The Offer of Tenure-track Appointment

The Offer Letter
Appointment Recommendation
Candidates Who Have Not Yet Completed the Terminal Degree
Candidates Who Are Not U.S. Residents
Establishing the Tenure Timetable
Appointment of New Faculty at the Rank of Associate or Full Professor
Managing a Conflict of Interest in Employment
Moving Expenses

The Offer Letter

Several versions of a model offer letter, tailored to appointments with or without tenure and at different ranks, are available from Mary Lou Doyle ( mary-doyle@uiowa.edu ). The department submits the draft offer letter with Affirmative Action Form D for approval by the College and the Office of the Provost.

Appointment Recommendation

The DEO forwards the following forms and materials to Dean Curto, who reviews them before forwarding them to the Office of the Provost and the Office of Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. (The department should allow 2–4 working days for the materials to be processed in College and central offices before it can proceed with the offer.)

• Affirmative Action Form D (the recruitment summary).
• A letter from the DEO, explaining why this individual was selected from among those interviewed and confirming the oral communication competence of the candidate.
• A finalized Affirmative Action Form B.
• The draft of the offer letter.

The DEO may not make an offer, formal or informal, to any candidate until the Office of the Dean notifies the department that its appointment recommendation has received final approval from the Office of Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity and that all aspects of the offer of appointment have been approved. Offers of appointment should not be made on the telephone, nor by e-mail, although notice that a written offer is forthcoming may be conveyed to the candidate by these means. An exception may be made to this policy if the candidate is a faculty member at another college or university and a written offer may not reach the candidate by May 1.

The DEO notifies Dean Curto as soon as an offer is accepted or rejected. To confirm the terms of appointment when a candidate accepts an offer, the DEO initials the final written offer, which must be signed by the candidate to indicate acceptance, and forwards a copy to Dean Curto.

Candidates Who Have Not Yet Completed the Terminal Degree

In the rare instances when the College allows an offer to be made to a candidate who has not yet completed all requirements for the Ph.D. (or other terminal degree), the offer letter specifies that, if all degree requirements have not been met by the beginning of the appointment, the candidate will receive a one-year, non-renewable appointment at the rank of instructor. There is a difference in salary of $5,000 between the ranks of instructor and assistant professor. It must be clear that all degree requirements must be completed by the end of that non-renewable appointment if employment as a faculty member is to continue.

When all terminal degree requirements have been completed, the department may promote the instructor to the rank of assistant professor. The department generates a Change of Status form using the HR Web Transaction System and submits it to Dean Curto with a letter from the graduate college of the degree-granting institution specifying the date on which all terminal degree requirements were completed.

Candidates Who Are Not U.S. Residents

If the person who accepts the offer is not a citizen or a permanent resident of the U.S., the department works closely with Immigration Services, 121-20 USB, to apply for appropriate visa status.  

Establishing the Tenure Timetable

In the offer of appointment, the DEO specifies a tenure timetable for a new probationary faculty member. The DEO explains in a cover memo the reasons for recommending any probationary period other than the typical one, with the tenure decision in the sixth year. Dean Curto forwards the request to the Office of the Provost for confirmation. The new faculty member must agree to the tenure timetable at the time he or she accepts the offer of appointment.

If a candidate has had previous tenure-track experience at another institution, the DEO consults with Dean Curto on the appropriate length of the probationary period before the offer letter goes out.

Appointment of New Faculty at the Rank of Associate or Full Professor

New faculty appointed without tenure at the rank of associate professor normally receive a three-year probationary period. If an individual is to be appointed at the rank of full professor, the tenure review should be conducted as part of the recruitment process as outlined below.

When a potential faculty member holds a tenured rank at a comparable university, the department may recommend an appointment with tenure. The DEO draws up the Form D and uses the appropriate template for a “review in progress” at the appropriate rank. This offer letter must give a timeline for the tenure review. The DEO submits the Form D package to Dean Maxson, who signs and forwards it to Lee Anna Clark, Associate Provost for Faculty. Once the Form D package, including the draft offer letter, has final approval, this offer letter may be sent to the candidate.

At the same time, the DEO prepares a tenure dossier comprising these documents:

• Complete CV
• Teaching evaluations or similar evidence from the candidate’s current institution
• Letters of recommendation that were submitted with the application
• Two additional letters that explicitly address tenure, solicited from external reviewers chosen by the DEO in consultation with the Dean
• The Departmental Consulting Group report to the DEO that cites the vote breakdown
• The DEO’s recommendation to the Dean

Dean Maxson transmits the dossier to at least three members of the Collegiate Consulting Group (CCG) on tenure and promotion, who report their recommendations to her individually. The Dean also consults with the associate deans and then writes her recommendation to the Provost, including the votes of each CCG member. The Dean will notify the DEO of the Provost’s final decision, and the DEO in turn will notify the candidate in writing with a second letter that uses “tenure notification” language. Only then should the candidate sign and return both offer letters. Upon receipt, the DEO will initial and date both letters to confirm the terms of the appointment and, as usual, send a copy of each to the Office of the Dean.

Managing a Conflict of Interest in Employment

If, during the process of formulating an offer, the department becomes aware of a situation that falls under the University's Conflict of Interest in Employment (Nepotism) Policy, it must develop a management plan before the offer of appointment is made. The College and the University must approve this plan before the offer of appointment can be approved.

The University Committee on Conflict of Interest in Employment has developed a summary of actions that may be included in a management plan, depending on the situation, and a template for proposing a management plan for a conflict of interest in employment.

Moving Expenses

To provide for a new junior faculty member’s moving expenses, the College will typically contribute up to $750 in a dollar-for-dollar match with the department. The department is free to contribute more than $750 toward moving expenses. For new faculty hired with tenure, the department may negotiate with Dean Maxson for a greater contribution from the College.

The Moving Authorization form is available on the web page www.clas.uiowa.edu/faculty/recruitment/required.shtml. Questions should be directed to Mary Lou Doyle.