Colleges, schools and campuses of West Virginia University have a large measure of flexibility in determining the form and style whereby faculty are notified each year of the terms of their appointment. When an initial appointment is made, however, or when the conditions of the appointment change, it is crucial that the faculty member be fully informed of the terms and conditions of employment. While a formal contract may not be necessary each year, the campus may choose one of several means of notifying faculty about their appointments: a personal letter, a formal contract, or a combination of a letter with a standard contract attached.
The letter of appointment or contract should state the following:
- The appointment (to the specified position) is offered in accordance with the provisions
of Board of Governors Rules, institutional policy, the faculty handbook
and other publications.
- The appointment is tenured, tenure-track, clinical-track, librarian-track, teaching-track,
or non-tenure-track as defined in
BOG Faculty Rule 4.2.
- The rank (in case of a tenured, tenure-track, clinical-track, teaching-track or non-tenure-track appointment) is Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, or in some cases Instructor. In the case of a librarian-track appointment the rank is University Librarian, Associate Librarian, Assistant Librarian, or Staff Librarian.
- The appointment is full-time (1.00 FTE) or part-time with the FTE identified.
- That it is a terminal contract (whenever appropriate).
- The beginning and ending dates of the appointment.
- For tenure-track appointments, the academic year in which tenure must be awarded
(the "critical year").
- The total salary for the appointment.
- Consistent with the provisions of
BOG Faculty Rule 4.2, employment is subject to the fulfillment of the duties
and responsibilities of the position.
- The specific assignments of the position will be determined by the designated representative of the campus.
- A statement defining appropriate procedures for nonresident aliens must be included in all appointment letters.
- A statement that the required licensures, certifications and other documents necessary to perform their assignment be provided to the Dean.
- A statement that the transcripts of terminal or highest degree attained must be provided to the Dean.
- Any special conditions which are included in the appointment be made a part of the contract only if they are signed by the faculty member and the designated representative of the campus.
- The acceptance of the appointment will be specified by the faculty member's signing,
dating, and returning a copy of the letter or contract to the designated representative
of the campus within a reasonable time, which should be specified.
Renewal letters, or letters that simply inform the faculty member of a change in salary, need not contain all of the information listed above, but it is appropriate to refer to the earlier letter or contract.
*Extracted from BOG Policy #2, Section 17, Originally Approved on February 8, 2002, Amended June 6, 2003 and February 15, 2008. BOG Rule 4.2 partially replaced BOG Policy #2 May 14, 2018.
*Faculty Appointment Letters are now a Procedure developed by the Provost annually.