Proposed Revision to 706.1 - Tenure; Faculty
Judicial interpretation:
See
Keiser vs. State Board of Regents of Higher Education and William Tietz, May 1,
1981.
Board policy:
(1) Introduction
A
tenurable appointment is an appointment to a teaching, research, or other
faculty position that may lead to a tenured status as provided for in this
section. Tenurable appointments shall
be made at the rank of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, or
professor. The tenurable appointment is
that of probationary status. The appointee
remains in probationary status until the appointment is terminated or tenured
status is awarded. Tenurable appointees
who are not included in a certified bargaining unit, shall be provided with a
written agreement specifying rank, salary, academic unit in which the tenurable
appointment is made, and other terms and conditions of employment at the time
of appointment and reappointment. The institution campus will normally notify tenurable faculty members of the terms and
conditions of their renewals for the coming academic year by May 1 in non-legislative
years, or within 60 days after the appropriation bill is signed by the Governor
in years the legislature meets.
Unless
an individual contract expressly provides to the contrary, the contract term for
all tenurable appointees shall be the academic year. Regardless of the term of any individual contract, no such person
has, or shall acquire, a right to reappointment for a term in excess of the
academic year.
(2) Probationary
Appointments
The total
time period of full-time service prior to the acquisition of continuous
tenure shall normally not exceed seven academic years, which may include up to
three years of full-time service in tenurable ranks at accredited, United
States four-year institutions of higher education. Up to three years of credit for service at
foreign four-year institutions of higher education at the rank of
instructor or higher may be granted toward acquiring continuous tenure status
by agreement among the faculty member, the academic unit chairperson, the dean
and the president. Probationary credit
for prior service must be agreed to in writing between the faculty member and
the President or Chancellor prior to the initial
appointment at the institution. The institution campus shall
require four academic years of full-time service at the institution campus before making an award of continuous tenure. Time spent on authorized leave of absence
from the institution will not count as probationary period service, unless the
faculty member and the President of the institution agree to the contrary, in
writing, at the time leave is granted.
(3) Reappointment
and Non-reappointment or Probationary Personnel
A
tenurable appointee with probationary status (hereinafter referred to as a
probationary appointee) has the right to serve the specified term of the
appointment and may not be discharged without cause during that term.
Reappointment
of probationary appointees shall be at the discretion of the employer. Written notice of non-renewal of a
probationary appointee shall be mailed or given by the President or
Chancellor or his designee by March 1 of the first year of
service, by December 15 of the second year of service, and by June 30 prior to
the final year of appointment in the third or later years of service.
Failure
to provide a probationary appointee with the required notice period shall not
result in automatic reappointment or create any right for an additional
term. The employer shall have the
option of providing employment or severance pay in lieu of any portion or all
of the notice to which the employee is entitled, so long as the extension of
employment or severance pay is commensurate with the notice to which the
employee is otherwise entitled.
(4) The
Award of Tenure
Tenure
is the right to reappointment from appointment term to appointment term until
such time as the faculty member resigns, retires, is discharged for adequate
cause or is terminated for reasons of financial exigency or program reduction,
curtailment or discontinuance. Such
reappointment shall be subject to the terms and conditions of employment which
exists at the commencement of each contract term. Those terms and conditions of employ are as expressly set forth
in the policies adopted or authorized by the Board of Regents, and the terms
and provisions of any applicable collective bargaining agreement. Tenure is
with the institution campus and
resides within a specific academic unit in which the faculty member is employed
and not with the Montana University System. Tenure is awarded by the Board of Regents, following peer review and
recommendation by the President or Chancellor and the Commissioner in
accordance with Board of Regents policies and procedures established by each institution campus.
The
review prior to granting tenure and the subsequent recommendation to the Board
of Regents will normally be made in the sixth year of employment. While normally the eighth contract of full-time
employment carries continuous tenure status, tenure will not be awarded without
appropriate review and recommendation by peers and supervisors. Tenure is awarded for quality of current
professional performance and promise for such future performance, not merely
for completing a certain length of service. It is equally incumbent on the faculty member and the administration to
insure that a tenure review occurs at the proper time. In no event shall the failure to give any
notice constitute an award of continuous tenure by default. This section does not diminish any
substantive rights for the acquisition of tenure which the faculty member may
have acquired prior to the adoption of this policy.
(5) Administrative
Positions
Deans,
assistant deans, directors, heads of departments, chairmen, and any other
persons performing administrative functions serve in those capacities at the
discretion of the president or chancellor and may be removed at
any time. Any such individual may be
reassigned to other duties for the balance of the individual contract term or
terminated for cause. In cases of the
non-renewal of an administrator's employment contract, the notice
provisions of Board Policy 711.1 shall apply. However, if an individual is discharged from an administrative position
for cause those notice provisions shall not apply.
Faculty
who are appointed to administrative positions do not have tenured status with
respect to those positions, the salary of the position, the term (AY/FY) of
contract, or any other provisions of perquisites of that administrative
position. In the event any of the
foregoing individuals have tenured status in an academic position, and are
removed or resign from an administrative position, but wish to remain employed
at the institution campus, they
will be employed under the same conditions and contractual terms as other
tenured faculty. Their initial salary
as a faculty member shall be set at an amount determined by negotiations
between the faculty member and the president or his designee. In the event agreement cannot be reached,
the salary shall not be less than the average salary for faculty members of
like rank and qualifications in the same academic unit in which the individual
holds tenure.
History:
University Act 1902, April 25, 1921; Board minutes, April 3, 1922; Item 14101, February 7, 1952; Board minutes, March 5, 1952; Item 204-003, Tenure policy, September 11, 1967; Item 4-014-R0574, Resolution Regarding Faculty Contract of Employment, May 20, 1974; Item 12-008-R0676, Policy Authorizing the Granting of Credit Toward the Acquisition of Continuous Tenure for Service at Foreign Institutions, June 7, 1976; Item 26-021-R0380, Faculty Receiving Board of Regents' Contracts; Probation and Tenure, Montana University System, March 10, 1980, as revised October 31, 1980, June 26, 1981, July 29, 1983 and March 21, 1986.