Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Principal Lecturers, and Assistant Professors Non-Tenure Track are members of the bargaining unit and are covered by the agreement. This page collects what applies specifically to you.
Your appointment type
Lecturer — an annual appointment. Teaching, with no expectation of scholarship or research and minimal service. A terminal degree is not expected. You may apply for promotion to Senior Lecturer beginning in your fifth year of service (Article 10).
Senior Lecturer — three years, renewable every three years. Teaching, no scholarship or research expectation, minimal service. You may apply for promotion to Assistant Professor Non-Tenure Track after two consecutive terms, under University Policy 3356-10-32.
Principal Lecturer — three or more years, with expectations for teaching, service, and community engagement. Two routes in: promotion from Senior Lecturer with a strong teaching record and demonstrated community engagement over five or more years, subject to availability; or hire with at least five years of equivalent full-time professional experience plus demonstrated excellence in community engagement and outreach.
These positions require there being a job opening and then going through that application process.
Assistant Professor Non-Tenure Track — annual or multi-year, renewable on the recommendation of the dean with the approval of the provost.
The contract period begins before the start of fall term classes and extends for thirty-nine weeks.
Your workload
Full-time load for Lecturers, Senior Lecturers and Principal Lecturers is thirty workload hours per academic year, compared with twenty-four for tenured and tenure-track faculty (Policy 3356-10-20). Workload above thirty hours, excluding summer, is eligible for overload compensation.
Notice of non-reappointment
If you are not being reappointed, you receive written notice by December 31.
Before the notice is sent, your chair or another appropriate administrator must meet with you to discuss the reasons. You may bring a faculty witness of your choosing, or the President of the Association or their designee. Take someone. Notice also results in administrative withdrawal of any pending promotion application.
If you are a Senior Lecturer, Principal Lecturer, or Assistant Professor Non-Tenure Track with one or more years remaining on your contract, non-reappointment takes effect after one additional year of service. You keep your salary and benefits during that year, though you may be reassigned to other instructional or administrative work.
Appealing a non-reappointment
Appeals go to the provost and must be initiated before February 12. The provost notifies you and the Association on or before March 1, and that decision is final and binding. Separately, if you believe the procedures in Article 11 were not followed, you may file a grievance under Article 8.
The distinction matters. “They made the wrong call” is not grievable. “They never held the required meeting” or “the notice arrived in February” is.
What you are eligible for
- Promotion — available to Lecturers and Senior Lecturers.
- Faculty Improvement Leave — Senior Lecturers, Principal Lecturers, and Assistant Professors Non-Tenure Track.
- Reassigned time for service — equally available to tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty, approved by the dean and described in departmental governance documents.
- Distinguished Professorship Award — after five or more consecutive years in a non-tenure-track appointment, in teaching and/or service.
- Not available: tenure, sabbatical, and research professorship.
If your appointment is Temporary or Visiting
Temporary appointments are made only at the rank of Lecturer and carry substantially less protection. They may be ended at any time at the university’s discretion, are not subject to the notice requirements of Article 11, and their termination is not subject to the grievance procedure. Temporary appointees are not eligible for promotion, tenure, sabbatical, faculty improvement leave, research professorship, distinguished professor awards, reassigned time, or faculty development and travel funds.
Visiting appointments run up to one year and may be renewed to cover no more than three academic years, with no more than six such contracts university-wide in a year. Visiting faculty do not hold the shared governance rights set out in Article 9.4.
If you are not certain which type of appointment you hold, check your contract letter or ask. It determines nearly everything on this page.