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What is a contingency?

A contingency on a PAR is made when, at the time of formal offer, a faculty candidate will be in the process of earning a degree that the hiring unit is requiring for the position. 

Example: A candidate is offered an Assistant Professor position, which requires a PhD, beginning in the upcoming fall. The candidate is scheduled to receive their PhD in May immediately prior to the fall, but the offer letter is being sent out in March. The offer must be made with the contingency that the required degree is completed prior to assumption of the position, by a deadline stated in the offer letter.

See also EVPP: PAR Handbook - Section Three - Biographical Information > "Degrees and contingencies."

Types of contingencies

• RR—Rank and Rate is made when the rank and 9-month academic rate will be reduced if the faculty candidate does not earn the degree by the assignment start date.

  • RR contingency is made for Assistant Professor hires. The alternate rank defaults to Instructor (job code 0040), which is also a tenure-track title. An alternate rate will need to be entered back on Section 1 of the PAR, the fields for which will only be selectable after the contingency is made. Dean's Office Faculty Affairs can assist with designating the alternate rate.

    • This is the most commonly-used contingency type for tenure-track hires in the College of Education.

    • For more on the Instructor rank, see COE: Instructors
      
      

• RK—Rank contingency is made when the rank (but not the 9-month academic rank) will be reduced if the degree requirement is not met.

  • The alternate rank defaults to Instructor (job code 0040), which is also a tenure-track title. 

  • For more on the Instructor rank, see COE: Instructors
    
    

• AP—Appointment Contingency means that if the faculty candidate does not earn his degree by the time of the assignment start date, the offer is retracted (ie. there will be no appointment).

  • This is the only contingency available for professional-track hires.

Process - PAR

For a tenure-track hire, if the finalist does not have the required degree by the time the offer letter is requested, this should be indicated on the COE Faculty Hire Form submitted to Dean's Office Faculty Affairs. A contingency will be added to the offer letter draft.

The contingency type and other details will be noted in the PAR, in both sections 1 and 3. See instructions in relevant sections of COE: PAR - T/TT Electronic Document Processing Guide.

Clearing a contingency

To clear a pending contingency, an official notification that the candidate’s degree has been conferred must be sent to the Provost’s Office via  ServiceNow: APS/Faculty Affairs requests along with a request to “complete” the contingency. Official documentation includes a copy of a transcript, copy of a diploma (if available), or a memo/letter/email from an official representative of that institution (e.g. the graduate school, a graduate advisor, the registrar’s office). The documentation must also clearly state that all requirements have been met and no further revisions/work is needed. 

In cases where the candidate has completed all requirements of the degree, but it will not be officially conferred until after the assignment begins, the Provost’s Office will accept a letter from the thesis or dissertation supervisor explaining that ALL requirements of the degree are complete and stipulating the specific date the degree is due to be conferred. This must be a signed letter from the supervisor on letterhead. Notification of passing a dissertation defense is not sufficient. The candidate must have completed all requirements, and the only remaining step is for them to receive their diploma.

Once APS has processed the documentation, the contingency should be cleared overnight. In the DEFINE FPN document, in Section 3, the "Status" field after "Contingency Type" will change to "Completed":

If the degree is not completed by the deadline

The alternate rank for Assistant Professor is Instructor, which is also a tenure track title. In a case where a would-be Assistant Professor does not meet the contingency and must begin as an Instructor, their tenure clock still starts. (In the case of a tenure-track Spring hire, the clock does not begin until the following Fall.) Even if the faculty member completes their degree requirements shortly after the assignment start date, they will still remain in the Instructor title until the following Fall. A faculty member may remain in the Instructor title for a maximum of three years. Per Board of Regents' Rule 31001, the Instructor title denotes a probationary appointment.

Degree contingency vs. credentialing

It is important not to confuse the degree contingency process with the credentialing process. These are two different processes. If the official transcript is being used for both processes, two copies must be sent to the Provost’s Office with notes on each explaining the purpose for sending them. Never assume the Provost’s Office will be able to deduce why you’re sending a document to the office.

Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.