Prior Approval Request (PAR) Process

About the PAR
PAR Cover Sheet
Section One—Position Information
Section Two—Funding Commitments
Section Three—Biographical Information
Section Four—Endowments Information
Section Five—PARs for Fiscal Year
Section Six—Course Load Information
Section Seven—Supporting Documentation
Section Eight—PAR Comments
Research Faculty
International Hiring
Checklists
Evaluating a PAR
Faculty Affiliation

About the PAR

What is the par?

The PAR is the Prior Approval Request process required for the hiring of faculty. Before a formal offer of employment is made to any faculty candidate, the hiring unit must be formally granted permission to make that offer. The process of vetting faculty candidates by all required parties is the PAR system. Part of the PAR system is the PAR packet which is comprised of specific items used for evaluation.

This process is necessary in order to ensure that The University of Texas at Austin maintains its high standards for the recruitment, hiring and promotion of faculty. The PAR defines the specific items that are needed for the recruitment and hiring of all types of faculty and how the candidates should be evaluated. Moreover, because the PAR is a well-defined mechanism with specific audits in place for a variety of situations, it enables The University to gather important data about the faculty population from the moment they are being considered for employment.

Only after final approval of the PAR, which is reflected in the signatures on the PAR packet AND final approval in the electronic PAR (FP*) document, may the hiring unit send out the official contract agreement letter (“Offer Letter”) to the faculty candidate for their signature.

A copy of the signed offer letter is sent to the Provost’s Office. A copy of the signed letter should also be retained in the hiring department and college. When the Provost’s Office receives the signed contract, the PAR can be ACCepted, which triggers the creation of the position and academic appointment in Workday through an overnight automated process. The processing of acceptance letters can take several days during peak processing times.

In the case of professional-track faculty, final approval of the PAR is at the college level, however, all PAR information is thoroughly reviewed in the Provost’s Office to ensure compliance. If errors are found, corrections will still need to be made even if the contract has been signed by the faculty candidate.

Final approval for tenured faculty is done after the PAR has been signed by the chair of the hiring department, the dean of the college, the Vice President for Research, and the Dean of the Graduate School. Before routing to the last two approvers, the Provost’s Office does a thorough review of the PAR packet.

Tenure-track faculty PARs are final approved in the college, except in cases of non-departmentalized colleges. Because a two-tiered system of approval is needed, tenure-track PARs for non-departmentalized colleges are final approved by the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.

PAR Doc IDs

Each PAR has a unique eleven-digit document number similar to 90-FPN-999888. The second digit, 0, refers to the component (ie. the specific University of Texas campus), which in the case of UT Austin is component 0.

The next three digits refer to the document type.

There are four types of FP* documents:

FPN-The request to hire professional-track faculty in all academic units, and the request to hire tenure-track faculty in departmentalized colleges.
FPX-The request to hire tenure-track faculty in a non-departmentalized college
FPT-The request to hire tenured faculty
FPR-The request to hire research faculty (Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, and Research Professor).

The last six digits fall in decreasing order as each new PAR is created throughout the fiscal year.

The PAR Process

Academic unit initiates recruitment process. At a minimum there must be a posting on the UT Austin Faculty Careers page except in the case of Visiting, 0%-time, or Adjunct appointments.
Candidate applies for position. It is important at this stage to collect data for the appointment processes summary.
Academic unit chooses candidate(s), conducts interviews, and may even begin informal negotiations, but does not yet make a formal offer.
Academic unit creates Prior Approval Request packet for candidate
PAR routes for approvals

Tenured (FPT): Electronic document routes from department (departmentalized colleges only) to college with at least one signer at each level. Final approval is at the Provost level. The PDF PAR must receive signature approvals from the chair or director (departmentalized colleges only), the dean, the Vice President of Research, and the Dean of the Graduate School. A copy of the approved PAR will be e-mailed to the college PAR contact as a notification that approval is complete.

Tenure Track (FPN for departmentalized colleges and FPX for non-departmentalized colleges): Electronic document routes in the same way as FPT documents, but for departmentalized colleges final approval is at the college level. (For non-departmentalized colleges —FPX— final approval is still at the Provost level.) The PDF PAR must receive signature approvals from the chair/director (departmentalized colleges only), the dean, and for non-departmentalized colleges (FPX documents), the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.

Professional-Track (FPN): Electronic document routes from department (departmentalized colleges only) to college with at least one signer at each level. Final approval is at the college level.* The PDF PAR must receive signature approvals from the chair or director (departmentalized colleges only), and the dean.

*Professor rank professional-track hires into these titles require pre-review approval by a subset of the President’s Promotion and Tenure review committee before making an offer.

Professor of Instruction
Professor of Practice
Clinical Professor
Distinguished Senior Lecturer

Provide the candidate’s CV and a memo of support from the chair or dean via the Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services Portal to initiate a pre-review.

Research Faculty (FPR): Electronic document routes from department (departmentalized colleges only) to college with at least one signer at each level. Final approval is with the Vice President for Research. The PDF PAR must receive signature approvals from the chair/director (departmentalized colleges only), the dean, and the Vice President for Research.

PAR receives final approval (per routing details above) putting the electronic document (FP*) in Offer Pending Status
– Candidate is recognized as Prospective Faculty in EID system
– Academic unit is now authorized to send formal offer letter to candidate
Academic unit receives original, signed offer letter from candidate indicating his/her formal acceptance of UT’s offer.
Academic unit forwards a copy of the signed offer letter to Academic Personnel Services (APS), at evpp-aps@utexas.edu, in the Provost’s Office with a copy remaining in department/center and a copy sent to respective Dean’s Office.
Provost’s Office processes signed offer letter
EVPP updates PAR status to Offer Accepted on electronic PAR document (FP*), indicating to the system that the candidate has accepted our offer of employment.
– Candidate is recognized as Future Faculty in EID system
Overnight batch process of accepted PARs creates new positions and academic appointments in Workday.

PAR Cover Sheet

The PAR Cover Sheet is a general summary of the data that can be found in each section of the electronic PAR. Also included on this front page, is the document ID, found in the upper-right corner, information on the creation of the PAR, which includes:

Creation date
Creator’s name
Creator’s EID
Creator’s phone number

Background Check

A background check is required by institutional policy for newly appointed faculty. For this purpose, the faculty hire will receive an email with instructions for accessing the Background Check Administration (BCA) system to provide the necessary information for conducting the background check.

Creating a New Electronic PAR Document

NEW – Create a NEW document—This is the first action for the creation of any PAR. When entering a NEW action, you will be forwarded to a page that will require the Instructional Unit code, the Job Code, Fiscal Year of the assignment, and the EID of the faculty candidate. Even if the PAR creator thinks that the faculty candidate is new to The University of Texas system, it is important to verify that the candidate does not already have UT EID by entering a question mark in the field provided for EID. All variations of the name should be researched before answering N (no) to the question “Has this person ever had a job at the University; been enrolled as a student; been assigned an EID from other PARs or job applications; or used an EID within the last year?

TIP: It is common for new faculty (particular tenure-track faculty) to have had a voucher payment processed for travel expenses for giving a talk as part of their recruitment process. When this happens, an EID is created for them. It is important that this same EID is used when created the PAR for this candidate.

Entering a question mark in most of the fields in the PAR will give instruction or additional information.

You may navigate to each section of the PAR by either entering an X in the corresponding field in the bottom section of the Cover Sheet or entering the number of the section in the Action field near the top of the page.

PAR Actions

Allowable actions vary by the status of the PAR. Generally, the PAR Action options are:

APP – Approve to sign this document and route forward—the person taking this action certifies that all the information in the document is accurate and follows all the regulations and policies surrounding the hiring of faculty at UT Austin.

ROU – Display how this document has been ROUTED—ROU is a useful tool for checking on the progress of an electronic PAR.

NOT – Display document NOTES—If there are special circumstances associated with a PAR, it may be useful for the creator to record them in Notes. It is not advisable, however, to use Notes as a means of communicating issues and circumstances to others evaluating the PAR. It does, however, serve as a good way to include special information as part of the historical record. Just be aware that these Notes will remain a part of the official document.

CPY – COPY the document with a new document number—the Copy function of a PAR is useful when creating PARs with similar attributes. Keep in mind, however, that it must be kept within the same document type (FPN, FPT, FPX, or FPR).

FYA – Send document copy to person FOR YOUR APPROVAL—When a particular administrator is not usually on the routing chain for approval of a PAR, but it would be fitting that they approve the document, an FYA can send the electronic document to their Inbox for their approval before it continues routing forward.

FYI – Send document copy to person FOR YOUR INFORMATION—As a courtesy or to notify another administrator of the potential hire, an FYI can be used to place the electronic document in someone else’s inbox so that they be aware of the document despite not being on the routing chain.

PRT – PRINT the document—When the Creator of the PAR has completed the document, Verified (see below) that it passes all audits, and approved it off the Creator desk, PRT action should be taken to print out the PAR in proper format for routing it forward with the PAR packet for signature approval. These documents must be printed to a printer with a Terminal Identification (TID) or sent to the Data Processing shelf for your unit.

VER – VERIFY that the document is correct—VER of the PAR checks for audits in the electronic PAR that ensure the circumstances detailed in the document follow all business rules. There are two types of audit messages, a Warning and an Error. A Warning is a notification that some detail about the PAR is missing or that there is a circumstance in the PAR that will prohibit acceptance of the PAR, but it can still be approved forward. An Error means that something in the PAR is not following proper business rules and the document cannot be approved until the situation is resolved. In both cases, a brief explanation of what is wrong with the PAR will be explained in the message along with which section of the PAR the problem can be found.

REC – RECALL the document back to your inbox—If after approving the PAR forward, you wish to make changes, you may recall it back to your electronic desk as long as it has not yet been approved off the next desk in the routing chain. The creator of a PAR, however, may recall the document at any stage of the routing chain as long as it has not yet been final approved.

SUP – SUPERSEDE a document after final approval—After a PAR has been final approved, no further changes can be made on the document. When the circumstances of the potential hire change after that point, it is necessary to supersede the PAR. Much of the information from the original PAR will be transferred to the new superseding PAR. This new superseding PAR will now be the official electronic document and must be routed forward. The superseding PAR must also be printed and routed for signature approval as well, unless the supersede was purely an administrative function, such as updating an account number. If the supersede in any way changes the understanding of the contract between the candidate and The University, it must be signed by all relative administrators.

DEL – DELETE this document—If after the PAR has been created but not final approved, it is discovered that the PAR is not necessary or there is an error that a Supersede will not remedy, the PAR creator may DELete a PAR. It is important to know, however, that deleting a PAR removes all record of that document, including the document ID.

Provost’s Office Only PAR Actions

ACC – Formal offer to faculty ACCEPTED—Only when the original offer letter signed by head of the hiring unit and the faculty member arrives at the Provost’s Office can the PAR be ACCepted. The formal contract (the offer letter) is the only single document that carries the assurance that all parties understand and are in agreement with the hiring of the individual. After receiving the signed offer letter, it could take several days before the PAR is ACCepted due to the high volume of documentation received by Academic Personnel Services on a daily basis.

CAN – CANCEL Prior Approval Request—Occasionally it is necessary due to unforeseeable administrative issues to take an action on a PAR to remove it from circulation because it can be neither ACCepted nor DEClined. The Provost’s Office action will end the life cycle of the PAR while retaining a formal record of the document, but it can only be taken after the PAR has been final approved. This action is rarely taken, as the nature of the process of a PAR after it is final approved should result in either acceptance or declination of the formal offer. The CANcel will be the result of administrative error or some extraordinary circumstance.

DEC – Formal offer to faculty DECLINED—When a faculty candidate declines the formal offer, the hiring unit must contact the Provost’s Office with documentation explaining that the offer was declined along with specific reasons why it was declined. The Provost’s Office will retain declined PAR files for three years.

TIP: The final status of all PARs could be ACC (Accepted). Unless the PAR has been CANcelled or DEClined (these actions can only be done in the Provost’s Office), there should be no PAR left in any other than Accepted. If the college is unable to take an action on a PAR, the Provost’s Office should be notified by e-mailing evpp-aps@utexas.edu. The email should explain why the PAR is no longer relevant and request that it be CANcelled.

Section One – Position Information

Section one of the PAR provides all the details associated with the assignment and position. When entering or looking for information on dates or rates, it can be found in section one. Other details such as tenure status and position type, can also be addressed in section one.

Tenure Status

Tenured
Sub-accounts:
Long Session=2001
Summer Session=2003

Associate Professor (AP) -0020

Professor (P) -0010

Tenure-Track
Sub-accounts:
Long Session=2001
Summer Session=2003

Assistant Professor (AtP) -0030

Assistant Professor (Visiting) (VAtP) – 0030 *

Instructor (I) -0040

Research Titles
(Professional-Track)
Sub-accounts:
Long Session=2801
Summer Session=2803

Research Assistant Professor -0037

Research Associate Professor -0027

Research Professor -0017

Non-Tenured
Sub-accounts:
Long Session=2901
Summer Session=2903

Adjunct Assistant Professor (AdjAtP) -0035

Adjunct Associate Professor (AdjAP) -0025

Adjunct Professor (AdjP) -0015

Assistant Professor of Instruction –0038

Assistant Professor of Practice –0033

Associate Professor of Instruction –0028

Associate Professor of Practice –0023

Associate Professor ROTC (AP(ROTC)) – 0021

Clinical Assistant Professor (CAtP) -0034

Clinical Associate Professor (CAP) -0024

Clinical Instructor (CI) -0044

Clinical Professor (CP) -0013

Distinguished Senior Lecturer (DSL) -0048

Instructor in Clinical Nursing (ICN) -0041

Lecturer (L) -0050

Professor of Instruction -0007

Professor of Practice -0014

Professor ROTC (P(ROTC)) – 0011

Senior Lecturer (SL) -0049

Specialist (S) -0056

Visiting Associate Professor (VAP) -0022

Visiting Professor (VP) -0012

TIP: The job code for Assistant Professor (Visiting) is the same as the job code for Assistant Professor. The only distinction between these two titles is that Assistant Professor (Visiting) is a temporary assignment with a definitive end date. Assistant Professor (Visiting) is still a tenure-track position. This is the only tenure track position in which it is not required that the faculty member attend the new faculty orientation. Special handling is required by the hiring unit to ensure that Assistant Professor (Visiting) faculty to not start payment on 8/18 and that the end date of the assignment is correct. The PAR will require that the assignment begins 8/18 with no end date, therefore the job and academic appointment push to Workday, the hiring unit will have to create a summer assignment to cancel the 8/18-8/31 portion of the assignment. (The Position Origination date will remain 8/18.) Then an end date will need to be added that corresponds to the contract agreement.

Assignment Dates

All tenured and tenure-track positions beginning in the Fall will have a start date ten working days prior to September 1. Typically, though not always, this date will be August 18. If the assignment starts in the Spring, the start date will be January 16. It is recommended that tenured and tenure-track faculty starting in spring attend the new faculty orientation the following August. If the hiring college does require this of the faculty member, this must be reflected as a commitment in Section 2.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty may start earlier than August 18 (or January 16 for Spring start dates) for course development, or if they have a corresponding Administrative and Professional position such as a director or dean position that begins in the summer preceding their fall start.

Professional-Track positions should have a start date of either September 1 or January 16 during the long session; and June 1, or July 1 for summer assignments. Only in rare circumstances should there be any variation from these dates. An example might be a new faculty member being brought in to replace an ill colleague on an emergency basis. Whatever the reason, it should be explained in Section 8.

Percent Time

Percent time corresponds to effort and should follow a standard established by the hiring unit and college. For instance, the college should establish its interpretation of how course load and/or course credit hours taught corresponds to percent time and ensure that that standard is applied equitably among all faculty.

Contract Term

Short Term – Generally, 1 year or less. Also used for an assignment beginning in the summer and ending not later than 8/31 of the following summer
2 year – 2 years or less, but more than 1 year
3 year – 3 years or less, but more than 2 years
2 year rolling – a 2 year contract term extended one year each year rather than the assignment of a new contract term after the previous term has ended
3 year rolling – a 3 year contract term extended one year each year rather than the assignment of a new contract term after the previous term has ended

TIP: Multi-year contracts were designed to recognize extended and exemplary service to the instructional mission at UT Austin. Therefore, multi-year contracts can only be extended after six semesters or more in rank at UT Austin. Multiple year contracts need to be 50% time or greater for the full fixed period.

Rate

Faculty rate is market-driven, but a rate out of proportion with other faculty in the same title should be closely examined. If a rate is significantly under or over the rates of a faculty member’s peers, and there is no clear explanation in the PAR, this should be questioned and brought to the attention of hiring unit head. If there was an error it must be corrected. If the rate is as intended, then an explanation should be given in a letter from the hiring unit head.

Job Code

See section on Tenure Status for list of faculty job codes at the top of this section.

TIP: Tenured and tenure-track positions are referred to as “permanent” faculty positions, while professional-track positions are “temporary.”

Position Type

Primary
- All faculty must have a primary position even if only 0%
- Organizational home of faculty member
- Owning unit must be an academic department
- Owning unit generally takes lead in administering if there are joint positions
Joint
- Owning unit must be an academic department
- Formal relationship, full-fledged faculty member

Because a faculty member may have only one Primary unit, it is sometimes necessary to end a prior position in order to create a new primary position in a different unit, or submit a PAR to create an second faculty job, and then switch the Primary and Joint academic appointment Identifiers. This is not uncommon for professional-track faculty whose credentials qualify them to teach in a variety of fields. This will require some coordination between the current and future primary units. The unit that is currently the primary unit must first consent to any changes related to that faculty member’s primary position. Clear details about why the changes are needed (e.g. to create a primary position in another unit) should be included in the PAR Comments section.

TIP: A Courtesy Academic Appointment may be provided to a faculty member needing an affiliation with a secondary academic unit but does not need a regular faculty position. This appointment is processed in Workday, not the PAR, and it is not a position or job. The following applies:

- Owning Unit may be an academic department, program, or research center
- Associated/affiliated faculty member
- Funding and % time are N/A; may have supplement
- Any funding contributed to % time is entered on the primary or joint position

Funding Details

Funding distribution – An account number is required for all Primary and Joint positions. You will enter in the % Dist column the percent of the funding that the corresponding account will contribute to the assignment. It is important to understand that funding distribution is not percent time. The distribution refers to how the funds will be expended to meet the percent-time of the assignment. The distribution itself will always be one-hundred percent because one-hundred percent of the assignment needs to be funded. Even if the assignment is less than 100% the distribution will still need to cover 100% of the assignment.

When using an instruction account (14-), the correct sub-account corresponding to tenure status and long session of summer session must be used. For a list of those sub-accounts see the section on Tenure Status at the top of this section.

Supplements (SUPLE)

When adding a supplement in funding details, the value to enter in the % Dist field is SUPLE. The amount of the supplement goes in the corresponding field in the Supplement Amount column. Only enter endowment types of F (Fellow) and H (Holder). All endowment types of N (Non-Endowed) must be initiated in Workday after the faculty position is created.

The details on the name of the supplement or a particular account should be added in the Description column.

If, after exiting the Funding Details Information page, it is necessary to delete one of the funding lines, it is not enough to space through the items. Instead, the line should be deleted entering an X in the far right Delete Column.

TIP: All primary and joint positions require an account number for 100% distribution, even when the assignment is 0%-time and there is a supplement entered in the funding details.

Section Two – Funding Commitments

Section Two of the PAR is used to record commitments associated with the hiring of the faculty member. All details surrounding the commitments, such as funding, dates, documentation status, and additional details about the commitment are dealt with in Section Two.

In Section Two when you clear out the + moreable, you will be able add details relating to any special funding commitments requested for approval in the hiring of the faculty candidate.

Commitment Types

There are ten types of funding commitments:

Start-Up = SU
A Start-Up commitment is used for funding that will be allocated to projects or programs that the faculty candidate will lead. A start-up commitment is commonly used for technical hardware and software or office and lab equipment that is needed for the work the person would be hired for.

Renovation = RN
Renovation commitment is funding used for renovating an office or lab.

Computer = CP
Computer commitment is funding used to purchase one desktop or laptop computer for new tenured or tenure-track faculty. It is highly recommended that all permanent faculty receive this commitment, although this program is no longer funded at the institutional level.

Moving Expenses = MV
A hiring unit may make a request to commit funding to pay for the moving expenses of a faculty candidate. This is usually done on a reimbursement basis.

Relocation = RL
A Relocation commitment is a lump sum payment that may go toward other expenses associated with a relocation such as visits to Austin while looking for a permanent home. This is considered taxable income and should be denoted as such in the contract letter.

Faculty Salary = FS
The Faculty Salary commitment is used for the funding of the faculty assignment on a separate account. For instance, the 8/18-8/31 portion of the assignment for tenured and tenure-track faculty would be recorded as a Faculty Salary commitment on the -03 sub-account. Spousal Hire commitments from other units should also be listed as FS commitments.

Research Support = RS
Research support is additional funding to support the faculty member’s scholarship (eg. graduate student support, lab equipment, computer hardware or software).

Professional Development = PD
Commitments for professional development are used for travel, books, subscriptions, or memberships to professional organizations that will enhance the faculty candidate’s academic standing and progress.

Other Employment = OE
Other Employment refers to salary commitments for periods that fall outside of the regular faculty assignment and will therefore be paid on a separate account (ie. summer salary).

Other Costs = OC
Any funding commitments that do not fall under any of the categories listed above would be categorized as Other Costs. This category should only be used in exceptional circumstances.

In addition to entering the two-letter commitment type, commitments details page also requires:

The amount of the commitment, the account that will be used
The dates that the commitment will begin and expire
Whether or not it is a permanent recurring commitment
If the source of funding for the commitment comes from the dean, institution, department or some other source
The date the commitment was approved by the head of the hiring unit

Commitment Documentation

For each of these there must be an indication of whether the documentation is either:

Y – On file
A – Attached the PAR packet
I – Currently incomplete
F – Forthcoming
N – Not applicable

Comments about the commitment are required to provide explicit details about the commitment during review. For instance, for a RS commitment, the comments might explain that the commitment is to fund a GRA position for the faculty candidate for two years. With this information it will enable the PAR reviewers to see that the information in the contract letter reflects the information in the PAR.

TIP: If a single commitment spans several years, in most colleges it is recommended that the commitment is reflected as one commitment with the apply and expire date spanning that multi-year period rather than multiple commitments for one-year periods. In the College of Liberal Arts, however, it is required that each year is separated as an individual commitment.

There is a limit of 48 commitments built into the PAR system.

Do not use “as indicated in offer letter” as a commitment comment. The comment field should include details about the intent of the commitment and/or a more detailed description of the commitment.

Section Three – Biographical Information

Section Three lays out the required biographical information about the faculty candidate. It is extremely important that information is recorded correctly in this section. Reports that are used on the university, system and state level will refer to the data that is entered in this section.

Name

In rare circumstances it is necessary to change the name from what was originally entered in the biography record with the corresponding EID. By clearing out the moreable beside Name, you may enter the correct name. Name details may also used for instances where it is discovered after PAR final approval that the name was created with an error or that the faculty candidate’s official name (associated with the faculty member’s Social Security Number) is something other than what was entered in the PAR. By superseding the original PAR, the name correction can be taken care of here in Section three.

TIP: It is not recommended to delete a PAR and create a new EID for the correct name. Doing so can cause data confusion down the line and may be problematic to the faculty member.

Ethnicity and Race

Ethnicity and Race are optional sections. Ethnicity and race should be considered two stages of determination, the first establishing Hispanic ethnicity; and the second establishing whether the candidate is American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or white.

Question 1: Ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino
is defined as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

Question 2: Race

American Indian or Alaska Native:
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment.

Asian:
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Black or African American:
A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander:
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.

White:
A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East or North Africa.

The audits in the PAR will allow you to leave ethnicity blank if you are at all unsure of how to answer, but if you choose a race you must also choose an ethnicity. For example, if you choose Asian and White for race (yes, you can choose more than one), you will also have to answer Yes or No to whether or not the faculty member is Hispanic. You may only answer the ethnicity question without indicating a race.

Administrators handling faculty recruitment should not guess at a candidate’s ethnicity and race, not should they inquire without stipulating that providing this information is purely voluntary.

Gender

Indicated by M for Male and F for Female.

Citizenship

Indicated by:

1 – United States Citizen
2 – Non-United States Citizen
3 – Permanent Resident Alien

TIP: It is important to know that if there is any possibility that you may hire a someone on a permanent basis who is seeking or may at some point seek Permanent Residency status, it is essential that you advertise for the open position IN PRINT. Ads in electronic journals will not satisfy the requirements of the Department of Labor’s Foreign Labor Certification. A good resource for information on this issue is http://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/howdoi.cfm.

The Journal of the Modern Language Association is NOT an acceptable print publication in the eyes of the DOL.

Always check with Texas Global if you have any questions or concerns.

Date of Birth and Place of Birth

It is required to enter accurate birth information in the PAR. This data is often used to validate Social Security information and rectify instances of duplicate identities. Take care that the information entered here is accurate.

Do not enter city and state on the same line. A separate field is provided for state. By entering a question mark in the field for Country, a list of codes will be provided.

Degrees and Contingencies

ALL degree information listed on the faculty candidate’s CV must be entered in the Degree portion of Section Three. You must clear out two moreables to get to the degree detail page where the degree information is entered.

Degree Abbreviation — If a degree abbreviation is listed on the CV that is not acceptable in the PAR system, e-mail evpp-aps@utexas.edu with detailed information regarding the degree information.
Equivalent will fill in automatically
Terminal degree refers to the level of the degree. A terminal degree is the highest degree that can be earned in that specific field of study. (PhD is the terminal degree for most fields of study.) It should not be confused with highest degree. Terminal Degree is a yes/no question.
Highest degree is the highest degree that the faculty candidate has earned. This, too, is a yes/no question.
Year is when the degree was officially earned. If the faculty candidate is still working on the degree the value for the year earned should be “9999.” If the value is “9999” the highest degree value must be “N.” For degree contingencies, the year for the respective degree must be “9999.”
CIP stands for Classification of Instructional Programs. Governed by the Board of Education, each discipline is given a specific code. This field is necessary for reporting and credentialing purposes. A look-up for the codes is given by entering a question mark in the field.
FICE stands for Federal Interagency Committee on Education. Although the Board of Education has since moved to a new coding system, UT still uses FICE codes. In instances where a degree was earned as a foreign institution, a stand-in for a FICE code can be created by Academic Personnel Services. This request can be made by e-mailing evpp-aps@utexas.edu with specific information about the institution in question (official name, past names, location, etc) and a link to the institution’s official website. This in rare circumstances, this may even be necessary for domestic institutions. However, a thorough search for the institution in the FICE look-up should be done first.

TIP: When looking up institutions beginning with “University of” the search should begin “Univ of.”

Degree Candidate

This is an automated field value. If “9999” was entered as a value for any degree, the result in Degree Candidate will be “Yes,” otherwise the value will be “No.”

Contingency Type

A contingency on a PAR is made when, at the time of formal offer, a faculty candidate will be in the process of earning a degree that the hiring unit is requiring for the position. There are three types of contingencies:

AP—Appointment Contingency means that if the faculty candidate does not earn his degree by the time of the assignment start date, the offer is retracted (ie. there will be no appointment).
RR—Rank and Rate is made when the rank and rate will be reduced if the faculty candidate does not earn the degree by the assignment start date. RR contingency is made for Assistant Professor hires. The alternate rank defaults to Instructor. An alternate rate will need to be entered back on Section 1, the fields for which will only be selectable after the contingency is made.
RK—Rank contingency is made when only the rank will be reduced if the degree requirement is not met.

To clear a pending contingency, an official notification that the candidate’s degree has been conferred must be sent to the Provost’s Office along with a request to “complete” the contingency. In cases where the candidate has completed all requirements of the degree, but it will not be officially conferred until after the assignment begins, the Provost’s Office will accept a letter from the thesis or dissertation supervisor explaining that ALL requirements of the degree are complete and stipulating the specific date the degree is due to be conferred. This must be an signed letter from the supervisor on letterhead. Notification of passing a dissertation defense is not sufficient. The candidate must have completed all requirements.

Beside the contingency type, the deadline for the requirement to be met must be entered. Typically this is 8/18, but may be made earlier (but not later) should the hiring unit feel it is necessary. For a Spring hire the contingency should be met before January 16.

A description of the contingency may be entered below the date, but it is not required.

The alternate rank for Assistant Professor is Instructor, which is also a tenure track title. In a case where a would-be Assistant Professor does not meet the contingency and must begin as an Instructor, their tenure clock still starts. (In the case of a tenure-track Spring hire, the clock does not begin until the following Fall.) Even if the faculty member completes their degree requirements shortly after the assignment start date, they will still remain in the Instructor title until the following Fall. A faculty member may remain in the Instructor title for a maximum of three years.

TIP: It is important not to confuse the degree contingency process with the credentialing process. These are two different processes. If the official transcript is being used for both processes, two copies must be sent to the Provost’s Office with notes on each explaining the purpose for sending them. Never assume the Provost’s Office will be able to deduce why you’re sending a document to the office.

The only contingency available for non-tenure-track faculty is AP.

Previous Affiliation and Contact Information

Recording previous affiliation is mandatory. It is important for reporting on recruitment. Organization name and the faculty candidate’s job or position should be recorded as it is reflected on the CV.

Contact information, including e-mail address, is also extremely important. It is essential that all levels of administration involved with the hiring of any given faculty member knows how to contact that individual, particularly if the offer is accepted.

Section Four – Endowment Information

Endowment Information

Section four of the PAR is for informational purposes only. It reflects any endowment information associated with the faculty candidate’s record. If endowment information was entered in Section 1, it will also be reflected here. Nothing may be altered in this section.

Section Five – All Prior Approval Request for Fiscal Year

PARs in Fiscal Year

Section Five lists all other PARs that may have been created for the faculty candidate during the given fiscal year. This can be useful as a reference when working with other departments and colleges on a joint assignment. Nothing may be altered in this section.

Section Six – Course Load Information

Course Detail

The courses that the faculty candidate is being hired to teach should all be recorded in Section Six. Although all details about what courses the faculty candidate will teach may not be known at the time the PAR is created, as much information that is know, should be recorded here. The purpose of this section is to ensure that the teaching load corresponds to the hours worked relative to the college the faculty candidate will be teaching. Like may other aspects of the PAR, it also provides the impetus to consider these details prior to an official offer being made to the candidate.

Sem: The semester the course will be taught. The values are:

FA – Fall
SP – Spring
SU – Summer Session

Abbr: Course abbreviations are provided in a look-up when a question mark is entered.

Unique: Enter if available at the time the PAR is created, otherwise leaves blank. The Course Title will fill in automatically.

Title: Title will fill in automatically after course abbreviation is entered.

Meets With: If the course meets with another class, the value in column Meets With should be Y, otherwise it should be N.

Nbr Sec: If the faculty candidate will teach multiple sections of the course, that number should be reflected in the Number Sections column.

Avg Enr: If there is historical information on how many students typically will enroll in this course, it could be recorded in Average Enrolled. Otherwise, the projected enrollment for the course should be recorded here.

Team Teach: If the course will be taught by more than one faculty member, the value for Team Teach should be Y, otherwise it must be N. Graduate student instructors are not faculty members are should not be considered when evaluating whether a course is team taught. If the course is team taught the EIDs of all the other faculty members teaching the course should be recorded by clearing out the moreable on the respective row.

TIP: In some instances, the course may not yet be entered into the course information database that feeds the PAR system. If this is the case, and the course is not found in the look-up, by clearing out the moreable on the left, you may enter a comment explaining that the course information is not yet available in the PAR system.

Section Seven – Offer Status & Supporting Documentation

Section Seven houses all the data that has to do with the corresponding documentation that will be included in the PAR packet. Some of the data recorded in this section is a reiteration of the data that will come from forms in the PAR packet, such as the Language Form and the Appointment Process Summary.

Name, Unit, background check, and Status of Offer are all informational, (i.e. there is no data entry needed in these fields).

Comments in this field are for processing office only.

Job Posting Number

There are five value types available for Job ID:

Job ID – The actual job posting number from the UT Faculty Recruitment Website, which must match the posting number of the printed posting from that site included in the PAR Packet.
Waiver – A waiver may be granted approval by the provost in exceptional circumstances when foregoing the formal recruitment process is warranted. The form for requesting a recruitment waiver may be found on the Provost’s Office website. It is recommended that a memo detailing the circumstances of the hire is included with the Waiver form. When the waiver is approved, the original document will be sent to the college-level PAR contact, which should be included with the PAR packet when it is sent up to the Provost’s Office.
Extrnl Firm – Refers to recruitment conducted by an external firm. (Spelling of this value is correct and due to character limit.)
Spousal – Spousal refers to a spousal hire. This is only used for the recipient of a spousal hire agreement, not the principal hire (ie. the faculty member whose acceptance of our office is contingent upon the hiring of his or her spouse). A spousal hire must also include a waiver form approved by the provost. If “Spousal” is entered as a value for Job Posting Number, the EID of the principal hire must be entered below it. A look-up is provided by entering a question mark in the field. The name of the principal faculty member will display beneath the EID.
N/A – A posting number, waiver or spousal agreement is Not Applicable (N/A) if the faculty assignment is a 0%-time, if it is an adjunct or visiting title, or if it is for a Modified Service assignment. A Modified Service assignment is any faculty assignment of a retired faculty member. Such an assignment must be under 50% time. The PAR will automatically recognize the assignment as Modified Service, assuming the retirement has been finalized.

TIP: Modified Service is a function that in most cases can be taken care of exclusively in Workday. As long as the faculty member’s position exists in Workday, the PAR is not necessary as there will already be an existing position in place.

Supporting Documentation

There are four values that can be used when determining File Status:

A—Attached
F—Forthcoming
I—Incomplete
N—Not Applicable
Y—On File

One of these type values must be applied to each of the documentation types:

Vitae – A current curriculum vitae is required with all non-superseding PARs.

References – at least three letters for recommendation are required for every new hire. For non-tenure-track faculty at least one of those three letters must be from outside the university. For tenured and tenure-track they all must be outside the university. 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, three new letters are required. The letters of recommendation must be signed and can be the originals or copies. Unsigned letters will not be accepted. If the letters come in via e-mail, the e-mail message from the referee must be printed out and submitted with the letter of recommendation. That e-mail cannot be from a third party. It must be directly from the referee.

Language – The Primary Language Determination form must be provided for all faculty new hire candidates as required by state law. Attachment A of this form determines the primary language spoken by the faculty candidate. Primary language as English should not be confused with fluency in English. Regardless of whether or not quality of English spoken by the faculty candidate, if English is not their primary language, it may not be indicated as such on the form. If English is not the primary language used by the faculty candidate, attachments C and D are also required. Attachment C assesses the English proficiency of the candidate and Attachment D certifies at what level the candidate is fit to teach and stipulates any restrictions that may be necessary for his assignment. Attachment A must be signed by the department chair or dean, attachment C by the faculty member who assessed the English proficiency of the candidate, and Attachment D by the dean, and if applicable the department chair.

Appt Process – The Appointment Process Summary is a required form for all tenured and tenure-track faculty candidates. Detailed information about the recruitment process and the criteria used to evaluate each candidate must be provided on this form.

Job Posting – The job posting from Faculty Careers must be printed out an included in the PAR packet, along with any other job postings used for the recruitment of the faculty position.

Offer Ltr – A copy of the draft offer letter that would be issued to the faculty candidate should the PAR be approved must be included in the PAR packet. It’s important to remember that this letter is a formal contract and the language used is legally binding.

TIP: Offer letters must be issued for every new faculty assignment. For instance, if the contract is for one year only, but it continues to get renewed on an annual basis, a new letter will be needed every year. If the contract term is for three years, then only one letter is needed for that full three-year period. If the contract term is rolling, only one initial letter is needed until there is a change in the terms of the contract. As permanent faculty, tenured and tenure-track faculty only need one offer letter when they are first hired.

Even when a PAR is not used (i.e. the assignment is managed in Workday), a new letter must be signed by the head of the hiring unit and the faculty member, a copy sent to the Provost’s Office, and a copy retained in the college (and department if applicable).

Chair Letter – For tenured and tenure-track faculty a letter from the chair (or dean in the case of non-departmentalized colleges) is needed detailing the strengths of the faculty candidate and why hiring this individual is necessary. This must be a signed, original document on university letterhead.

Director Letter – If the faculty position is in a unit headed by a director, the director must write a letter detailing the merits of the faculty candidate and the need for the position. This must be a signed, original document on university letterhead.

Teaching Assessment – The teaching assessment is required for all tenured and tenure-track hires and recommended for all non-tenure-track hires. The assessment should outline the teaching experience of the faculty candidate and outline an empirical evaluation of the candidates teaching ability along with a list of courses the faculty member will teach and he is suited to teach those particular classes. The letter may be written by the recruitment chair or the head of the hiring unit. It must be a signed, original document on university letterhead.

Other – If there is any additional supplementary documentation that will be included in the PAR packet, it must be recorded here.

Number of References Attached: The number of original, signed letters of recommendation must recorded here.

English Proficiency

The item selected must reflect the information in the Language Proficiency form. The choices being:

Primary English
Primary Not English, No Restrictions
Primary Not English, With Restrictions
Foreign Language Exemption

Foreign Language Exemption may only be used with a faculty candidate who will be teaching advanced level language courses in which English will not be spoken.

Tenure Vote BC/EC

For all tenured and research faculty hires the Budget or Executive committee within each unit must vote on the hire. Where applicable the hire must be voted in at the college level as well. The results of those votes must be recorded here in the PAR.

Section 8 – Prior Approval Comments

PAR Comments

Enter any special comments that will communicate special circumstances involved with the PAR and help facilitate processing of the electronic document. Superseding documents require specific explanations in Section eight detailing the reasons for the supersede.

Research Faculty

FPR documents are used to hire research faculty. See Hiring Research Faculty for complete procedural information regarding this process.

About Research Faculty

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.

*Research Faculty vs. Research Staff. Key distinction is evidence of engagement with the academic enterprise through teaching, mentorship, or supervision of students at some level.*

In summary, here are the steps to follow:

CSU creates electronic PAR and submits complete PAR packet to EVPP for initial review; request additional information from hiring unit, if applicable.
Review by Vice President for Research; request additional information from hiring unit, if applicable.
Approval by Vice President for Research.
Offer letter goes out to candidate. Offer may be extended only after receiving approval from VPR.
Signed offer letter from the candidate is forwarded to EVPP.
EVPP will ACCept the PAR and the faculty position should push overnight to Workday.

International Hiring

The hiring of faculty who are non-U.S. citizens requires special handling and close coordination with the International Office. You will also need to discuss with the faculty candidate their visa options. Texas Global has posted a helpful resource page for administrators working with internationals, which includes a page on determining the right visa.

After approving the PAR off the Creator’s desk, the hiring unit should contact International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) to inform them of the impending hire of a non-U.S.-citizen. ISSS will need to know the EID of the faculty candidate, their faculty title, their contract term if it is a temporary faculty position, and the classification they will be requesting. ISSS cannot process any requests until an EID has been generated for the faculty candidate, so the PAR must be created prior to contacting them with this request.

KNOW YOUR OPTIONS. If an eligible faculty member chooses to seek U.S. lawful permanent residency through the process for university teachers rather than the “outstanding professor or researcher strategy” process, they will have to do so within 18 months of the original job offer. Note that this is from the date of the offer, NOT the date of hire. That means if you make the offer a year in advance, you would only have six months after the faculty member starts to push the application through. If you miss this window their only option to seek U.S. lawful permanent residency through The University will be through the “outstanding professor or researcher” category, which requires exceptional credentials from the faculty member and usually three years of experience, post PhD. Please plan to contact ISSS early, as completing the process can still take several months after initiation.

It is also important to know the Provost Office policy on hiring non-U.S. citizens in academic and research positions. That document includes a full list of faculty titles that are eligible without waiver to seek H-1B or Permanent Residency classification.

Among the contingencies stated in the faculty contract one makes clear that if they are not eligible to work in the U.S., they will not be hired: “completion of the form and provision of documentation required by the Federal Immigration Reform and Control Act to verify employment eligibility to work in the United States.”

Keep in mind that even if they have an H-1B at another institution, that status will not necessarily carry over to their employment here.

This is the order that you should follow when dealing with faculty candidates who are non-U.S. citizens:

Review the options that may be available to the candidate.
When contacting the candidate for information required in the PAR, discuss the options available to them for visa classifications.
Create the PAR and APProve off the Creator’s electronic desk.
Contact Faculty & Scholar Services in the International Office so they can begin processing the visa request.
When the signed letter comes in and the PAR is ACCepted in the Provost’s Office, notify Faculty & Scholar Services of the creation of the assignment and position. The International Office cannot send the request forward to the Department of Labor until the assignment has been approved by the Provost’s Office, so it is important that you notify them when the assignment and position are created.
Promptly provide the required initiation documentation so Faculty & Scholar Services can develop the necessary immigration strategies, typically for an H-1B nonimmigrant visa.
Keep the faculty candidate informed and in the loop. Be patient and sympathetic.This can be an understandably stressful time for them.

PAR Checklists

TIP: To facilitate review, include materials in the packet in the order shown below.

Professional-Track (temporary) Positions (e.g. Lecturer Series, Clinical Series, Instruction Series, Practice Series, Research Series)

	PDF copy of electronic PAR signed by department chair (for departmentalized colleges) and dean
	Candidate’s Curriculum Vitae
	At least 3 reference letters (copies are acceptable). 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 faculty role at UT.
	Primary Language Determination form, Attachment A; and, if primary language is not English, Attachments C & D.
	EEO report from Interfolio (if recruitment was managed in Interfolio) and a copy of the faculty job posting on Faculty Careers; or an approved Exemption Request for Faculty Position Requiring a Search*
	DRAFT of offer letter

Tenure-Track Positions (Instructor/Assistant Professor)

	PDF copy of electronic PAR signed by department chair (for departmentalized colleges) and dean
	Candidate’s Curriculum Vitae
	Teaching Assessment: list of courses the candidate is likely to teach over the next 3 years and how teaching these courses enhances the programmatic priorities of your department and the college/school; the evidence of the candidate’s teaching effectiveness as indicated by student response to the candidate, the department chair’s or search committee chair’s sense of the candidates commitment to teaching, letters of recommendation, awards, course evaluations from previously taught classes, former student accomplishments, and any other evidence the department wishes to offer–such as the candidate’s statement of teaching goals if asked to provide this (focus on how the feedback was attained on teaching effectiveness)
	At least 3 reference letters (originals or copies) from individuals with an understanding of the academic setting and standards of a research institution.
	Primary Language Determination form, Attachment A; if English is not the Primary Language, include Attachments C & D as well
	Copy of any funding commitment for salaries, start-up, research support, renovation, etc. approved by the provost’s office and any related documentation (e.g., equipment lists, Facilities and Planning renovation estimates for which the provost’s office is to be responsible).
	Appointment Process Summary and the EEO report from Interfolio (if recruitment was managed in Interfolio; if only one applicant brought in for interview, an explanation should be included as to why). Include a copy of job posted on Faculty Careers, if applicable. If the hiring department has requested a waiver of the posting requirement, include the Exemption Request for Faculty Position Requiring a Search form approved by (or to be approved by) the Provost’s Office.
	DRAFT of offer letter

Tenured Positions (Associate and full Professors)

Go to this page to find information about hiring a faculty member with tenure and the steps that must be completed. You will also find a provisional offer letter template available for download.

TIP: The print copy of the PAR and DRAFT offer letter are required hard copy documentation for all PARs. These along with the remainder of the items are required for first time (i.e., new) appointments to the faculty. An updated curriculum vitae should accompany the PAR of NTT faculty returning to the University after a break in service of over 3 years.

* Job postings/waivers and the EEO report from Interfolio are not necessary for adjunct, visiting, and modified service faculty hires.

*Job postings and applicant pool statistics are not necessary for adjunct, visiting, and modified service faculty.

Evaluating a PAR

Things to check when evaluating a PAR

Check for required materials
Check for all required signatures throughout PAR packet
Verify proper account number is being used
Verify that proper job posting is being used
Read and evaluate letters of recommendation
Check for Degree Status
Check that education on PAR matches CV
Verify Commitments against draft offer letter
Verify draft offer letter contains proper language for position and hiring status
Verify language form is consistent with birth and education information
Check for previous title inconsistencies (ex. Assistant Professor to Lecturer)
Check that rate corresponds to rank for other like-hires in unit
If supersede, evaluate that necessary changes were made and approved
Check that Appointment Process Summary is filled out correctly
Check that draft offer letter rate, rank, period, percent-time correspond to PAR
If joint appointment, verify that rate and rank match primary unit
Check that contingencies are valid against CV
In case of endowment, ensure that approval documentation is included