See EVPP: Hiring Research Faculty.

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What are research faculty?

Research faculty are expected to focus primarily on conducting research rather than to assume the full academic responsibilities of teaching, research, and service. They should demonstrate evidence of an independent research agenda and of the ability to build and sustain an independent research program, with scholarly credentials comparable to what one would expect for a tenured/tenure-track faculty member at the equivalent rank. They are also expected to be somehow involved in the academics of their department/ whether in teaching, or through other involvement as defined by their department/college.

Research faculty are professional-track and hold a single 12-month position. (In the legacy system, they held two concurrent positions: a nine-month faculty position and a 12-month A&P position.) They are expected to be full-time (40 SWH), and fully-funded by external grants.  Instructional/state funds may be used only when the faculty member is instructor of record for an organized class. If teaching, position funding should be adjusted via Assign Costing Allocation in Workday to reflect the appropriate instructional effort. Contracts are normally for one year but can be longer if determined by the Dean to be in the best interest of the institution.

Note that the expectation is that Research Faculty positions are 100%, and exceptions are at the discretion of EVPP/VPR.

Faculty, including research faculty, do not enter hours worked on timesheets, but are required to enter absence time such as sick leave, floating holiday, and, for those appointed into positions eligible to earn vacation, vacation time used. See COE: Leave - Faculty for more information.

Faculty, including research faculty, are not eligible for longevity pay.

Research faculty vs. research staff

The key distinction is evidence of engagement with the academic enterprise through teaching, mentorship, or supervision of students at some level. For information on research staff, see COE: Research Positions.

Research Faculty titles

See EVPP: Research Faculty Titles.

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Appointment dates

Research faculty are 12-month positions and use appointment dates of September 1-August 31. See more on dates associated with different types of faculty positions at COE: Dates for Faculty Employment Changes.

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Contract requirements

Active contracts are required for research faculty, as they are for all professional-track faculty. For more information on professional-track contracts, see COE: Contracts - Professional-Track Faculty. For guidance on the administrative processes required to manage contracts, see COE: Managing Professional Track Faculty in Workday.

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PI (Principal Investigator) eligibility

Research faculty are granted automatic PI status. See Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility Administrative Procedures for more information.

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Pre-review requirement for Research Professor rank

For prospective hires at the rank of Research Professor, pre-approval is required from EVPP, following the process described below. For more on titles and ranks see COE: Titles and Ranks - Professional Track Faculty.

Process

1. The department chair discusses the case with the Senior Associate Dean.

2. Department AM submits form "Pre-Review for Tenure" at Faculty Affairs/APS ServiceNow: Complete Forms.

   1. Upload the following documentation to the request:

      1. Current CV for the candidate

      2. Brief description of the recruitment/identification/finalist process and rationale for selecting this finalist above others

      3. EEO report from Interfolio 

   2. In the section "Required Approval Routing," add the following:

      1. Dean's Staff: Karla A Steffen (steffek). This field is required in COE.

      2. Dean or Dean Designate: Beth Maloch (malochb)

3. If the request is approved by both the Senior Associate Dean and EVPP, print the approval notification email to PDF, and include in the supplementary documentation of the PAR packet.

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Research faculty PARs

See also:

• EVPP: Prior Approval Request (PAR)

• COE: PAR - T/TT Electronic Document Processing Guide: section-by-section instructions for processing a PAR in DEFINE

Research Professor rank

For prospective hires at the rank of Research Professor, pre-approval is required from EVPP. This approval must be granted before the PAR can be approved. See Pre-review requirement for Research Professor rank on this page.

PAR process

Required documentation

For supplementary materials required in the PAR packet, see COE: PAR - Supplementary Documentation Checklists > Research Faculty hires.

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Offer letters

Contracts for Research faculty are normally for one year only (September 1-August 31), but can be longer if determined by the Dean to be in the best interest of the institution.

Note that every commitment of funding (relocation, early start date, TA/GRA, etc.) must be captured in both the offer letter and Section 2 Funding Commitments of the PAR. For assistance with wording of non-standard offer items not included in the EVPP template, please contact COE Faculty Affairs.

Who writes professional track offer letters?

Offer letters for research faculty hires are drafted by the hiring departments, in collaboration with any joint hiring departments.  Please contact COE Faculty Affairs with any questions.

Where do I find offer letter templates?

In order to ensure the most current template is being used, each offer letter should be drafted based on a newly-downloaded template for the appropriate hire type based on the Provost's Office current template at FA/APS ServiceNow Portal > Knowledge (top right corner) > FA/APS Knowledge Articles (top left corner) > Offer Letter Templates > Departmentalized CSUs.

What is the offer letter process?

A draft of the offer letter, including a "DRAFT" watermark on each page, should be included in the PAR packet. The draft offer letter does not represent a promise of employment or any other commitment.

Once the PAR is final-approved by the Dean, COE Faculty Affairs will email the PAR packet signed by the Dean to the department Administrative Manager, indicating that the PAR has been approved. When this email indicating approval has been received, the department can send an offer letter to the candidate. However, all PAR information is thoroughly reviewed in the Provost’s Office to ensure compliance, and if errors are found, corrections will still need to be made even if the contract has been signed by the faculty candidate.

After the offer letter has been signed by the candidate, the Administrative Manager should upload the signed letter to the same Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services Portal help ticket on which they submitted the PAR. Once APS has processed the signed offer letter, they will push the hire to Workday.

The department is responsible for maintaining research faculty personnel files, including PARs and offer letters.

Can I share a draft of the offer letter with the candidate prior to PAR final approval?

The department may, if they wish, share the draft with the candidate. It must be clearly indicated via watermark that the copy is a draft, and any associated correspondence must explicitly state that the draft is “pending final modifications and approval of the Dean and Provost.” The draft offer letter should not be signed by anyone, as it does not represent a contract. 

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PAR-Workday integration process

Upon final approval of the PAR, the following information is brought over to Workday from the PAR, overwriting the initial data entered on the job requisition:

• Personal information (name and contact information)

• Job Details (benefits eligibility, Job Profile, FTE, etc.)

• Compensation

• Pay Group (determined pay frequency, e.g., monthly)

• Education

• Academic Appointment

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Closing the position

Immediately after the conclusion of a faculty search and/or once the posting is no longer needed, be sure to close the Interfolio position (archive) and indicate an outcome. For searches that did not result in selection of a candidate, add a note about why no selection was made (e.g., cancelled due to lack of funding, position no longer needed, lack of qualified applicants, etc.).

Online training for this step is available at the following links:

• Close a Position - Interfolio Faculty Search Institutional Administrator Training 

• Interfolio — Close a Position and Select Applicant(s)

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