Guidance on this page applies to 12-month (research) faculty, and to nine-month faculty during the academic year August 16-May 15 only. For nine-month faculty, work performed during the summer (May 16-August 15) is considered additional employment and is NOT included in academic year contracts.

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UT guidelines

See ServiceNow: Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services > Knowledge > FA/APS Knowledge Articles > Professional-Track Titles, Contract Terms, and Renewal Guidelines > Professional-Track Renewal Guidelines.

When should contracts be issued?

Per Texas Education Code Section 51.943, Renewal of Faculty Employment Contracts, "…an institution of higher education that determines it is in its best interest to reappoint a faculty member for the next academic year shall offer the faculty member a written contract for that academic year not later than 30 days before the first day of the academic year." For appointment purposes, the academic year and fall semester begin August 16, and the spring semester begins January 1.

If the department is unable to provide a written appointment letter by this deadline, the law requires that the faculty member be provided written notification of the delay, reasons for the delay, and a deadline for finalizing the appointment letter for the academic year.

Although the law establishes a deadline of 30 days prior to the beginning of the academic year, faculty members continuing from one year to the next should be given notification of renewal as soon as it is available/known to the department, even if some details are not yet known.

Notification of course assignments and class details

Faculty members must be notified of their course assignments and specific class details (day, time, room, etc.) in a timely manner prior to the beginning of a new semester. Therefore, it is expected that by the following dates, all faculty members will be made aware of the class details for the corresponding semester:

See ServiceNow: Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services > Knowledge > FA/APS Knowledge Articles > Professional-Track Titles, Contract Terms, and Renewal Guidelines > Professional-Track Renewal Guidelines > Section 4.

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COE guidelines

All active professional-track faculty must have current contracts in Workday, including those with 0% FTE positions. Only faculty in Workday status F-INA (Faculty Inactive) do not require current contracts. Contract details including faculty rank and title, Scheduled Weekly Hours, and academic base salary must exactly match the position details for the corresponding period in Workday, and any changes made to these position details in Workday require a new, superseding contract. Faculty contracts do not drive the start or end of a position, scheduled weekly hours, nor pay in Workday; these are managed via Workday business processes.

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Contract dates

• 9-month faculty

  • Fall semester 8/16-12/31

  • Spring semester 1/1-5/15

  • Full academic year: 8/16-5/15
    

• 12-month faculty (research faculty titles only)

  • 9/1-8/31

See more at COE: Dates for Faculty Employment Changes.

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Contract types

Contract types for professional-track faculty may be either Fixed Term or Rolling. Each is described below.

Fixed Term contracts

Fixed Term contracts end without notification of non-renewal at the end of the contract period. At the conclusion of a Fixed Term contract, the department chair may choose to renew the contract, inactivate the faculty member (with possibility of reactivation within the next three years), or terminate the faculty member’s employment. See more at COE: Managing Professional Track Faculty in Workday.

Fixed Term contract types are Short Term, Two-Year Fixed Term, and Three-Year Fixed Term.

The COE Fixed Term contract process is described at COE: Contracts - Processes > Fixed Term contracts.

Short Term

One semester or one academic year in length; may be renewed semesterly or annually. Typically most appropriate for new hires and professional-track faculty in their first six semesters in rank at UT Austin.

Multi-year

Multi-year contracts are intended to recognize extended and exemplary service to the instructional mission, typically after at least six long semesters in rank at UT Austin. They should be at 50% time or greater for the full fixed period, and for no longer than three years. The decision about whether to offer a multi-year contract is made by the department chair, with review and approval of the Senior Associate Dean. The department accountant should also be made aware of multi-year contracts for budgeting purposes.

Multi-year Fixed Term contracts may also be offered for new hires made as the result of a national search. Contract lengths may be Two-Year or Three-Year, as described below.

Two-Year Fixed Term

May be offered in the following circumstances:

• New hires hired as a result of a national search

• Faculty promoted to the associate rank, upon their promotion

• Faculty at the assistant level who have demonstrated extended and exemplary service to the instructional mission (at least three years) and for whom the department anticipates a continued instructional need

Three-Year Fixed Term

May be offered in the following circumstances:

• New hires hired as a result of a national search

• Faculty promoted to the full rank, upon their promotion

• Faculty at the associate level who have demonstrated extended and exemplary service to the instructional mission (at least three years) and for whom the department anticipates a continued instructional need

Rolling contracts

A rolling contract is a multi-year contract extended by one year each year. A new Rolling Contract must be issued and uploaded to Workday annually, with beginning and end dates adjusted one year forward. This is in contrast to a Fixed Term contract, where assignment of a new contract term is made after the previous term has ended. See Example of Fixed Term vs. Rolling Contract on this page. Rolling contract terms may be two-year or three-year.

Two- or three-year rolling contracts are only offered in cases where a) the department chair is confident of the ongoing need for instructional faculty, b) the faculty member has demonstrated exemplary performance over many years, and c) a rolling contract is necessary to support retention. All rolling contracts must be reviewed by the Chief Business Officer and approved by the Senior Associate Dean. Unless an exception is approved by the Senior Associate Dean, a rolling contract should not be offered to newly-hired faculty.

Rolling contracts do not include an end date, and for budgeting purposes, departments should consider professional-track faculty on rolling contracts as being similar to tenured faculty.

The COE Rolling contract request and issuance processes are described at COE: Contracts - Processes > Rolling contracts.

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Example of Fixed Term vs. Rolling Contract

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Typical contract type by title series and rank

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