Managing research faculty appointments

All 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.

Action	Processed by Research Center	Processed by Academic Department
Interfolio posting		X
Recruitment: Advertising, evaluating and communicating with applicants, campus visit arrangements and vendor payments, etc.	X
PAR		X
Offer letter		X - in collaboration with research center and COE Faculty Affairs
Contract management (renewal, Workday upload, etc.)		X
Ad-hoc costing changes in Workday	26-accounts	non-26-accounts (e.g. Instructional)
HR processes in Workday (Data Changes, Termination, etc.)		X
Performance appraisals		X - in collaboration with research center
Assignment of merit		X - in collaboration with research center

Principal Investigator (PI) status

Professional-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.

About the PAR

For 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:

New faculty member who has never taught at UT Austin.
Rehire of former faculty member whose position was terminated.
Faculty member whose position has been inactive for longer than three years.
Current UT Austin faculty or staff member, who will be instructor of record or hold another faculty role in a new, different unit.

A PAR is not required in these situations:

Professional-track faculty member who holds a current inactive faculty (F-INA) position in the correct unit. Position can be reactivated in Workday.
Courtesy (0%) positions. Instead, use the Add Academic Appointment business process in Workday.
Retired faculty member returning to teach. See COE: Hiring Retired Faculty for other options.

Contact COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu with any questions.

Hire process

For Provost’s Office guidance, see EVPP: Prior Approval Request (PAR).
For step-by-step instructions on processing a PAR in *DEFINE, see COE: PAR - Electronic Document Processing Guide.
Important: Note that research faculty ranks follow 12-month faculty employment dates of 9/1-8/31. See Dates for Faculty Employment Changes.

Background checks

Departments 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

Responsible party	Step	Action
Department	1	Before beginning, the department should determine the most appropriate track and rank for the prospective faculty member, based on their education level and experience. See EVPP: Research Faculty Titles. Contact COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.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: Workday employee records UT EID Administration - Recommended search parameters: Show “anyone” at “any UT institution” whose “first and last name” “contain” [enter name]. Cross-check any results with other UT employment/student/vendor records. DEFINE commands: GT9 (Transactions by Vendor ID; enter EID in “Misc.” field), AL1 (Legacy employee records system; change Year field to “75” to search all UT employment records) 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].”
	5	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. 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, adds approval comments to FPR document in DEFINE and approves forward to APS.
	9	COE Faculty Affairs submits PAR packet to 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	APS reviews and accepts PAR and signed offer letter and pushes the hire to Workday.
Department	16	The department is responsible for maintaining all research faculty personnel files.

PAR documentation checklist

Research 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.

Tip: Are the pages in your PDF different sizes? See COE: Adobe Acrobat for instructions on fixing this!

Additional resources:

Instructions

After 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.

Order in PAR packet	Document	Details	Notes
1	PAR cover sheets	Unsigned. COE Faculty Affairs will obtain all signatures in DocuSign.	Use Green Output to print from DEFINE to PDF. See guidance at COE: PAR Information and FAQ > tab “How to print a PAR to PDF”
2	Chair statement	Include the following: a) Clear evidence of the capability of developing and executing an independent research agenda on a timescale that would permit timely promotion. This evidence can come from some combination of publications, recommendation letters, and grants received. Why does the Chair support this appointment for this individual? b) A summary of the committee's discussion; explanation of the rationale for the committee's vote and resulting recommendation; explanation of negative votes.
3	Candidate research statement	Usually 1-2 pages
4	Current CV		An updated CV is required for professional-track faculty returning to UT after a break in service of over 3 years.
5	Reference letters	At least three. Must be signed, and on the referee's employer's letterhead. At least one must be from outside UT. Unsigned letters will not be accepted. The chair of the hiring department cannot be one of the references. Letters should emphasize previous teaching performance or potential and, if applicable, contributions in other service areas to which the department expects the candidate to contribute in their research faculty role at UT.	If the letters come in via email, the email message from the referee must be printed out and submitted with the letter of recommendation. That email cannot be from a third party - it must be directly from the referee. 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.
6	Attachment A: Primary Language Determination Form	If Primary Language is not English, also see Attachments B-D below. COE Faculty Affairs can obtain signature on this form during approval routing in DocuSign.	If creating a new PAR for a faculty member with a previous PAR on file, it is not necessary to submit another one. Indicate status "On File" in PAR section 7, "Supporting Documentation." See whether a PAR has previously been approved for the faculty member by following the instructions at COE: PAR Information and FAQ > tab “How to find a PAR by EID”
Only if relevant	Complete these only if Attachment A above indicates that their Primary Language is not English	Attachment B Descriptions of Levels of English Proficiency	Attachment B does not need to be included in PAR packet, but provides definitions for completing Attachment C.
		Attachment C Assessment of English Proficiency
		Attachment D Appointment Status Recommendation
7	Interfolio EEO report (If recruiting was not conducted, skip ahead to item 9)		(Replaces former Applicant Pool Statistics Table.)
8	Interfolio job posting (If recruiting was not conducted, skip ahead to item 9)	Printout of job posting from either Interfolio or Faculty Careers - UT Austin	Posting number must match the Job ID entered in section 7 of the PAR.
9, only if relevant	Posting Exemption Request, approved by both Dean and EVPP	Use of Posting Exemption Requests should be limited as much as possible, and used only for Partner Hires, or for exceptional circumstances.	Posting exemption request must be approved by both Dean and EVPP before routing PAR for COE Faculty Affairs. If a Posting Waiver was approved in lieu of posting, type "Waiver" in PAR section 7 comments on "Job ID" line. See additional information about posting waivers at COE: Posting Exemption Requests.
9, only if relevant	Applicant Screening Questions - submit only if recruiting was not conducted	Completed and signed by prospective hire.	For faculty who are hired through an Interfolio posting, this form is part of their application materials and does not need to be submitted separately with the PAR.
Only if relevant	EVPP pre-approval documentation (Research Professor rank only)	Documentation of pre-approval from EVPP for hire made at Research Professor ank.	See tab "Process," step 2 for details.
10	DRAFT of offer letter	Prepared by hiring department. Include a "DRAFT" watermark on all pages. Draft should not be signed. Commitment paragraph should clearly describe funding plan for the duration of the proposed appointment. Is bridge funding being provided and, if so, by who and for how long? If bridge funding, or candidate’s external funding ends prior to current contract, what is the plan for the candidate’s employment, e.g. Will the department/college provide funding? If planned external funding is interrupted, what is the unit's plan for funding and for the duration of the position?	In order to ensure the most current template is being used, each offer letter should be drafted based on a newly-downloaded template 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. IMPORTANT: The draft does NOT represent an offer of employment, and the letter must not be signed by the prospective faculty member until after the PAR has been approved by the Dean's Office. If a draft is shared, it must be clearly communicated that the draft does not represent a final contract, and is contingent upon the Dean's approval.

Offer letters

Contracts 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 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 writes professional 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 find offer letter templates?

In order to ensure the most current template is being used, each offer letter should be drafted based on a newly-downloaded template 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 does not represent 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 the same Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services Portal help ticket on which they submitted the PAR. 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.

PAR-Workday integration process

Upon 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:

Personal information (name and contact information)
Job Details (benefits eligibility, Job Profile, FTE, etc.)
Compensation
Pay Group (determined pay frequency, e.g., monthly)
Education
Academic Appointment

Closing the position

Immediately 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:

Add a note about why no selection was made (e.g., cancelled due to lack of funding, position no longer needed, lack of qualified applicants, etc.).
Close the associated job requisition in Workday, if one was created. Use the current date as effective date, and reason “position cancelled.”

Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.