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See also EVPP: Hiring Research Faculty. Research faculty are expected to focus primarily on conducting research rather than to assume the full academic responsibilities of teaching, research, and service. They should demonstrate evidence of an independent research agenda and of the ability to build and sustain an independent research program, with scholarly credentials comparable to what one would expect for a tenured/tenure-track faculty member at the equivalent rank. They are also expected to be somehow involved in the academics of their department/ whether in teaching, or through other involvement as defined by their department/college. Research faculty are non-tenure track and hold a single 12-month position. (In the legacy system, they held two concurrent positions: a nine-month faculty position and a 12-month A&P position.) They are expected to be full-time (40 SWH), and fully-funded by external grants. Instructional/state funds may be used only when the faculty member is instructor of record for an organized class. If teaching, position funding should be adjusted via Assign Costing Allocation in Workday to reflect the appropriate instructional effort. Contracts are normally for one year, but can be longer if determined by the Dean to be in the best interest of the institution. Note that the expectation is that Research Faculty positions are 100%, and exceptions are at the discretion of EVPP/VPR. Research faculty vs. research staffThe key distinction is evidence of engagement with the academic enterprise through teaching, mentorship, or supervision of students at some level. For information on research staff, see COE: Research Positions. PI (Principal Investigator) eligibilityResearch faculty are granted automatic PI status. See Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility Administrative Procedures for more information. Research Faculty titles | ||||||||||||||||||
| Title | Job Code | Description | ||||||||||||||||
| Research Professor | 0017 | Research accomplishments and scholarly credentials equivalent to that of a full professor, including supervision of research programs/projects as a principal investigator. | ||||||||||||||||
| Research Associate Professor | 0027 | Research accomplishments and scholarly credentials equivalent to that of an established assistant professor or a new associate professor. The individual must have an established record as a mature, independent researcher. | ||||||||||||||||
| Research Assistant Professor | 0037 | Expected to show the potential to develop an independent research program that represents a significant portion of their activity and also be involved in activities traditionally thought of as professorial. | ||||||||||||||||
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Managing research faculty appointmentsAll faculty positions, including those of 12-month research faculty regardless of funding source, have their primary administrative home in an academic department. Some but not all research faculty also have an affiliation with a research center. For research faculty who work in a COE research center, the table below summarizes the distribution of administrative responsibilities between the academic department and the research center.
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Principal Investigator (PI) statusProfessional-track research faculty are eligible for PI status. See a list of PI-eligible titles at Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility for Sponsored Projects – UT Austin.pdf Some new research faculty may need PI status prior to their official start date, for instance to transfer sponsored projects from another institution or apply for new projects that begin after their official UT start date. For guidance, see COE: Requesting PI Status Prior to New Faculty Start Date. |
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About the PARFor Provost’s Office guidance, see EVPP: Prior Approval Request (PAR). For section-by-section instructions for processing a PAR in DEFINE, see COE: PAR - Electronic Document Processing Guide. When is a PAR needed?PARs must be processed for hires of new faculty, and former faculty whose employment has been terminated. Faculty are not hired via Workday. Once the PAR is final-approved, EVPP loads the appointment into Workday via the PAR. A PAR is needed in the following situations:
A PAR is not required in these situations:
Contact COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu with any questions. |
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Hire process
Background checksDepartments should initiate a background check as soon as a finalist has been determined. Effective fall 2025, APS will not accept the PAR nor push the position into Workday until after the background check has been confirmed clear. Faculty may not begin teaching or assumption of other work activities until after their background check has been confirmed clear; delays may also result in a postponed start date and impacts to employee benefits. See HR: How to Request a Background Check for more information. Per HOP 5-1140: Criminal Background Checks, VII.A.2: No applicant may start work for the University, formally or informally, before having a Criminal Background Check completed and being approved by the University’s central Human Resources office. An employee that authorizes an applicant to begin work in violation of this provision may be subject to discipline, including potential termination of their employment. Process table
| 2 | If faculty member will be hired to the rank of Research Professor, EVPP pre-approval is required before proceeding.|||||||||||||||
| 3 | Complete recruiting or posting exemption request as appropriate. | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Process a faculty job requisition in Workday, ensuring there are sufficient openings for the hire. | 5 |
.utexas.edu with questions. | |
2 | Complete recruiting or posting exemption request as appropriate. |
3 | Process a faculty job requisition in Workday, ensuring there are sufficient openings for the hire. |
4 | a) Check whether the prospective faculty member has an existing EID in order to prevent problems that result when an individual has multiple EIDs. Search the following:
b) If they do not have an existing EID, ask them to create one at UT EID Self-Service Tools and report it back to you. |
5 | a) Process FPR in DEFINE. See COE: PAR - Electronic Document Processing Guide for screen-by-screen instructions. Note: In PAR Section 8, add a comment indicating the date that results were confirmed clear in the Background Check Administration. Example: “Background check results confirmed clear on MM/DD/YYYY by [Staff Name].” |
b) Collect all required supplementary documentation listed on the “Document checklist” tab on this page. | |
6 | a) Approve completed |
FPR (DEFINE PAR document) forward to COE Faculty Affairs. b) Forward completed but unsigned PAR packet as a single PDF to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu. PAR packet should include all documentation listed on the tab "PAR documentation checklist" on this page, in the order described. |
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If financial commitments beyond academic salary (example: relocation) are included in the PAR/ |
offer letter, cc the department accountant/Cost Center Manager. |
COE Faculty Affairs |
7 | a) |
FPR and PAR packet review. b) PAR routed for signatures in DocuSign. |
8 | After PAR is fully-signed in DocuSign, |
Final approval of professional track PARs is at the College level. All offers are contingent upon the approval of the Dean.
10adds approval comments to FPR document in DEFINE and approves forward to APS. | |
9 | COE Faculty Affairs |
submits PAR packet to |
Upon receipt of the fully-signed PAR packet, the department may send an offer letter to the candidate.
Note that all PAR information is thoroughly reviewed in the Provost’s Office to ensure compliance, and if errors are found, corrections will still need to be made even if the contract has been signed by the faculty candidate. Research faculty PARs are also reviewed by VPR.
| title | PAR documentation checklist |
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PAR supplementary documentation
Documentation for hires with previous PARs
Faculty are not hired via Workday. Instead, for new faculty, and former faculty who have been terminated, a PAR must be processed. Once the PAR is final-approved, EVPP loads the appointment into Workday via the PAR.
Primary Language Determination Form
For a faculty hire with a previous PAR approved, no new language form is required. Submission of the language form with the initial PAR is all that is needed, and supporting documentation status for the language form on any subsequent PARs should be indicated as "On File."
Reference letters
If the faculty candidate has not worked from UT for more than three years, new letters of recommendation are required.
If the PAR is for a new faculty position other than what the faculty candidate is currently assigned or has been assigned in the past, or is for a position in a different unit, three new letters are required.
If the previous PAR is 18 or fewer months old, APS may waive the reference letter requirement on a case-by-case basis. To request a waiver, please submit a request through the Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services Portal, and include the EID, PAR doc ID, and dates of previous reference letters. If the letter requirement is waived, the supporting documentation status for reference letters on the PAR should be marked as "On File," and a copy of APS' approval should be included in the PAR documentation.
Documentation checklists
See EVPP: PAR Process - Supporting Documentation and EVPP: PAR Checklists for more information.
Instructions
Submit the materials in the appropriate list below after approving the DEFINE FPN document off the creator's desk. Order materials as listed below, in a single PDF.APS for approval via ServiceNow: APS/Faculty Affairs requests help ticket. | ||
APS | 10 | APS reviews PAR and forwards to the Vice President for Research (VPR) for final review and approval. |
VPR | 11 | VPR reviews PAR and provides final approval. If approved, this is communicated to COE Faculty Affairs. |
COE Faculty Affairs | 12 | After both APS and VPR have approved the PAR, offer letter is sent to candidate. Offer may be extended only after receiving approval from VPR. |
Department | 13 | Department forwards signed offer letter to COE Faculty Affairs |
COE Faculty Affairs | 14 | Signed offer letter is uploaded to same ServiceNow ticket as for the PAR and uploaded to the faculty member’s personnel folder on Box. |
APS | 15 | After confirming that background check results are clear, APS will:
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Department | 16 | AM adds new faculty member to department’s FileMaker Pro contract database |
17 | AM uploads signed offer letter to Workday > Worker Profile > Employee Contracts Note that the department is responsible for maintaining all professional track faculty personnel files, including PARs and offer letters. |
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PAR documentation checklistResearch Faculty titles are professional-track 12-month faculty appointments and follow September 1-August 31 employment dates (see Dates for Faculty Employment Changes). Research faculty ranks are Research Assistant Professor (0037), Research Associate Professor (0027), and Research Professor (0017). In *DEFINE, the document type for tenure-track faculty PARs is FPT.
InstructionsAfter approving the DEFINE FPR document off the creator's desk, order materials as they are listed below and saved as a single PDF and send to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.
See additional information about posting waivers at COE: Posting Exemption Requests
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Offer lettersContracts for Research faculty are normally for one year only (September 1-August 31), but can be longer if determined by the Dean to be in the best interest of the institutionof the institution. Note that every commitment of funding (relocation, early start date, TA/GRA, etc.) must be captured in both the offer letter and Section 2 Funding Commitments of the PAR. For assistance with wording of non-standard offer items not included in the EVPP template, please contact COE Faculty Affairs. Who writesresearch facultyprofessional track offer letters?Offer letters for research faculty hires are drafted by the hiring departments, in collaboration with any joint hiring departments. Please contact COE Faculty Affairs with any questions. Where do I findtheoffer letter templates?In order to ensure the most current template is being used, each offer letter should be drafted based on aa newly-downloaded template for the appropriate hire type based on EVPP Departmentalized Offer Letter Templatestemplate for the appropriate hire type based on the Provost's Office current template at FA/APS ServiceNow Portal > Knowledge (top right corner) > FA/APS Knowledge Articles (top left corner) > Offer Letter Templates > Departmentalized CSUs. What is the offer letter process?A draft of the offer letter, including a "DRAFT" watermark on each page, should be included in the PAR packet. The draft offer letter doesdoes not representrepresent a promise of employment or any other commitment. Once the PAR is final-approved by the Dean, COE Faculty Affairs will email the PAR packet signed by the Dean to the department Administrative Manager, indicating that the PAR has been approved. When this email indicating approval has been received, the department can send an offer letter to the candidate. However, all PAR information is thoroughly reviewed in the Provost’s Office to ensure compliance, and if errors are found, corrections will still need to be made even if the contract has been signed by the faculty candidate.After the offer letter has been signed by the candidate, the Administrative Manager should upload the signed letter to a help ticket in the ServiceNow: Faculty Affairs & APS portal. Once APS has processed the signed offer letter, they will push the hire to Workday. The department is responsible for maintaining research faculty personnel files, including PARs and offer letters. Can I share a draft of the offer letter with the candidate prior to PAR final approval?The department may, if they wish, share the draft with the candidate. It must be clearly indicated via watermark that the copy is a draft, and any associated correspondence must explicitly state that the draft is “pending final modifications and approval of the Dean and Provost.” The draft offer letter should not be signed by anyone, as it does not represent a contract. Auihorizontalnavpage | | |||||||||||||||
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PAR-Workday integration processUpon final approval of the PAR, the following information is brought over to Workday from the PAR, overwriting the initial data entered on the job requisition:
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Closing the positionImmediately after the conclusion of a faculty search and/or once the posting is no longer needed, the department should close the Interfolio position (archive) and indicate an outcome. Online training for this step is available at the following links: For searches that did not result in selection of a candidate:
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Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.