VIII. Appointment of Adjunct, Emeritus, and Part-Time Faculty

A. Adjunct Faculty Appointments

Sometimes it serves the instructional or research programs of a department and the University to establish a relationship with a person whose professional life is based outside the University or outside the appointing department within the University. This relationship may be established through an adjunct faculty appointment.

Adjunct faculty appointments are Special Faculty Appointments made in accordance with Section 3.4 of the Tenure Document. Appointment may be offered at any of the established ranks or titles for which the person is qualified. The "Adjunct" designation precedes the specific rank in the title, e.g., Adjunct Assistant Professor or Adjunct Lecturer. The particular rank offered shall be commensurate with the candidate’s education, experience, and professional distinction.

Adjunct appointments offered to a permanent or full-time employee of the University must be in compliance with Section 3.5 of the Tenure Document and other applicable laws and policy regarding dual or joint appointment and compensation.

An adjunct appointment may be with or without compensation. When compensated, fringe benefits applicable to other salaried special faculty appointments will apply.

Recommendations for adjunct faculty appointments are prepared by the department chair and submitted to the dean with a copy of the candidate’s vitae and letters of recommendation and other documentation, as appropriate. A recommendation for an adjunct faculty appointment without compensation typically is in the form of a letter which explains how the appointment serves the needs of the instructional or research programs of the department and the University and specifies the term of appointment. A recommendation for a full-time adjunct faculty appointment with compensation is made on Recommendation for Special Faculty Appointment (Form AA-06). A recommendation for a part-time adjunct faculty appointment with compensation or compensation of an adjunct faculty member for part-time teaching is made in the same form as other recommendations for part-time faculty appointments.

The deans have complete administrative authority to make adjunct faculty appointments. Deans are responsible for issuing offers of appointment to candidates which contain the terms and conditions of appointment, including rank/title, term of appointment, compensation status, and other terms and conditions of appointment (if any).

When an offer of appointment is accepted and a copy of the offer has been signed by the candidate and returned to the dean, the dean is responsible for forwarding the completed file to the Office of Academic Affairs. The completed file includes: (1) recommendation for appointment prepared by the department chair and approved by the dean; (2) vitae; (3) offer of appointment signed by the dean and the candidate; and (4) letters of recommendation and other documentation, as appropriate. If the adjunct faculty member is to receive compensation, the file includes all materials required for any full-time special faculty appointment.

B. Phased Retirement Program

The University of North Carolina Phased Retirement Program is designed to provide an opportunity for eligible full-time tenured faculty members to make an orderly transition to retirement through half-time (or equivalent) service. The goals of the Program are to promote renewal of the professoriate in order to ensure institutional vitality and to provide additional flexibility and support for individual faculty members who are nearing retirement. The Program is entirely voluntary and will be entered into by a written agreement between an Eligible Faculty Member and the institution.

The Program is available only to full-time tenured faculty members. Non-tenured and tenure-track faculty are not eligible for the Program. Participating faculty must be at least age 50, have at least five years of full-time service at his or her current institution, and be eligible to receive a retirement benefit under either TSERS or the ORP. Faculty are individually responsible for providing to the institution age and service data needed to determine their Program eligibility.

Full details of the Program can be found by clicking on the link to the Phased Retirement Program Website above.

C. Post-Retirement Employment of Faculty Members

On occasion, programmatic needs of a college or department require the continuation or reestablishment of a formal faculty employment relationship between the University and a retired member of the faculty. Deans have full administrative authority to make post-retirement faculty appointments based upon the following guidelines and Policy Statement #23: Faculty Emeritus Policy.

Purpose

1. The Post-Retirement Employment Program allows the continuation or reestablishment of a formal faculty employment relationship between a retired faculty member and the University.

2. The program is available only when documentation indicates that a specific faculty member’s qualifications and expertise are vital to the University’s programs and cannot be replaced by other members of the faculty or the community at large.

3. An appointment through this program is intended to be of limited duration, allowing time for the institution to identify and recruit a suitable replacement when one is allocated or to absorb the faculty member’s workload within the department.

4. The program does not guarantee employment to a retired faculty member. In all instances, an offer of post-retirement employment is solely within the discretion of the University and is based on departmental and institutional needs and resources. The program does not preclude individual faculty members from applying for part-time positions available at the University or from Phased Retirement.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

1. The appointment for post-retirement employment will be a Special Faculty Appointment as defined under Section 3.5 of the Tenure Document and Section 604. C. of The Code of The University of North Carolina. Neither the faculty member nor the University will have any employment obligations beyond the terms of the written contract.

2. Faculty members appointed to post-retirement terms shall have the title of Emeritus Professor, Emeritus Associate Professor, etc., as appropriate.

3. A contract for post-retirement employment shall be for a specific fixed term, with the possibility of renewal.

4. Because post-retirement employment can affect eligibility for retirement benefits, faculty members should consult the Benefits Office in the Department of Human Resources and other appropriate resources to determine the effect of such employment.

D. Part-time Faculty Members

Part-time faculty appointments comprise a category of the Special Faculty Appointments that are made in accordance with Section 3.5 of the Tenure Document.

The Deans have complete administrative authority to make part-time faculty appointments.

Professional and Scholarly Preparation. Part-time members of the faculty must meet or exceed the minimum criteria described in Section 4.8 of the Criteria for Accreditation of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

Compliance With Requirements of External Agencies. All part-time faculty appointments must comply with the requirements of external agencies described in Section XII of this Handbook.

Recommendations for Appointment. Recommendations for appointment of part-time members of the faculty are prepared by the department chair and submitted to the dean with a completed Offer of Part-Time Faculty Appointment (AA-15) form and a completed PD-7 form. Recommendations for the initial appointment of part-time members of the faculty also should be accompanied by a complete personnel file, including vitae, official transcript documenting highest earned degree, letters of recommendation, authorization to release information, verification of credentials and other pertinent materials.

Offers of Appointment. The Dean is responsible for issuing approved offers of appointment which specify rank/title, term of appointment, salary, teaching assignment, and any other terms and conditions of appointment.

Accepted Appointments. When an offer of initial appointment is accepted and the signed offer of appointment is received, the dean is responsible for certifying that the appointment file is complete, forwarding the completed file to the Office of Academic Affairs, and providing a written record of the verification of the appointee’s credentials. The completed file includes: (1) the accepted offer of appointment; (2) vitae; (3) completed PD-7 form; (4) official transcript documenting highest degree earned; (5) statement of selective service registration compliance; (6) signed authorization for release of information for verification of credentials and notice of immigration law requirements; (7) the written record of the verification of credentials.

When a subsequent offer of appointment is accepted, the dean is responsible for forwarding a copy of the accepted offer of appointment to the Office of Academic Affairs with a completed PD-7 form.

Adjunct Faculty Who Teach on a Part-Time Basis. Individuals who have an adjunct faculty appointment without compensation may be employed to teach on a part-time basis during a specific term by following the procedures described above.

Adjunct appointments for persons who teach part-time on a regular basis have the advantage of requiring completion of the INS Form I-9 only the first time they teach as long as they have adjunct appointments. These appointments generally are made for a term of two years and are renewed by the dean upon the recommendation of the department chair.

Employment and Payroll Dates and Account Numbers. Part-time faculty appointments may be made for a semester; they begin on the first class day and end on the last day of final examinations in the term of appointment. Part-time faculty members are paid on the last working day of each month and receive either four or five checks depending on the semester. Payroll checks are given to the department for distribution. Financial Services has established specific object codes to designate part-time faculty in the account numbers used on PD-7 forms: 1315 (instead of 1310) and 1115 (instead of 1110).

Deadlines for Processing Part-Time Faculty Appointments. The schedule for completion of part-time faculty appointments is published in the administrative calendar distributed at the beginning of each academic year by the Office of Academic Affairs.

By specified deadlines each semester, the Dean is responsible for submitting a Summary of Part-Time Faculty Appointments (AA-16) for each department that lists full name, Social Security number, teaching assignment, FTE, salary, highest earned degree, sex, race, and citizenship status of each appointee. (FTE is computed assuming 12 contact hours as a full load; e.g., a person teaching 3 contact hours equals 0.25 FTE.) An explanation for any appointment that does not meet the minimum criteria for professional and scholarly preparation specified in the Criteria for Accreditation of SACS must be attached to the summary. The forms for Faculty Qualifications Report may be used to provide this explanation.

Notice of Termination. The dean is responsible for notifying the Office of Academic Affairs immediately when a part-time faculty member stops work before the end of the term of appointment. The department should prepare the PD-7 for termination and submit to Office of Academic Affairs. To provide correct payroll information and eliminate overpayments, a written notice is required which specifies the last day worked and the percentage of the total salary the individual has earned.

Fringe Benefits for Part-Time Faculty. Social Security contributions are withheld from all compensation paid to part-time members of the faculty. No credit for amounts earned in the employ of another employer is permitted. A Social Security card must be presented and withholding forms must be completed in the Office of Personnel Services before payment of salary can be made. The Office of Personnel Services remains open until 6:00 p.m. on specified evenings at the beginning of each semester to accommodate part-time members of the faculty who teach only in the evenings.

Parking Fee for Part-Time Faculty. A special parking fee has been established for part-time members of the faculty. To document eligibility for this fee, the department provides the part-time faculty member with a memorandum to take to Parking Services when a parking decal is to be purchased. The memorandum should be addressed to the Director of Parking Services and should specify: (1) the name of the part-time faculty member; (2) the semester or semesters they have been employed to teach; and (3) whether they are teaching during the day or evening or both.

Orientation, Supervision, and Evaluation of Part-Time Faculty. College deans and department chairs are responsible for ensuring that an orientation program is offered for all part-time faculty at either the department or college level. This orientation program should be conducted before the beginning of the respective semester or term, and should introduce part-time faculty to other department members, cover important instructional issues, and highlight programs and services that may contribute to the success of the part-time faculty member. A useful document for the orientation of part-time faculty is the Part-Time Faculty Handbook, which can be found at www.provost.uncc.edu listed under Faculty Support Documents and then Handbooks.

The department chairs are responsible for the supervision of the part-time faculty in their departments. Before the respective semester or term begins, each department chair should present, preferably in writing, all employment expectations to the part-time faculty members in his or her department.

Using established department procedures and criteria, each part-time faculty member must receive both an oral and written evaluation before the end of his or her employment contract.