General Information 

The recruiting guidance in this section refers to the following positions: Chairs, Associate Chairs, Institute Directors, Faculty Directors, Associate Faculty Directors, and Associate Deans (faculty-occupied positions). 

Please note that there is a difference between how the campus uses the Associate Dean and Assistant Dean titles. An individual hired as an Assistant Dean is given a university staff appointment. Therefore, the procedures for hiring university staff must be followed. The Associate Dean title is used exclusively to appoint faculty to an administrative position within a school or college. If you are unsure of the title designation, please contact the Office of Faculty Affairs. The provost must approve these administrative appointments, and a letter of offer is required.  
 
In most instances, current faculty are provided with the opportunity to assume Associate Dean or Chair positions within their departments, schools or colleges. In those instances where an individual is being recruited into a faculty position and is also being considered for an administrative position, please refer to the faculty recruitment procedures outlined below.

Recruitment Process

The department/school/college will be responsible for the following activities in the recruitment of administrative officers:

  1. In most instances, a faculty administrative appointment will be filled by the faculty currently in the school/college. In the event that an external search is conducted, the dean’s faculty liaison will work with campus human resources to advertise the position widely to ensure a strong and diverse pool. For more information on this process, please visit the Human Resources webpage on Faculty Hiring.
  2. The dean will make a recommendation for an appointment to the provost. 
  3. Once a candidate has been selected for a position, the dean's faculty liaison, in consultation with the academic unit, will prepare the appropriate offer letter in draft form. The liaison will email the draft letter of offer to the Office of Faculty Affairs at CUOffer@colorado.edu for review, corrections, changes, and approval. The draft letter should be resubmitted if additional language or terms are inserted or materially altered after the review is underway. As part of the review process, the Office of Faculty Affairs may contact the dean's faculty liaison with questions or comments about the letter of offer.
  4. Since individuals holding administrative titles are considered to be employees-at-will as it relates to the administrative position, the letter of offer must include the following language:
    Your employment contract is subject to termination by either party to such contract at any time during its term, and you shall be deemed to be an employee-at-will. No compensation, whether as a buy-out of the remaining term of contract, as liquidated damages, or as any other form of remuneration, shall be owed or paid to you upon or after termination of such contract except for compensation that was earned prior to the date of termination.
  5. Once the draft offer letter has been approved by the Office of Faculty Affairs, the dean's faculty liaison will forward the final offer letter to the candidate and route the final offer letter via DocuSign to the appropriate offices for initials or signature(s).
  6. Once signed by the candidate, the completed offer letter will be automatically returned to the Office of Faculty Affairs via DocuSign for inclusion on the Provost's Delegation Report.  

 
The Office of Faculty Affairs will be responsible for the following activities in the recruitment of administrative officers: 

  1. The Office of Faculty Affairs will review the draft letter of offer to ensure compliance with state laws, Regent law, and campus policies. 
  2. The draft letter of offer will be submitted to Legal Counsel if the letter of offer warrants further review. 
  3. The dean’s faculty liaison will route the final letter of offer via DocuSign to the appropriate offices for signature(s), and the hire will be included on the Provost's Delegation Report. 
  4. DocuSign will automatically email a copy of the completed letter to all parties.
  5. The offer letter will be placed in the individual's electronic personnel file administered by faculty affairs, or, if appropriate, a new personnel file will be created for a new faculty administrative hire. Their faculty appointment offer letter should be submitted separately.