Faculty Affairs | Prior Approval Request (PAR)

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To ensure that the University maintains its high standards for faculty recruitment and hiring, candidates are vetted via the PAR, an electronic document in DEFINE using FP* commands.  Candidate dossier documents are attached to the PAR to be evaluated at several university levels.

Only after final approval of the PAR, which is reflected in the signatures on the PAR packet AND final approval in DEFINE, may the hiring unit send out the official contract agreement letter (“Offer Letter”) to the faculty candidate for their signature.

A copy of the signed offer letter is sent to the Provost’s Office. A copy of the signed letter should also be retained in the hiring department and college. When the Provost’s Office receives the signed contract, the PAR can be ACCepted, which triggers the creation of the position and academic appointment in Workday through an overnight automated process. The processing of acceptance letters can take several days during peak processing times.

In the case of professional-track faculty, final approval of the PAR is at the college level, however, all PAR information is thoroughly reviewed in the Provost’s Office to ensure compliance. If errors are found, corrections will still need to be made even if the contract has been signed by the faculty candidate.

Final approval for tenured faculty is done after the PAR has been signed by the chair of the hiring department, the dean of the college, the Vice President for Research, and the Dean of the Graduate School. Before routing to the last two approvers, the Provost’s Office does a thorough review of the PAR packet.

Additional Info:  https://provost.utexas.edu/prior-approval-request/#about