Oct. 1, 2023 

1. What must schools/units guidelines include at minimum in their guidelines? 
2. What should schools/units exclude from their guidelines? 
3. What guidelines can my unit use to reappoint faculty if we are waiting for our new guidelines to be approved?  

For schools/units that have decided to modify Omnibus guidelines, this document is intended to provide some further detail on what should be included and excluded from proposed guidelines for term and continuing appointment faculty.  

1. What must schools/units guidelines include at minimum in their guidelines? 

• All guidelines must include standards for reappointing faculty for one-year, multi-year and continuing appointment and promotion. 

• All guidelines must include the Standards of Excellence excerpt from Omnibus guidelines. 

• Please note that teaching portfolio language cannot conflict with what is stated in the Omnibus Guidelines or the Faculty Manual. Also keep in mind that teaching portfolio requirements may change in future years, so including teaching portfolio requirements in your guidelines may require an update to your guidelines. Instead of replicating language from the Omnibus guidelines, you can link to the teaching portfolio section on the DOF site.   

2. What should schools/units exclude from their guidelines? 

• Unit-specific components for teaching portfolio or unit-specific review processes for reappointment and continuing appointment and promotion files. These belong in your bylaws or internal process documents. 

• Checklists for reappointment/promotion/continuing appointment. DOF provides updated checklists on a continuous basis. Instead, if you want to include this guidance, we recommend you link to checklists on the DOF site. 

• Any language that conflicts with AU Faculty Manual 

• Any language that repeats language from the AU Faculty Manual. If the language in the AU Faculty Manual changes, your guidelines will need to be updated. Instead, you can just link to the Faculty Manual online. Please don’t provide page numbers in your document, as page numbers in the Faculty Manual are subject to change when the manual is updated. 

• Links to external documents except AU website documents which are routinely updated. 

• Language that indicates previous institutional or historical bias. Inclusive excellence language should reflect our Faculty Manual and Omnibus Guidelines. 

3. What guidelines can my unit use to reappoint faculty if we are waiting for our new guidelines to be approved?   

If your academic unit is awaiting approval of your changes to the Omnibus guidelines, and you need to reappoint faculty on one and multi-year contracts, you may use the Omnibus guidelines. You may not use your old guidelines. Unless your school/unit has adopted the Omnibus guidelines, you must wait to appoint anyone to continuing appointment until you have new guidelines approved. After your new guidelines are approved by the provost’s office, you should use those guidelines.