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Initial Appointment of Teaching and Research Faculty
SCHEDULED REVIEW DATE: April 2027 - Board of Visitors Policy
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- Initial Appointment Procedures
- Position Approval
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
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.
The dean allocates these positions with general salary ranges to the
departments in the college.
- 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.
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.
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.
The dean may then assign an additional position to
the department within the college having the greatest need.
Positions falling vacant are not
automatically assigned to the same college or department but are assigned on the basis
of
University and college priorities.
- Recruitment and Interview Procedures
- 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].
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.
- The department chair appoints a search committee.
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.
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.
All other means are used by the department to conduct an active
search for the largest possible pool of qualified candidates.
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.
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.
- The following procedures for campus visitations are followed:
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.
The search committee has the responsibility for setting up the schedule of campus
meetings with designated personnel.
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.
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.
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.
The department chair and search committee shall confirm a candidate's proficiency
in
spoken English.
- Recommendations
- 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- 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.
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.
If the signed contract is received by the specified deadline, it becomes
effective when approved by the Board of Visitors.
- Initial Appointment with Tenure
- 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.
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.
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.
The dean makes a recommendation and forwards all materials to the University promotion
and tenure committee.
The University promotion and tenure committee reviews the materials and recommendations
and makes a recommendation to the provost and vice president for academic affairs.
The provost and vice president for academic affairs makes a recommendation to the
president.
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.
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: 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.
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.
- Initial Appointment of Research Faculty
Research faculty are normally supported in large part from non-Commonwealth
funds or are expected to generate their own support from such funds.
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.
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