NTTF: UO Document on Policies, Procedures, and Practices - NTTF Appointments
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NTTF APPOINTMENTS
All NTTF academic appointments fall within the set of unclassified appointments. Overall, there are three kinds of unclassified appointments at the UO: officers of instruction, officers of research, and officers of administration. NTTF fall only in the two faculty classifications of officers of instruction and officers of research.
NTTF appointed as Officers of Instruction hold appointments that are primarily or exclusively instructional appointments. This means that the appointments require instructional activities: teaching academic courses, preparation of such courses, associated coordination meetings on the curriculum and content of courses and the
academic program they are part of, and advising and mentoring of students within those courses. Such appointments do not have a requirement to engage in research, though career instructional NTTF might be engaged in the teaching mission in nationally visible ways and some instructional NTTF do choose to engage in research, scholarship, and creative practice. Typically, such appointments are made within an academic department (e.g. Dept of History) or program (e.g. Program in Creative Writing), with approvals from the relevant academic dean and final approval by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
NTTF appointed as Officers of Research hold appointments that are primarily or exclusively research appointments. This means that the appointments require research activities: supporting research in some cases, conducting research activities, initiating and carrying out projects, pursuing and securing external funding, and all
other activities that further the research mission of the UO. Such appointments do not have a requirement to engage in instruction, though there may be some mentoring of students as part of the operation of a grant or a research laboratory. Some NTTF research appointments are made in one of the research centers or institutes, with approvals by the director of the relevant center or institute and final approval by the Vice President for Research. Other NTTF research appointments are made by the academic departments and programs, with approvals from the academic dean and final approval by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.
Congruent with AAUP recommendations, selection of an NTTF appointment should be appropriately justified at the time the appointment is proposed. In appointing NTTF either as Officers of Instruction or Officers of Research, the UO will do so with consideration of whether the appointment should be made as a non-tenure-track appointment (NTTF appointment) or as a tenure-related appointment (professorial appointment).
APPOINTMENT PROCESS. Currently, most NTTF appointments, whether instructional or research, are fixed term appointments with a specific contract duration and no promise of continuation beyond the date specified in the contract. Still, there has been a long-standing practice to re-appointment many NTTF year after year, as well
as to appoint others in more strictly temporary appointments. These are usually tied to enrollment fluctuations, external funding support or other temporary conditions. At this point in time the UO will more concretely and transparently categorize the academic appointments of NTTF into two classes: CAREER NTTF APPOINTMENTS and
ADJUNCT NTTF APPOINTMENTS.
NTTF will continue to be appointed following the existing appointment processes published elsewhere [http://appointments.uoregon.edu/index.htm] with a few changes. Career NTTF appointments will require a national search; adjunct appointments do not require a national search, though this is not precluded.
Under no conditions will it be possible to convert an NTTF appointment into a tenure-related professorial appointment without a new and national search.
Adjunct appointments will not ordinarily be converted into career appointments no matter how long or how well an adjunct has served. A change in appointment from adjunct NTTF to career NTTF ordinarily requires a national search. Academic Affairs will work with the academic deans and departments and programs to consider whether a career NTTF appointment should be pursued whenever an adjunct NTTF appointment has accumulated more than nine consecutive terms, exclusive of summer appointments (or its equivalent for the Law School) at .50 FTE or greater.5
Re-Appointment Process. All NTTF appointments are fixed-term appointments and none are tenure related. For each fixed-term appointment, the UO issues a contract with a specific end date for that contract. Please note also that a decision not to continue a contract is not a “for cause” proceeding and the department is not required
to provide a reason for not continuing a contract.
CAREER NTTF APPOINTMENTS. In many cases there are NTTF whom a department or program intends to continue to re-appoint as long as there is a need and resources to do so and as long as the performance of the appointed NTTF continues to meet a standard of excellence6 appropriate to a major research university. Such appointments are common at the UO: long-term instructors of foreign languages, long-term instructors of composition in the Department of English, long-term math instructors, or long-term research appointments, for example. The UO will make its commitment to these long-term faculty more transparent and more consistent across schools, colleges, and departments and programs in the following ways during fiscal year 2008 for all new career NTTF:
• Career NTTF appointments require a national search (with the exception of those researchers who are named in an external funding award): local or regional searches will not be used to appoint career NTTF.
• Career NTTF appointments will be eligible for promotion as described below.
• Career NTTF appointments will be eligible for all regular faculty salary increases and will be included among those faculty whose salaries and compensation are addressed by the Senate White Paper of 2000.
• Career NTTF are eligible to participate in University governance in accordance with University Senate legislation; currently, this includes only officers of instruction employed at .50 FTE or greater who are determined by their academic unit (relevant CAS division or professional school/college) as eligible for the purpose of voting in University elections and serving on elected University Committees and/or the University Senate.
• Under most circumstances, career NTTF will be offered contracts of at least one year in duration.
• Career NTTF appointments will be structured to be renewable based on excellence in performance and available funding but without the need for a new search (those named in external funding award will require proof of continued named in award status).
• Career NTTF appointments are eligible for timely notice after a period of probationary service (three years of service at FTE ? .50 (with the exception of those on funding contingent contracts). During the first three years of appointment, a career NTTF appointment is considered a probationary appointment and the C-contract will not yet include provision of timely notice. At contract renewal at the beginning of the fourth year of service (the 10th term of service at .50 FTE or greater), the career NTTF will become eligible for timely notice, following provisions for timely notice included in the UO Faculty
Handbook. See http://academicaffairs.uoregon.edu/handbook/Chapter03.html.• While it is not always a requirement on departments, academic departments appointing career NTTF are encouraged to inform individuals with as much advance notice as possible if circumstances make impossible the continuation of an appointment.
• Career NTTF appointments are distinguished from other academic appointment through the use of a specific contract type: C- contracts. Only career NTTF will hold C contracts inclusive of those on funding contingent contracts and those that do not carry timely notice.
ADJUNCT NTTF APPOINTMENTS. In some cases there is a need for temporary academic appointments either to deal with short-term fluctuations in enrollments, for research appointments that are not expected to exceed three years, or to bring in special expertise from the professional world. Some appointments are made to handle
unexpected enrollment increases (for example, enrollment increases in Spanish) or as a replacement for a course (replacing the teaching of a faculty member on leave for one term). Some appointments bring to campus a practicing professional who will teach a course or two and then return to his or her professional practice (for example,
a sitting judge might be brought to teach a course in the Law School). Such appointments are temporary in nature and there is generally no intent or plan for such appointments to be renewed. The UO will make its commitment to these short term faculty more transparent and more consistent across schools, colleges, and departments and programs in the following ways during fiscal year 2008 for all new adjunct NTTF:
• Adjunct NTTF appointments do not require a national search.
• Adjunct NTTF appointments are not eligible for promotion.
• Adjunct NTTF appointments are renewable for up to three years, if so indicated during the search process, after which a new search is required (exceptions may be granted for those who hold annual FTE < .50).
• Adjunct NTTF appointments are not eligible for the regular faculty salary increase process, rather departments and programs will determine salary or a per course wage.
• Adjunct NTTF appointments are not eligible to participate in University governance.
• Adjunct NTTF appointments are not eligible for timely notice.
• Adjunct NTTF appointments will include the modifier “Adjunct” in the title of the person holding the appointment.
• Adjunct appointments will be distinguished from other academic appointments through the use of a specific contract type: D or E contracts. Only adjunct appointments will hold D or E contracts.
• The use of the modifier “Adjunct” to designate FTE < .60 will be discontinued.
Transition. The distinction drawn here between career NTTF and adjunct NTTF follows closely existing practice in making NTTF appointments at the UO. There are many NTTF who hold enduring appointments as instructors or as research scholars with the reasonable expectation that these appointments will continue contingent upon excellent performance, continued funding, and continued programmatic need. There are many others who hold appointments that are strictly temporary and who do not expect the appointment to continue after its completion. But there also are NTTF who hold appointments in which they do not know where they stand, where they are re-appointed term-by-term and for a number of years. It is these appointments in particular that are vaguely defined and which these changes are intended to clarify. NTTF who hold current appointments will transition into the new appointment system as follows:
• NTTF appointed on or before September 16, 2004 (August 15, 2004 for the Law School) and who have held continuous appointments at .50 FTE or greater will be counted as career NTTF unless the appointment was clearly made as an adjunct (meaning the modifier “adjunct” was included in the title of appointment).
• NTTF appointed later than September 16, 2004 (August 15, 2004 for the Law School) will be counted as career NTTF if the appointment was made through a national search.
• NTTF appointed later than September 16, 2004 (August 15, 2004 for the Law School) through a pool search or a modified pool search will be counted as adjunct appointments.
• If a department determines that extenuating circumstances make the above assignments inappropriate in a particular case, the Office of Academic Affairs will consider those extenuating circumstances when determining whether a particular position should be designated as a "career" or "adjunct" appointment.
ENDNOTES
5. This dovetails with the constraint that adjunct appointments require a new search after three years of renewal. Since a search is required in any case, this moment is an appropriate time for the department to consider whether it ought to be making a career NTTF appointment, with an appropriate search (national if yes, a career appointment; regional if no, an adjunct appointment).
6. The delimitation of what constitutes excellence in NTTF performance is based on departmental standards and expectations, reviewed and approved by the relevant dean or director, and by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (or the Vice President for Research for center or institute appointments).
