The Offer
Start-up Recommendations Heading link
Before a formal offer can be made to the candidate, the OAE Appointment form must be submitted and approved by the College and OAE. See https://oae.uic.edu/ah/academic-hiring-process/search-resources/ All candidates will need to be dispositioned before the OAE Appointment Form can be submitted.
Recommendations to make an offer are made to the Associate Dean assigned to the search and the Executive Associate Dean.
At the same time, departments must specify the office and laboratory space the candidate will occupy. If renovations are necessary, the department must speak with Associate Dean Luke Hanley about the feasibility and costs of the proposed alterations. The Dean’s Office and department must come to an agreement on these matters before an offer can be made.
For candidates requiring start-up funds, the Executive Officer submits the startup recommendation developed in consultation of the candidate to the College. Items that might already be available or provided from other sources should be clearly specified. These and other costs should be submitted to the College along with other components of the offer letter (see Offer Letters). Candidates hired under the UFRP program are eligible for startup funds from the university. For departments in the natural sciences and Psychology startup costs are shared between the college and the department.
Offer Letters Heading link
Offer letters for tenured/ tenured track faculty are generated by the College and signed by the Dean. . Templates for sample letters are available online and must be used. These templates contain required information for all offer letters.
If the appointment is in two or more departments, the letter should make clear that teaching and service responsibilities will be be split among these departments, and that the amount of service expected will be proportionate to the percentage appointment.
At the time of hiring, the executive officers of each unit, in consultation with the faculty member, should agree in writing to specific expectations regarding teaching and service commitments as well as promotion and tenure standards and procedures for each unit. These expectations should be formalized in a Memo of Understanding (MOU). Copies of the MOU should be on file in both units and in the College and should form part of annual merit reviews, third-year reviews, and tenure and promotion reviews.
Start Date and Benefits Heading link
Most new faculty members begin their appointment on August 16 and are paid in twelve equal installments starting September 16. Eligibility for health insurance begins at the same time that the appointment begins.
Information on Benefits can be found at https://www.hr.uillinois.edu . Other faculty information can be found in the Faculty Handbook.
Bringing a Faculty Member to UIC with Tenure Heading link
The process for hiring a faculty member as an associate or full professor with indefinite tenure involves an additional level of review. For such hires the department must put together a portfolio to be submitted to the Dean of LAS. Click the link below for more details:
See The Process Here
Special Conditions Heading link
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PhD Not Received
The College makes a contingent offer to a prospective faculty member who has not yet completed all requirements for the PhD or the requisite terminal degree. If the appointment starts on August 16, it is expected that anyone arriving without the PhD in hand will complete all requirements for the PhD during the course of that first year, preferably early in the year. If the appointment starts January 1, it is expected that the requirements will be completed during the Spring semester. Any candidate who is hired before completing the terminal degree will be employed as a lecturer until the degree is completed. If the degree is awarded and the candidate is then appointed as of the Spring Semester as an Assistant Professor, the faculty member can choose to begin his or her tenure clock in that year or delay the start of the clock until the following year. The department should keep the college informed of the candidate’s degree progress until she or he receives the PhD degree.
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Initial Untenured Term Appointments for Faculty
In situations where a faculty candidate has a record of scholarly and other achievements beyond that of a beginning assistant professor but not sufficient to warrant appointment with tenure, it is possible to make an untenured appointment with a term less than the usual six years. This must be specifically discussed with the Executive Associate Dean before initiating negotiations with the candidate. There are two possible forms of untenured appointments with an abbreviated probationary period:
- Candidates who are relatively standard in the field but not yet ready to be appointed with tenure can be given a Q contract. This is an appointment at the level of associate or full professor, with a fixed period of up to 4 years after which the candidate must undergo tenure review or not be reappointed. In rare circumstances the Q contract can be extended for up to 2 years with the approval of the Provost. During the tenure review of an employee on a Q contract, research accomplishments for the last 5 years (or last personnel action, whichever is longer) can be considered, as allowable by the promotion and tenure guidelines and instructions.
- Candidates who are more junior but have a substantial record of accomplishments can be appointed at tenure code 2 or above. Any candidate on the tenure track, including those appointed at tenure code 1, can be considered for promotion before the end of the probationary period if benchmarks are met. For those who started at T1, however, only research accomplishments since the last personnel action can be considered toward promotion. For those who start at T2 or above, research accomplishments for the past 5 years (or since last personnel action, whichever is longer) can be considered as allowable by the promotion and tenure guidelines and instructions, so that some accomplishments before coming to UIC can be part of the case for promotion and tenure.
If you are considering one of these untenured appointments you should be sure to consult the Executive Associate Dean before raising the possibility with the candidate and, if approved by the college, to discuss the pros and cons of different appointments with the candidate.
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Joint Appointments Between/Among Departments, Programs, or Schools
In cases where a candidate will have a budgetary joint appointment between departments, between a department and a program, or between LAS and another college, the offer letter will spell out the precise conditions of the appointment. In these cases, one department will be named the “home department.” Executive officers should fully explain the implications of the appointee’s choice of a home department for tenure and promotion. The departments involved in the joint appointments should also generate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which outlines the responsibilities and expectations of each department as regards the new hire. The college asks that each of the executive officers involved in the joint appointment provide the prospective new faculty member with copies of his or her unit’s guidelines for promotion and tenure.
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Courtesy Joint (Non-Budgetary) Appointments
A department may offer a courtesy appointment to a faculty member in another department or college of the University. Any recommendation to offer a faculty member a courtesy appointment should be based on his or her active, ongoing contribution to the host department, whether a matter of record or anticipated. The joint appointee’s role in the host department may include such activities as the teaching of cross-listing of courses, service on graduate thesis or dissertation committees, collaboration on research, assistance in the recruitment of faculty and graduate students, and participation in seminars and colloquia. When a faculty member’s home department recommends that he or she be promoted, if that faculty member holds a courtesy appointment in another unit, the unit executive officer of the department in which the courtesy appointment is held must also write a letter of endorsement to be included in the faculty member’s promotion and tenure dossier.