Canadian Association of University Teachers

 
Home > CAUT Policies > General CAUT Policies > Cross Appointments

CAUT Policies

Policy Statement on Cross Appointments

Preamble

The procedures used in making career decisions (appointment renewal, promotion, tenure, etc.) for academic staff who hold appointments in more than one academic unit within the institution can seriously disadvantage the persons concerned unless these procedures are carefully drafted and monitored. While it is not the intention of these guidelines to inhibit the development of interdisciplinary programs, the need for cross appointments to facilitate such programs must be carefully assessed. In many cases, annual arrangements for release time or partial secondment may meet the needs of the institution without requiring a member to accept a continuing cross appointment. In addition, it is important to ensure that such appointments are not used as a substitute for full-time continuing appointments in a unit or program.

The collective agreement should ensure that:

1.    The appointment of a member of the academic staff is at the institution, not a particular unit. Those holding cross appointments should have a primary affiliation with one of the units involved.  The member with a cross-appointment should retain residual rights in the primary academic unit to which they would return on a full-time basis should academic needs change.

2.    The terms and responsibilities of cross appointments to be held in more than one academic unit in an institution and the administrative arrangements, including budgeting arrangements, relating to them should be negotiated by the departments concerned and the institution’s administration.  When an initial appointment is made the letter of appointment should set out the terms and conditions of the cross appointment.  A cross appointment that is made during the course of a continuing appointment should require the member’s consent.

3.    The academic administrator of the primary unit should have responsibility for all administrative matters affecting the person holding the cross appointment. In all cases the dean of the primary unit should be required to seek input from all the units to which the member has been appointed.1

4.    The primary academic unit need not be the one in which in a particular year or on a continuing basis, the member spends the greater part of their working time; however, steps should be taken to ensure an equitable division of workload between the units and that the aggregate workload be equivalent to that of a single appointment.

5.    Explicit arrangements should be made for consultation between the academic units concerned and the academic staff member if changes in administrative arrangements are necessary.

6.    All changes in administrative arrangements should require the member’s consent.

7.    Academic staff holding appointments in more than one academic unit should be entitled to participate fully in the affairs of the units to which they are affiliated. They should be eligible to participate in the council of the units and should be eligible for election to committees of the units. Nevertheless, the deans of the academic units involved should pay particular attention to ensuring that members holding such appointments are not expected to play a disproportionately large role in the governance of the units.

8.    The procedures and criteria for career decisions (appointment, reappointment, tenure and promotion, salary increments, seniority accrual and eligibility for benefits) should be consistent with the procedures and criteria for academic staff with appointments in a single academic unit. The procedures for evaluation of a member with a cross-appointment should involve colleagues from both academic units and should be set out in the collective agreement. Since academic units may have different criteria, the criteria for evaluation should be established in advance and the member should be informed about the procedures and criteria at the time of appointment.

9.    Contract academic staff who teach in multiple departments shall be considered to hold cross appointments.  When a contract academic staff member’s total work at an institution is equivalent to a full-time workload, that appointment should be automatically converted to a full-time cross appointment.

Approved by CAUT Council, May 1982; revised, April 2002.
Revised, March, 2009; approved by CAUT Council, November 2009.

Endnote
1. Ensure that this is consistent with all procedures in your collective agreement for making recommendations.