Appointment Types

Work Patterns: Teaching/Service (TS); and Teaching/Scholarship /Service (TSS)

There are two full time faculty work patterns: the Teaching-Service Pattern (TS), and Teaching-Scholarship-Service Pattern (TSS). The expectations and workloads for these two patterns differ. Faculty in the TS pattern are generally required to teach eight courses (with 3h/wk instructional time) over the academic year, and are also expected to contribute to the University through service.  Faculty employed in the TSS pattern are expected to produce scholarly work, and are generally required to teach six courses per year in addition to contributing through service. Workload is described in more detail in Article 14 of the collective agreement. Faculty are hired in one pattern or another, however, there is an option to change work patterns after tenure.

Both patterns are valued equally for tenure and promotion.

Tenure

As stated in Article 10 of the Collective Agreement, tenure refers to a permanent appointment and it represents a major commitment between the institution and the Employee. Tenure carries with is a significant responsibility for the Employee, including the obligation to continue to perform at a high level of professionalism. A tenured appointment may only be terminated by retirement, resignation, mutual consent, redundancy, or dismissal for just cause (as described in Article 4.13 of the collective agreement.

All full time faculty are eligible for tenure (this includes professors, librarians, counselors and educational developers, but excludes laboratory instructors). New faculty are generally hired for a five-year probationary period as an Assistant Professor. During this period the candidate needs to fulfill the requirements for tenure which include evidence of proficient and scholarly teaching, evidence of significant contributions in service, and evidence of scholarship (where applicable). A more detailed description of the criteria for tenure can be found in the Tenure and Promotion Handbook which is available in mymru. Please note: the responsibility for meeting the criteria for tenure rests with the employee so please read the Tenure and Promotion Handbook (as well as the documents referred to therein) carefully.

Members are encouraged to review the Tenure and Promotion Workshop presentation for more details on the process.

Promotion

Once you’ve been granted tenure, you are promoted to the Rank of Associate Professor.

All associate professors are eligible for promotion to the Rank of Professor. At MRU this is a formal recognition of sustained excellence as an Employee in an instructionally-focused undergraduate university. You can apply for promotion based on one of the following categories:

• Excellence and Leadership in Teaching
• Excellence in Scholarship and Proficient and Scholarly Teaching
• Substantial Contribution in Service

The details of the criteria and application process for promotion to Professor can be found in Article 11 of CA and in the Tenure and Promotion Handbook.  Members are encouraged to review the Tenure and Promotion Workshop presentation for more details on the process.

Initial Sessional Appointments (Article 4 in the Collective Agreement)

Normally, initial sessional contracts are initiated after workload has been allocated to full-time faculty, limited-term faculty, fixed-term contract faculty, continuing contract faculty, and sessional contract faculty reappointments.

A standing committee for sessional appointments will be struck and will normally be comprised of the chair of the academic unity and at least two tenured or tenurable faculty members elected by the academic unit or discipline.

The unranked criteria used for initial sessional appointments are as follows:

• Candidate availability
• Required and desired academic credential(s) and professional certificate(s)
• Appropriate subject and professional expertise
• Record of successful teaching performance, or clear potential for becoming a successful teacher
• Any applicable professional performance standards
• Other bona fide department and program needs and priorities approved by the Dean

The standing committee will review all applications, conduct interviews if necessary, and develop a short list of candidates in order of priority based on the selection criteria.

Sessional Reappointments (Article 4 in the Collective Agreement)

All current contract faculty in an academic unit and contract faculty who have held contracts in the Academic Unit within the last 18 months (excluding time served in limited-term appointments) are eligible to apply for available sessional contracts, subject to the availability of courses for the period under consideration.

Normally, sessional reappointments are initiated after workload has been allocated to full-time faculty, limited-term faculty, fixed-term contract faculty, and continuing contract faculty.  The unranked criteria used for sessional reappointment and workload allocation are as follows:

• Candidate availability
• Seniority (per Article 4 and presented below)
• Required and desired academic credential(s) and professional certificate(s)
• Appropriate subject and professional expertise
• Teaching performance, or clear potential for becoming a successful teacher
• Any applicable professional performance standards
• Other bona fide department and program needs and priorities approved by the Dean

Seniority is to be based on accumulated teaching experience within the academic unit in terms of total SICH taught within the unit.

Deadlines for posting the projected available courses and the reappointment criteria, and inviting the eligible contract faculty to submit their requested teaching load (courses and numbers of sections) are as follows:

• April 1 for the fall semester
• November 15 for the winter semester
• March 15 for the spring semester

The standing committee will be provided with all applications and supporting documents, including

• The criteria outline in Article 4
• Performance evaluations to which applicants have had the opportunity to respond
• Any current documented disciplinary issues to which applicants have had the opportunity to respond
• Any responses that applicants provided during the course of evaluation or disciplinary proceedings

The standing committee will determine whether the applicants are eligible for reappointment, eligible for reappointment with conditions, or ineligible for reappointment.

Current contract faculty who are ineligible for reappointment will be advised in writing of the reasons for ineligibility, and these contract faculty members may respond to the committee in writing within ten days of receiving notice of ineligibility.

Contract faculty are encouraged to review the Contract Faculty Hiring Session Presentation for more details on sessional workload allocation.

Continuing Appointments

A sessional contract faculty member who has completed 4 semesters within the previous 36 months is eligible for a continuing appointment.   A continuing appointment is subject to the projected availability of courses; qualifications as identified in the selection criteria in Article 4; consistent satisfactory performance (based on chair or designate evaluations and student evaluations of instruction); and the length of contract not exceeding 24 months, staring in the fall semester (continuing clinical appointments may start in the fall, winter, or spring semester).

Workload

The number of hours for a continuing appointment for each type of contract faculty member is as follows:

• Lecturer: No less than 240 SICH (generally equal to 5 sections) per academic year, with at least 96 SICH (generally equal to 2 sections) in the fall semester
• Clinical: No less than 240 clinical hours per academic year
• Librarian: No less than 25 weeks per semester
• Counsellor: No less than 95 hours per semester
• Lab instructor: No less than 480 lab SICH per academic year

The Board or the contract faculty member can terminate the continuing appointment contract with eight weeks written notice with reasons or by mutual agreement at any time.

Benefits

Benefit eligibility (per Article 16) begins immediately at the start of a continuing appointment.  Continuing contract faculty must be insured under the University’s basic life insurance, extended health care, and dental plans.  Continuing contract faculty who wish to opt out of extended health care and dental care must have coverage for these benefits under another group plan.

Continuing appointment compensation is prorated over twelve months (per Article 13).  Contract faculty may enter into additional sessional contracts, which are not included in the prorated compensation.

Fixed-term Appointments

Up to 25 fixed-term appointments are available across the University.  These appointments are allocated by deans based on the needs of disciplines/departments and projected workload availability. To be eligible for consideration for a fixed-term appointment, a contract faculty member must satisfy the following criteria:

• Has completed 4 semesters as a contract faculty member within the previous 36 months
• Has normally taught 384 SICH (generally equal to 8 sections) or more, including spring semester, in previous academic years
• Has a projected teaching load of 144 SICH (generally equal to 3 sections) or more in the fall semester
• Is at Step 4 or higher of the hourly rate schedule for contract appointments in Article 13

Initial fixed-term appointments are subject to

• Qualifications as identified in the selection criteria in Article 4
• Consistent satisfactory performance (based on chair or designate evaluations and student evaluations of instruction
• An appointment period of no more than 36 months, staring in the fall semester

Workload

Fixed-term appointment annual workload ranges from 384 to 480 SICH (generally equal to 8 – 10 sections), with at least 144 SICH (generally equal to 3 sections) in the fall semester.  Workload for a fixed-term librarian appointment is no less than 25 hours per week in each semester.  Workload for a fixed-term counsellor appointment is no less than 190 hours per semester.

Fixed-term contract faculty may accept sessional contracts in addition to the fixed-term appointment contract; these additional contracts are not eligible for pension and are treated as separate sessional contracts for compensation purposes.

Benefits

Benefit eligibility (Collective Agreement Article 16) and pension begins immediately upon the start of the fixed-term appointment.  Participation in the Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP) is optional.  Fixed-term contract faculty must be insured under the University’s basic life insurance, extended health care, and dental plans.  Fixed-term contract faculty who wish to opt out of extended health care and dental care must have coverage for these benefits under another group plan.

Fixed-term appointment compensation is prorated over twelve months.  Fixed-term contract faculty receive $1200 in professional development funds each year of the fixed-term appointment.  Unused funds can accumulate for up to four years.

Reappointment

At the end of an initial fixed-term appointment, an incumbent has the right of first refusal for consideration for reappointment.  Eligible incumbents are normally reappointed for a term of up to three years.  To be eligible for reappointment, evaluations as outlined in Article 28 carried out in the previous term must have been consistently satisfactory.

Fixed-term reappointments are subject to projected workload availability and discipline/department needs.  If there are multiple eligible incumbents within one academic unit and not all incumbents can be reappointed, then reappointment decisions will be based on the criteria outlined in Article 4.

Reappointment decisions will usually be made by April 1 of the last year of the appointment, and reappointment terms will begin on August 15.

Following are the conditions for termination of a fixed-term appointment:

• The Board may terminate the appointment by written notice with reasons in full per Article 4
• The fixed-term contract faculty member may terminate the appointment by written notice to the Board with reasons in full no later than March 15
• Mutual consent at any time