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Faculty Resources » Faculty Hiring Process


Faculty Hiring Process

Regular Faculty (Tenure-Track)

  1. When department is ready to make an official offer, it sends the request to the Provost's Office after the request has been approved by the dean's office. The request is accompanied by: 1) the Recommendation for Faculty Appointment Form, 2) the Request to Make an Offer, 3) a curriculum vitae, 4) the English Competency Form (if the native language is not English).
  2. Provost's Office enters information into New Faculty Hire database, provides access to Human Resources (HR) and OED, and sends the Request to Make an Offer and accompanying documents to OED.
  3. OED approves the Request to Make an Offer, indicates its approval in the New Faculty Hire database, and sends e-mail containing the position title and number that has been approved to Provost's Office. OED distributes copies of the approved documents to the appropriate departments.
  4. The offer letter is produced and mailed by the Provost's Office.
  5. The Provost's Office notifies the department and OED that the person has either accepted or declined the offer. If the offer is accepted, the Provost's Office sends the acceptance letter to the department. If the offer is rejected, the Provost's office notifies the department, which then may request approval from the dean and the Provost to offer the position to another candidate. Steps 1, 2 and 3 are repeated for new offers.
  6. The department contacts the new faculty member to communicate information about joining the department and informs the candidate of the steps required to complete the hiring process. The department or new faculty member contacts Human Resources at (865)974-1927 to schedule a New Employee Orientation Session.
  7. The department prepares the Personnel Information Form (PIF) and forwards the PIF, the original acceptance letter, the Recommendation for Faculty Appointment Form, the English Competency Form, and the curriculum vitae to the dean's office.
  8. The dean's office submits the approved PIF, the original acceptance letter, the Recommendation for Faculty Appointment Form, the English Competency Form, and the curriculum vitae directly to HR.
  9. HR enters the PIF into IRIS after the faculty member has attended orientation and completed the necessary hiring documents. This entire process must be completed before the new faculty member can receive a check from the University.

Term Faculty

  1. The department completes the PIF and sends it to the dean's office for signature. The PIF must be accompanied by appropriate hiring documents.
  2. The dean's office sends the PIF and hiring documents to HR.
  3. HR enters the PIF into IRIS and prepares and sends the offer letter.

Renewals (Continuations)-Regular Non Tenure-Track Faculty

  1. HR provides the department with a spreadsheet listing current Non Tenure-Track Faculty.
  2. The department indicates on the spreadsheet those individuals to be continued on the basis of performance evaluation and submits the spreadsheet to the college. The college returns the spreadsheet to HR for preparation of a continuation letter.
  3. This spreadsheet is for the preparation of continuation letters only. Any changes in pay or terminations must be completed with a PIF, and the PIF is routed through the appropriate channels.
  4. HR prepares and sends the continuation letter.

Renewals (Continuations)-Term Faculty

  1. The department completes the PIF and sends it to dean's office for signature. The dean's office sends the PIF to HR.
  2. HR enters changes on the PIF into IRIS and prepares and sends the continuation letter.

Regular Faculty (Non-Tenure-Track Clinical Faculty, Research Faculty, Lecturers, Instructors)

  1. When the department is ready to make an official offer, it sends the request to the Provost's Office once the request has been approved by the dean's office. The request is accompanied by the appropriate hiring documents, e.g. Recommendation for Faculty Appointment, a job description, a curriculum vitae, the English Competency Form for teaching faculty, a record of the faculty vote for research, clinical, and adjunct professors.
  2. The offer letter is produced and mailed by the Provost's Office. The candidate signs and returns the acceptance letter to the Provost's Office. The Provost's Office forwards the signed acceptance letter to the department and a copy of the signed letter to OED.
  3. The department contacts the new faculty member to communicate information about joining the department and informs the candidate of the steps required to complete the hiring process. The department or new faculty member contacts Human Resources at (865)974-1927 to schedule a New Employee Orientation Session.
  4. The department prepares the Personnel Information Form (PIF) and forwards the PIF, the original acceptance letter, and the curriculum vitae to the dean's office for signature.
  5. The dean's office submits the approved PIF, the curriculum vitae and the original acceptance letter directly to HR.
  6. HR enters the PIF into IRIS after the faculty member has attended orientation and completed necessary hiring documents. This entire process must be completed before the new faculty member can receive a check from the University.