Non-Reappointment or Dismissal
This discussion pertains specifically to clinical, lecturer, and professor of practice faculty. Aspects may also apply to pre-tenure, tenure-track faculty, or to research associates and research scientists prior to the expiration of an existing appointment.
Contact Faculty Affairs at ude[dot]ui[at]rhdaca as soon as a situation comes up. Document performance in annual reviews and in more frequent meetings and memos.
Dates here only apply to faculty who are in their third or later years. There are different timelines for those in their 1st or 2nd year. Dismissal or non-reappointment for program closure or financial exigency are not included below.
Supposing you have a poorly-performing non-tenure track faculty member.
You may choose not to reappoint them, in which case they receive notification that their end date will be one year out. This is very easy, as long as you have adequate documentation of poor performance or unit needs.
You may dismiss them prior to the expiration of a current appointment, which requires much more extensive documentation and if it is to happen sooner than 1 year, requires some extraordinary circumstance.
For both non-reappointments, and for dismissals, please contact Rachel Applegate or Margie Ferguson as soon as possible in the process.
Appropriate documentation of poor performance includes:
- Clear, explicit, and concrete evidence of and warning that performance does not meet expectations.
- A chance for the faculty member to explain or respond to the allegation; opportunity for the faculty member to make plans to improve.
- A chance for the faculty member to explain or respond to the allegation; opportunity for the faculty member to make plans to improve.
- Monitoring of whether improvement is taking place as planned.
- Clear and explicit warning of the consequences of non-improvement.
Reappointment and Non-Reappointment
Every NTT faculty member has an appointment end date. This is either May 31st, xxxx (10-month) or June 30th xxxx (12-month). Every faculty member is entitled to one year’s notice of non-reappointment (after their second year). That is, prior to one year before the expiration of their appointment, they must be either reappointed, or, notified of non-reappointment.
Example as of January, 2022:
NTT can be non-reappointed for two reasons:
- Poor performance (“professional incompetence”) ACA-18.
- Program needs (staffing).
Faculty have a right to grieve non-reappointment, so the reasoning and documentation must be sufficient to show a Board of Review that the decision was not arbitrary or unfair. Faculty also have the right to ask OEO to investigate if they believe the decision was affected by discrimination.
Dismissal
Dismissal is not the same as non-reappointment. Dismissal can only be done on grounds of personal misconduct.
In order for a dismissal to be effective with a shorter effective date than 1 year’s notice at least one of these is needed:
- Threat to safety.
- Repeated acts of same misconduct (this means prior documentation!)
- Felony.
IU Policy: "Involuntary dismissal of non-tenured academic appointees...prior to the expiration of the term of appointment. 2. Involuntary dismissal shall occur only for reason of (a) incompetence, (b) serious personal or professional misconduct, or (c) extraordinary university financial exigency, or on other grounds specified in policies regulating specific non-tenure-track appointment categories.
F. In order to dismiss an academic appointee in less than one year because the appointee is found responsible for serious personal misconduct, the conduct must pose an ongoing threat to the safety and security of the university community, constitute repeated acts of the same form of misconduct, or have resulted in a felony conviction."
IU Policy ACA-52 Permanent Separations for Academic Appointees. The Chancellor must approve all dismissals. The Chancellor reviews details for all non-reappointments.
Please contact ude[dot]ui[at]rhdaca as soon as possible for guidance. Faculty may also be non-reappointed if the unit has a formal resignation or retirement notice.
Reviewed and revised: 7/2023.