MONTANA BOARD OF REGENTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION
 Policy and Procedures Manual

SUBJECT:  PERSONNEL
Policy 711.1 - Employment Instruments; Professional and Administrative Employees
Issued November 19, 1998; Issued December 30, 1998

Board policy:

1. All employees of the Montana University System except those excluded in Subsection 6 shall be hired through a University System professional employment contract or a letter of appointment in accordance with this policy.

2. Montana University System Professional Employment Contracts

a. Professional and administrative employees holding permanently budgeted positions shall be issued a Montana University System professional employment contract specifying salary and other terms of employment. Employees other than those holding permanently budgeted positions may be issued a Montana University System professional employment contract and when the contract is approved by the Board of Regents the employment shall be governed by this section.

b. Montana University System professional employment contracts are for a maximum of a one year period and must be signed by the applicable President, Chancellor, or the Commissioner of Higher Education, and be approved by the Board of Regents.

c. Except in situations involving termination for cause or loss of funding (see Section 4), professional and administrative employees hired through a Montana University System professional employment contract shall be given written notice of intent not to renew their contracts at least 30 days prior to expiration during the first year of employment, three (3) months prior to expiration during the second year of employment, or six (6) months prior to expiration during the third or subsequent years of employment with the institution in a full-time position.

3. Letters of Appointment

a. Employees not hired through a Montana University System professional employment contract shall be hired through a letter of appointment signed by the campus chief executive officer or the Commissioner.

b. Letters of appointment are for a specified period and are not to exceed one year. There is no restriction on the number of successive one-year letters of appointment which may be granted to an individual. However, in no case does an employee hired through a letter of appointment have a right to continuous employment beyond the one year period. Except in situations involving termination for cause the employment of employees hired by a letter of appointment automatically ends without notice at the end of the specified term or the end of the one year period, whichever occurs first.

4. Funding Contingency: Montana University System professional employment contracts and letters of appointment may include a notation that makes employment contingent upon continuation of external funding. If anticipated funding is not forthcoming, an employee hired through a contract or letter of appointment with such notation may be terminated at any time during the expected term of the contract upon 15 working days written notice.

5. Limitations: No agent of the Board of Regents may make commitments or promises to any employee to extend employment beyond the maximum one year term authorized in this policy. Any such promises, whether written, oral or implied, are invalid and unenforceable.

6. Tenure track faculty, student employees, classified employees, coaches, Presidents and the Commissioner are excluded from paragraphs one through five of this policy.

7. No later than October 1 of each year, the Presidents shall submit to the Commissioner a list containing:

a. The names, positions, dates of employment, and salaries of all employees employed through a letter of appointment in the preceding fiscal year.

b. The names and positions of all employees employed pursuant to a Montana University System professional employment contract for any part of the preceding fiscal year, who during that year received salary in excess of the amount listed on the Board of Regents' staff item in which the employee's contract salary was listed. The list should state for each person thereon both the previously approved salary, the amount by which the employee's compensation exceeded the previously listed salary, and the reason for the difference.

The Commissioner shall thereafter make available these lists, along with similar information from the Commissioner's Office, to the Regents.

History:

Item 26-016-R0380, Employment Contract, Professional and Administrative Employees, Montana University System, March 10, 1980 as revised December 16, 1983, January 22, 1993, May 16, 1996, September 19, 1996, and November 19, 1998.