Appointments of Academic Professional and Administrative Employees

This policy establishes the standards for the appointment of academic professional and administrative (P&A) employees. The P&A employee group is comprised of three subgroups under which appointments are made:

• academic professional
• academic administrative
• professional-in-training

Academic Professional and Academic Administrative Appointments

Responsible administrators may classify a position as academic professional or academic administrative (P&A) when the position meets all or most of these core criteria:

• Is responsible for academic programs, personnel, and academic support units;
• Provides high level support to major system and campus administrators (those positions may include responsibilities for nonacademic functions);
• Is a senior leader or other high-level leader or reports directly to one of these leaders;
• Holds a high level of decision making, discretionary authority, span of control, and consequence for the University on a system, campus, or college/administrative unit basis;
• Deals with academic constituencies;
• Requires, at a minimum, a baccalaureate degree. Exception to this requirement is given only under very rare circumstances and requires approval from the vice president of human resources.
• Requires advanced preparation (knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience relevant to the position) of the employee.

For detailed information about academic professional appointments, refer to Appendix: Academic Professional Class Series, Appointment Types and Promotions.

For specific information related to professional probationary (H) and continuous appointments (G), refer to: Appendix: Administrative Guidelines, Criteria, and Procedures for Review of Probationary (H) Academic Professionals Considered for Continuous (G) Appointment

For detailed information about administrative appointments, refer to: Appendix: Academic Administrative Appointments - Class Series and Appointment Types.

The Board of Regents (Board) approves the fringe benefits for academic professionals and academic administrators. These sub-categories of P&A employees (Academic Professional and Academic Administrative appointments) are eligible for the same fringe benefits, including medical, dental, life, disability insurance, retirement, and academic tuition benefits, as are provided to the faculty.

Professionals-in-Training Appointments

Responsible administrators may classify a position as a professional-in-training position when the position meets these criteria:

• Is an internship or residency or a position where further training is sought in the individual's disciplinary field; the employee is typically involved in research and/or teaching;
• Is limited in duration; and
• Requires an advanced degree.

For detailed information about professionals-in-training, refer to: Appendix: Academic Professional-in-Training Appointments - Class Series and Appointment Types.

Fringe Benefits are received as defined by the particular appointment and in keeping with specific eligibility requirements. For more detailed information regarding fringe benefits, refer to the specific Job Classification Description.

Classification and Additional Appointment Information

See Job Classification Specifications for generic job descriptions of specific P&A classifications. For a complete listing, refer to Job Code Groupings Dashboards.

For information covering concurrent appointments, promotions, changes in appointment type, correcting a class title, adding a second official University title, designating a courtesy title, position title, and a change of employee groups, refer to: Appendix: Additional Appointment Information pertaining to Academic Professionals and Academic Administrators.

Exclusions

Coverage under this policy does not include faculty, civil service, union-represented staff, and student appointments. Academic non-employee appointments are also not covered.