Overview

See also EVPP: Professional-Track Guidelines.

Professional-track faculty members are individuals holding an academic title listed in Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Rule 31001, Section 2.1, 2.2, or 2.3 who are neither tenured nor on the tenure track. Another term used for this set of faculty members is “non-tenure-track.”

The purpose of faculty contracts in Workday is to capture the parameters of offer letters for professional-track faculty, including start and end date and contract type, and to assist in semesterly reporting. Faculty contracts do not drive the start or end of a position, scheduled weekly hours, or pay. Current contracts must be maintained for all active professional-track faculty, including those with 0% FTE positions.  Signed contracts must be uploaded to Worker Documents in Workday.

Any changes related to maintaining a faculty's contract always require a signed offer letter which should confirm those changes were approved by both the faculty member and the department chair.

Policy

Texas Education Code Section 51.943, Renewal of Faculty Employment Contracts, states:

"…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."

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 some details are not yet known.

Appointment letter templates are available from the Provost’s Office. Signed appointment letters must be uploaded to Worker Documents in Workday.

When is a contract needed?

The following types of faculty should have contracts in Workday:

• All active professional-track faculty, including those with 0% FTE positions
• All retired faculty in a Phased Retirement Contract or on Modified Service (even if they were tenured or tenure-track at the time of retirement)

Note that faculty members are not given contracts for summer assignments in Workday.

Maintaining contracts

Academic HR Partners should regularly run the Workday report Faculty Positions Missing Contracts – RPT0976 for their unit sup orgs, and take action for any faculty member identified as having a missing or expired contract. As a reminder, all faculty in active positions in the following populations should have a contract in Workday:

• Professional Track faculty (including 0%)
• Retired faculty, including Modified Service and Phased Retirement status, regardless of tenure status at the time of retirement

In most cases, the faculty contract will be maintained through a sub-process of other business processes associated with making job changes. For example, processing a Change Job will initiate the Maintain Employee Contract sub-process. However, if a change needs to be made independent of other job changes or if an incorrect contract needs to be corrected, departments can do so following the Maintain Professional Track Faculty Contracts W.I.G.

For any Professional Track faculty member whose contract is expiring or has expired, one of the following three actions should be taken:

a) Add a new contract in Workday. Before adding, be sure to close and end any contracts that are expired.

• • Each new contract should begin with the appropriate newly-downloaded template for Departmentalized CSUs from Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services > Offer Letter Templates, in order to ensure that the most current version is being used. Signed contracts should be uploaded to Workday.  

b) Move into an inactive position (F-INA). Professional-track faculty may remain in inactive status for up to three years, and are easily moved back to active status without rehire. Note that positions that remain in inactive for more than three years will be automatically terminated via mass process.

c) Terminate the appointment. If they return to employment after termination, they will have to be rehired in Workday.

Retired faculty members who have been on Modified Service, but are no longer, should be terminated in Workday. If they return to work later, they can be rehired.

Review Maintain Professional Track Faculty Contracts Workday Instructional Guide (W.I.G.)  for additional information and instructions.

Contract start and end dates

Contract start and end dates for Professional Track faculty depend on whether or not the faculty is 9-month or 12-month. For 9-month faculty, dates should follow the semesters, with the start date being either 8/16 or 1/1 and the end date being either 12/31 or 5/15. For 12-month faculty, the start date should be 8/16 and the end date should be 8/15.

Contract terms

Definitions:

• Short term:
  • Length: One year or less. Also used for an assignment beginning in the summer and ending no later than 8/15 of the following summer.
  • Frequency: By semester or annually
    
    
• Two years (fixed term):
  • Length: Two years or less, but more than two years.
  • Frequency: Once per full-term
• Three years (fixed term):
  • Length: Three years or less, but more than two years.
  • Frequency: Once per full-term
    
    
• Two years rolling:
  • Length: A two-year contract term extended by one year each year, rather than the assignment of a new contract term after the previous term has ended. 
  • Frequency: Annually, with beginning and end dates adjusted one year forward.
    • Example: 
      • First year contract dates: 8/16/2024-5/15/2026
      • Second year contract dates: 8/16/2025-5/15/2027
      • Third year contract dates: 8/16/2026-5/15/2028
      • And so on
        
        
• Three years rolling:
  • Length: A three-year contract extended by one year each year, rather than the assignment after a new contract term after the previous term has ended.
  • Frequency: A new letter must be issued each year, with beginning and end dates adjusted one year forward.
    • Example:
      • First year contract dates: 8/16/2024-5/15/2027
      • Second year contract dates: 8/16/2025-5/15/2028
      • Third year contract dates: 8/16/2026-5/15/2029
      • And so on

Multi-year contracts

Multi-year contracts were designed to recognize extended and exemplary service to the instructional mission at UT Austin. Therefore, multi-year contracts are typically extended after six semesters or more in rank at UT Austin. Multiple year contracts should be at 50% time or greater for the full fixed period, and for no longer than three years. 

Multi-year contracts are expected to accompany promotions to Senior Lecturer (2-year) and Distinguished Senior Lecturer (3-year).

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:

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.