Welcome to the Academic Personnel & Faculty (APF) eDigest, a monthly resource for University of Washington administrators supporting academic personnel. This issue highlights several key May deadlines, including H‑1B visa requests for September start dates, Summer FTE transactions, and appointments requiring June Board of Regents approval. You’ll also find important updates on upcoming offer letter guidance, clarifications on promotion and tenure clock waiver limits, and timely information for units supporting international faculty and scholars—including ISO immigration updates, walk‑in service hours, and upcoming programming. For additional guidance and tools, visit the APF website, and reach out to our partners listed below with any questions.
Due Dates
May 1, 2026 | Submit H Visa Requests for Appointees Starting in September
Follow guidance on How to Sponsor an H-1B Temporary Worker to support timely processing of H visa requests for appointees starting in September.
May 15, 2026 | Submit Summer FTE Transactions
Summer FTE transactions for faculty with 9‑month service periods must be submitted no later than May 15 to ensure timely processing for Summer Quarter employment (June 16–September 15). As a friendly reminder, please be sure the standard supporting documentation with contracted work terms and faculty acknowledgement is included at the time of submission. See the Summer Quarter Compensation webpage for additional guidance.
May 20, 2026 | Submit Appointments for June Board of Regents Meeting
Appointments requiring Board of Regents approval at the June Board meeting must processed in Workday and ready for Academic HR review. Appointments should be approved by the Board before the appointment start date.
Offer Letter Templates: Upcoming Guidance and Interim Reminders
Offer letters do quiet but significant institutional work: they set expectations, signal norms, and often shape a faculty member’s understanding of their appointment long before onboarding begins. With that in mind, Academic Personnel and Faculty Affairs (APF) is preparing updated guidance on offer letter content, tailored by appointment type, with two goals in view—streamlining the drafting process for units and ensuring new academic personnel receive clear, consistent information about their appointments from the outset.
Units can expect this updated guidance next month.
In the meantime, administrators should continue to rely on the current Making an Offer page, which has recently been updated to include dates for 2026 Faculty Welcome Week. That site remains the authoritative reference until the revised guidance is released.
APF will notify units as soon as the new materials are available. Questions in the interim may be directed to acadpers@uw.edu.
Promotion and Tenure Clocks: A Clarifying Note on Waiver Limits
As units begin conversations with faculty about promotion and tenure timing — particularly in light of the automatic clock extensions tied to recent federal policy changes — it is worth pausing on a point that continues to generate confusion: clock waivers are finite, cumulative and capped.
Across all allowable reasons, any one faculty member may receive a maximum of four promotion and tenure clock waivers over the course of their probationary period. This total includes COVID‑19 waivers, federal policy waivers and any other extraordinary or family‑related waivers. Once a faculty member has received four promotion and tenure clock waivers, Provost policy does not allow any additional clock extensions to be approved.
Within that overall limit, there are additional constraints that matter for advising:
- Federal policy waivers are limited to one total per faculty member.
Eligible faculty may apply a federal policy waiver to either AY 2025–26 or AY 2026–27 (if eligible), but not both. - COVID‑19 waivers are capped at two per faculty member.
These count toward the overall maximum of four clock waivers. - Timing matters.
Clock waivers — including federal policy and COVID‑19 waivers — must be applied for no later than June 30 preceding the faculty member’s mandatory review year.
For the current federal policy extension, meritorious faculty scheduled for mandatory promotion and tenure review between AY 2026–27 and AY 2030–31 who have no more than three previously approved clock waivers are automatically eligible for a one‑year extension of the 2026–27 academic year, unless they opt out. Importantly, accepting this waiver does not alter the initial three‑year appointment or early academic reviews; instead, it adds one year to the second (normally three‑year) term.
Why this matters for administrators:
Clock waivers are often discussed individually, in response to specific events. But faculty experience them cumulatively — and so do promotion clocks, appointment end dates, and mandatory review years. Making waiver limits explicit early can prevent difficult conversations later, particularly for faculty approaching their fourth extension or assuming that automatic eligibility implies unlimited flexibility.
Unit leaders are encouraged to review current waiver counts with faculty before initiating new requests and to ensure that waiver actions are entered accurately and consistently in Workday.
Questions about clock eligibility, waiver counts, or process should be directed to Academic Personnel and Faculty Affairs and Operations at acadpers@uw.edu.
International Scholars Operations: Immigration Update
Units supporting international scholars are invited to join us for an upcoming ISO Immigration Update, focused on recent changes in the immigration landscape.
When: Monday, May 18, 2026, 2–3 p.m.
Where: Zoom
During this session, the International Scholar Office (ISO) will review recent changes affecting immigration policy and practice, including updates to UW visa policies and processes, as well as broader federal‑level developments. Time will be reserved for questions and discussion.
Register for the ISO Immigration Update
International Scholars Operations: Spring Quarter Walk‑In Service Hours
As a reminder for units supporting international faculty and scholars, the International Scholar Office (ISO) has updated its walk‑in service hours for Spring Quarter 2026, effective Monday, April 6 through Friday, June 19, 2026.
Walk‑in hours are as follows:
- Mondays: 11 a.m.–noon
- Tuesdays: 11 a.m.–noon
- Wednesdays: 11 a.m.–noon
- Thursdays: 2–3 p.m.
- Fridays: 2–3 p.m.
Walk‑in services are limited to brief questions, DS‑2019 travel signatures, and document pick‑up or drop‑off. Photo ID is required in order to pick up documents.
For more complex matters or extended discussion, ISO staff are available by appointment only, outside of these walk‑in hours. Units and faculty should contact ISO directly to schedule an appointment or to confirm whether a matter can be addressed during walk‑in service.
Contact Information & Support
Questions about RPT processes: Susan Monusko at slmwhite@uw.edu
General academic personnel matters: acadpers@uw.edu
Visa questions: acadvisa@uw.edu