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Annual review of contracts

Each spring, during departmental budget planning for the following academic year, the department chair and Administrative Manager will review current contract types for all of the department’s professional-track faculty. Any proposed changes to contract type (Fixed Term to Rolling, Rolling to Fixed Term, or contract length) will be discussed with the Senior Associate Dean and Chief Business Officer. All changes must be approved by the Senior Associate Dean and will become effective the following fall. Faculty approved for Rolling contracts are included in the department’s annual instructional budget, and a list of these faculty is shared annually with COE Faculty Affairs.

Academic HR Partners are responsible for ensuring the correct contract type for each faculty member is assigned on the Professional-Track Mass Process spreadsheets and for taking action on any incorrectly designated.

Fixed Term contracts

Fixed Term contracts are issued and uploaded to Workday by the department Academic HR Partner. Contracts (offer letters) for new hires are based on the appropriate Provost’s Office template and handled as part of the PAR process described at COE: Hiring Professional Track Faculty. Contract renewals for continuing and reactivated faculty should be issued through the department’s FileMaker Pro database process, using the appropriate COE template. A new Fixed Term contract should be issued at the end of every expiring term that will be renewed: Short Term contracts are issued semesterly or annually, Two-Year Fixed Term contracts are issued every two years, and Three-Year Fixed Term contracts are issued every three years.

Rolling contracts

Rolling contracts are issued by COE Faculty Affairs and uploaded to Workday by the department Academic HR Partner. Only faculty approved for a Rolling Contract by the Senior Associate Dean and included on the department’s annual instructional budget will receive Rolling contracts. Requests for rolling contracts that are not on the pre-approved list will be handled as Fixed Term until they can be reviewed for inclusion in the department budget for the following year.

Process for changing from a rolling to a fixed-term contract

Individuals on rolling contracts must receive a new appointment letter in advance of every academic year that includes an additional year of employment. An individual may be moved from a rolling contract term to a fixed contract term encompassing the same number of years (i.e., 2-year rolling to 2-year fixed or 3-year rolling to 3-year fixed) at the discretion of the supervisor(s). When an individual is moved from a rolling to a fixed contract term, this must be clearly communicated in a new appointment letter.

The end date of the new, fixed term, is dependent on when the change is communicated. If communicated May 1 or earlier, the current year may serve as the first year of the new term. If communicated May 2 or later, the subsequent year will serve as the first year of the new term. Exceptions may be made to this timeline on a case-by-case basis following consultation with the Provost’s Office.

Process for non-renewal of a Short Term or Fixed contract

When an individual who has been consistently employed in previous years will not be renewed for the subsequent year, this should be clearly communicated in a letter to the faculty member. Early notification is expected, and the deadline for notification is no later than May 1 of the final academic year of employment, when possible.

For non-renewal letter templates, see ServiceNow: Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services > Knowledge > FA/APS Knowledge Articles > Professional-Track Titles, Contract Terms, and Renewal Guidelines.

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