Multi-Year Contracts for Instructional, Research and Clinical Faculty with Teaching Responsibilities or Librarian Appointments

House Bill 12-1144, which was signed in April 2012, allows state institutions of higher education to offer contracts of up to three years to faculty members who are not tenured or on the tenure track and hold .5 FTE or greater classroom teaching appointments.  As amended in 2014, C.R.S. 24-19-104(1.5)(d) provides that:

Each system of higher education and each campus of each state institution of higher education may, subject to the approval of the chief executive officer of the system or institution and any rules or limitations established by the chief executive officer, have in effect an unlimited number of term employment contracts or term employment contract extensions having a duration of not more than three years with an unlimited number of government-supported officials or employees if the term employment contracts or term employment contract extensions are for half-time or longer, non-tenure-track classroom teaching appointments or librarian appointments.

1. Instructional, research, or clinical faculty members with at least a .5 FTE teaching assignment may be eligible for a contract of up to three years.
    
2. Instructional, research, or clinical faculty members with a .5 FTE or greater librarian appointment may be eligible for a contract of up to three years.
    
3. Per subsection (C) of Regent Policy 5.C.3 – Instructional, Research, and Clinical Faculty Appointments, campuses are encouraged to provide multi-year contracts to high performing faculty as permitted by applicable state law and available financial resources.  Faculty members working under such contracts are not eligible for tenure, and appointments shall not be deemed to convert such faculty to tenure-track status.

1. Each campus shall have a process for the review and approval of multi-year contracts.
   1. The faculty member’s performance and the unit’s needs and budgetary resources shall be considered when a recommendation is made, reviewed, and approved.
       
   2. The head of the primary unit in which the appointment will be held shall have primary responsibility for establishing appointment criteria, and for considering the merits of a multi-year contract for an individual faculty member and issuing a recommendation to the dean.
       
   3. The dean of the school, college, or library will have final approval authority for multi-year contracts, subject to campus requirements.
2. The vice president for academic affairs, working with the Office of University Counsel, will promulgate a Multi-Year Contract template with approved terms and conditions that comply with applicable state law and university policy.  Copies of the template may be requested from the Office of University Counsel. 
   1. Each contract will provide for an appointment of no more than three years and may provide for a probationary period of not more than one year. 
       
   2. Each contract shall specify the percent of the appointment that will be allocated to leadership and service, or other areas, if any, but as specified in applicable state law, each contract must include a teaching or librarianship appointment of at least half-time.  Any changes during the term of the contract must be agreed to in writing by both the faculty member and the approving authority.
       
   3. Each contract shall provide that any decision regarding reappointment following the contract’s expiration is within the university’s sole discretion.

1. Administrative Policy Statements (APS) and Other Policies
   1. Article 5:  Faculty of the Laws of the Regents
   2. Regent Policy 5.C:  Faculty Appointments
   3. APS 1009:  Multiple Means of Teaching Evaluation

• Adopted:  March 14, 2013.
• Revised:  This policy was updated in May 2014 to be consistent with the passage of HB14-1256, which was signed into law on March 27, 2014; March 18, 2020, became effective July 1, 2020, with the rollout of the new regent article and policy 5 regarding faculty; September 2, 2021, revised for changes related to the Equal Pay Act and made retroactive to January 1, 2021.
• Last Reviewed:  July 1, 2020. (Limited review in 2021 and revisions made related to the Equal Pay Act only)