312 Old Main

Laramie, Wyoming 82071-3302

307.766.4286 or 307.766.6476

fax: 307.766.2606

To:            Steve Horn, Oliver Walter, Ken Griffin, Charlie Ksir, Gus Plumb, Bob Kelley, Jerry Parkinson

From:       Myron Allen, Academic Affairs

Subject:   Call for position requests

Date:         7 March 2001

Copies:    Tom Buchanan, Bill Gern, Rollin Abernethy, Judy Powell, Steve Williams

The Office of Academic Affairs solicits requests from academic colleges for tenure-track faculty and extended-term-track academic professional positions.  Units receiving position authorizations allocated in response to this solicitation should plan to search during FY 2002 to fill the positions.

Format for requests.  Attached is a hard copy of a standard form for each position request.  Colleges should submit one completed form, with no more than one page of narrative justification, for each position requested.  Electronic versions of the form are available on the Academic Affairs web site, 

http://www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/PolicyStatements/cpc_form.htm

Requests must come from college deans.  Deans may also submit one-page requests for other types of allocations from the central position pool, including

• temporary allocations to accommodate special hiring needs not associated with tenure- or extended-term-track positions,
• allocations intended to augment salary monies that are currently budgeted for permanent positions but are insufficient to cover them.

Process schedule.  The following is a schedule of events related to the allocation of positions. 

Dates	Event
April 2001	Preliminary meetings between deans and VPAA, to be arranged by the Office of Academic Affairs
14 May 2001	Due date for position requests in Academic Affairs (5:00 pm).
8, 11, 13 June 2001	Half-day meetings involving college deans, Academic Affairs, the Deans of Outreach and the Graduate School, the Vice President for Research, and the President.
29 June 2001	Final decisions on position allocations.
3 July 2001	Transfer of funds for FY 2002.

Following last year’s format, the meetings in mid-June will include summary presentations by each dean, as well as discussions and questions from deans and other administrators.  Our office will provide copies of all of the requests as well as information that should help in making recommendations and decisions about the allocations.  Please reserve these dates.

Institutional priorities.  Every position request should be consistent with the 1999 Academic Plan.  Deans, department heads, and program directors should configure their requests in ways that help strengthen elements of the plan. Units can further increase the likelihood that their requests will be successful by addressing one or more of the following institutional priorities. 

·         Appointments with significant percentages of effort dedicated to the Outreach School, including off-campus and distance instruction, where appropriate.  We urge college deans to discuss this criterion with the Dean of the Outreach School before submitting requests.

·         Appointments that promise to enhance interdisciplinarity, economic development, technology infrastructure, or cultural assets of the state and region.

·         Appointments related to the EPSCoR program, with its threefold emphasis:

a.       Natural resource science and engineering,

b.       Materials science and engineering,

c.       Computational and informational science and engineering.

(As with the current academic year, separate requests for proposals to fill EPSCoR-related position will be forthcoming during the coming academic year.)

·         Appointments that strengthen a unit's contributions to environment and natural resources.

·         Appointments that bolster the institution's commitment to internationalization.

Tenure denials.   As a general principle, neither deans nor the Office of Academic Affairs will capture positions or salary monies freed by tenure denials initiated by negative votes of departmental faculty or department heads.  I recognize that the application of this principle may be less than clear in certain cases.  If you have questions about specific tenure-denials (or extended-term denials), please get in touch.  It is important that our position allocation process not discourage rigorous peer evaluation at the departmental level.