Introduction
This Manual brings together the various policies and procedures relating
to all aspects of academic appointments to aid individuals who are responsible
for administering them. This Manual is intended to be a plain-language
instructional guide for following and implementing the policies and/or procedures
with respect to academic appointments, and is not meant to supersede
applicable policies or provisions of collective agreements.
This Manual applies only to academic appointments within the
legacy Rutgers University entities. Questions relating to academic
appointments within the legacy UMDNJ entities should be directed to the
appropriate Dean or Chancellor, or to the Office of Academic Labor
(rbhsfacultyaffairs@ca.rutgers.edu).
This Manual is organized topically into the broad sections of Recruitment
and Appointment, Reappointment and Promotion, Termination and Non-
reappointment, Leaves of Absence, and miscellaneous items that pertain to
faculty personnel, with specific information by faculty type, i.e.
• Tenured/Tenure-Track
• Non-Tenure Track (“NTTs”)
• Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants
• Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows
• Part-Time Lecturers
• Winter/Summer Instructors
• Coadjutants
• Visiting Faculty
• Other Faculty Titles
Recruitment and Appointment
TAs and GAs
Appointment
Posting and/or advertising is not required for Teaching Assistantships or
Graduate Assistantships.
Teaching Assistants (“TA”) and Graduate Assistants (“GA”) are appointed by the
individual academic unit. Each year, the Office of Academic Labor Relations
sends a memorandum to the units that include the guidelines for appointment
and non-reappointment for TAs and GAs. Within those guidelines are sample
appointment letters that detail all of the terms and conditions of these
appointments. Consult those guidelines each year, as there may be important
changes to some of the procedures or required material.
All job offers must be documented in an appointment letter. The appointment or
reappointment letter, at a minimum, needs to contain: the appointment title,
appointment ratio, effective dates and duration of the appointment, hiring unit,
hiring unit contact, summary of the nature of required duties, salary, heath and
other applicable benefits, costs of tuition or fees that are required as a condition
of employment (if any), tuition and fee waiver or exemption information, response
requirements (if any), a statement that the position is covered be the Agreement
between Rutgers University and the AAUP-AFT, the current collective agreement
website address, and the Rutgers AAUP-AFT website.
Full-time PhD students who are paid a salary by Rutgers University to teach
courses in a Rutgers University academic program during an academic year, and
prior to the PhD student’s admission to candidacy, or through the completion of
the fifth year of the doctoral program, whichever is sooner, shall be appointed as
Teaching Assistants for such assignments.
TAs and GAs offered appointments must document their eligibility to work in the
U.S. If the TA or GA holds an F-1 or J-1 visa, additional coordination with the
appropriate campus office for international students and scholars may be
required.
Full-time TAs and GAs are entitled to full tuition remission and fee waiver. Part-
time TAs and GAs may be responsible for certain costs of tuition and fees as a
condition of their employment. Student Accounting and Financial Services can
provide further information regarding tuition and fees for TAs and GAs. Both full-
time and part-time TAs and GAs are eligible for health and certain other benefits
and must be enrolled in and continue in good standing in the school or graduate
program. Specific information regarding benefits for full-time TAs and GAs can
be found on the University Human Resources student website.
Recruitment and Appointment
Notification of Criteria
Academic departments that have employed TAs in each of the three previous
semesters are required to give notice in writing of the departmental criteria for
such appointments and reappointments. The statement of criteria should be
included with all letters of appointment, reappointment and notice of waiting list
status.
Notification of Status
Reappointment or Non-reappointment
Teaching and Graduate Assistants who are being reappointed for the coming
academic or calendar year, or the fall semester only, should be sent an
appropriately modified version of the Form A appointment letter and the consent
Form B. The same letter and consent form must also be sent to all newly
appointed TAs and GAs.
All other currently employed TAs and GAs must be sent Form C-1 or C-2
non-reappointment/waiting list letter. If an individual is not to be reappointed he
or she must be provided with written explanation of the reasons for non-
reappointment. The names of all TAs and GAs who receive notification of non-
reappointment must be forwarded to the Office of Academic Labor Relations at
the time such notification is given.
Waiting List
If a TA or GA is placed on the waiting list, notification shall indicate if
reappointment is contingent upon the availability of funding, or meeting other
previously established and announced criteria, or both. TAs and GAs with waiting
list status shall also be notified of the number of TAs and GAs employed in the
department in the current year and the number of appointments already offered
in the department for the coming year.
Those students who are placed on waiting list shall be notified as soon as
possible with respect to any changes in their status. If a student on a waiting list
requests it in writing, he or she shall receive a second notification in writing on or
before June 30 of the number of appointments already offered in the department
for the coming year.
Should an assistantship become available for a student whose name is on the
waiting list, he or she must be sent an appointment letter and the waiver (Forms
A and B). Department chairs and program directors are encouraged to make full-
time appointments to full-time graduate students, when appropriate.
Recruitment and Appointment
Notification of Assignment
At the time they apply for a TA position, graduate students may indicate any
preference they may have with respect to teaching assignments. At least four
weeks prior to the beginning of the semester, Teaching Assistants who have
primary responsibility for a section shall normally be notified of their teaching
assignment. All other TAs and GAs shall be notified of their assignment at least 5
working days before the first day of classes. It is understood that unexpected
circumstances may require modification of the assignment. If an assignment is
changed substantially subsequent to notification, the TA or GA must be notified
of the change in writing.
Workload
Although it is understood that weekly workload will fluctuate during the term of
appointment, a TA or GA with a full-time appointment shall be required to work
no more than an average of fifteen clock hours per week during the term of
appointment on specifically assigned duties related to his/her appointment,
excluding work associated with academic progress toward the degree. A TA or
GA with less than a full-time appointment shall work a prorated portion of a full-
time appointment on specifically assigned duties related to his/her appointment,
excluding work associated with academic progress toward the degree. If at any
time over the course of an appointment, a TA or GA reasonably believes that his
or her specifically assigned duties routinely require hours that will cumulatively
exceed the hours of effort required by the appointment percentage over its full
term, he/she may raise the matter with the department chair, unit head, or
appropriate graduate director. For more information regarding the workload of a
TA or GA please refer to Article 12 of the
Agreement between Rutgers University
and the AAUP-AFT.
Post-Doctoral Associates and Fellows
Appointment
There are two types of postdoctoral appointments: a Postdoctoral Fellow, which
carries no employer/employee relationship with the University, and a
Postdoctoral Associate, which is an employee of the university. The terms and
conditions of each appointment are stated below.
Recruitment and Appointment
Postdoctoral Fellow
Posting and/or advertising is not required for Postdoctoral Fellowships.
Postdoctoral Fellows are individuals holding a doctoral degree who are affiliated
with Rutgers in order to continue their education, and they are receiving either an
individual award or an institutional award:
a. For individual awards, the individual must have been selected by a
funding agency which specifically named him/her as the recipient of an
individual training award which is transferrable to another institution.
b. For institutional awards, the individual must have been selected by the
University with the funding agency’s concurrence.
Postdoctoral Fellows have no employee/employer relationship with the
University. No services are required of postdoctoral fellows - either by Rutgers
University or the funding agency - in exchange for this award; any benefit to
Rutgers or the funding agency should be incidental to the purpose of continuing
the Fellow’s education. A Postdoctoral Fellow is usually appointed for periods
not in excess of one year, but in no instance may an individual be appointed as a
Postdoctoral Fellow for longer than three years.
An appointment to a Postdoctoral Fellowship requires the approval of the
appropriate dean (for appointments within academic departments) or director (for
appointments within research centers). The approving officer is responsible for
ensuring that the requirements of such appointments (receipt of the doctoral
degree, the amount of and appropriate distribution of the stipend, enrollment in
the applicable health program) are fully met.
Special Note Regarding Dual Appointment: Certain Postdoctoral Fellows may
be appointed as Rutgers employees under Payroll Type 7 or 8 while receiving
their postdoctoral stipend, where not inconsistent with the terms set by their
funding agencies. If there is a question regarding whether such type 7 or 8
appointment is permissible, please consult the Division of Grant and Contract
Accounting and the regulations of the funding agency.
Postdoctoral Associate
Posting is required for Postdoctoral Associate positions.
A Postdoctoral Associate is an individual holding a doctoral degree who is
employed by Rutgers University to perform research or scholarship, in
continuation of his/her education, under the direction of a Principal Investigator
Recruitment and Appointment
(PI), in order to meet the research or scholarship goals established by the
pertinent funding agency. The efforts of the Postdoctoral Associate must be
certified to the funding agency.
An appointment as a Postdoctoral Associate requires the approval of the
appropriate dean (for appointments within academic departments) or director (for
appointments within research centers).
The approving officer is responsible for ensuring that the requirements of such
appointments (receipt of the doctoral degree, the amount of and appropriate
distribution of the salary, enrollment in the applicable health program) are fully
met.
Postdoctoral Associates are usually appointed for periods not in excess of one
year at a time for a total employment period of five years maximum. An extension
beyond this period is permissible only if the dean/director and the campus
Chancellor approve. The Postdoctoral Associate may not be affiliated with
Rutgers as a Postdoctoral Fellow after the period of appointment.
Postdoctoral Associates are exempt ("NL") employees. Postdoctoral Associates
are members of a negotiations unit that is governed by a collective negotiations
agreement that sets forth certain terms and conditions of employment including
salary and other benefits.
Special Note Regarding Dual Appointment: A Postdoctoral Associate may
have a second appointment, but only as a Payroll Type 8, if the Postdoctoral
Associate is teaching. Such appointment must be consistent with the regulations
of the funding agency.
Visiting Faculty
There are two types of visiting appointments: visiting appointments with
compensation, and visiting appointments without compensation.
Visiting Appointments With Compensation
Visiting appointments with compensation are typically for faculty who are
affiliated with another institution - hence they are merely “visiting” Rutgers - but
who are performing teaching or other compensable duties for Rutgers.
Visiting Appointments Without Compensation
Recruitment and Appointment
Posting and/or advertising is not required for visiting faculty appointments
without compensation, but it is required for visiting appointments with
compensation.
A visiting appointment without compensation, also sometimes referred to as a
courtesy appointment, does not create an official employer/employee relationship
because of the absence of remuneration. Typically, these appointments are
utilized to memorialize an individual’s affiliation with Rutgers notwithstanding a
lack of compensation, such as faculty from other institutions who are here to
collaborate with colleagues. In extraordinary circumstances, visiting
appointments without compensation are also given to individuals who will
perform otherwise-compensable teaching and related functions but who are
prohibited from receiving compensation due to prevailing laws or regulations;
units must consult with Academic Labor Relations before effecting such
courtesy arrangements.
Visiting faculty appointments are not on the tenure track or within an NTT Title
Series, and can be made at any faculty rank/title for a specified period, not to
exceed one year at a time, and not to exceed two successive appointments.
Any exceptions require the approval of the Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs. Visiting appointments may be made by the Chancellor in
Newark and Camden, upon recommendation of the department, and the Dean.
In New Brunswick, these appointments may be made by the Dean, upon
recommendation of the department. The prefix “visiting” shall be used in front of
the specific faculty rank of the appointment. A faculty member in a visiting
position is not precluded from applying or being offered other University
positions, including tenure-track appointments.
Appointment Letter
Visiting faculty should be given a letter memorializing the extent of the
appointment. There should be no expectation of continued appointment beyond
the appointment term, and thus the letter for visiting faculty should specifically
state the fixed term of the appointment, the specific responsibilities of the
position, and indicate that the letter also constitutes the requisite termination
notice.
Additional Useful Information for Visiting Faculty Appointments
• Net ID: https://netid.rutgers.edu/index.htm
• Rutgers ID Card: https://ipo.rutgers.edu/publicsafety/iam
• Parking: https://ipo.Rutgers.edu/dots
Reappointment- TAs and GAs
Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants who are currently
appointed should be notified by the academic unit in writing of their status for
the upcoming academic year on or before April 30 for fall semester
appointments and October 31 for spring semester appointments. This
notification will either reappoint, non-reappoint or inform the TA or GA that
they are on the waiting list. It should be stated within the reappointment
letters that reappointment is contingent upon the availability of funding or
the meeting of other previously established and announced criteria. A
graduate student who is placed on a waiting list should be
Reappointment and Promotion
notified by the academic unit as soon as possible of a change in his/her status.
The graduate student may request to receive a second notification in writing from
the department on or before June 30 of the number of appointments already
offered in the department for the coming year.
Notification of Criteria for Reappointment
Academic departments that have employed Teaching Assistants and Graduate
Assistants in each of the previous three semesters shall provide notice in writing
of the departmental criteria for such appointments or reappointments. Individual
contract letters shall be issued to Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants
upon appointment and reappointment and, where written criteria for appointment
or reappointment exist, they shall be included with the appointment letter.
The letter offering reappointment will include the following information, to the
extent known at the time of the appointment letter:
• Appointment title
• Appointment ratio
• Effective dates and duration of appointment
• Hiring unit
• Hiring unit contact
• A summary of the nature of required duties
• Salary
• Health and other applicable benefits
• Costs of tuition or fees that are required as a condition of employment, if any
• Tuition and fee waiver or exemption information
• Response requirements, if any
• A statement that the position is covered by this collective agreement
• The current collective agreement website address
• The address of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT’s website
Waiting List
Currently employed TAs and GAs must be notified in writing of their status for the
coming year on or before April 30. Those TAs and GAs appointed only for the
fall semester must be notified on or before October 31 of their status for the
spring semester.
If currently a employed TA or GA's status is on the waiting list, they must be sent
the either Form C-1 or C-2 non-reappointment/waiting list letter. The notification
shall indicate if reappointment is contingent upon the availability of funding, or
meeting other previously established and announced criteria, or both. TAs and
GAs with waiting list status shall also be notified of the number of TAs and GAs
employed in the department in the current year and the number of appointments
already offered in the department for the coming year.
Reappointment and Promotion
Those students who are placed on waiting list shall be notified as soon as
possible with respect to any changes in their status. If a student on a waiting list
requests it in writing, he or she shall receive a second notification in writing on or
before June 30 of the number of appointments already offered in the department
for the coming year.
Should an assistantship become available for a student whose name is on the
waiting list he or she must be sent an appointment letter and the waiver (Forms A
and B.)
