Note: We are discussing service time here as used to calculate notification rights, not for SURS which is a different calculation discussed here. 

There have been a number of questions about service time (i.e. for notification rights) for Academic Professionals under the University statues and credit for visiting service.  Below is our best understanding of the current rules and practices of the University of Illinois covering termination contracts and notice of appointments. These are covered in several places online:

UIUC Provost Communication #11 here.

University of Illinois Statue, Section 11 here.

Visiting Academic Professionals

There is a 30 day courtesy notice for non-renewal of appointment for VAPs under the collective bargaining agreement.  On top of this, the university has a past practice of honoring Notice of Appointments unless there is termination for cause.  So, for example, if your NOA is through August 15, they usually will not end the appointment before that date.

If you transition to a non-visiting academic professional position, does service time in the VAP position count? Maybe. Under the collective agreement, you can carry service time over into your non-visiting AP position (1.0 FTE) if the following apply:

1. You have been a 1.0 FTE VAP in the same position and the same unit for 36 months (3 years).  You can carry over 2 years of service time into the new position if the other criteria are met.
2. The non-visiting position has the same title as the visiting one (e.g. Visiting Research Scientist to Research Scientist — Yes; Visiting Research Scientist to Senior Programmer– No.)
3. The position is within the same unit.  (e.g. Visiting Research Scientist at Department of Mathematics to Research Scientist at Department of Mathematics– Yes; Visiting Research Scientist at Department of Mathematics to Research Scientist at NCSA–No)

What happens if as part of the move to non-visiting your unit is reorganized into something else? Then, this is determined on a case-by-case basis by AHR where they examine whether the new position reports to the same supervisor (i.e. the position not a person), whether the people you interact with are the same and whether the duties are the same as the previous unit. If the answers to those questions are yes, then the service time will transfer into the new non-visiting AP position.

Non-visiting Academic Professionals

The only positions that have notice rights (i.e. they have to give you notice before eliminating a position for programmatic or budgetary reasons) are those with 1.0 FTE.  This means if you hold two AP titles with less than 1.0 FTE in both positions, you do not have any notice rights. This also means if you have a less than 1.0 FTE AP position and less than 1.0 FTE position in a another employee class (e.g. non-tenure track faculty), you also no notice rights even if both positions add up to 1.0 FTE.

We include the full relevant text from the statue below, but first want to highlight something that APs should be aware of in calculating service time:

5. Computation of length of service will be on the basis of continuous employment in campus academic administrative and professional positions (or similar service at the university level for employees of the university administration). On a case-by-case basis, credit may be given for all or part of their relevant experience in other University of Illinois positions.

In practice, this has meant that if you change job titles or units, you reset the clock on service time. For example, lets say you are Asst Director of Curriculum Development at 1.0 for 6 years and are then moved into a different titled position, Associate Director of Learning Services.  This means the clock is now reset and your service time starts from 0. This doesn’t apply in the case where you are promoted from Assistant to Associate within the same job track (i.e. Asst Director of Curriculum Development to Associate Director of Curriculum Development. Or, Programmer to Senior Programmer, etc.). This also can change if you move to a different unit. For example, if you are a (non-visiting AP) programmer in the Department of Physics, but then move to a (non-visiting AP) programmer position at the NCSA, your service time is calculated from the beginning of the most recent appointment.

From Section 11 of the Statues:

1. Except as provided in 2 and 3 below, written notice of nonreappointment shall be given by the Board of Trustees to academic professional employees in accordance with the following schedule:

2. Written notice of nonreappointment shall be given by the Board of Trustees to an academic professional employee on an appointment which notes that it is subject to receipt of funds in accordance with the following schedule [i.e. you have a * in your NOA next to salary– you position is funded from soft funds (grant, etc.)]:

3. Written notice of nonreappointment shall be given by the Board of Trustees to an academic professional employee who is the director of intercollegiate athletics or a coach of an intercollegiate athletic team in accordance with the following schedule: