Overview
The roster percent reflects an academic appointee’s contracted effort and institutional commitment as agreed to in an appointment letter. It is not the same as FTE, which can fluctuate when someone goes on an approved leave.
An individual may wish to voluntarily change their roster percent in accordance with the guidance below. Such changes should be considered carefully as they alter the institution’s commitment. They may also impact performance expectations, the mandatory promotion review timeline, tenure value, and insurance, retirement, or other employee benefits.
While a roster percent change alters the level of overall effort, it does not alter appointment standards and requirements, or the range of academic responsibilities associated with the assigned rank/title/track as described in Faculty Code Chapter 24.
Considerations and Exclusions
Reduced Responsibility – Faculty with an obligation to fund all or part of their base salary, who experience a lapse in funding, go into Reduced Responsibility status as provided for in GIM 38 with the intent of eventually returning to an FTE that corresponds to their full roster percent. However, if the faculty member has no intent to pursue a return to full funding, a change in roster percent, as described on this page, is appropriate.
Mandatory review for promotion or tenure – Units contemplating a roster change for tenured/tenure-track faculty or faculty subject to a mandatory review should reach out to Academic Human Resources (acadpers@uw.edu) for a preliminary discussion.
Retirement/reemployment – Since a retiree’s reemployment threshold is based on their roster percent at the time of retirement, units should ensure that faculty–who have been approved for a temporary roster change–are returned to their regular roster percent prior to retirement. Failing to do so may result in a unit having to accommodate a higher reemployment threshold.
Visa sponsorship – Individuals on UW-sponsored visas are not eligible for roster percent decreases.
Full-time titles – Individuals in titles that require full-time employment (i.e., Lecturer Full-Time Temporary) are not eligible for roster percent decreases.
Applicability
Roster change options vary based on the type of appointment held by the requesting faculty member. Select the applicable appointment type below for more details.
This can include: clinical salaried and clinical non-salaried faculty, teaching associates, quarterly- or annually-appointed lecturers part-time temporary, quarterly or annually appointed artists/senior artists in residence, annually appointed lecturers part-time, annually appointed professors of practice.
Faculty in this category can:
- Change roster percent up/down upon reappointment.
- Change roster percent up/down during the appointment, but the change persists through appointment term and may only be changed again through reappointment.
- In emergency instructional or clinical coverage situations:
- If roster percent is less than 50%, increase roster percent and FTE temporarily with duration of increase clearly defined in writing. Roster percent and FTE should return to their original level following the defined period. The unit should be aware that such an increase—even temporary—can trigger benefits eligibility. Units should review the applicable UW benefits summaries for details.
- If roster percent is greater than 50%, then temporary emergent needs should be compensated via TPS with no roster change.
This can include any of the following with a multi-year appointment: lecturer part-time, artist/senior artist in residence, professor of practice.
Faculty in this category can:
- Change roster percent up/down upon reappointment.
- Decrease roster percent and change persists until reappointment; Leave Without Pay eligibility should be exhausted first.
- Increase roster percent during the appointment (subject to hiring plan requirements); the expectation is the:
- Increase persists until reappointment, OR
- Increase is for a limited time commensurate with a temporary assignment/need that spans more than one quarter but no more than 12 months, and is clearly defined in writing; at the conclusion of temporary assignment, roster reverts to original level; emergency instructional coverage situations of a quarter or less should be compensated via TPS.
This can include: Assistant/Associate/full Teaching Professors or Assistant/Associate/full Professors of Clinical Practice.
Faculty in this category can:
- Change roster percent up/down upon reappointment.
- Decrease roster percent to no less than 50% and the change persists until reappointment; Leave Without Pay eligibility should be exhausted first.
- Increase roster percent during the appointment (subject to hiring plan requirements); the expectation is the:
- Increase persists until reappointment, OR
- Increase is for a limited time commensurate with a temporary assignment/need that spans more than one quarter but no more than 12 months, and is clearly defined in writing; at the conclusion of temporary assignment, roster reverts to original level; emergency instructional coverage situations of a quarter or less should be compensated via TPS.
This can include: Research Assistant/Associate/full Professors
Faculty in this category can:
- Change roster percent up/down upon reappointment.
- Decrease roster percent to no less than 50% and the change persists until reappointment; Leave Without Pay eligibility should be exhausted first.
- Increase roster percent during the appointment (subject to hiring plan requirements); the expectation is the:
- Increase persists until reappointment, OR
- Increase is for a limited time commensurate with a temporary assignment/need that spans more than one quarter but no more than 12 months, and is clearly defined in writing; at the conclusion of temporary assignment, roster reverts to original level; emergency instructional coverage situations of a quarter or less should be compensated via TPS.
- If in probationary period, unit must consult with AHR in advance to determine impact of a roster increase/decrease on promotion clock and then inform individual accordingly
This can include: Assistant/Associate/full Professors, Associate/full Professors Tenure-Track, or Assistant/Associate/full Professors without Tenure by reason of funding (WOT).
Faculty in this category can:
- Decrease roster percent to no less than 50%; Leave Without Pay eligibility should be exhausted first. NOTE: Tenure value may not exceed the roster percent. For tenured faculty, a decrease in roster percent may result in a partial forfeiture of tenure. For instance, a 100% tenured faculty member decreases to 80% roster and, in doing so, resigns 20% of their tenure. However, a faculty member with 100% appointment and 50% tenure who reduces to 80% roster would not need to resign any tenure. A roster percent change does not alter a faculty member’s obligation under an A/B salary agreement.
- Increase roster percent (subject to hiring plan requirements); the expectation is the:
- Increase is permanent, OR NOTE: For tenured faculty, the temporary increase in roster does not include an increase in tenure value. Unit could request an increase in tenure value via a separate hiring plan request.
- Increase is for a limited time commensurate with a temporary assignment/need that spans more than one quarter but no more than 12 months, and is clearly defined in writing; at the conclusion of temporary assignment, roster reverts to original level; emergency instructional coverage situations of a quarter or less should be compensated via TPS.
- If in probationary period, unit must consult with AHR in advance to determine impact of a roster increase/decrease on promotion clock and then inform individual accordingly.
Application and Review
To apply, the individual requesting a roster change will complete the Roster Change Request Form and submit it to the local administrator who will coordinate unit approvals and submit to the AHR Business Partner for OAP approval prior to processing in Workday. Roster change requests are subject to review and approval of the department chair (where applicable) and the dean/chancellor. The review process is not pro forma; faculty should not assume approval. A decision to support or deny a specific request is made after considering—among other things—unit/institutional need, financial viability, equity implications, and potential adverse impact on instructional/programmatic offerings.
Required Documentation
For Roster Percent Changes, unit administrators should upload to Workday the following items as a single PDF:
- Completed Roster Change Request Form signed by OAP
- If roster change includes a reduction of tenure, faculty member’s written acknowledgment that they are resigning a portion of their tenure
Conclusion of Temporary Roster Increase
Individuals should be returned to their regular roster percent at the end of a temporary roster increase, which is limited to 12 months. If a temporary roster increase is intended to span greater than 12-months, a request to extend the duration of the original increase may be submitted towards the end of the initial 12-month period.
Roster Percent Change FAQs
The following FAQs provide guidance on managing roster percent changes, including retirement considerations, temporary increase extensions, voluntary requests, and appropriate reason codes for processing changes in Workday.
Q: What if a faculty member retires during the period when their roster percentage has been temporarily increased?
A: Since a retiree’s reemployment threshold is based on their roster percent at the time of retirement, units should ensure that faculty–who have been approved for a temporary roster change–are returned to their regular roster percent prior to retirement. Failing to do so may result in a unit having to accommodate a higher reemployment threshold.
Q: What if a temporary roster increase needs to be extended?
A: Temporary roster increases are limited to 12 months or the end of the current appointment period, whichever comes first. If the anticipated temporary work is expected to be greater than 12 months, a request for a new temporary increase can be submitted near the end of the current temporary increase.
Q: Under this policy, can a unit request a change to someone’s roster percent?
A: No. A roster change is requested by the employee and is voluntary. The unit should not be changing someone’s roster percent during the contracted appointment period unless specifically requested by the employee.
Q: What reason codes should I use when submitting the Update Academic Appointment business processes in Workday?
A: It depends on the roster change action you want to take.
For a permanent change/change until reappointment, use the “Permanent Roster Change” reason code .
For a temporary increase, use the “Temporary Roster Increase” reason code when a temporary roster increase is initiated. Use the “Extend Temporary Roster Increase” reason code when a temporary roster increase is being extended.
When returning someone from a temporary increase, use the “Return to Regular Roster” reason code. Keep in mind that the temporary increase should not end before the date that was agreed to at initiation/extension unless specifically requested by the employee.
All roster changes need to be accompanied by business processes to change the FTE. Process the Change Job > Data Change BPs and use the applicable reason code:
- “Voluntary FTE Change (Staff and Academic)” for permanent/until reappointment changes
- “Temporary FTE Increase” for new increases
- “Extend Temporary FTE Increase” for extended increases (availability in Workday planned for Autumn quarter 2024)
- “Return to Regular FTE (Academic Only)” for ending a temporary increase
The Update Academic Appointment BP should be completed before processing the Change Job BP. Specific instructions for processing the BPs are available in the relevant user guides.