Conditions of Postdoctoral Service

12.03 Appointment Procedures

1. The president shall establish procedures for appointments of postdoctoral scholars. An appointment may become effective as of the date it is approved by the president or the president’s designee.
2. All postdoctoral scholars may be appointed for one academic or fiscal year, or a portion thereof. Appointments may be renewed on a year-to-year basis for not more than four years after the initial appointment. No oral or written communication made prior to or after the execution of a notice of appointment or acceptance of an offer letter that is inconsistent or in conflict with the conditions of postdoctoral service (6-310) shall become a part of the conditions of appointment.
3. Generally, postdoctoral scholars are funded on the principal investigator’s or supervising faculty member’s external funding. Postdoctoral appointments that are dependent upon continuation of funding from a specific source other than state appropriations shall so state in the appointment document and may terminate when the funding is no longer available.
4. Postdoctoral scholars shall have no expectation of appointment beyond the end of the current appointment period and are not eligible for tenure or continuing status.
    

12.04 Compensation

1. The president may set individual salaries. Salary rates for reappointments will depend upon available funding. Merit raises may be allocated by the president within the limitation of available funds.
2. Certain fringe benefits are made available to postdoctoral scholars and are subject to change by the legislature, the board, or the university.
3. Postdoctoral scholars are entitled to twelve (12) days of sick leave accrual per year, ten (10) days of vacation leave during the first year of appointment, and fifteen (15) days per year for subsequent appointments. Postdoctoral scholars may carry over from one year to the next up to the number of hours earned in one and one-half years at the accrual rate in effect at the time of the carryover. Vacation leave is not paid out upon termination.
4. Policies governing outside activities and supplementary compensation are administered by each university.
    

12.05 Employment-Related Board Policies

1. The Board has adopted various policies which may be a part of the employment relationship depending upon the terms of the particular policy. Among these policies are the patent policy, medical service plan, royalty policy and leave policy. Changes to existing policies may be made by the board and such changes will normally become effective at the beginning of the first appointment period following the period in which a change is adopted. Additional policies may be added to be effective as determined by the Board.
2. Each university shall maintain a compilation of such policies and shall take reasonable steps to inform postdoctoral scholars of the existence of such policies.
    

12.06 Duties and Responsibilities

1. Duties and responsibilities of a postdoctoral scholar shall consist of those assigned by the president or the president’s designee, who may be the principal investigator or supervising faculty member. All duties and responsibilities shall be carried out under the direction of the president or the president’s designee. Duties and responsibilities shall be related to the expertise and competence of the postdoctoral scholar.
2. Performance of assigned duties by postdoctoral scholars shall be subject to evaluation by a principal investigator, supervising faculty member and/or appropriate administrator and performance shall be considered in decisions relating to compensation, retention, termination or a decision not to reappoint.
    

12.07 Reappointment

Postdoctoral scholars shall be given at least a sixty (60) day notification of nonrenewal prior to the end of the appointment period. Failure to provide a sixty (60) day notification of nonrenewal shall not constitute an automatic renewal of appointment. If notice of nonrenewal is given less than sixty days prior to the end of an appointment period, then the postdoctoral scholar shall be entitled to continuation of compensation for sixty (60) days from the date of notification. If funding is no longer available or eliminated, a postdoctoral scholar shall be provided with a thirty (30) day notification of termination of the appointment due to loss of funding.
 

12.08 Termination

1. Methods of Termination
   The appointment of a postdoctoral scholar may terminate through resignation, nonrenewal of appointment, loss of funding which supports the appointment, or dismissal for just cause during the appointment period for poor performance, work-related misconduct, violation of board or university policies, or other serious reason as determined by the supervising faculty member.
2. Dismissal during the appointment period
   
   1. The supervising faculty member shall provide a written recommendation of dismissal to the academic unit head, with a copy to the postdoctoral scholar. The recommendation shall provide the reasons or basis for the proposed action.
   2. If the postdoctoral scholar disagrees with the reasons for dismissal, they may, within five (5) days after receipt of the recommendation, submit an appeal to the academic unit head, with a copy to the supervising faculty member.
   3. The academic unit head will meet with the postdoctoral scholar and the supervising faculty member. Within ten (10) days after receipt of the appeal, the unit head will issue a written determination, affirming, reversing or modifying the recommendation of dismissal with the reasons for the decision.
   4. Within five (5) days after receipt of the decision, the postdoctoral scholar may submit a request for reconsideration of the determination to the college dean, who will review the case and issue a final decision within ten (10) days after receipt of the request for reconsideration.
3. The supervising faculty member may decide not to renew the appointment of any postdoctoral scholar. In such case, the postdoctoral scholar is not entitled to a reason for the decision to nonrenew the appointment or a hearing either prior to or subsequent to the decision.
4.  Interim action
   A postdoctoral scholar may be suspended with pay pending a dismissal in a case in which the supervising faculty member, unit head and college dean determine that the continued presence of the individual on the campus constitutes a substantial interference with the orderly functioning of the university or of a substantial area, unit, college or department of the university.
    

12.09 Discrimination Review Procedures

1. Each university shall maintain a procedure for reviewing claims of unlawful discrimination
2. Whenever a postdoctoral scholar believes that a decision on reappointment, nonrenewal, or dismissal was based on unlawful discrimination, the individual shall have a right to have their complaint reviewed in accordance with university policies and processes for investigation and disposition of such complaints.
    

12.10 Implementation

The president shall establish such additional policies and procedures consistent with this policy as may be needed to carry out the conditions of postdoctoral service (6-310).
 

12.11 Severability

If any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause, sentence, or phrase of this policy shall for any reason be held illegal or unenforceable, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the policy. If any provision of this policy contains an ambiguity, which may be construed as either valid or invalid, the valid construction shall prevail.