Temple’s HR department coordinates half-day orientations for new full-time employees. You should receive an email from someone in HR about the orientation before you begin working. At this orientation you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for benefits covered in your union contract, such as health insurance and pension. Representatives from TAUP are generally available to speak with new faculty after the orientation, so this is a great time to join the union (if you haven’t already) and ask questions.

Under the collective bargaining agreement, “The assigned workload for full time faculty shall be reasonable and fair and shall usually consist of a combination of teaching, research and creative activities, and service to Temple University.” PIRC faculty are generally hired for one area (i.e. teaching or research), and may be asked to do some service. PIRC faculty can be hired on “academic year/9 month” or “fiscal year/11month/12 month” appointments. Most academic year PIRC faculty on the Instructional track teach 24 credits each year, unless they are specifically given release by their Dean (such as for service as a Program Head). Assignments for fiscal year PIRC faculty on the Instructional track vary, but cannot go above teaching 36 credits across Fall, Spring, and Summer; they may also be specifically given release by their Dean (such as for service as a Program Head). Faculty of all appointment lengths cannot be assigned more than 15 credits in a given semester without their consent. If academic year faculty are asked to teach over the Summer sessions, a corresponding reduction in teaching load should be made in the Fall or Spring semesters.

• In addition to the university-wide orientation, your college/school and/or department may have its own orientation process. Here are some basic questions that you may want to ask, if they aren’t answered in an orientation.
• Who in the department should I be contacting with general questions that I have as I’m starting to teach at Temple?
• What office space, labs, computer rooms, supply rooms, and/or printers do I have access to? Do I need keys or combinations to unlock these spaces? Do I have after-hours access?
• How many office hours per week am I expected to hold?
• What is the process for getting a substitute or canceling when I can’t make it to class?
• What do I do if the technology in my class (computer, projector, lab/studio equipment, etc.) doesn’t work?
• Is there a lab fee students pay for the class, and if so, how much is it/how much is the budget for class materials?
• How are materials for my class purchased?
• What types of purchases for my class will I be reimbursed for, and what is the process for being reimbursed?
• What is required if I will be taking students on a class trip?
• Can I invite a guest speaker to class to speak to students? Is there is an honorarium? What is the process of getting someone paid?
• How will my teaching/class will be evaluated?
• Are there meetings/events I am required to attend?
• If I need to use a university-owned vehicle, what is the process for doing so?

Temple recognizes faculty for their outstanding performance in teaching and instruction, research, scholarship, creative activity and/or outstanding performance in university service, or service to the profession or discipline. All PIRC faculty who submit their annual report (ARoFA) by September 1st are eligible to apply for merit. Your school/college will have its own process and criteria for determining merit, and you should be sent these documents. The criteria should include discipline-specific ranges of units for each type of accomplishment that can be claimed in applying for merit (although merit recommendations and final merit awards can deviate from those criteria).

Our collective bargaining agreement guarantees a separate merit pool for PIRC faculty, in addition to the pool for T/TT faculty. One unit of merit is equivalent to $600 or $50 per paycheck. For example, a faculty member earning 2 units of merit will have their base pay increased by $1200. Merit awards are normally announced in April, with awards retroactive to the January paycheck.

As your merit application is being considered, you should receive a copy of your chair’s merit recommendation when it is forwarded to the Dean, and you should receive a copy of your Dean’s merit recommendation when it is forwarded to the Provost. If your chair recommends you for merit and your Dean does not, you should receive a notification of the Dean’s decision.

A departmental merit committee must include at least one PIRC faculty member, provided one is available, when evaluating PIRC faculty members for merit. At least one of the members appointed by the college or school assembly shall be a PIRC faculty member when evaluating PIRC faculty members for merit.

PIRCs who are compensated 100% on grants will have any approved merit applied to base pay. If any current grant funding is insufficient to compensate the faculty member for the merit increase, the difference shall be paid by the school/college.

The Provost has the right to offer individuals half units of merit for exceptional effort even if they had not been already awarded a unit.

The collective bargaining agreement requires that departments with 10 or more PIRC faculty have a non-tenure track appointment committee composed of at least one-third PIRC faculty from that department to make recommendations for initial NTT appointments. Their recommendations should be submitted to the department chair.

The process for reappointment of PIRC faculty members varies by discipline. Our collective bargaining agreement requires that you are provided with the details of this process, and notified of any changes in it. If you do not have access to information about your reappointment process, please contact TAUP.

If you have been employed as a full-time non-tenure-track faculty member for 3, 4, or 5 consecutive years and your contract is not renewed, you must be notified at least 4 months prior to the end of your current appointment. If you have been employed for 6, 7, or 8 consecutive years, then you must be notified at least 5 months prior. Temple can choose to pay you the salary for the required notice period as a severance payment and give you less notice, but this is rare.

Our contract also includes provisions about the length of your appointment. If you have received satisfactory evaluations, then you should generally receive multi-year appointments after your third year and 3-year appointments after your sixth year. If you do not, then you should receive a written explanation. If you are Research faculty and your appointment is fully or predominantly grant-funded, the multi-year renewal requirement does not apply.

If you have been employed as a full-time nontenure-track faculty member for 9 consecutive years or more, or if you will reach that milestone during your current appointment, then at the end of your current appointment you will have presumption of continued employment. This status continues indefinitely once you qualify for it.

PIRC faculty with presumption of continued employment no longer need to go through the contract renewal process and can only lose their jobs in the following situations:

• You can be laid off without cause, but you must be provided a one-year terminal appointment or a full year’s salary, and you must receive 3 months’ notice of the layoff decision. For example, if your current appointment ends 6/30/2026, you would have to receive notice by 3/31/2026 and would get either a terminal appointment running until 6/30/2027 or the equivalent salary.
• You can be laid off due to department/program closure or university-wide financial crisis, but you must receive 6 months’ notice or 6 months’ severance pay, and the layoffs must follow the seniority rules in the collective bargaining agreement.
• You can be terminated for performance reasons, but you must be given a written improvement plan and at least one full semester to make improvements first.
• You can be terminated for disciplinary reasons, but the university must prove that it has just cause to fire you. You are entitled to TAUP representation in the discipline process.

If you have been employed as a full-time nontenure-track faculty member for 10 consecutive years or more, you will receive additional severance pay if you are laid off for any reason, but not if you are terminated for performance or disciplinary reasons. This payment stacks with any other severance you may receive. The additional severance is based on length of service as follows:

• 10 weeks’ pay for 10-15 years of service
• 12 weeks’ pay for 15-19 years of service
• 15 weeks’ pay for 20-24 years of service
• 18 weeks’ pay for 25-29 years of service
• 21 weeks’ pay for over 29 years of service

If your current appointment expires on 6/30/2025, Temple may choose not to continue your employment even if you have been employed 9 consecutive years or more. However, you have additional protections:

• You must be notified of your non-renewal by 12/15/2024.
• If you were not notified of non-renewal by 12/15/2024, you must receive a severance payment of 3 months’ salary.
• If you have 10 consecutive years or more on 6/30/2025 and are non-renewed, you will also receive the length-of-service based severance shown above.
• If you are not laid off effective 6/30/2025, you will have presumption of continued employment beginning 7/1/2025.

The collective bargaining agreement requires that each academic unit have promotion procedures in place for PIRC faculty. The processes and criteria for promotion are school/college-specific and determined by the Dean in consultation with Department Chairs, department committees and other appropriate collegial bodies. Promotion criteria should be consistent with university guidelines and the TAUP contract. And wherever possible, committees evaluating PIRC faculty for promotion (whether departmental or school/college) should be majority-PIRC.

PIRC should request, from their Dean’s office, a written copy of their college’s specific policy, and speak with their Department Chair for more information. As with T/TT faculty, promotion processes will likely take several months, if not a full academic year.

For all faculty, sabbaticals may be authorized to pursue professional development, to conduct research and/or creative activities, and/or to develop methods and materials to improve teaching and curricula with the outcome of increasing the individual’s future contribution to the University.

PIRC faculty are automatically eligible for a sabbatical after their 10th year at Temple. PIRC faculty that have accrued more than six (6) years of full-time service may apply for a sabbatical sooner provided that they have secured the prior approval of their dean or the Provost.

The Collegial Assembly of each academic unit will have its own process and procedure for reviewing sabbatical applications, and making recommendations to the Dean. At least one PIRC faculty member must be included on any school/college committee and on the Faculty Senate Committee that evaluates PIRC faculty members for sabbatical.

If you believe you have experienced a violation of the contract, contact our contract enforcement staff, any member of the TAUP Grievance Committee, any TAUP officer, or any member of the NTT/PIRC constituency council and we’ll direct you to the most appropriate person to work with. (A list of current elected leaders and staff and their contact information can be found at https://taup.org/taup-leaders-staff/.) It’s important to do this as soon as possible, because grievances must be filed within 20 working days of the violation. Any delay could impact the exercise of your rights.

You’re also encouraged to contact TAUP about work-related issues that may not constitute contract violations. We’re always happy to answer questions. Even if there’s not a contract violation, we can always act collectively to improve our working conditions.