SP.01.05
February 12, 2001

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN SENATE

University Statutes and Senate Procedures
(Action; Second Reading)

SP.01.05 Amendments to the Statutes, Article IX, Section 10 - Nonreappointment of Academic Professional Staff

BACKGROUND
The proposed amendment to the provisions of Statutes, Article IX, Section 10, will extend notice of nonreappointment rights for academic professional staff to those whose appointments are at 50% or more FTE. Under the current Statutes, an academic professional who has a part-time appointment is not entitled to any notice of nonreappointment from the Board of Trustees. In fact, an academic professional who may have worked full-time for many years, and then, for any one of a number of reasons is appointed at less than full-time, will immediately lose all accrued rights to such notice.

It is in the best interests of the University to implement a family-friendly policy for all of its employees. This proposed revision recognizes that, at times, a change from full-time to part-time employment may be necessary and allows the academic professional to retain notification rights during the time of the reduced appointment.

The term "full appointment years completed" is the current language of the Statutes and reflects a need to compute the length of service in order to determine the length of notice of nonreappointment. The Academic Staff Handbook, UIUC 2000-2002, states: "Computation of length of service for twelve-month, ten-month, and nine-month appointments will be on the basis of continuous full-time, non-visiting employment in academic professional positions, counting from the first date of employment in such positions to the date notice is given by the Board of Trustees. Periods of time during which the employee is on leave without pay (full or partial) will not count toward the total service credit in determining the minimum required notice. Any prior service credit should be clarified at the time the academic professional position begins. Any break in service of more than 30 calendar days through resignation, termination, etc., would require that the clock start again, but service in one full-time academic professional position eligible for notice will transfer to another full-time academic professional position, if no break in service is involved. A short break (30 days or less) will be handled like a leave without pay in terms of service credit for notice of nonreappointment." If this amendment to the Statutes is accepted, the Academic Staff Handbook will need to be altered to reflect the extension of nonreappointment rights.

As early as 1975, Chancellor Peltason proposed similar changes to the General Rules; in 1992, the University Professional Personnel Advisory Committee (UPPAC) proposed similar changes; in 1995, the Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) discussed this issue with President Stukel, and continued discussions with both President Stukel and Chancellor Aiken. The initial draft of this amendment was written by PAC, and the PAC liaison to USSP has been actively involved in its final form.

The change at line 35 is housekeeping; academic professional titles may not include the "adjunct" modifier.

RECOMMENDATIONS
The Senate Committee on University Statutes and Senate Procedures recommends approval of the following revisions to the Statutes. In the amendments below, text to be deleted is in [square brackets]; text to be added is underscored.

1. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE STATUTES, ARTICLE IX, SECTION 10
3. Section 10. Nonreappointment of Academic Professional Staff
4. Notice of nonreappointment to the [full-time] academic professional staff who are appointed
5. at 50% or more FTE and who are [, as] defined in Article II, Section 5, shall be given as follows:
7. a. Except as provided in 10b and 10c below, written notice of nonreappointment shall be
8. given by the Board of Trustees to academic professional employees in accordance with
9. the following schedule: Length of [Full-Time] 50-100% FTE Service to the University Minimum Notice of (in full appointment years completed) Nonreappointment Less than 4 years 6 Months 4 years or over 12 Months
11. b. Written notice of nonreappointment shall be given by the Board of Trustees to an
12. academic professional employee on an appointment which notes that it is subject to
13. receipt of funds in accordance with the following schedule: Length of [Full-Time] 50-100% FTE Service to the University Minimum Notice of (in full appointment years completed) Nonreappointment Less than 4 years 2 Months 4 years or over 6 Months
15. c. Written notice of nonreappointment shall be given by the Board of Trustees to an
16. academic professional employee who is the director of intercollegiate athletics or a coach
17. of an intercollegiate athletic team in accordance with the following schedule: Length of [Full-Time] 50-100% FTE Service to the University Minimum Notice of (in full appointment years completed) Nonreappointment Less than 4 years 3 Months 4 years or over 6 Months
19. d. In cases where the time remaining in the appointment year is less than the required
20. minimum notice period, the notice of nonreappointment shall be accompanied by an
21. offer from the Board of Trustees of a terminal contract for an additional appointment
22. which will extend the current appointment through the period of minimum notice, viz., 2
23. months, 6 months or 7-12 months.
25. e. Computation of length of service will be on the basis of continuous employment in
26. campus academic administrative and professional positions (or similar service at the
27. University level for employees of the university administration). On a case-by-case basis,
28. credit may be given for all or part of their relevant experience in other University of
29. Illinois positions.

30. f. Excepted from the above provisions are the following administrative officers: the
31. president of the University; the chancellors, provosts, and vice chancellors; the officers of
32. the Board of Trustees who are University employees; other university officers; and the
33. deans, directors, heads, and chairs of academic units. Also excepted from the above
34. provisions are academic professional staff whose title includes the terms "visiting,"
35. "acting," or "interim. [,]" [or "adjunct."]

SENATE COMMITTEE ON
UNIVERSITY STATUTES AND SENATE PROCEDURES
Robert Fossum, Chair
Lanny Arvan
Gwendolyn Boyce
Brent Covington
Harry H. Hilton
Julian Palmore
Robert C. Damrau, Ex officio
Thomas Eakman, Observer
C.K. Gunsalus, Ex officio (designee)
Vera V. Mainz, (PAC Liaison)