APPLICABILITY: FACULTY

The University of North Texas and the University of North Texas Health Science Center-Ft. Worth consider that joint appointments between or within the institutions often may be advantageous. Through joint appointments, faculty resources of high quality may be shared, and special skills possessed by a faculty member may be used with maximum effectiveness. Many modern degree programs of a professional or technical nature require the availability of highly competent specialists who often may share their competence in more than one area.

The formal procedures outlined below govern joint appointments for an extended period; but temporary joint appointments may be made, and are not necessarily subject to all of these guidelines. These provisions do not govern the appointments of adjunct staff members, procedures for which are outlined in a separate document.

A joint appointment is one in which an individual's appointment is shared between two institutions or units. The appointee carries out specific program responsibilities in each.

Appointment Procedures:

1. When it seems desirable to consider a person for an extended joint appointment, the candidate must be acceptable to both institutions or units, and should be worthy of appointment in the tenure stream of each.

2. That portion of the salary of a jointly appointed person which is underwritten by each institution or unit should be at a level commensurate with that paid to individuals not so appointed, who have positions of equivalent function and responsibility in the institution or unit.

3. When a jointly-appointed faculty member has an assignment in two institutions or units, and it is appropriate for each to share in the payment, salary may be based on the appointee's assignment and the rate paid for such assignment by each institution or unit (i.e., a person's salary could be a 25% of X plus 75% of Y, where X and Y represent different annual salary rates).

4. A "home" institution or unit, or both, will be established for each new joint appointee. The home institution will normally be the unit which 50% or more of the appointment is made initially, although the percentages of assignment may vary thereafter.  The “home” institution is responsible for providing the joint appointee his or her annual written contract and all required notifications regarding terms of employment as required by §51.943 of the Texas Education Code or institutional policy.  Prior to issuing a contract, the “home” institution or unit and the partnering institution or unit must document in writing, the faculty member’s workload expectations and salary agreement for the upcoming fiscal year.

5. The designation of home institution or unit may be transferred under circumstances agreeable to the joint appointee and the administrators of each institution or unit.

6. The home institution or unit will consider providing the joint appointee with a full position and salary (subject to the reappointment and promotional policy of that unit), in the event that appointment to the other institution or unit terminates. Opportunity for full appointment in the home institution is subject to the current availability of faculty positions and level of fiscal appropriations within which the home institution must operate.

7. Appointment and assignment are regarded as separate concepts. In the agreement on the joint appointment, each institution or unit agrees to underwrite a specific proportion of the appointee's duties and compensation. Although appointment at a certain percentage (e.g., 25%) usually implies assignment within that institution or unit at the same level (25%), it may be the case that percentage of appointment and assignment differ, in which case each unit is responsible for its share of the total salary, based on assignment.

Rights of Jointly Appointed Faculty:

1. The joint appointee is eligible to be promoted, to receive salary increases, and to be considered for tenure in the same manner as faculty members not jointly appointed. The home institution/ unit is chiefly responsible for initiating and carrying through procedures leading to those changes in status; the institution/unit that is not designated the home institution/unit is likewise expected to give due and regular consideration to the appointee's qualifications for these advancements.

2. Demands on the appointee's time should be roughly equivalent to the percentage of his assignment to the unit.

3. The joint appointee has the right to know the lines of authority governing his activities in each unit to whom he is responsible, and the procedures prevailing in each for addressing any questions as to his duties and privileges.

4. The joint appointee should expect to receive office space, secretarial services, and other support from each department to an extent proportional to his rank and in proportion to his services underwritten by each.

5. The joint appointee should expect that the faculty of each unit in which he serves will regard him as a professional colleague and extend him all the courtesies normally given to other staff members.

Obligations of Jointly Appointed Faculty:

1. The joint appointee should be expected to participate in unit governance committee activities, faculty meeting, etc., of each unit in which he is jointly appointed, to an extent proportional to the amount of time the unit has requested and underwritten.

2. To the extent possible, the joint appointee should attempt to maintain an academic "home" readily available to his students and colleagues in each unit with which he is involved. In those situations he might maintain an office and observe some office hours in each. In any case, he should make himself available as more than one who simply meets classes and then takes his leave.

*Reviewed with name changes only.