AC61 Employment Conditions for Employees Classified as Academic (Formerly HR61)

POLICY'S INITIAL DATE: September 7, 1982
THIS VERSION EFFECTIVE: January 2, 2025

• Purpose
• Types of Appointments
• Assigned Responsibilities
• Appointment Period
• Salary Payment
• Vacation Leave
• Holidays

PURPOSE:

To establish employment conditions of regular, full-time employees classified as academic.

TYPES OF APPOINTMENTS:

There are three types of full-time, academic appointments as outlined in HR06, Types of Appointments: Non-Tenure-Line, Term; Non-Tenure-Line, No-Term; and Tenure-Line, No-Term.

ASSIGNED RESPONSIBILITIES:

All faculty members at Penn State are expected to engage in activities appropriate to their areas of interest and specialization. Assigned responsibilities will include teaching, research/creative accomplishments, service, or combinations or those, and librarianship, patient care, and extension activities as appropriate, with specific duties to be determined by the appropriate administrative officers of the University and based on academic unit needs and appointment type.

APPOINTMENT PERIOD:

A faculty member's appointment period includes the time period during which the faculty member has agreed to complete assigned responsibilities. Paid leaves, including sabbaticals, occur during the appointment period. Faculty members may, under separate agreement, take on responsibilities in calendar weeks outside the appointment period via supplemental appointments.

Term and no-term faculty members will normally be employed on a 36-week(academic year) or a 48-week (extended year) appointment. No faculty member of Penn State shall have an appointment commitment through the University in excess of 48 weeks in any fiscal year.

Faculty members complete assigned work during the term of their appointment. Faculty members may not be assigned work outside of their appointment period but may, at their discretion, engage in University-related work during this time. Faculty members are considered to be employees of Penn State and subject to all Penn State policies year-round regardless of their appointment period or leave status. Please see Policy AC80 for the policies and principles that permit University faculty to engage in activities outside the University. 

SALARY PAYMENT:

All full-time faculty members will be paid in 12 equal monthly payments (except in the first year of employment). For full-time faculty members with an appointment length of other than 48 weeks, the salary paid for July and the first part of August is a pre-payment for services that the faculty member will render during the subsequent academic year, while salary paid for the middle of May through June is a payment for services already rendered during the previous academic year. 

VACATION LEAVE:

Faculty members generally do not earn vacation leave; however, some academic units have established policies related to vacation time off for faculty.

HOLIDAYS:

Faculty members are entitled to the official University holidays. A listing of University holidays may be found in Policy HR34.