Appointments to the faculty of the University of Oregon are accomplished through an affirmative action search procedure, developed through the university's affirmative action plan and intended to work toward the achievement of the university's affirmative action goals within established timetables, in accordance with state and federal law and regulations and the state board's rules. The university's affirmative action objective for the faculty and other categories of professional employment is to increase the representation of women and minorities in all segments of the university’s work force to levels at least proportional to their availability. Therefore, our faculty search procedures are established so as to notify a reasonably broad pool of qualified individuals that the position is available, with the intention that the pool include a representative number of the women and minority group members within the specialty. The affirmative action plan dictates that special efforts then be made to solicit applications from qualified minority group members and women.

For each faculty recruitment, a unique search process is developed that considers the rank, duration, and specialty area of the appointment. The scope of the search is based upon the number of qualified individuals estimated to be within

the local area, the region, or in the entire nation. The search strategy is developed by identifying and using the best vehicles for communicating with a reasonable number of qualified individuals, with particular focus on members of under-utilized groups. All search processes for regular positions will share the characteristics of a search committee and a published position description.

The university hires a number of individuals into the faculty ranks on a temporary or special basis. In these situations different processes may be used. For information contact the director of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity.

When resources for a faculty position become available, the dean or director of the affected unit negotiates with the vice president in authority to get permission to search. With authorization, a search committee is formed and a search strategy is developed and proposed. Both the composition of the search committee and the search strategy must be approved by the responsible dean or director. Additionally, the search strategy must be approved by the vice president, and the compliance officer in the affirmative action office. The university uses a Notice of Academic Position Opening form (NAPO) to note formal approval of the search. It is the responsibility of the search committee to follow the highest standard of procedure required by any of the approving authorities. The responsibility of the affirmative action compliance officer is to approve a search that complies with minimum standards. Deans, directors and vice presidents have the authority, and indeed the responsibility, to require more vigorous affirmative action when they believe it will help achieve their unit's and the university's affirmative action goals.

The goals of affirmative action are best served when the recruiting unit includes women and minority group members on the search committee, and when the position is defined as broadly as possible, consistent with the unit's needs, so as to increase the size of the qualified applicant pool.

Normally there is a period of time during which applications will be accepted and considered. During that time, members of the university community are free to contact qualified individuals directly and encourage them to apply. Such personal contact with members of minority groups and women has been shown to be particularly effective and is especially encouraged.

A member of the university's affirmative action staff or the unit’s approved liaison officer will come to the search committee's first meeting to explain the details of the affirmative action recruitment process authorized for this search. The affirmative action staff remains on call to consult and advise as the process develops.

Once the recruitment period is closed, the equal opportunity phase of the process begins. The university asserts its equal opportunity policy as follows:

The University of Oregon affirms the right of all individuals to equal opportunity in education and employment at this institution without regard to race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other extraneous consideration not directly and substantively related to effective performance. This right to equal opportunity includes freedom from sexual, racial, or any other form of prohibited harassment.

Equal opportunity requires that the search committee and the appointing authority select the best qualified of the applicants for any interviews and for appointment without considering extraneous factors. The university’s affirmative action and equal opportunity policies require that in decisions between two individuals who are substantially similarly qualified, the minority and/or woman candidate should be the one selected.

There is no prohibition against the appointment of more than one member of a family to the university's faculty or staff. The university can assist a selected candidate’s spouse or partner in locating appropriate employment opportunities in the area. The university's child and family services programs are described in Chapter V.

If a member of a faculty member's family is likely to be a candidate for a position at the university, that faculty member may not participate in the hiring process in any way. One member of a family may not make decisions about the appointment, compensation, promotion or any other personnel action affecting another member of the same family or when any other potential conflict of interest exists. The university's nepotism policy is set out in OAR 571-04-005.

Once the appointing authority has decided whom it wishes to appoint as a result of the search, the process and the recommended appointment are submitted for approval through the use of an affirmative action compliance statement. The dean or director, the appropriate vice president, and the university's compliance officer all must approve the appointment before an offer may be extended.

The provost's office has developed an Academic Appointments Process Guide which outlines the processes and steps required prior to the appointment of an academic staff member within academic affairs. Much of the information contained in the booklet is applicable to the appointment of faculty who report to the other university vice presidents.

The university has also adopted policy statements intended to ensure that sufficient information is available to candidates so that they may make intelligent decisions about applying for the position. All position announcements must include the proposed rank and title of the position, information about the position's relationship to the university's tenure process, and the proposed term of the appointment. Finalist candidates must be informed about the salary range proposed for the position, and if a candidate inquires about the salary range during the selection process, that information must be given.

When the first-choice candidate is identified, a negotiation process often begins. Contact is normally made by the department head or other administrator who will be the immediate supervisor. Sometimes this responsibility falls to the head of the search committee. Salary and other issues that would contribute to a candidate's willingness to accept an offer of appointment are discussed, and a set of acceptable terms and conditions is determined. This information is passed on to the dean or director and to the responsible vice president. Once the vice president agrees to a set of appointment conditions, appointment forms are completed, and a letter of offer and an employment contract are sent to the selected candidate by the vice president or by the vice provosts for academic affairs or research as the designees of the provost. No other officer of the institution is authorized to commit the university to an employment offer (with the exception of the president, who also has this authority). If the candidate declines the offer or if the earlier negotiations come to no agreement, the selection process usually moves on to the candidate who was designated as the second choice, and further down the list as necessary.

At any time during the course of a search before an offer of appointment is made, the search may be canceled. This can happen when the search committee, the department head, the dean or director, or the vice president does not believe that the candidate pool contains applicants of sufficient quality. It can happen when the university's fiscal situation calls for money-saving strategies, when something happens to indicate a shift in priority, or for any number of other reasons. In advertising a position, the university is making no commitment that an appointment will be made.

The University of Oregon has earned a reputation for being considerate of its position applicants. An important part of a search committee's work is deciding how to communicate with potential applicants, applicants, writers of reference letters, and others playing a part in the recruitment and selection process. A good search process should include a mailed acknowledgment of every formal application, a mailed acknowledgment of every letter of recommendation solicited by the search committee, and prompt and courteous letters indicating their status to the applicants who are no longer being considered for appointment by the committee. Keeping candidates informed about the progress of the search is an essential step in building collegiality later on.

The university's tradition of student involvement in governance strongly suggests student participation in the search and selection processes for most faculty positions. Student participation as voting members of search committees is at the option of the appointing unit. However, whenever an academic position involves important contact with students, it is proper to involve students in the process, to encourage them to meet the finalist candidates, and to solicit the students' views on the candidates whom they have met.

The definition of faculty at the University of Oregon differs from that at most other similar institutions in that here there are three major categories of faculty, each with a particular set of characteristics, rights and privileges. The categories are: officers of instruction, officers of administration, and officers of research (see also research/faculty). The university further distinguishes faculty members by designating the appointments of some as "regular." Regular faculty members are appointed to positions supported by university general funds (tuition, fees, and state support). These positions are seen as continuing, barring reductions in general funds income or changes in program priority. Faculty appointments not considered "regular" are of two types: appointments made on non-general funds, that is, "soft money" funds restricted to particular uses such as sponsored research projects; and appointments made on general funds for a short time to meet a particular short-term need. These latter appointments usually carry modifiers such as "acting" "adjunct," or "visiting."

Officers of Instruction Officers of instruction are those faculty members whose primary assignment is instruction, research, and service within a university department, school or college. Officers of instruction may be appointed to the ranks of instructor, senior instructor, lecturer, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. Officers of instruction are also often referred to as "the teaching faculty," as the institution expects 50 percent or more of their responsibilities to be related to the delivery of student credit hours.

Officers of Administration Officers of administration are those members of the university staff identified in the administrative rules of the state board and the institution as being appropriately outside the state's classified ranks. At the University of Oregon officers of administration are administrative faculty whose primary assignments are administrative tasks related to the operation of the university. Although most new appointments to positions as officers of administration are made without reference to academic rank, some officers of administration at the university hold dual titles. For example, the vice presidents are officers of administration with rank of professor, and the title of the appropriate vice presidency. Sometimes a member of the teaching faculty is appointed as both an officer of administration and of instruction. Currently, the president, the vice president for academic affairs, the vice president for public affairs and development, and the academic deans are all both officers of administration and tenured members of the teaching faculty within a school or department. Officers of administration are evaluated on their administrative performance, not on the basis of their teaching and research contributions.

Officers of Research Officers of research are those members of the university staff whose responsibilities are wholly focused on research projects funded by outside agencies. Therefore, officers of research are not members of the "regular" faculty. The research ranks are research assistant, senior research assistant, research associate, and senior research associate. The research associate title may be expanded with the words "postdoctoral fellow" to indicate a student/ employee relationship intended to continue research training beyond the doctorate. The university has authorized the special titles of research professor, research associate professor, and research assistant professor, to assist in clarifying the roles of some officers of research. Some research faculty members, primarily in the College of Education, are appointed with the rank of research associate or senior research associate but are also given the working title of assistant or associate professor or professor.

The rank at which members of the teaching faculty are appointed is determined by the rank at which the position was advertised and the qualifications of the individual appointed. Normally the initial appointment of officers of instruction (see also teaching faculty) is at the assistant professor or instructor level, but occasionally a department will be given permission to search for candidates at a higher rank. Once appointed, advances in rank are awarded based upon established promotion procedures.

Research faculty members are assigned a rank based upon their expected function within a research project, or group of projects, as well as upon their qualifications.

The university is authorized to add the modifying words "courtesy," "visiting," "adjunct" and "acting" to academic rank designations. These modifiers help define a variety of special relationships that the faculty may have with the institution. Usually, faculty members whose titles are modified in these ways are not members of the university's "regular" faculty, and so are not eligible for some of the rights and privileges that are allotted to "regular" faculty.

A "courtesy" rank is assigned when a properly qualified individual seeks a non-employment relationship with the institution, usually for purposes of research or service. Often, the appointing department benefits from the participation of such a person in the academic or research program, but no salary is involved.

A "visiting" faculty member is one who comes to the university for a short period of time, normally to substitute for a regular faculty member who is on leave. A visiting faculty member often has a regular appointment at another institution. Under university policy, a visiting appointment can continue for no longer than two years.

An "adjunct" faculty member is a person who has another position, usually outside the university, e.g., physician, architect, social worker, etc., and who is employed to teach on an occasional basis or to provide some other academic service within the university. The appointment of such a professional may be renewed by mutual agreement, but the appointment provides no assurance of continuance except as negotiated each year.

The "acting" or "interim" title is most often used in the case of officers of administration who perform the duties of an administrative role as a replacement for an administrator who is on leave or who has resigned, pending a search for a regular replacement. An appointment may be made as an acting assistant professor when an appointee has not yet completed all the requirements for the terminal degree required for appointment. The "acting" title is removed when the degree is earned.