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This policy establishes guidelines for the initial appointment of all faculty members at the University, including tenure-track and career-track faculty. 

1. Only the President, or their designee, may offer employment (subject to approval by the Board of Visitors). Any department/school or college/school-level administrator, chair/program director, or dean may recommend such employment.
2. An initial faculty appointment should not be considered final until it has been approved by the Board of Visitors. All offers of employment and other communications with potential faculty members should specifically state this fact.
3. Except as described in the Initial Appointment with Tenure section of this policy (below), all initial appointments to the faculty shall be probationary. No award of tenure or promise of an award of tenure shall be made to a faculty member except in strict accordance with the Board of Visitors Policy on Tenure, to include review of credentials by all review bodies. No chair/program director, dean, or other administrative official shall have the authority to make a statement of expectation of tenure, or a written/oral commitment that implies in any way a promise of tenure.
4. In the case of certain initial appointments to the rank of professor or associate professor, the President has the authority to eliminate the probationary period for tenure and to make a firm offer or promise of tenure subject to the approval by the Board of Visitors. It is the sense of the Board that this authority should be exercised only when the best interests of the University require it. All such cases must be reported to the Board of Visitors for approval before tenure is awarded. 
5. The President is accountable to the Board of Visitors for ensuring the appointment of faculty qualified to carry out the mission of the institution, for maintenance of fiscal responsibility in assignment of faculty positions, and for the establishment of procedures to carry out Board policy in initial appointments. The president may delegate some or all of these responsibilities to the appropriate executive vice president.

1. Position Approval
   1. Department/School: In a timetable established in accordance with the procedures for building the operating budget for the coming year, each department/school anticipating hiring new faculty for the coming year projects the positions it wishes to fill, including both new positions and replacements for retiring faculty members or others known to be leaving.
      
      1. These projections must be in accordance with the approved mission of the department/school and must be clearly related to demonstrable needs of the department/school, including at least a clear relationship between instructional faculty and projected FTE students in accordance with the department/school faculty/student ratios approved by the appropriate executive vice president.
      2. Other justifications for positions may include the establishment of new academic programs that may not immediately produce FTE students sufficient to justify the position, the existence of substantial funded research for which time will be purchased by an outside agency, and important service activities required by the department/school within the University’s mission.
   2. Research Institute/Center (RIC): In a timetable in accordance with the operating budget, the RIC will project the research faculty positions it desires to fill, both new and replacement.
      
      1. The RIC research faculty position must be in accordance with the mission and needs of the RIC as expressed in a written justification that is simultaneously provided to the vice president for research and economic development (VPRED), the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs (EVPAA), and when appropriate, the senior associate vice president for enterprise research and innovation (SAVPERI). This justification includes the job description, projected salary, potential sources to cover the salary, and a sustainability plan.
      2. Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation (OERI): Should a RIC fall under OERI, the received justifications are considered by the SAVPERI. The SAVPERI will develop a recommendation for each justification and simultaneously present this to the VPRED and the EVPAA. The VPRED, in consultation with the EVPAA, will determine if the process shall advance to recruitment as detailed below.
   3. The dean recommends to the appropriate executive vice president, in priority order, new and replacement faculty positions for the coming year, together with salaries required for each position. Copies of the department/school recommendations may be included by the dean in the report to the appropriate executive vice president.
   4. Based on the projected needs of the following year, the appropriate executive vice president requests a specific number of faculty positions and a budget for these positions from the president at the appropriate time in the annual budget process.
      
      1. Within the budget and positions allocated by the President to the appropriate executive vice president, they assign positions and funds to each dean for new and replacement faculty positions.
      2. The dean allocates these positions with general salary ranges to the departments/schools in the college/school.
   5. If a position becomes vacant because of an unexpected resignation or for any other cause, this fact is to be reported promptly to the appropriate executive vice president.
      
      1. Vacated positions are not automatically assigned to the same college/school or department/school but are assigned based on University and college/school priorities.
      2. The appropriate executive vice president may take action as deemed appropriate, including reassigning the position to the college/school in which it previously existed, assigning it to another college/school, or freezing or discontinuing the position.
      3. If the position is assigned to a college/school, the appropriate executive vice president may allocate additional funds to the dean of that college/school to cover the salary of this position. These funds may not necessarily be equal to the salary of the departing faculty member.
2. Recruitment and Interview Procedures
   1. Once a position has been assigned to a department/school or RIC, the following recruitment procedure is instituted. A similar procedure will be followed for interdisciplinary faculty and joint appointments (see the policy on Joint Appointments).
   2. A statement of need for the position is developed by the department/school chair in consultation with the faculty in the department/school and approved by the dean. In the case of a RIC, this statement of need is developed by the RIC director in consultation with the faculty. The statement should clearly indicate the primary responsibilities that the new faculty member will be expected to perform and the qualifications necessary for the performance of these responsibilities. Requests for faculty hires in the School of Medicine shall follow the Division of Talent Management and Culture processes. In cases where the position is for a tenure-track or tenured position, the Division of Talent Management and Culture must work in conjunction with the Division of Academic Affairs. All other faculty requests shall follow the Division of Academic Affairs processes. 
   3. The department/school chair or RIC director appoints a search committee. For faculty in leadership positions (deans, chairs, center directors, etc.), the appropriate executive vice president or designee will appoint the search committee.
   4. The search committee consults with the Division of Academic Affairs (or Division of Talent Management and Culture for faculty recruitment in the School of Medicine) for advice concerning effective advertising and recruitment strategies to ensure the most qualified applicants and to adhere to the University’s policies and procedures for attracting a robust pool of qualified applicants. Failure to demonstrate a concerted effort to attract a broad range of qualified applicants may result in the refusal of the appropriate executive vice president to accept the search committee’s recommendation.
   5. Advertisements may be placed in appropriate professional journals identified by the college/school or department/school. Specific procedures concerning recruitment advertising can be obtained from the Division of Academic Affairs (or Division of Talent Management and Culture for faculty recruitment in the School of Medicine). 
   6. Departments/schools and RICs are encouraged to use other appropriate means to search for the strongest possible pool of qualified candidates.
   7. The credentials of candidates are carefully screened by the search committee to determine the best-qualified candidates for the advertised position.
   8. After confirming the strength and quality of the pool of applicants, the dean or RIC director may approve the list of candidates selected for on-campus interviews. The number of candidates invited to campus will be determined by the dean or RIC director in consultation with the appropriate executive vice president. 
   9. The following procedures for campus visitations are followed:
      
      1. The search committee must receive approval from the dean, RIC director, and the appropriate executive vice president prior to inviting the candidate to campus. The search committee should follow all procedures in the current recruitment system to obtain full approval. The hiring manager or search committee is responsible for setting up the campus meeting schedule with designated personnel.
      2. Candidates for associate or full professor seeking an initial appointment with tenure must be scheduled for appointments with the appropriate executive vice president or a designee.
      3. The department/school chair informs the candidate of the University policies concerning moving allowances and other relevant matters. All candidates should be told that their regular teaching load assignments may include daytime, evening, in-person, or distance learning classes. A faculty member may be hired to teach exclusively online or exclusively on-campus/in-person.
      4. As part of the on-campus interview process, candidates may be expected to present a classroom lecture, conduct a seminar, or deliver a public talk so that faculty and students may observe their command of the subject and clarity of presentation.
3. Recommendation
   1. The department/school chair or RIC director, after receiving and considering the search committee’s recommendation, recommends the most acceptable candidate and salary range to the dean or the SAVPERI (for research faculty in RICs).
   2. If the dean or the SAVPERI approves the candidate, they propose a salary within the budget previously assigned to the dean’s office by the appropriate executive vice president, and, in the case of the RIC research faculty, within the budget previously identified in the justification. For faculty being recruited to leadership positions in the School of Medicine, the Division of Talent Management and Culture shall provide the salary quote. 
4. Initial Appointment with Tenure
   1. If the initial appointment is to the rank of professor or associate professor and the department/school wishes to award tenure at the time of appointment, a request for an initial appointment at that rank with tenure must be initiated by the chair and reviewed by all tenure review bodies.
      
      1. The candidate’s credentials must be provided to the department/school promotion and tenure committee, and their recommendation and vote must be recorded and sent to the college/school promotion and tenure committee.
      2. The college/school promotion and tenure committee reviews the credentials and the recommendation of the department/school promotion and tenure committee and makes a recommendation. The recommendation and vote are recorded, and all materials are forwarded to the dean. 
      3. The dean makes a recommendation and forwards all materials to the University Promotion and Tenure Committee.
      4. The University Promotion and Tenure Committee reviews the materials and recommendations and makes a recommendation to the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
      5. The provost and executive vice president for academic affairs makes a recommendation to the president in consultation with the executive vice president for health sciences, as appropriate.
   2. All reviews shall be based on the candidate’s application materials and must include, at a minimum, the candidate’s CV, statements of research and teaching philosophy, evidence of teaching and research excellence, and letters of reference from qualified sources. Normally, an initial appointment with tenure will be granted only to a faculty member who already has achieved a distinguished academic record and held a tenured position. This policy applies to both internal and external candidates. Current CVs for all references must be provided along with the reference letters to all review bodies.
5. Initial Appointment of Research Faculty
   1. Research faculty are normally supported largely from non-Commonwealth funds and/or are expected to generate their own support from such funds.
   2. The department/school chair recommends the appointment of a full-time research faculty member in a college/school to the dean. The dean then recommends the appointment to the appropriate executive vice president, who makes the final decision in consultation with the vice president for research andeconomic development. The appropriate executive vice president notifies the applicant of their decision.
   3. For research faculty in a RIC affiliated with clinical departments, the RIC director recommends the appointment to the dean, who, in turn, sends the recommendation to the executive vice president for health sciences for final review and approval. 
   4. For research faculty in a RIC, the RIC director recommends the appointment to the vice president for research and economic development, who makes the final decision.
   5. All research faculty shall follow the recruitment process as outlined in Section B.
6. Onboarding Faculty 

All offers to faculty shall be contingent upon the completion of applicable onboarding and credentialing procedures, modules, and required training, which include, but are not limited to, criminal and exclusion list background checks, drug and alcohol screenings, and verification of the faculty member’s professional qualifications. Faculty in the School of Medicine must acquire the required hospital privileges.