Faculty Affairs
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- Academic Year
- Academic Freedom
- Academic Integrity
- Academic Regulations
- Adoption and Sale of Textbooks
- Americans with
Disabilities Act - Appointments to Faculty Positions
- Awards and Honors
- Civility in the
Classroom - Commencement
- Communicable and Transmittable
Diseases - Conflict of Interest
and Ethics Code - Consulting or Outside
Employment - Correspondence Requiring
Official Action - Day(s) of No Classes
- Emeritus
Appointments
- Endowed Chairs and Designated Professorships
- Faculty Enrollment in Courses
- Faculty Responsibility
- Faculty–Student
Conflict of Interest - Faculty Workload
- Final Examinations
- Grade Records
- Holding Public Office
- Leaves of Absence
- Misconduct in
Research - Nepotism
- Off-Campus Student
Trips and Activities - Office Hours
- Operating Policies
and Procedures - Political Activity
- Post-Tenure Review
- Posting of Student
Grades
- Private Use of
University Property - Promotion and Salary
Increases - Religious Holy Days
- Salary Payment
- Security Control of Keys
- Small Classes
- Smoke-Free and Tobacco-Free Environment
- Student Disability Services
- Student Health Services
- Student Organization
Advisors - Summer
Appointments - Tenure Policy and Standards
- Travel
Reimbursement - Use of University
Buildings and Grounds - Visiting Speakers
Nepotism
All faculty and staff appointments will be made on the basis of qualifications and suitability of the appointee, subject to applicable statutes and the provisions of Section 03.01.8, Regents' Rules and OP 70.08. No persons related to an administrator within a prohibited degree shall be eligible for initial appointment to a position in an area of responsibility over which the administrator has appointive authority, in whole or in part, regardless of the source of funds from which the position's salary is to be paid. Exceptions to this restriction on the initial appointment of a person will be made only by the Board of Regents upon recommendation of the President and the Chancellor and then only when the administrator in question does not directly supervise the person to be appointed. If the appointment, reappointment, reclassification, reassignment, or promotion of an employee places the employee under an administrative supervisor who is related within a prohibited degree, all subsequent personnel and compensation actions affecting the employee shall become the responsibility of the next higher administrative supervisor. These provisions shall apply when two employees marry and one spouse becomes the administrative supervisor of the other. All instances in which an employee marries an administrative supervisor, is placed under the administrative supervision of a relative, or is made the administrative supervisor of a relative within the prohibited degree will be reported to the Board of Regents as an information item (OP 70.08, Section 03.01.11, Regents' Rules).
Off-Campus Student Trips and Activities
OP 79.13, Policy for University-Related Travel by Motor Vehicle, Commercial Carrier, and Aircraft,
governs the use of motor vehicles in any activity related to the academic research
and/or administrative responsibility of the department involved. This policy relates
to travel undertaken by students to a university-related activity located more than
25 miles from the university. It applies to travel undertaken by registered student
organizations.
Registered student organizations are free to make such off-campus trips as are deemed
worthwhile by the membership and sponsors of the organization. Students and their
parents should understand that participation in such off-campus trips and activities
is at the student's own risk. If personal injury or accident should occur to students
or other persons during such activities, Texas Tech will assume no responsibility,
financial or otherwise.
Faculty and staff sponsors and organization officers are urged to take all possible
precautions to ensure the safety and well-being of all persons participating in the
off-campus activity. The questions of financial liability for accident or injury and
appropriate insurance coverage should be specifically identified by each group making
an official off-campus trip as being the responsibility of each individual student.
Special instruction fees may offset the cost of travel for activities specially related
to instruction for a course.
There is no official registration procedure for official off-campus trips, and there
are no official excused class absences for students who participate in off-campus
trips by student organizations. Students will be responsible for making their own
individual arrangements with instructors for classwork missed while participating
in an off-campus trip. Instructors will be free to set their own requirements for
classwork missed under such circumstances; they must grant students an opportunity
to make up all coursework missed while participating in an off-campus trip. Each student
traveling to participate in a university-related activity must execute the Student
Activity Release Form prior to the activity (OP 79.13).
The university provides an optional group accident and health insurance plan for students, with enrollment during registration for the fall and spring semesters. Also available is a very economical trip insurance plan for student groups and their faculty or staff sponsor. Insurance application forms may be obtained by the sponsor at the Contracting Office. Trip insurance may also be purchased from private insurance companies (OP 34.06).
Office Hours
Each faculty member is to maintain scheduled office hours as directed by the dean of the college and/or the chair or director of the individual department or school. Schedules should be posted and made available to students.
Operating Policies and Procedures
The Texas Tech University Operating Policy and Procedure (OP) system was developed to standardize university-wide policies and procedures and to provide a consistent and coherent method of defining university policies. The system is intended to:
- Provide a university-wide pattern of developing policies and procedures;
- Outline a standard format for policies and procedures;
- Provide a rapid means of identification of policies and procedures;
- Facilitate continuity regardless of changes in personnel assignments; and
- Ensure the periodic review and updating of all university-wide operating policies.
Texas Tech OPs are subordinate to higher authorities, including federal law, rules,
and regulations; state law, rules, and regulations; and policies, procedures, rules,
and regulations of the TTU Board of Regents.
Should a conflict occur between policy and/or procedure of an OP and any other written
or oral policy or procedure developed by any university department, the policy and/or
procedure of the OP will prevail. The TTU OP Manual can be accessed online at www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual.
Political Activity
When speaking as a private citizen on a matter of public concern, an employee of Texas
Tech University has the same rights and responsibilities of free speech, thought,
and action as any other American citizen.
When speaking as a university employee, a faculty member should remember that the
public may judge the profession and the university by his or her utterances. Hence,
a faculty member should at all times be accurate, should exercise appropriate restraint,
should show respect for the opinions of others, should emphasize that he or she is
not an institution spokesperson, and should be mindful of the best interests of the
institution.
An instructional staff member has a binding obligation to discharge instructional
and other duties. Performance of these duties may be impaired by private activity
requiring a large portion of time and energy. As a person of judgment and mature perspective,
the teacher will not allow an interest and participation in public political affairs
to be so consuming that work and influence will suffer as a teacher in the university.
The classroom and the student have the first call on the instructor's time and interest.
These are considered primary responsibilities. The teacher is entitled to freedom
in the classroom in discussing the subject but should be careful not to introduce
into the teaching controversial matters that have no relation to the subject.
The Board of Regents may compel a faculty member or staff employee to take a leave
of absence without pay while campaigning for any other public office and may terminate
employment upon acceptance of such an office. The above regulations shall not restrict
the acceptance of appointments or offices of a temporary or part-time nature for which
the teacher is prepared to render exceptional service, which will not involve him
or her in direct relationships with the university or make him or her a partisan in
matters that have university implication and that will not interfere with normal university
duties.
Nothing in these regulations shall be construed as abridging the rights of citizenship
guaranteed citizens of Texas and of the United States under the state and federal
constitutions. When university employees appear at the polls in any capacity, they
will do so as private citizens acting under their constitutional rights, and not as
representatives of the university.
Instructional staff and other employees of the university should take an interest
in public affairs. They should exercise their right to vote and to work for good government.
This policy is intended to safeguard the freedom of speech, thought, and action of
university teachers and employees and to avoid impairment of the significant contributions
they are capable of making toward improved local, state, and federal government (OP 32.07).
Post-Tenure Review
Each faculty member who is tenured or who receives an academic promotion at Texas Tech University will receive a comprehensive performance evaluation no more often than once every year, but no less often than once every six years after the date the faculty member was granted tenure or received an academic promotion. Standardized procedures developed by a committee of the Faculty Senate and the Office of the Provost and approved by the Board of Regents may be found in OP 32.31. Comprehensive performance evaluations do not preclude the usual annual performance evaluations of faculty, as provisioned in OP 32.32. Annual evaluations remain a regular function for all faculty, regardless of rank or years in service.
Posting of Student Grades
Open posting of student grades poses several legal problems for the university. Texas
Tech policy is that no grades should be openly posted at any time. Furthermore, students
may receive final course grades before they are posted by the Registrar if they have
provided the professor a signed statement with preferred email address or a self-addressed
envelope.
Failure to follow this policy could provide a basis for successful litigation in the
future. Posting no grades is the safest course of action for protection of student
privacy (OP 34.12).
Private Use of University Property
By state law, university property may not be used for the private benefit of members of the faculty and staff. Particular care must be taken that state-owned vehicles are used only for university business and that proper records are kept of such use (OP 10.11, OP 61.01, and OP 63.08).
Promotion and Salary Increases
All salary increases for faculty shall be on a merit basis unless otherwise mandated
by the legislature and shall be based on quality teaching, scholarly activity, and
other contributory activities as part of faculty responsibilities. The procedure for
merit salary increases is set forth in the prevailing instructions for budget preparation
issued from the Office of the Provost and/or the Senior Vice President for Administration
& Finance/CFO.
It is the responsibility of the department chairperson or school director to recommend
salary rates and merit increases. Each faculty member is required to provide an annual
report on his work to the department chairperson or school director for use in consideration
of a merit increase (OP 32.08).
Official Publications
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Address
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Email
officialpublications@ttu.edu