Expedited Appointment Dossier

Hiring a faculty member at the rank of associate professor or professor requires the review of a dossier, as with promotion and tenure. These are considered "expedited" dossiers, and the intention is that the complete dossier review from the academic unit through the Provost level should be completed within two weeks. The following resources can help when preparing an expedited dossier:

• Provost Policy Statement - Guidelines for Expediting Initial Faculty Appointments at the Rank of Associate Professor or Professor (2013)
• Expedited Senior Appointment Checklist

In some cases, it may be advantageous for an academic unit to hire a faculty member at the starting rank of associate professor or professor rather than assistant professor. If an academic unit feels like this might be the case with a position for which they are preparing a search, it is important that they make the decision at the point of the Faculty Hiring Proposal stage and when approving the job description about whether or not they will consider candidates for senior ranks.

If an academic unit decides to consider candidates for senior ranks, the HR IES job posting needs to list the position as "open rank, or "assistant/associate/professor" as the possible ranks. If the position is only listed as an assistant professor position, and an academic unit later decides to hire a candidate as an associate professor or professor rank, the position would have to be reposted, and the candidate(s) would have to re-apply as an open search. 

Some important points to remember when preparing an expedited senior appointment are:

• Letters of recommendation become important in completing a timely expedited dossier, so gather at least three of them during the interview process and be sure they address the qualities of the candidate as you would ask for in a promotion and/or tenure case for external reviewers.
• Expedited dossiers are required for senior rank appointments with or without tenure. 
• When determining who needs to provide letters for the dossier, refer to the Matrix of Minimum Written Consultation found in AR 2:1. 
• Academic unit faculty should be warned early in the process that they will need to write letters for the appointment and be prepared to supply those letters very quickly. 
• It is good to have assurance from the Dean and associate deans early on that they are in support of appointing the candidate at a senior rank. 
• Having plenty of time between the offer letter and the start date of the appointment is very helpful in these cases.
• Questions about expedited senior appointments can be referred to the Associate Dean for Faculty Resources, Planning and Assessment.