Faculty Contract Review Checklist

01.  The heading should be "Contract Employment Agreement."

02. The faculty title should be represented in the approved current fiscal year temporary search and screen plan. If it is not, an amendment of this plan will need to be routed before using the title.      

03. The person’s name and address should appear on the first page.       

04. Is the contract new or a renewal? If renewal, pull the previous contract to insure continuity of dates and salary. (Contact the Fiscal Office if you are unable to locate a copy of the previous contract)        

05. Is the faculty member on a visa? If so, a copy of the EAC (employment authorization card) needs to be included with the contract. If a renewal contract, check to make sure that the visa is valid for the period of time on the contract.            

06. Check the employment beginning and end dates. Contract can be for no more than one year. If it is for a full year, the end date should be one day less than the start date for the next year. Is the contract for a full year or partial year? This will have an effect on the amount of personal leave given if personal leave is written into the contract.          

07. Is the position full-time or part-time? If part-time, the salary needs to be adjusted with the full-time equivalent salary set in parentheses.          

08. Faculty are not eligible for overtime, so the sentence "no payment for hours worked beyond forty hours in a work week" needs to be substituted in paragraph 2.  

09. The total salary is listed with each component of the salary listed individually (i.e. base salary, health subsidy, retirement subsidy). The base salary has to be the minimum corresponding to the title from the Faculty Salary guidelines.                  

10. The FRS number should be on the contract.                 

11. The health insurance paragraph is where most errors seem to be made. Whether the faculty member will receive a health insurance subsidy or not, he (she) is entitled to enroll in the state health insurance plan. If they are receiving a health insurance subsidy the additional statements about the subsidy being added to their paycheck should be listed. New contractual faculty have up to 60 days to enroll. If this is a renewal contract then the statement that they may enroll during the next open enrollment period should he left in and the "60 days to enroll" should be removed.            

12. Foreign faculty on a tax treaty does not pay FICA (Social Security). If they have a tax treaty send a copy of the IRS form 8233 and Representational Letter to Jan Andrews with the contract.        

13. Annual and sick leave is flexible for faculty. Per the Payroll Authorization form, there are minimum and maximum amounts of leave available.          

Annual: 5 days minimum; 22 days maximum        
Sick: 3 days minimum; 15 days maximum              

14. Holidays - Faculty generally receive either the main eight holidays or all legal holidays or special observances as provided by the Legislature.        

15. Personal Leave is optional. If the contract is for less than a year or a part-time contract the leave needs to be prorated. A 100% employee receives 24 hours in a calendar year. Since a contractual employee’s contract generally splits a calendar year, the leave clerk for the department needs to monitor this leave closely.       

16. Tuition Remission benefits are optional. If written into the contract. the P1 needs to be specific as far as which semester(s) (and/or summer) the tuition remission is for. The standard amount is 8 credits per semester and 4 credits for the summer.       

17. It is required that job duties be listed on the contract. This is noted on the Payroll Authorization form. The supervising P1’s name should be listed as well.           

18. The employee’s Social Security number should be typed next to his name. The employee signs the contract as well as the supervising faculty member, the Department Chair, the Dean or designee and then the Administrator for Academic Affairs. Faculty contracts don’t go to Campus Personnel.                

19. Faculty contracts require a Faculty Information Sheet attachment. If the degree (BS for a faculty research assistant or PhD for a research associate) is less than a year old proof of degree needs to be attached to the contract.             

20. A Health Insurance Cost attachment needs to go along with the contract if the employee will be receiving a health insurance subsidy regardless of whether the employee selects a state health plan or a non-university plan.          

21. A Breakdown of Salary attachment needs to go along with the contract to show the components of the total salary.                  

22. It is very important to remember to send to Campus Benefits the Continuation of Coverage form for renewed contracts so that the health insurance premium coupons are sent out from Baltimore and the individual doesn’t lose coverage.             

23. The contract should be logged in and copied before being sent to Academic Affairs. Once the contract comes back from Academic Affairs pages with any changes should be copied and collated with the previously copied contract. The contract should be logged in when it comes back from Academic Affairs and the filed. The original contracts are returned to the departments.     

24. An addendum can only be used for a change within the current approved contract period. If wording is changed in the contract by using an addendum, all sentences in that paragraph must be included in the addendum.