Overview

Most tenured and tenure-track faculty members remain in the unit(s) in which they were initially appointed for the duration of their careers at KU; however, there are circumstances in which a faculty member may seek to shift part or all of their appointment into one or more different units. While it is the goal of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences to support faculty and units in what will serve their needs, the dean shall consider such shifts in faculty appointments based on the best interests of the College as a whole.

Procedures

A faculty member wishing to shift part or all of their appointment across units must follow the steps outlined below:

1. The faculty member begins the process by consulting with the chair(s)/director(s) of the proposed receiving unit(s). If a chair/director does not support the request, the faculty member should not pursue the shift in appointment in that unit. While not a requirement, the faculty member is strongly encouraged to consult with the chair(s)/director(s) of the home unit(s). The faculty member may also seek guidance from the dean or the associate dean for administrative affairs prior to submitting a letter of intent.
2. If the chair(s)/director(s) of the proposed receiving unit(s) supports the request, the faculty member submits a brief letter of intent to the dean and the associate dean for administrative affairs. This letter should address the following:
   • the specific appointment shift requested including the exact allocation proposed, such as one of the following:
     • from 100% in unit A to 100% in unit B
     • from 100% in unit A to 50% in unit A and 50% in unit B
     • from 50% in unit A and 50% in unit B to 100% in unit B
   • which unit shall be designated as the primary unit (in the case of a joint appointment)
   • the intellectual justification for the appointment shift
   • any relevant issues in the existing appointment(s) that would support a shift
   • how the appointment shift will: a) help advance the faculty member’s teaching, research, and service; and b) provide an overall benefit to the College
3. Upon receipt of the faculty member’s letter of intent, the dean’s office shall communicate the request to the chair(s)/director(s) of all affected units.
4. Upon receipt of the request from the dean’s office, the chair(s)/director(s) of each of the current unit(s) and proposed receiving unit(s) have 30 calendar days to provide a written response to the faculty member’s request indicating a) endorsement; b) endorsement but with a modified shift from that proposed, or c) dissent. In the case of endorsement, the chair(s)/director(s) of the current unit(s) should clearly outline how the shift in the faculty member’s appointment is expected to impact that unit’s teaching/advising, research, and service capacity; the chair(s)/director(s) of the proposed receiving unit(s) should indicate how the shift in the faculty member aligns with that unit’s hiring priorities. In the case of modified endorsement, the same rationale must be made, with specific reference to the proposed modification clearly articulated. In the case of dissent, the response should focus on issues with the intellectual merit of the shift and/or the impact on the unit and the College. Several outcomes can result and are addressed below:
   1. If endorsement is provided by the chair(s)/director(s) of all receiving and current units as proposed, the process moves to Step V below.
   2. In the case of dissent by chair(s)/director(s) of all proposed receiving unit(s), the process is terminated (i.e., the faculty member will not be permitted to shift into a unit that does not support this shift).
   3. When there are multiple proposed receiving units, the chair/director of one unit may indicate dissent and the chair/director of another unit may indicate endorsement. In this case, the faculty member can continue the process but only in the shift to the unit providing endorsement. If the faculty member agrees to continue with this modification, the process moves to Step V. The faculty member also has the option to terminate the process at this point.
   4. If one or more chair(s)/director(s) of the current unit(s) indicate dissent (and assuming at least one proposed receiving unit has indicated endorsement), the faculty member shall be informed of the option to terminate the process at this point or continue. If the faculty member wishes to continue the process despite dissent of the current unit(s), the faculty member must notify the dean and the associate dean for administrative affairs of their intent and the process then moves to Step V below.
5. At this point in the process, the dean’s office will then contact the chair(s)/director(s) of all units affected for a meeting to discuss the details of the proposed appointment shift. The faculty member and/or the current unit that has indicated dissent also may request an additional individual meeting with the dean and the associate dean for administrative affairs. After review, the dean has three options.
   1. The dean may provide provisional approval of all proposed line shifts as proposed, thereby moving the process to Step VI below.
   2. The dean may provide provisional approval for some but not all aspects of the proposed shifts (e.g., approval of a different allocation than that proposed or approval of one shift and denial of another if multiple receiving units are proposed). In this case, the process ends regarding the denied aspects of the shift and continues for the provisionally approved aspects of the shift, thereby moving the process to Step VI below.
   3. The dean may deny all proposed line shifts, thereby terminating the process.
6. For those units in which the dean provides provisional approval, the chair(s)/director(s) will oversee an interview process. The content and extent of the process will be determined by the units. Following this process, the voting faculty in each of the proposed units shall vote for or against the potential addition to their unit with the decision to decline or accept based on the hiring procedures in that unit.
   1. If the voting faculty of a receiving unit votes to decline the new faculty member, this shall be reported to the dean and the associate dean for administrative affairs, and the process is terminated as it relates to that portion of the shift.
   2. If the voting faculty of a receiving unit votes to accept the new faculty member, that portion of the proposed shift is officially approved and the chair(s)/director(s) of all affected units work with the dean and the associate dean for administrative affairs to determine an appropriate and orderly transition. This includes but is not limited to: a revised position description, start date of the revised appointment (ordinarily, the start of the next academic year), and disposition of courses developed and/or taught by the faculty member. To formalize the request for an official shift in appointment terms, a joint appointment agreement is prepared by all units, along with a recruitment exception request, letter of justification, and C.V., at which point an official offer letter from the University will be generated.

Points of Clarification

• At any time during the process outlined above, the dean and/or the dean for administrative affairs may be asked to intervene to facilitate communication and or resolution regarding disagreement among and between parties.
• Only under exceptional circumstances can a shift in appointment trigger an adjustment to the faculty member’s salary, teaching load, and/or evaluation period (“clock”) for Progress Toward Tenure Review (PTTR), Promotion and Tenure (P&T), or Post-tenure Review (PtR). If adjustments are requested, the request will be given consideration in the final stages of the transition process.
• The steps outlined here apply only to faculty-initiated shifts in appointment within the College. All other appointment changes including those due to reorganization, administrative opportunities, or involving units outside of the College will be handled by the dean’s office on a case-by-case basis.
• The number of calendar days allowed for a response as indicated above are only counted from the first day of classes until stop day in the fall and spring semesters. The number of calendar days that remain at the end of one semester roll over into the next semester (e.g., for Step IV above, if five (5) calendar days remain before stop day in the fall semester when the letter of intent is received by the unit, the unit has the first 25 calendar days from the start of classes in the spring semester).
• Denial of a proposed line shift does not indicate a negative evaluation of the faculty member and should not be reflected as such in subsequent evaluations including but not limited to annual unit-level faculty evaluations, PTTR, P&T, and PtR.