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Initial Appointment of Teaching and Research Faculty
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Initial Appointment of Teaching and Research Faculty

NUMBER: 1401
APPROVED: June 12, 1980; Revised November 19, 1987; Revised April 12, 2002; Revised September 9, 2005; Revised April 7, 2011; Revised June 16, 2011; Revised April 23, 2015 (eff. 6/1/15); Revised September 22, 2016 (eff. 1/1/17); Reviewed and Approved with No Changes April 22, 2022


SCHEDULED REVIEW DATE: April 2027

  1. Board of Visitors Policy

    1. No one has the authority to make a firm offer of employment (subject to approval by the Board of Visitors) except the provost and vice president for academic affairs, who acts by authority of the president. Any communication at the departmental or college level with potential appointees should make it clear that approval by the provost and vice president for academic affairs is required.

    2. An initial faculty appointment should not be considered final until it has been approved by the Board of Visitors. All offers of employment and other communications with potential faculty members should specifically state this fact.

    3. No chair, dean, or other administrative official shall have the authority to make a statement of expectation of tenure or a written/oral commitment that implies in any way a promise of tenure except as described in paragraph D below. Except as described below, all initial appointments to the faculty shall be probationary and no award of tenure or promise of an award of tenure shall be made to a faculty member except in strict accordance with the Board of Visitors Policies on Tenure, to include review of credentials by all review bodies.

    4. In the case of certain initial appointments to the rank of professor or associate professor, the president has the authority to eliminate the probationary period for tenure and to make a firm offer or promise of tenure subject to II.D.1.a-e. of this policy and approval by the Board. It is the sense of the Board that this authority should be exercised rarely and only when the best interests of the University require it. All such cases must be reported to the Board for approval before tenure is awarded.

    5. The president is accountable to the Board of Visitors for ensuring the appointment of faculty qualified to carry out the mission of the institution, for the implementation of the University's affirmative action plan in initial appointments, for maintenance of fiscal responsibility in assignment of faculty positions, and for the establishment of procedures to carry out Board policy in initial appointments. The president may delegate some or all of these responsibilities to the provost and vice president for academic affairs.

  2. Initial Appointment Procedures

    1. Position Approval

      1. Department. In a timetable established in accordance with the procedures for building the operating budget for the coming year, each department anticipating hiring new faculty for the coming year projects the positions it wishes to fill, including both new positions and replacements for retiring faculty members or others known to be leaving.

        1. These projections must be in accordance with the approved mission of the department and must be clearly related to demonstrable needs of the department, including at least a clear relationship between instructional faculty and projected FTE students in accordance with the departmental faculty/student ratios approved by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

        2. Other justifications for positions may include establishment of new programs that may not immediately produce FTE students sufficient to justify the position, existence of substantial funded research for which time will be purchased by an outside agency, and important service activities required by the department within the University's mission.

      2. Dean. The dean, once reports have been received from all departments, recommends to the provost and vice president for academic affairs in priority order new and replacement faculty positions for the coming year together with salaries required for each position. Copies of the departmental recommendations are included by the dean in the report to the provost and vice president for academic affairs.

      3. On the basis of the projected needs of the following year, the provost and vice president for academic affairs requests a specific number of faculty positions and a budget for these positions from the president at the appropriate time in the annual budget process.

        1. Within the budget and positions allocated to the provost and vice president for academic affairs by the president, the provost and vice president for academic affairs assigns positions and funds to each dean for new or replacement faculty positions.

        2. The dean allocates these positions with general salary ranges to the departments in the college.

      4. If a position falls vacant because of an unexpected resignation or for any other cause, this fact is reported promptly to the provost and vice president for academic affairs.

        1. The provost and vice president for academic affairs may then reassign the position to the college in which it previously existed, assign it to another college, or discontinue the position.

        2. If the position is assigned to a college, the provost and vice president for academic affairs assigns additional funds to the dean of that college to cover the salary of this position. These funds are not necessarily equal to the salary of the departing faculty member.

        3. The dean may then assign an additional position to the department within the college having the greatest need.

        4. Positions falling vacant are not automatically assigned to the same college or department but are assigned on the basis of University and college priorities.

    2. Recruitment and Interview Procedures

      1. Once a position has been assigned to a department, the following recruitment procedure is instituted. A similar procedure will be followed for interdisciplinary faculty and joint appointments (see the Policy on Joint Appointments)[1].

      2. A statement of critical requirements for the position is developed by the department chair or chairs in consultation with the faculty in the department and approved by the dean. The critical requirements should indicate clearly the primary responsibilities that the new faculty member will be expected to perform and the qualifications necessary for the performance of these responsibilities.

      3. The department chair appoints a search committee.

        1. The search committee consults the University's assistant vice president for institutional equity and diversity for advice concerning avenues for recruitment of qualified women and minority candidates and concerning the University's policies and procedures for ensuring affirmative action in the recruitment process. Failure to follow the University's affirmative action policies and procedures will usually result in the refusal of the provost and vice president for academic affairs to write a contract for the faculty member recommended.

        2. Advertisements are placed in appropriate professional journals by the Office of Academic Affairs upon the recommendation of the search committee. Specific procedures concerning recruitment advertising are available from the Office of Academic Affairs.

        3. All other means are used by the department to conduct an active search for the largest possible pool of qualified candidates.

        4. Credentials of candidates are carefully screened by the department or interdepartmental search committee in order to determine the ones with the best qualifications for the open position.

        5. After ensuring that appropriate affirmative action policies and procedures have been met, the chair, with the approval of the dean, then chooses one or more of the most qualified candidates to visit the campus. All final candidates for a position should visit the Old Dominion University campus. Because of fund limitations, it will usually not be possible to invite more than two or three candidates for one position.

      4. The following procedures for campus visitations are followed:

        1. The search committee must receive prior approval from the Office of Academic Affairs (who will check with the assistant vice president for institutional equity and diversity in order to ensure that procedures have been followed) for the expenditure of travel funds before the candidate is invited.

        2. The search committee has the responsibility for setting up the schedule of campus meetings with designated personnel.

        3. All candidates meet with the chair, dean, all available faculty members of the department, and selected students. Candidates who will be expected to teach courses on the 500 level or above and candidates for associate professor and full professor are scheduled for appointments with the provost and vice president for academic affairs or a designee whenever possible.

        4. The department chair informs the candidate of the University policies concerning moving expenses and other relevant matters. All candidates should be told that they may be assigned to day, evening, distance learning or off-campus classes as part of their regular loads.

        5. As part of campus visitation and the interview process, candidates are expected to present a classroom lecture, conduct a seminar, or deliver a public talk so that their potential associates and students may observe their command of subject and clarity of presentation.

        6. The department chair and search committee shall confirm a candidate's proficiency in spoken English.

    3. Recommendations

      1. The chair, after receiving and considering a written recommendation from the faculty of the department or the appointments committee and after ensuring that all affirmative action procedures have been followed, recommends to the dean the name of the most acceptable candidate and a possible salary range and includes the recommendation of the faculty or faculty appointments committee.

        1. If the dean approves the candidate, he or she assigns a salary within the budget previously assigned to the dean's office by the provost and vice president for academic affairs.

        2. The dean recommends to the provost and vice president for academic affairs on a prescribed form that a contract be written. Appended to this form is a copy of the recommendation of the faculty or of the appointments committee together with the recommendation of the chair.

        3. If the dean is requesting any special consideration, limitations, or exceptions to normal policy and procedure concerning this appointment, such recommendations should be transmitted to the provost and vice president for academic affairs at this time.

        4. Any recommendation that credit toward the probationary period for tenure for prior academic experience be granted shall also accompany the request that a contract be written.

      2. The provost and vice president for academic affairs or the vice provost consults with the University's assistant vice president for institutional equity and diversity to ensure that proper affirmative action procedures have been followed.

        1. If all requirements are met, the provost and vice president for academic affairs writes the contract and sends it to the candidate, together with a covering letter specifying any unusual conditions or exceptions concerning the appointment, any credit toward the probationary period for tenure being granted for prior academic experience, and a deadline for returning the signed contract.

        2. If the signed contract is received by the specified deadline, it becomes effective when approved by the Board of Visitors.

    4. Initial Appointment with Tenure

      1. If the initial appointment is to the rank of professor or associate professor and the department wishes to award tenure at the time of appointment, request for an initial appointment at that rank with tenure must be initiated by the chair and reviewed by all tenure review bodies.

        1. The candidate's credentials must be provided to the department promotion and tenure committee and their recommendation and vote recorded and sent to the college promotion and tenure committee.

        2. The college promotion and tenure committee reviews the credentials and the recommendation of the department promotion and tenure committee and makes a recommendation. The recommendation and vote is recorded and all materials are forwarded to the dean.

        3. The dean makes a recommendation and forwards all materials to the University promotion and tenure committee.

        4. The University promotion and tenure committee reviews the materials and recommendations and makes a recommendation to the provost and vice president for academic affairs.

        5. The provost and vice president for academic affairs makes a recommendation to the president.

      2. All reviews shall be based on the candidate's normal application materials and include a statement of research and teaching philosophy and letters of reference. Evidence of teaching and research excellence should be included. Normally, an initial appointment with tenure will be granted only to a faculty member who already has achieved a distinguished academic record and held a tenured position. This policy applies to both internal candidates and external candidates. Current CVs for both the candidate and the references must be provided to all review bodies.

    5. Initial Appointment of Adjunct Faculty and Faculty of Practice

                 The following procedures are used for initial appointment of part-time faculty and faculty of practice:

      1. Adjunct instructors and adjunct assistant instructors - The chair recommends the appointment of an adjunct instructor and adjunct assistant instructor to the dean. If the dean approves the appointment, he or she reports the appointment to the provost and vice president for academic affairs on the prescribed form.

      2. Appointment to other ranks such as adjunct assistant professor, adjunct associate professor, adjunct professor, faculty of practice, and visiting professors such as artist-in-residence, etc. is recommended by the department chair to the dean after consultation with the faculty of the department. Initial appointment or reappointment of faculty of practice attached to a department must be reviewed and recommended for appointment or reappointment by the promotion and tenure committee of the department in question.If the dean approves, he or she recommends the appointment to the provost and vice president for academic affairs on a prescribed form. If the appointment is approved, the provost and vice president for academic affairs notifies the faculty member.

    6. Initial Appointment of Research Faculty

      1. Research faculty are normally supported in large part from non-Commonwealth funds or are expected to generate their own support from such funds.

      2. The department chair recommends appointment of a full-time research faculty member to the dean. The dean recommends to the provost and vice president for academic affairs. The provost and vice president for academic affairs, consulting if appropriate with the vice president for research, makes the final decision concerning the appointment and, if the appointment is approved, notifies the faculty member.

          


[1] Refer to the Hiring Procedures for Instructional and Administrative Faculty for additional information.

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