Budgetary and Non-budgetary Cross-Appointments

Introduction

All continuing full-time University salaried academic appointments are governed by the University of Toronto’s Policy and Procedures on Academic Appointments (PPAA). Under this policy, continuing full-time academic appointments with budgetary salary commitments are approved by the Vice-President and Provost of the University on the recommendation of the Chair of the relevant unit and the Dean of the Faculty. The PPAA provides for both budgetary (e.g., where salary and funding responsibilities are shared between two or more units or divisions) and non-budgetary cross-appointment (e.g., non-salaried appointment to another unit or division other than their primary appointment) of appointed faculty. See a summary table.

Budgetary Cross-Appointments

A budgetary cross-appointment (sometimes referred to as a “joint appointment”) involves the apportioning of a faculty member’s salary and duties between two (or more) units or divisions. A unit/division of primary appointment must always be established where the faculty member has an appointment of 51% or greater, with the remaining 49% the responsibility of the secondary unit/division. In the case of a budgetary cross-appointment that involves more than two units/divisions, the primary unit/division will always retain 51% of the faculty member’s  appointment, with the remaining 49% explicitly shared between the other units/divisions (e.g., 25% to one unit and 24% to another). Sharing of a faculty member’s salary and duties impacts on a number of academic human resource processes at the University, details are provided below.

Note: In each case, only the information specific to budgetary cross-appointments is included here. Full details can be found in the relevant section of the Academic Administrative Procedures Manual. You should consult this in conjunction with the information provided here.

Recruitment

Budgetary cross-appointments are usually determined at the outset of a search. Where this is to occur, the nature of the appointment should be clearly stated in any advertisements. The Unit/Division Heads of all academic units concerned should be involved in the preparation of the “short list” of candidates; moreover, each of these academic units should be represented on the search committee.

The letter of appointment for new faculty who are to be offered a cross-appointment must be co-signed by the Heads of both budgetary areas sharing the appointment. The graduate chair must also co-sign if they are not the budgetary unit chair. The report on the search provided in the appointment dossier should include the approval of the relevant unit or division heads.

See: Recruitment.

Third-Year Review

In the case of a faculty member with a budgetary cross-appointment, the PPAA states that the review committee must be jointly appointed by the respective heads of the divisions or units where the faculty member holds an appointment of at least 25%.

In the case of faculty who hold budgetary cross-appointments to New College, Innis College, Woodsworth College or University College, the Principal does not participate in the appointment of the review committee. The committee must obtain from the Principal an appraisal of the candidate’s contribution to the College which is considered along with other relevant evidence of the candidate’s scholarly ability. In the case of faculty with primary appointments in programs based at St. Michael’s College, the Principal participates fully in the review process.

In conducting the teaching evaluation of a candidate who holds a budgetary cross-appointment, assessments (e.g., course evaluations, peer observations) should be obtained from all the units/divisions where the faculty member provides teaching. This holds for the reviews of teaching that occur in the tenure and promotions processes.

See: Third-Year Review.

Tenure Review

In general, the head of the division or unit of primary appointment takes on responsibility for the tenure review. They are responsible for notifying the candidate of their review, gathering material for the Tenure Committee, establishing the internal committees and the Tenure Committee and for contacting external referees. The PPAA states that “the preparation of documentation must be done in collaboration with the appropriate officers of other divisions in which the candidate holds or has held cross-appointments, and the evidence of this collaboration must be placed before the Tenure Committee.”

The Policy provides specific detail on the formation of the Tenure Committee in the case of a faculty member with a budgetary cross-appointment. The head of the unit or division of primary appointment will contact the head of the unit or division of the secondary appointment and/or graduate chair where applicable concerning membership of and documentation for the Tenure Committee. With the inclusion of the Unit Head or other academic officer from the cross-appointed division, the Tenure Committee will have eight voting members instead of the usual seven. In no case should more than eight people serve on the Tenure Committee.

Therefore, in the case where a faculty member holds one budgetary cross-appointment (including those faculty members with primary appointments in programs based at St. Michael’s College), membership of the Tenure Committee will be as follows:

  1. Unit Head where the faculty member holds their primary appointment acts as chair of the Tenure Committee.
  2. In multi-department Faculties, the committee will also include the Dean (or their designate who should not be a member of the candidate’s home unit)
  3. Dean of the School of Graduate Studies (or their designate who should not be a member of the candidate’s home unit)
  4. A faculty member from the primary division of appointment; or in the case where the graduate chair and the budgetary chair are different, the graduate chair.
  5. Three other faculty members — at least one from within the primary unit of appointment.
  6. Unit Head where secondary appointment is held.

For faculty members whose primary appointment is in a single-department Faculty, the normal membership will be expanded by one member to include the Unit Head where the secondary appointment is held.

Where a candidate has more than one budgetary cross-appointment, the Dean of the division of the primary appointment will decide on and appoint the additional member from one of the units of secondary appointment after consultation with the Unit Heads. The heads of the secondary units will provide a written evaluation of the candidate but will not be entitled to representation on the committee, or to participate in the selection of committee members or the preparation of the documentation.

Assessments of teaching and scholarly activity should be obtained from all the units/divisions in which a candidate has taught. These should be taken fully into account by the Tenure Committee. Where a candidate holds a cross-appointment to University College, New College, Innis College, and Woodsworth College, the Unit Head must request an evaluation of the candidate’s contribution to the College from the College Principal. This will be shared with the Tenure Committee.

See: Reviews.

Promotion to Full Professor

The candidate is considered for promotion to Full Professor in the unit of primary appointment. As with the other review processes described above, the Policy and Procedures Governing Promotions states that input should be sought on teaching, service and scholarly activity from the units where cross-appointments have been or are currently held (this will include course evaluations for all courses taught in the last five years). In addition, the Head of the unit of primary appointment should request a list of external reviewers from the Head(s) of the secondary unit(s).

See: Promotion to Professor.

Research and Study Leave

The Memorandum of Agreement between the University and the Colleges requires that in cases where faculty members hold College appointments (as listed above), Principals should be consulted with regard to leave requests. In cases where a faculty member has a budgetary cross-appointment, the Head of the primary appointment unit should ensure that the faculty member’s other unit(s) have been consulted.

See: Research and Study Leave.

Salary and PTR

Each year a PDAD&C memo is issued providing details on the PTR process and salary increase instructions. It contains information pertinent to those with budgetary cross-appointments. In cases where faculty are cross-appointed to another unit/division or where they hold their graduate appointment outside their primary unit, consultation with other Unit Heads and/or graduate chairs is a critical element of the information gathering process for PTR assessments. Such consultations assist in assessing the faculty member’s activities in relation to others in their field. Similarly they may provide an important perspective on a faculty member’s graduate teaching and supervision, particularly if this takes place on another campus.

Cross-appointed faculty should only be included in the histogram of the unit where their primary appointment lies. The total increase awarded to the individual should be reflected even though part of this will be provided from another unit’s budget.

See: PTR/Merit Scheme.

Non-budgetary Cross-Appointments

A non-budgetary cross-appointment is offered by a unit to an appointed faculty member from another unit at the University of Toronto. Such appointments are usually made to allow the faculty member to participate more fully in the unit’s undergraduate teaching or research program (when the graduate home is not in the unit of primary appointment).

Please note: Faculty may hold non-budgetary cross-appointments to other units but must not hold Status-only appointments. Status-only appointments are for qualified external faculty only (please see the Provost’s guidelines on the appointment of status-only, adjunct, and visiting professors).

Appointment

Non-budgetary cross-appointments are made under an established divisional appointments procedure. The Head of the academic unit, following consultation with an appointments committee, can offer non-budgetary cross-appointments. Appointments are normally made for a fixed term of up to five years. Appointments may be renewed at the discretion of the Dean.

Non-budgetary cross-appointments must have the consent of all divisions involved and does not confer primary or secondary appointment status, or any review or tenure committee rights and responsibilities (except as noted below), upon the units to which these cross-appointments are made.

Faculty with non-budgetary cross-appointments may engage in the teaching, supervision and advising of both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as in committee service to programs. Duties and responsibilities should be included in their letter of offer.

Graduate Appointments

The Policy and Procedures on Academic Appointments states that: “all faculty appointed to a tenure-stream position shall hold a non-budgetary cross-appointment to an appropriate graduate unit. Decisions regarding such cross-appointments shall be made jointly by the appointing unit and the graduate unit.”

Faculty members who have non-budgetary cross-appointments to another unit may also be recommended for a graduate appointment within that academic unit in accordance with the policies of the School of Graduate Studies.