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When should a professional-track faculty member be reclassified?

Professional track faculty reclassifications should be processed when a faculty member's job duties have changed significantly and are therefore no longer consistent with the type of duties associated with their current job title, or when the proposed title is a better fit for their current responsibilities. If the department is pursing reclassification for a faculty member who holds multiple faculty appointments in multiple departments, all of the appointments will need to be reclassified, since faculty cannot hold two different faculty titles simultaneously.

Professional track faculty may be reclassified from one title series to another in accordance with established college and department criteria. Reclassifications can only be within the faculty member's current rank (see chart below), and should not be used to try and bypass the promotion process (for example, faculty cannot be reclassified from an Assistant Professor of Instruction to an Associate Professor of Instruction). An advancement in rank may only be the result of a review for promotion during the normal university promotion schedule.

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Table of ranks and series

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Joint positions

When requests are submitted for faculty with joint positions, all departments must approve the reclassification terms as presented in the request.

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Track change vs. title change

Faculty reclassifications are classified as either track changes or title changes. Both are requested through the same process, described below.

• Track changes should be processed when the faculty is jumping from one track to another due to a change in duties, for example, an Assistant Professor of Instruction being reclassified into an Assistant Professor of Practice.
  
  

• Title changes should be processed when there will not be changes to responsibilities or duties, and only the title is changing. Title changes are appropriate for a faculty member making a lateral move into a similar position, for example, a professional faculty member moving from a Lecturer to an Assistant Professor of Instruction position.

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Reclassification process

The process described below is appropriate for both track changes and title changes for professional-track faculty.

1) Department AM submits form "Faculty Lateral Reclassification" at Faculty Affairs/APS ServiceNow: Complete Forms.

• In the section "Required Approval Routing," add the following:

  • Dean's Staff: Karla A Steffen (steffek)

  • Dean or Dean Designate: Beth Maloch (malochb)

2. After APS has approved the Lateral Reclassification, the department processes a new PAR using the approved new title.

   1. Assemble a PAR packet including only the documents listed below in order, save as a single PDF, and email to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.

      1. PAR coversheets (unsigned)

      2. PDF of the Lateral Classification email approval

      3. Draft offer letter based on the Faculty Lateral Reclassification Template at FA/APS Service Now Portal > Knowledge > Professional-Track Titles, Contract Terms, and Renewal Guidelines

   2. APProve the PAR forward to COE DN OFC in *DEFINE.

3. COE Faculty Affairs reviews the PAR, route for signatures, send the fully-signed PAR packet to the Department AM, and approve the FPN /FPR in *DEFINE.

4. Upon receipt of the final-approved PAR, the department sends the reclassification letter for signatures.

5. Department uploads the signed PAR packet and signed letter to a Prior Approvals Request (PAR) form in Service Now.

6. APS reviews the PAR and letter, and if they accept them, will push the reclassification to Workday.

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