Academic Appointments

The University of Washington Tacoma follows all the University of Washington’s rules, policies, and regulations concerning hiring.  What follows is intended as a summary and, in some cases, amplification of the UW’s rules, policies, and regulations concerning hiring and in no case supersedes official UW policy. 

Applicability

These guidelines apply to the initial appointment of full-time faculty, including lecturers, senior lecturers, and tenure-track faculty. An appointment to a faculty position is full-time if the appointment is for at least one academic year (Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters) and averages, for that year, at least 0.5 FTE. An appointment is an initial appointment if the person appointed did not hold the position to which she or he is appointed the preceding academic year and was not on an approved leave-of-absence.

Required Steps

1. If the position is a replacement position, the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs grants permission to search (Permission to Initiate a Faculty Search (UWT A2)).  If the position is a new position, the appointing department must submit a New Faculty Line Request form and once approved, complete the Permission to Initiate a Faculty Search form (UWT A2).

2. Searching unit (normally an academic program) forms search committee and submits membership list to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

3. Search committee drafts position description and ad text (often the same). Please refer to the Faculty Advertisement Guide and Template to ensure the necessary elements are included in your ad. Ad must be submitted to Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs using the template provided.

4. Position description and ad text are reviewed and approved by Program Director/Dean, Assistant Chancellor for Equity and Diversity, and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The approved advertisement is then forwarded to Academic Human Resources for approval.

5. The ad text is approved by Academic Human Resources and posted on the University of Washington employment opportunities website.

6. The searching unit places the advertisement in the Chronicle of Higher Education and/or other appropriate venues.

7. Search committee screens applications and selects finalists for on-campus interviews. Often committees select a group of five to ten applicants and then schedule phone interviews with those applicants. The finalists are then selected after the phone interviews.

8. Search committee submits Permission to Invite Candidates to Campus form to Program Director/Dean.  Program Director/Dean reviews and if he or she approves, forwards to Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for final approval.

9. Finalists are invited to campus. Searching unit sets interview schedules and makes appropriate travel arrangements.

The academic program should make the hotel arrangements for interviewees at the Sheraton or the Marriott and ask the hotel to charge the room and tax only to UWT's account (the CTA). The program should then send an email to the purchasing coordinator informing him/her of the charge and what budget number to charge it to.

The academic program should also give the interviewee the contact information for Carlson Wagonlit Travel and ask the interviewee to make a reservation. The candidate should inform the travel agent that the reservation should be charged to UWT. The program should then send an email to the purchasing coordinator informing him/her of the charge and what budget number to charge it to. Once the purchasing coordinator receives the itinerary, he/she will forward it to the program for review. If the program approves, the reservation will be confirmed. Processing of expenses related to the search will be handled by the program, including reimbursements, etc.

Candidates not chosen as finalists must be notified in writing.

10. While visiting the campus, each finalist is asked to give a demonstration of her or his pedagogical skills, usually by teaching a class or doing a presentation to a group of students, and to do a scholarly presentation. Normally,  at least three finalists are invited to campus.

11. Search committee reviews the finalists and formulates its recommendation to submit to the Program Director/Dean.  The search committee’s memo must include the following: (Sample Search Process Memo )

• A summary of search committee recommendations

• Names of the candidates invited to interview and indication of whether they accepted the invitation
• Names of first, second, and third choices, as well as information about selection criteria
• Academic title of the position
• List of committee members
• Information about where the position was advertised

• Number of applicants

12. The Program Director/Dean convenes the voting faculty of the program. The faculty discuss the search committee’s recommendation and formulate their own recommendation, which must be approved by a majority vote. Normally the recommendation is to offer the position to one of the finalists. It may also include a recommendation to move to a second or third candidate if the first (and then second) candidates decline. In unusual circumstances, the recommendation, from the search committee or from the voting faculty, may be to re-open the search, either by charging the search committee to continue its search or by requesting the appointment of a new search committee and a new search. A new search must go through the entire approval process listed above.  

13. The Program Director/Dean reviews recommendations from the search committee and the voting faculty and writes recommendation to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.  The Program Director/Dean’s letter must include the following:

• Academic title

• Summary of faculty considerations and vote (the number who voted yes, the number who voted no, and the number who abstained) as well as the Director/Dean’s independent recommendation
• Recommended salary and basis (nine months or other basis)
• Appointment date and length of term
• Selection criteria
• Effective date
• Language indicating there was a search and that this person is best qualified of all applicants
• When and where person received degrees
• Overview of employment history
• Qualifications and special expertise
• Comments on teaching, research, and service

• An explanation of how the appointment will benefit the program  

14. The Director/Dean asks the Vice Chancellor for permission to make a tentative offer. If the Vice Chancellor concurs, the Vice Chancellor sends the official offer letter to the candidate. Candidates are asked to respond within two weeks of receiving a tentative offer.

15. Upon receiving the candidate’s acceptance of the offer, the Director/Dean compiles the documents needed for the hiring packet (UWT A1 ) and forwards it to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, who forwards them to the Provost for approval by the President and the Board of Regents. Incomplete packets will not be accepted.

16. After action by the Regents, the President sends a formal letter of appointment to the candidate.

Search Expenses

The searching unit will receive an allocation of funds for expenses related to the search. Every effort must be made to keep search expenses to a minimum, consistent with efforts to attract the best possible candidates. Generally this means bringing no more than three finalists to campus, hosting each finalist for no more than two nights, and scheduling at most one dinner for the candidate with multiple representatives of UWT (four or more).

Titles and Terms of Appointment

The University of Washington recognizes the four traditional tenure-eligible ranks: Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. Non-tenure-eligible ranks include Lecturer and Senior Lecturer. A multiple of other titles are available but have not, so far, been used at UW Tacoma. (See the University Handbook, Vol. 2, Chapter 24, Section 34.)

Some Points to Note

• Only the positions (titles) included in the advertisement may be given to the successful candidate.  This means, e.g., we cannot appoint a candidate an Associate Professor if we advertise only for Assistant Professors, nor a Lecturer if we advertise only for tenure eligible positions.
• New Assistant Professors are always appointed without tenure and by very strong custom, if not policy, for three years.
• Associate Professors and Professors may be appointed with or without tenure. An appointee with tenure obviously has an ongoing appointment (no set term). A candidate appointed to one of these ranks without tenure receives an initial three-year appointment and must be reviewed for tenure during her or his second year at UWT.
• The vote taken by the voting faculty should be one to recommend appointment of a candidate at a specific rank with tenure status indicated (e.g. a recommendation to appoint J. Doe as an Associate Professor with tenure). Recommendations may be conditional, e.g., “If the first candidate turns us down then offer the position to ________ at the rank of Associate Professor without tenure.”

National Versus Regional Searches

Tenured and multiple-year appointments can be made only to candidates selected by a national search. Effectively this means that only Lecturers and Senior Lecturers on one year contracts can be appointed after a regional search. Moreover, Lecturers and Senior Lecturers appointed after a regional search are never eligible for multiple-year appointments (e.g., they cannot be given a one-year initial appointment and then a multiple-year appointment). 

Moving

Moving expenses for new faculty are limited to $6,000 or 15,000 pounds, whichever is first applicable.  See the Moving Expenses Web site for complete details.

University of Washington Tacoma
Office of Academic Affairs
Room GWP 312
Campus Box 358430 - 1900 Commerce Street - Tacoma, WA 98402-3100
(253) 692-5754 - FAX (253) 692-5643
E-mail: academic@u.washington.edu

Last update: 11/16/07 tvn