Section 3: Faculty Contracts, Ranks, Search Procedure, and Benefits
3.8 FACULTY Appointment Procedures
3.8.1 Letter of First Appointment When a candidate verbally accepts an offer, the Dean is so informed and prepares a contract letter to be sent from the President's Office following approval of the appointment by the Board of Visitors at its next regular meeting. This letter of first appointment constitutes the original contract between the University and the newly appointed faculty member. In addition to salary information and appointment responsibilities, the letter states the length and conditions of the appointment and whether it is subject to renewal or is temporary or restricted. If there is prior service, which would shorten the probationary period prior to consideration for tenure (see §3.1.2), the letter will acknowledge that and specify the length of that probationary period. The letter will be accompanied by a current Faculty Handbook, which details all policies and procedures governing evaluation, reappointment, termination, and tenure. When the candidate signs and returns a copy of the official letter to the HRO, the appointment is finalized.
3.8.2 Establishment of the Personnel File The completed application dossier of the appointed candidate is transferred from the academic department to the HRO, where it becomes the official state personnel file of the newly appointed faculty member (see §3.11.3).
3.8.3 Statement of Principles Regarding Salaries for Newly Hired Faculty No newly hired faculty member will ordinarily receive a salary higher than the salary of current faculty members with the same qualifications. In any given year, salaries for newly hired faculty members with the same qualifications will ordinarily be equal. If the administration believes that a newly hired faculty member has extra qualifications (i.e., previous teaching experience, significant publication record, etc.) and thus deserves a higher salary than others hired at the same time, those qualifications and the financial weight given to them will be explained to department chairs. If the administration believes that exceptions due to market factors are necessary in some salaries at the time of hire or in subsequent salary adjustments or corrections that are not included in the annual salary adjustment policy (see §5.8.1), those exceptions and the criteria for them will be explained to all department chairs.