Introduction

This manual is designed to acquaint members of the faculty and administration of Rutgers University with the various policies and procedures regarding the hiring, reappointment, promotion and termination of academic appointments within the University.  It also provides assistance to administrators responsible for handling faculty appointments. It details the requirements relating to academic personnel appointments, utilizing the various levels of existing policies and procedures.

The manual covers tenured and tenure-track, non-tenure track, clinical, part-time lecturer, teaching and graduate assistant, and visiting positions on the Newark, Camden and New Brunswick campuses. Since the manual is revised on an as-needed basis to reflect changes in policy and to revise outdated information, it is the most up-to-date source of information.

This manual has been prepared by the Office of Academic Labor Relations.  If you have any questions or comments about the content of this manual please contact the Office of Academic Labor Relations at (848) 932-7174.

Overview of Academic Personnel

Rutgers University employs several different types of academic personnel. Currently, the terms and conditions of employment of the majority of academic personnel are governed by two different union contracts.  

The Agreement between Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and the Rutgers Council of AAUP Chapters, American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO (hereinafter called the “Rutgers-AAUP-AFT Agreement”) covers the following faculty members who are employed at 50% time or more:

•  All faculty members with the rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, instructor, assistant instructor, lecturer, research associate and adjunct faculty who are engaged in instruction, research and other academic service; and

•  Members of the research, library, general extension, and cooperative extension staffs and those others, who by virtue of University regulations hold equivalent rank (located in Appendix A of the Rutgers-AAUP-AFT contract) to the faculty categories listed in the paragraph above.

•  Faculty members who are engaged in instruction and/or research for 50% or more time during the academic year and who hold the title of associate dean, assistant dean, assistant to the dean or academic director. 

In addition, University employees who hold the title of teaching assistant or graduate assistant are also covered by the Rutgers-AAUP-AFT Agreement.

The following academic personnel are not members of the Rutgers-AAUP-AFT unit: visiting faculty (unless they have served more than 3 consecutive years), honorary professors, fellows, members of the coadjutant staff, Part-Time Lecturers, postdoctoral associates, and faculty who administer or help to administer a major academic unit or program of the University. 

Part-Time Lecturers are covered under a separate contract: the Agreement between Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and Part-Time Lecturer Faculty Chapter, Rutgers Council of the AAUP Chapters, American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO (hereinafter called the “Rutgers-PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Agreement”).  The Rutgers-PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Agreement covers the following Part-Time Lecturers:

•  Part-Time Lecturers who are employed for at least their second semester as a Part-Time Lecturer in any two consecutive academic years (Part-Time Lecturers become members of the unit at the commencement of their second semester as a Part-Time Lecturer).

•  An individual who was employed as a Teaching Assistant for at least an academic year appointment in one academic year and is hired as a Part-Time Lecturer in the subsequent academic year will be included in the unit upon appointment as a Part-Time Lecturer. 

• An individual who was a member of the full-time faculty unit (Rutgers-AAUP-AFT) for at least one academic year appointment in one academic year and is hired as a Part-Time Lecturer in the subsequent academic year will be included in the unit upon appointment as a Part-Time Lecturer.

Please refer to Article I of the Rutgers-PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Agreement for a list of exclusions from the unit. 

Any Part-Time Lecturer who has had a break in service of three or more consecutive academic year semesters (i.e. Fall or Spring) must re-establish eligibility for inclusion in the unit by being in their second semester of re-employment as a Part-Time Lecturer. 

Questions regarding union eligibility should be directed to the Office of Academic Labor Relations (848) 932-7174.