E.1.1 Faculty, Adjunct Faculty, Administrators, and Staff.
There are four general categories of employees at the university: faculty, adjunct faculty, administrators, and staff. Appropriation of positions for the university is determined by the State of Arkansas. For more information please see the University’s Appropriation Act or contact the Human Resources Department. If you have any questions about which category you fall under, please contact your supervisor or Human Resources.
E.1.1.1 Faculty.
Faculty are employees whose primary job assignment is instructional. This includes titles such as lecturer, instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor, distinguished professor, or one of these titles modified by senior, master, technical, or visiting. In addition, faculty with dual assignments may have titles such as team leader, specialist, coordinator, department head, director, executive director, or assistant/associate dean. Faculty appointments may be ranked or non-ranked. Contractual and noncontractual appointments for employees in this category are faculty or tenured faculty.
E.1.1.1.1 Tenured Faculty.
Instructors hired after May 20, 1998, are not eligible for tenure. Faculty with tenure or on tenuretrack at that time retained tenure.
E.1.1.1 Reorganized January 2021
E.1.1.2 Librarians.
Other titles which have faculty status and academic rank are library director, librarian, associate librarian, and assistant librarian. Librarians are considered non-teaching faculty. Their activities include offering help with research and reference; assessing and developing collections and resources; working with and instructing the campus community in software and other forms of information technology; developing and teaching instruction sessions in close collaboration with other faculty; and university service in the form of grant writing, service on committees, other shared governance activities, service to the community at large, and service to librarianship in general.
Senate Resolution Link
E.1.1.2 Added January 2021
E.1.1.3 Emeritus Faculty and Staff.
The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith faculty and staff should be honored for careers and service to the university. In recognition of distinguished service to UAFS, retiring employees may be awarded emeritus status. For more information, visit Procedure for Awarding Emeritus Status.
Contact Human Resources for assistance with the retirement process.
Senate Resolution Link
E.1.1.3 Updated June 2024
E.1.1.4 Adjunct Faculty.
Adjunct faculty are part-time instructors hired on a semester-by-semester or as-needed basis. There is no tacit or implied obligation for continued employment beyond the semester or assignment. The employment of part-time faculty is contingent upon class enrollment for which there is no full-time instructor available.
E.1.1.4 Reorganized January 2021
E.1.1.5 Visiting Faculty.
Faculty with visiting appointments may be employed for one (1) semester or one (1) academic year for up to a total of three (3) academic years. When a visiting appointment is for a full academic year, it is considered a full-time, benefits-eligible appointment.
E.1.1.5 Updated June 2024
E.1.1.6 Administrators.
Administrators are employees who hold titles such as controller, director, dean, vice chancellor, provost, chancellor, or one of the aforementioned titles modified by assistant, associate, or executive. Some administrators also hold faculty rank.
E.1.1.6 Reorganized January 2021
E.1.1.7 Staff.
Staff are employees of the university who are not faculty or administrators. Each staff position has a maximum salary for each year of the biennium referred to as a line-item maximum which is specified in the university’s appropriation act. The actual pay for each position is determined by the university and is based on budget, the employee’s qualifications, and pay for similar positions; however, it is not usually as high as the line-item maximum.
E.1.1.7 Updated June 2023
E.1.2 Employment Status (for Benefits and Payroll).
For payroll and the purpose of eligibility for benefits and leave, all university employees are categorized as full-time, regular part-time, or temporary extra help, further defined as:
E.1.2.1 Full-Time Employees.
To be classified as full-time, an employee must be paid from a regular appropriated position in the university’s appropriation act. Full-time employees have 80-100 percent appointments. Employees with 80 percent appointments receive pro-rated leave and benefits with the exception of tuition benefits. To be eligible for tuition benefits, an employee must have a 100 percent appointment.
E.1.2.2 Part-Time Employees (Part-Time Extra Help).
Part-time employees are hourly. All part-time positions are equated to regular appropriated positions and are hired on an as-needed basis.
E.1.2.2.1 Adjunct Faculty.
Adjunct faculty are part-time faculty hired on a semester-by-semester basis. Assignments are capped at two (2) to three (3) classes per semester, not to exceed 10 credit hours per semester or 20 credit hours per academic and calendar year. Adjunct faculty teaching clinical classes may not exceed 450 contact hours per semester, 900 per year. For the purpose of tracking service hours, as required by the Affordable Care Act, a year is defined as a rolling 12-month period.
E.1.2.2.2 Regular Part-Time Staff.
Regular part-time staff are hourly and are eligible to participate in University Staff Council. Part-time staff authorized to work half-time (20 hours or more per week) on a regular basis are eligible to participate in the university’s benefits program and receive pro-rated holiday pay, sick leave, and annual leave. Part-time staff in this category typically work 30 hours per week and may not exceed 1,500 hours within a fiscal year.
E.1.2.3 Temporary Employees.
Temporary employees are employed for a specific period of time and for a specific project or purpose.
E.1.2.3.1 Visiting Faculty.
Faculty with visiting appointments may be employed for one (1) semester or one (1) academic year for up to a total of three (3) academic years. When a visiting appointment is for a full academic year, it is considered a full-time, benefits-eligible appointment.
E.1.2.3.2 Other Temporary Employment.
Temporary staff can be hired on a full-time or part-time basis and are not eligible for benefits. For this category the typical employment period will be for 90 calendar days or less.
E.1.2.3.3 Provisional Employees.
Provisional employees are hired for a specific project or purpose, funded by grants or other private sources, and can be full-time or part-time. Provisional positions are authorized through special legislation and are not part of the university’s regular appropriation act. However, position classifications for provisional positions must be linked to other like (or similar) appropriated positions. Salaries, including pay increases, are determined by the university, based on the availability of funds and in comparison to raises for other employees in the same class and not solely by the funding source. Employees in this category are considered to be UAFS employees and not employees of the funding agency.
E.1.2 Updated June 2024
E.1.3 Exempt and Non-Exempt Employees.
(Fair Labor Standards Act - FLSA - 29 U.S. Code, Chapter 8) Employees are further categorized as either exempt or non-exempt (for overtime pay consideration) as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
E.1.3.1 Exempt Employees.
Exempt employees include anyone who, based on their job duties and salary, is employed in a bonafide executive, administrative, or professional capacity or other exempt category as defined by the FLSA. The FLSA does not require overtime compensation for exempt employees working more than 40 hours per week. Exempt employees are paid semimonthly on the 15th and the last working day of the month.
E.1.3.2 Non-Exempt Employees.
Non-exempt employees include those employees who are not included in the exempt classification, whose positions do not meet FLSA exemption tests, or who are compensated for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. Non-exempt (hourly) employees are paid semimonthly on the 15th and the last working day of the month.
If an employee does not know whether their position is exempt or non-exempt, the employee should ask their supervisor or contact Human Resources.
E.1.4 Updated June 2024
E.1.4 Types of Employment.
At UAFS employment agreements are either employment-at-will or contractual.
E.1.4.1 Employment-at-Will.
Arkansas is an employment-at-will state. All employees, except those with written contracts signed by the chancellor, whether full-time, part-time, extra help, or other, are employees-at-will. This means that the employee or the university is free to end the employment relationship at any time, with or without notice, with or without cause and the employment is for no specified period of time.
E.1.4.2 Employment by Contract.
Full-time ranked faculty, including those administrators with faculty rank and library faculty, are the only employees eligible for employment by contract. The only employment contracts recognized by the university are those offered by the chancellor and signed by both the employee and the chancellor. In the chancellor’s absence, vice chancellors may be designated to act on their behalf, which includes entering into written employment contracts. No other employee of the institution has the authority to enter into a written or oral contract with any employee. Nothing contained in this handbook is intended to alter this fact. The individual employment contract and documents referenced within said contract represent the entire agreement between the parties and may only be modified in writing and signed by both parties.
Employment periods are stated in the contract and imply no obligation for employment beyond the contracted period. If such an appointment is not planned to be renewed in the succeeding year, the employee will be notified 90 days prior to the expiration of the current contract, unless there is a contract provision that provides for an alternate notification date or terminal appointment. If an employee is involuntarily terminated during the contracted term, the remainder of the contracted salary will be paid unless the employee is dismissed for cause. An employee in this category who plans not to renew his or her their contract must notify their supervisor 90 days prior to the contract end date for the end of the fiscal year as listed on their contract in order to be eligible for rehire.
E.1.4.2.1 Contractual Terms.
Most faculty have nine-month or academic-year appointments; library faculty have 12-month appointments. Contractual periods vary depending on university need, faculty members’ rank, and the merit-based annual faculty review process. Faculty who hold the rank of instructor may be eligible to receive a two-year contract. Faculty who hold the rank of senior instructor may be eligible to receive a three-year contract. Faculty who hold the rank of assistantprofessor/assistant librarian may be eligible to receive a three-year contract. Faculty who hold the rank of associate professor/associate librarian or professor/librarian may be eligible to receive a five-year contract. Contract terms are approved by the provost. Any changes to the contract term will be in writing and signed by the employee, dean, and provost.
E.1.4.2.2 Contract Dates.
Faculty with further stipulations or changes to the terms of their contracts will be notified of those changes by the end of the first week of classes in the spring. Faculty who have such changes have until March 1 to address these changes with supervisors (going up the chain of command) before contracts are issued. Exceptions to this would for appropriate items such as promotion, etc. These exceptions should be agreed upon by stakeholders.
No matter the contract length, faculty will receive a new contract annually. Faculty will receive amended contracts if changes to their salary or position occur outside of the normal window for issuing contracts. Faculty contracts will be issued by or before March 31 for faculty to sign and return, giving faculty until April 30 to do so. If there are any reasons for modifications to these dates/timelines, the Office of the Provost will provide notice to faculty of new timelines
Dates on the contract will list both the current fiscal or academic year as well as the ending date of the contract.
Senate Resolution Link
E.1.4.3 Tenured Appointments.
Tenured faculty have one-year contracts. Contracts are rolled forward annually except under the following circumstances: (1) tenured faculty members may be dismissed for cause or (2) contracts may be terminated due to the necessity for financial retrenchment or the deletion of the program or courses of instruction for which they were hired. Such terminations are conducted in accordance with UAFS policies and UA Board Policies 405.1, 405.5, and 620.1.
E.1.4 Updated June 2024
E.1.5 Job Assignments.
The administration retains the right to direct the workforce. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: assign or transfer employees, assess numbers of employees, change methods of operations, and reorganize operations. All employees, at-will and contractual, are subject to job reassignment to meet the needs of the university as determined and recommended by their supervisor and approved by the appropriate vice chancellor or designee. There is no requirement for advance notice to change a job assignment.
E.1.5 Reorganized January 2021
E.1.6 Recruitment and Selection.
All regular, benefited university positions must be listed on the UAFS Employment website unless a waiver to post has been permitted for exceptional circumstances. Human Resources manages the website and collaborates with the EEO officer to ensure positions are advertised to foster a successful search in accordance with the university’s Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy.
As a general rule, all staff positions must be advertised externally for a minimum of seven (7) calendar days; faculty positions must be advertised externally for a minimum of 30 calendar days. Campus subscriptions have been purchased for several job sites to ensure a consistent effort to reach a diverse applicant pool.
In certain circumstances managers or supervisors may wish to fill positions from within the university to encourage the upward mobility of employees to positions for which they are qualified. Positions on the UAFS employment website that are marked as Internal Postings are open only to current employees of any University of Arkansas campus or division. Internal postings must be advertised for a minimum of one (1) calendar day.
Current employees are also encouraged to inquire about promotion and transfer opportunities through the internal Workday career worklet or by contacting Human Resources. Employees on a plan for improvement are not eligible to apply for other university employment while under the plan or within six (6) months of completing the plan.
Selection for positions is carried out by the departments in which the vacancies exist, working with Human Resources, and must be made on the basis of job-related qualifications and experience and in a manner consistent with the university’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policy.
To avoid possible conflict of interest, relatives must not participate, either formally or informally, in decisions to hire, retain, promote, or determine the salaries of each other. For more information see E.2.12 Employment of Relatives (Nepotism).
E.1.6 Updated June 2024
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