For administrative and professional (“A&P”) positions, the President has the authority to appoint or recommend for appointment persons to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and to establish the responsibilities of individuals in those positions. The President also has the authority to appoint or recommend for appointment to the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System members of the faculty. The President may delegate this authority to other senior management officials within The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (“university”). The method for selecting an individual to appoint to an A&P position or to a faculty position is discussed in HOOP Policy 2.17.3 Recruitment.
All appointments will be made on the basis of merit and should be supported by a thorough investigation of the character, integrity, professional and/or technical expertise, scholastic attainment, and other characteristics of the individual.
No person will be excluded from appointment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or veteran status.
This policy applies to all administrative and professional positions and to all faculty positions.
For questions regarding the appointment of management administrative and professional positions, contact Human Resources.
For questions regarding the appointment of academic administrative and professional positions and faculty members, contact the Office of Academic Affairs.
The Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs must approve permanent or acting appointments of executive vice presidents, vice presidents and deans. All such officers serve without fixed terms and are subject to the pleasure of the President and the approval of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs.
The President is responsible for approving all other permanent and acting appointments. These appointees serve without fixed terms and are subject to the pleasure of the President.
When an individual has been selected for appointment to a management A&P position, the hiring authority must notify Human Resources to ensure any and all appointment guidelines are met.
When an individual has been selected for appointment to an academic A&P position, the Dean or administrative equivalent makes a recommendation to the President. Refer to HOOP Policy 2.66 Administrative and Professional and Classified Employee Job Classifications for information on the differences between management A&P and academic A&P.
Once all internal procedures have been completed and approvals obtained, the Systems Data Resource Team (“SDR”) will prepare an official letter of appointment. Letters signed by the appointee must be returned to SDR. SDR forwards the appointment letter to the President for signature. After signature by the President, SDR sends a fully executed copy to the employee. No appointment will be considered official until such letter has been signed by the appointee and the President.
Depending on the nature of the appointment, SDR may forward a Request for Budget Change (“RBC”) to UT System for approval.
The specific procedures that are to be applied in making recommendations for faculty appointments may vary within the university, depending on the school involved. A preliminary consultation with the appropriate dean will clarify questions of procedural detail.
Procedures for initial salaried appointments vary depending on the tenure status of the candidate's proposed position: nontenure track; tenure track; or with tenure. The procedures described below apply to all three categories.
To initiate a recommendation for a salaried faculty appointment, a department chair/equivalent should submit to his or her dean the following:
a detailed letter proposing the academic rank, annual salary rate, tenure status and responsibilities with documentation of qualifications of the prospective faculty member;
a biographical data sheet/curriculum vitae and list of publications;
an official transcript from the academic institution at which the candidate's terminal degree was awarded and a copy of any required translations, educational evaluations, and certification(s);
a proposed offer letter to the candidate that defines expectations of the chair; and,
a Personnel Action (“PA”) to effect the appointment within PeopleSoft.
The Dean should review the materials and approve the position and the availability of the funds. The Dean will forward the Search Summary form plus items 1 and 2 listed above, the final candidate’s application, and the Pre-Offer form to Human Resources for review. Human Resources will then forward the materials to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (“EVPAA”) for final review and approval. If the appointment is not approved at this step, the EVPAA will confer with the Dean as to appropriate next steps.
Appointments of faculty to tenure-track positions (Associate Professor or Professor) and of faculty with tenure must be sent to the school’s Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee for its review and recommendation to the Dean. After approval, the Dean will send appointments with tenure to the University Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee for its review and recommendation to the President. See HOOP Policy 4.09 Faculty Reappointment and Nonreappointment.
If no RBC is required, SDR enters the Personnel Action in PeopleSoft after all required approvals are in place, then prepares an appointment letter and sends it to the Dean or other designated official for verification and transmittal to the faculty member. The faculty member signs the letter and returns it to SDR for signature of the President. After signature by the President, SDR sends a fully signed copy to the faculty member.
If an RBC is required, the Dean prepares a letter of recommendation to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and forwards it to the EVPAA for routing to the President for signature. The executed letter indicating approval or disapproval is sent to SDR. SDR prepares an electronic RBC and forwards it to the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating and Financial Officer for electronic signature. After electronic signature, the RBC request is routed to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs for approval. On receipt of the approved RBC, SDR enters the Personnel Action in PeopleSoft. SDR prepares the appointment letter and forwards it to the Dean or designee for verification and transmittal to the faculty member. The faculty member returns the signed letter to SDR for the President’s signature. After signature by the President, SDR sends a fully executed copy to the faculty member.
SDR holds all approved RBCs for inclusion in the RBC section of the institutional docket. SDR sends the RBC section of the docket to the Office of the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating and Financial Officer for inclusion in the docket in accordance with UT System deadlines.
Appointment letters sent to faculty members in MSRDP and DSRDP are distinct from those sent to other faculty members and are intended to ensure that MSRDP and DSRDP faculty members are aware of their responsibilities regarding compliance with their respective bylaws.
Joint appointments designate faculty appointments to more than one department, school or institution with financial support for the position shared by the units concerned. Joint appointments may be at different ranks reflecting different levels of competency and scholarly achievement in different fields. Recommendations for promotion in rank for jointly appointed faculty should be made only after consultation between the administrative officials of the departments, schools, or institutions, as appropriate, depending on the nature of the appointment.
A request for a joint appointment should follow the same guidelines described in Section II. A. with the following exceptions:
the department chairs/equivalents submit the materials to their respective deans/administrative equivalents;
a completed Affirmative Action Search Summary form is not submitted, unless the joint appointment is an initial appointment;
the Dean/administrative equivalent reviews and makes recommendations on the faculty appointment;
if the appointment involves more than one unit, the signatures of both deans/administrative equivalents are required on the letter of recommendation submitted to the President;
the President reviews the recommendations from the dean or deans before making his or her final recommendation.
Without salary (“WOS”) appointments including employee cross appointments and non-employee volunteer appointments designate faculty appointments of individuals who participate in The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (“university”) teaching programs on a volunteer basis without remuneration. The Office of the EVPAA oversees this process at the institutional level. Guidelines detailing the institutional process can be found on the EVPAA website under faculty.
1. Cross Appointments (current university faculty)
Cross appointments are without salary appointments which designate faculty appointments to more than one department, school, or institution with financial support for the position from one unit. Cross appointments may be at different ranks reflecting different levels of competency and scholarly achievements in different fields. Recommendations for promotion in rank for cross appointed faculty should be made only after consultation among the administrative officials of the departments, schools, or institutions as appropriate, depending on the nature of the appointment.
A request for a cross appointment is initiated by the department chair/equivalent of the unit not contributing salary. After obtaining the approval of the faculty member's primary department, the chair/equivalent submits to the respective dean a Without Salary/Without Tenure Appointment Request Form and detailed letter to the Dean/administrative equivalent proposing the academic rank and responsibilities of the position with documentation of the qualifications of the prospective faculty member. (Refer to Section II. A. above.) Cross appointments are included in the annual operating budget.
2. Non-Employee Faculty Volunteers
Without salary (“WOS”) appointments designate faculty appointments of individuals who participate in university teaching programs on a volunteer basis without remuneration.
All WOS appointment titles must be used with the prefixes "Adjunct" or "Clinical" (as appropriate) with the following exceptions: WOS appointments may be granted in the titles of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor when the prospective faculty member is salaried at another component of The University of Texas System within the same city, as in the case of faculty being appointed from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, or in the case of appointments to emeritus titles.
To request a WOS appointment, the Department Chair/equivalent submits to the respective dean a Without Salary/Without Tenure Appointment Request form along with the Without Salary Appointment Criteria Form and a biographical data sheet/curriculum vitae.
On his or her approval of the proposed appointment, the Dean signs the Without Salary/Without Tenure Appointment Request and submits the form and supporting materials to the EVPAA for approval.
After approval, the Office of the EVPAA prepares a quarterly letter for the President's signature requesting approval of the appointments. Upon approval of the President, the Office of the EVPAA prepares an appointment letter and mails it directly to the faculty member.
A person appointed to a faculty position with the rank of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor or with the title of technical instructor, assistant master technical instructor, associate master technical instructor, or master technical instructor at an institution of the System may not, during the term of such appointment, hold a tenured position on the faculty of another educational institution outside The University of Texas System or any of its institutions.
Appointments within the university to the above-specified ranks shall be conditioned upon the appointee having resigned any tenured position that the appointee may then hold on the faculty of an educational institution outside The University of Texas System or any of its institutions. Such resignation must be completed and effective prior to the effective date of the appointment at the university; otherwise, such appointment shall be void and of no effect.
The acceptance of an appointment to a tenured position on the faculty of an educational institution outside The University of Texas System or any of its institutions shall be considered as a resignation of any faculty position with the title of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, technical instructor, assistant master technical instructor, associate master technical instructor, or master technical instructor that such appointee may hold at the university.
Created 09/09