In February 1977, the Chancellor approved personnel policies and procedures for unclassified academic staff. The Board of Regents authorized the University to include unclassified academic staff supported by state funds in the group eligible for sabbatical leave.
Unclassified academic staff engage in research, public service and teaching in units that support the academic mission of the institution. They are unclassified employees whose education, degrees and experience are equivalent to those of the academic faculty. Some of these staff are funded from the University's State allocated budget. Others are funded by grants and contracts.
Unclassified Academic Staff members shall be selected and appointed in accordance with prevailing policies for teaching faculty, including appropriate search, interview and review.
The terms and conditions of each initial appointment must be stated in writing, approved by the Provost or his designated representative, and communicated to the prospective appointee before the appointment becomes effective. [For appointments that involve more than one budgetary unit or appointment type, see "Guidelines for Joint Appointments" C.2.a.2. of this Handbook.]
The titles for unclassified academic staff are comparative to those used for faculty. These titles facilitate common application of University regulations and policies concerning eligibility for employment and procedures for recruitment, retention, promotion and job security. To distinguish state funded employees from grant and contract funded employees, two separate sets of titles are used. For those unclassified academic staff supported by State funds the titles are junior, assistant, associate, or senior scientist, curator, or specialist. For Unclassified Academic Staff funded from grants and contracts, the titles are assistant research professor, associate research professor, or research professor.
For Unclassified Academic Staff in designated academic programs whose responsibilities to the University require direct clinical practice, clinical education and scholarship, the titles are clinical instructor, assistant clinical professor, associate clinical professor or clinical professor. These titles will be used for full time unclassified academic staff in designated academic degree programs (a) whose accrediting bodies require clinical faculty appointments and/or are joint clinical programs with the Medical Center, and (b) which have a University of Kansas clinical unit.
No new academic staff positions that are fully State funded or partially grant/State funded will be created without the written approval of the Provost. Vacancies of all existing academic staff positions must be filled through a recruitment or search waiver process.
For more information, refer to the document Clinical Faculty Titles and Related Administrative Practices in the KU Policy Library.
At the time of appointment, the unclassified academic staff member's supervisor shall recommend to the appropriate dean or vice provost a rank. Recommendations shall be documented with relevant supporting data. Final approval of the recommended rank shall be given by the Provost and Chancellor.
Normally, unclassified academic staff will hold the appropriate rank specified under the previous section that is most nearly equivalent in academic preparation or experience of the member to the rank of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or professor. Persons who have not completed the requirements for the formal degree or attained equivalent experience may be appointed at the rank of Junior Staff if the appropriate dean or vice provost determines that such degree or experience will be attained in the near future. A person with a permanent position at another institution who accepts a temporary position at the University of Kansas while on leave from his or her place of permanent employment will have the prefix "Visiting" added to his or her title while at the University of Kansas. A person whose appointment is temporary because he or she has not yet completed all the requirements for the appropriate qualifying degree will have the prefix "Acting" placed before his or her title.
Promotion of an unclassified academic staff member shall be made on the basis of meritorious performance. The University at all times should seek to attract, retain, and reward the academic staff member who consistently performs effectively. Promotion is an important means of acknowledging such performance and such service. It should be awarded for achievement rather than for mere length of service or as an incentive to greater effort.
The criteria for promotion traditionally have been, and continue to be, research, service and teaching, with the emphasis being placed upon the first two for unclassified academic staff. Promotion to a new rank must be based principally upon evidence of achievement since the last promotion. Similarly, the first promotion must be based on achievement since the initial appointment to the unclassified staff. The relative importance of the three basic performance areas (research, service and teaching) shall be determined by the deliberating bodies. They will take into account the varying service, programmatic, and instructional missions of the several units so that the importance assigned reflects the best interests of both the unit in question and the University as a whole.
Recommendations for promotion shall be made by the University Committee on Promotions and Tenure (UCPT). The Provost shall transmit these recommendations to the Chancellor. Nominations for promotion normally shall originate within the appropriate budgetary unit. If an individual has a joint appointment, the initiating unit must secure evaluations from any other unit involved. Once a recommendation for promotion is initiated, each academic unit, school, and/or research or service unit in which the individual is appointed must act on the recommendation before it is forwarded to the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure. In the fall of each year a committee or committees within each unit shall review the qualifications and performance of all unclassified academic staff members below senior rank to determine whether they should be recommended for advancement in rank. If the appropriate committee determines that a recommendation for promotion is in order, it shall forward a recommendation to the director of the unit. The director of the unit shall forward with each recommendation his or her concurrence or nonconcurrence, together with such comments as he or she may wish to add. These materials shall be transmitted to the appropriate dean or vice chancellor, who shall forward them with his or her recommendation and the appropriate supporting materials to UCPT.
Unclassified academic staff may nominate colleagues or themselves for promotion by sending relevant documents directly to the Provost. Such nominations shall be referred to the director of the staff member's unit for comment and recommendation, and shall be treated by UCPT in exactly the same manner as nominations originating from within the unit. Normal University procedures approved for UCPT shall apply to these nominations.
Whenever UCPT tentatively decides on a recommendation counter to that of the unit director or committee, or of an individual nominator or self-nominee, the normal procedures governing check back shall be used.
UCPT acts in an advisory capacity to the to the Chancellor, who has responsibility for approval. The committee's recommendations are not made public until they have been approved by the Chancellor. The Provost officially notifies those affected by the decision. All promotions become effective with the staff member's next regular appointment (i.e., fiscal year).
Unless previous notice of non-reappointment has been given, all full-time appointments to unclassified academic staff line positions paid from state-appropriated funds will be automatically renewed. Upon recommendation of the director of the appropriate unit, notice of non-reappointment shall be sent to the holder of such appointment over the signature of the Provost, or his/her designated representative (e.g., one of the vice chancellors), at least three months in advance of the termination of the first year of appointment; at least six months in advance of the termination date of the second year of appointment; and thereafter at least one year in advance of the termination date of the appointment.
It is recognized that the positions of some unclassified academic staff members may be funded from externally supported grants and contracts, and that termination of such support provides a bona fide cause for termination of appointment without the usual notice.
A probationary period of six years will apply to the Junior and Assistant Staff ranks unless staff members achieve Associate Staff rank within the six-year period. Appointment to a seventh year of consecutive full-time service will normally mean that the probationary period has been completed satisfactorily. Initial appointment at the Senior or Associate Staff rank may carry full job security, or, at the joint discretion of the appropriate director and the Chancellor or his designee, be awarded on a three-year probationary status. The legally effective notice of non-reappointment will be issued over the signature of the Provost or the appropriate dean or vice chancellor as his/her designated representative. The notice shall include a statement that the reasons for the decision will be made available if the unclassified academic staff member requests them. After the expiration of the appropriate probationary period, an appointment will be terminated only for adequate cause, including budgetary constraints. In the event of termination because of discontinuance or reorientation of a program, or termination at any time due to budgetary constraints, the appropriate budgetary unit will assist affected staff members in seeking transfer to other budgetary units of the University or other state agencies or in obtaining other employment.
In the event of termination or dismissal for cause after the probationary period, the employee will have the right to be informed in writing of the reasons for the action taken. A staff member who asserts that a decision to give notice of non-reappointment has been produced by conditions that constitute a violation of established procedures of the University or the unit, and who has not succeeded in obtaining a favorable reassessment of that position through the channels through which the original decision was made, is entitled to appeal. The Faculty Senate Committee on Tenure and Related Problems has exclusive jurisdiction over such an appeal. When hearing appeals from unclassified academic staff members, the committee or subcommittee handling the complaint will be augmented to include at least two members of the unclassified academic staff. The procedures adopted by the Committee on Tenure and Related Problems appear elsewhere in this Handbook.
Sabbatical leaves are authorized for members of the unclassified academic staff who hold full-time line appointments supported by state funds under the terms of the policy of the University with regard to sabbatical leaves and governed by regulations of the Board of Regents. Leave may be granted, in strictly meritorious cases, to full-time staff members who have served continuously for six years or longer. Leave may be granted for either eleven months at half pay, or five months at full pay; in the former case, the member receives full pay for the twelfth month of the basic appointment.
Applications for leave should be submitted on forms available from the Office of the Provost, together with appropriate supporting materials and a statement setting forth the objectives of the leave. These may include the pursuit of advanced study or the obtaining of appropriate industrial or professional experience. Applications should receive the endorsement of the director of the unit and the appropriate dean or vice chancellor. The responsibility of evaluating all sabbatical leave applications has been assigned to the University Committee on Sabbatical Leaves. Finally, sabbatical leaves shall be approved by the Chancellor in accordance with Board of Regents policy.
A staff member may submit an application without the endorsement of the director. Such applications will be referred to the appropriate unit and vice chancellor for comment and then will be treated in the same manner by the committee as other sabbatical leave applications taking the normal route.
The staff member who takes a leave shall sign an agreement to return for at least two full years following leave. If the staff member fails to return or remain in service for the time specified, a proportion of the salary shall be refunded equivalent to the time which the staff member failed to serve in accordance with the agreement.
The total number of persons who may be granted sabbatical leave in a given academic year is governed by Board of Regents policy. If the number of applications of equal merit found to meet the necessary criteria for sabbatical leave exceeds the number of sabbaticals available, then the determination of those to receive the limited number of places available will be made by the Chancellor based upon the recommendations of the University Committee on Sabbatical Leaves.
These sabbatical leave policies are not applicable to persons in positions supported by externally funded grants and contracts.
A staff member who desires to obtain a leave of absence without pay may be granted such leave for up to three years when it is considered to be in the best interests of the University. (See "Leave without pay," Section I.2 of this Handbook, for further information.)
Unclassified academic staff members who hold twelve-month appointments shall be entitled to vacation leave in accordance with the policies established by the Board of Regents. Persons holding nine-month appointments are not eligible for vacation leave with pay.
A person may not be transferred from an unclassified academic staff position supported by external grants and contracts to one supported by the state without competing for the state funded position in a manner described in the University's policies on recruitment.
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