Policies, Forms and Resources

Forms and Templates Heading link

The aim of the Under-Represented Faculty Recruitment Program (UFRP) is to help attract and retain a faculty that more closely resembles the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) student population.  The UFRP is designed to encourage and assist colleges and departments that have selected underrepresented candidates for hire by providing funds toward salary and research.

Recurring salary funds up to $20,000, $25,000, and $30,000 are available to the college to support the salary of individual faculty members at the rank of assistant, associate, and full professor, respectively, with the funds channeled through the faculty member’s college. Once allocated, the funds will become part of the college’s state budget until the faculty member leaves the tenure system or the appointment drops below 50%.

UFRP funding may also include research support of a maximum of $20,000 per year for each of the first three years of employment. These funds help to ensure that minority faculty members receive the support needed to enable them to continue research as well as to manage the additional responsibilities often required of them.

UFRP is for newly recruited faculty in tenured or tenure track positions.  It is not intended to assist faculty members who are currently on the tenure track at UIC, but may be used for faculty members in clinical or research tracks who are being recruited to move into the tenure system.  Requests will be entertained only for faculty members who have been selected as desirable for hire into a tenured or tenure track position but have not yet committed to the appointment.

Requests for salary support and/or research awards should be submitted in writing to the college dean, through the COM Office of Faculty Affairs. The request should consist of a brief letter of justification from the department head, including relevant information about gender and race/ethnicity and indicating the anticipated start date, along with the proposed candidate’s current CV.  If the offer is for a tenured appointment as associate professor or professor, the request should not be submitted until after the recommendation for tenure has been reviewed and approved by the College promotions committee.

The full policy is available here.  UFRP Policy

Tenure system assistant professors beginning their initial appointment after the eighth week of the academic year, i.e., after October 15th, are required to complete a Service Toward Completion of the Probationary Period form.  This form records the faculty member’s request to have  the initial partial year count or not count toward the probationary period.  The decision must be made at the time of the faculty member’s initial appointment to the tenure-track. It is very important for a faculty member to understand the implications of counting or not counting an initial year in which he/she provides less than a full year’s service, since the decision will affect the timing of their promotion and tenure review.

Faculty should discuss this matter thoroughly with their department head.  Additionally, faculty who have questions about this decision or who are starting their appointment in the 2nd half of the academic year (after February 16th) and opting to count the partial year should consult with COM Faculty Affairs before completing the form.  Units may contact Gillian Coombs to arrange this meeting.

Policies and Resources Heading link

In order to submit a named professorship request for College and University review, the following documents are needed:

  • Letter from unit executive officer justifying the proposed appointment.  Must include the prerequisites of the named appointment, a description of the process used for selection, and the case for distinction.
  • Updated CV of endowed professorship nominee
  • Copy of the gift agreement or charter document for named position
  • Transmittal Form

The above materials should be submitted electronically to Rosa Setterstrom.

See also: UIC Guidelines for Appointing and Investing Named Chairs and Professorships

The “W” agreement (special written agreement for definite term) provides departments the option of hiring faculty without indefinite tenure and under definite terms by entering into a special written agreement with the concurrence of the faculty member.

The use of a “W” agreement is exclusively maintained for non-tenured faculty in the Clinical Discipline track in the College of Medicine. A “W” agreement must be executed when either the advanced rank (Associate Professor of Clinical xxx or Professor of Clinical xxx) or % appointment (51% or greater for an Assistant Professor of Clinical xxx) would confer tenure or tenure probationary status. It is preferred that no state funding be included for faculty on a “W” agreement; however up to 50% will be allowed.

Processing: Units should initiate the W agreement via the W agreement online form for review and execution. Once electronic signatures have been secured at every level, employee and unit will receive an executed W agreement via email. At that time, units can proceed with the related HRFE transaction.

Clinician Educator 60/40 Rule

All new faculty hires that are truly primarily clinical/clinician educators will be in the clinical discipline track (i.e. Prof of Clinical “discipline”) and typically will be funded at a ratio of 60% physician surgeon and 40% faculty title. The expectation is that although the Physician Surgeon line provides certain flexibility, the faculty member will remain > 50% FTE. The assumption is total compensation will be consistent and subject to clinical productivity and departmental incentive plans.

This 60/40 split is intended to clarify the primary clinician teacher role, better define tenure versus non-tenured faculty, avoid triggering “W” agreements prior to promotion to senior rank, and creates the desired consistency required by Campus Faculty HR.

policy effective 2/8/10

“Visiting” may be used in the title of a faculty appointment when the individual is to be a temporary appointee of one year or less.  Such appointments may be renewed for a period generally not longer than three years when state-funded, and not longer than five years when the funding source is non-state.  Appointments beyond these timeframes imply permanent status and if they are to continue must be converted to permanent appointments in accordance with established campus policies.

Advanced rank new appointments (associate professor or professor in all tracks) require the development of a p&t dossier within the first year.   The recommendation then goes to the College promotions committee for review and to the Executive Dean for endorsement.  Tenured appointments require additional approvals at the University level. See New Appointments for additional information.

Most clinicians are salaried as both a faculty member and a physician surgeon. Some points to remember when structuring the appointment are:

  • To be in the tenure track, assistant professors must have a faculty appointment line of 51% or greater. Newly hired associate professors and professors can be tenured at varying amounts, although attention should be given to equity with other members of the department.
  • Tenure track percent and dollars should not be decreased without written agreement from the faculty member.
  • Assistant professor faculty in the Clinical Discipline Track (who by definition are not tenure track) are on N tenure if the faculty appointment line is less than or equal to 50% and W tenure (with a fully executed W agreement required) if greater than 50%.
  • Clinical discipline track appointments (i.e. Prof of Clinical “discipline”) are typically funded at a ratio of 60% physician surgeon and 40% faculty title. The expectation is that although the Physician Surgeon line provides certain flexibility, the faculty member will remain > 50% FTE. The assumption is total compensation will be consistent and subject to clinical productivity and departmental incentive plans. This 60/40 split is intended to clarify the distribution of activities and better define tenure versus non-tenured faculty, and creates the desired consistency expected by the University.
  • Associate professors and professors in the Clinical Discipline Track must have a W contract on file if any of their contractual salary is attributed to the faculty rank line.

It is encouraged that full-time faculty who also hold administrative appointments have a title designated for these responsibilities on their contracts. The line should be on a 0% basis with appropriate dollars attached. When this is done, it is possible to identify a discrete dollar amount for salary reduction should an individual step down from or otherwise end his or her administrative responsibilities. An approved PAPE is not required for an administrative title for tenured or tenure track faculty but is necessary when one is not in the tenure stream.

Most major administrative appointments will require prior approval by the Provost. Further details on this process may be found in the Office of the Provost’s Reference Guide for Appointments Requiring BOT/Chancellor/BOT Approval.

The titles of “emeritus” and “emerita” are reserved for retiring faculty who have made extraordinary contributions to UIC. The campus policy and cover sheet may be found here:

The College of Medicine’s Emeritus Review Committee generally meets twice per year to review all requests for Emeritus/Emerita appointments and make recommendations to the Dean.

Emeritus/Emerita Review Rubric – The College Committee uses this rubric to facilitate reviews and to provide guidance to those responsible for nominating faculty for such distinction.

Please contact Rosa Setterstrom at rosalbaa@uic.edu for further information on documentation requirements for the College-level emeritus review process.

The following abbreviated review process is required in order to give a joint courtesy (0%) appointment to a faculty member from another department in the college or elsewhere in the university.  Joint courtesy appointments mirror the faculty title held in the individual’s home department.

First, a letter is needed from the appointing department head explaining the reason for the courtesy appointment and briefly outlining what contributions are expected from this individual. Concurrence from the home department executive officer must also be provided, as well as approval by the appointing department’s p&t committee. These statements/letters and the candidate’s current CV are submitted to the Office of Faculty Affairs and taken to the College Executive Committee for approval as an FYI item. The specific rights and privileges conferred by a joint appointment are determined at the department level. It should be noted that if a 0% relationship is defined at the time of the faculty’s initial appointment at UIC, the steps outlined above are not necessary.

Departmental Affiliate is a status which reflects appointment similar to joint courtesy appointments made for faculty within UIC.