a WOS appointment, the department chair or equivalent submits to the respective dean a Without Salary/Without Tenure Appointment Request form and a biographical data sheet/curriculum vitae and list of publications.

On his or her approval of the proposed appointment, the dean signs the Without Salary/Without Tenure Appointment Request and submits the form and supporting materials to the executive vice president for academic affairs for approval.

If he/ she approves the proposed appointment, the office of the executive vice president, then prepares a quarterly letter for the president's signature to the executive vice chancellor for health affairs requesting approval of the appointments. When UT System Administration approval has been received, the office of the executive vice president then prepares an appointment letter and mails it directly to the faculty member.

^aBoard of Regents, UT System, Rules and Regulations, Series 31007, Tenure.

^bId.

^cMemorandum from The University of Texas System to all components, June 14, 1995.

Updated 05/06; 08/07