Faculty Handbook, 2021

This handbook contains material that applies to all faculty members at three campuses of The University of Tennessee (UT): the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA), and the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). The faculty members at these three campuses are represented by one faculty senate (hereafter “the Faculty Senate”). The faculty members at UTK and UTSI report, administratively, to one chancellor (hereafter “the chancellor of UTK”) while the faculty members at UTIA report to another chancellor (hereafter “the chancellor of UTIA”). Where this handbook indicates an action that needs to be taken by both chancellors, “the chancellors” or “the chancellors of UTK and UTIA” will be used. Where the action is to be taken by only one chancellor, “the chancellor” will be used without a campus designation and is understood to mean the chancellor with administrative responsibility for the campus where the action is taken.

The Faculty Handbook is intended to be a general summary of university policies, guidelines, services, and resources. When official university policies and procedures are changed by the Board of Trustees or other duly constituted authority, such changes become effective on the date designated at the time of their adoption and supersede any conflicting or inconsistent provision in the Faculty Handbook. Notification of such changes is given to department and college offices. The most recent versions of the University of Tennessee System and UTK Fiscal Policies and the UTK HR Policies are available on the University of Tennessee website. Questions about a particular policy or issue should be addressed to the department administrator, human resources representative, vice provost for faculty affairs, or chief business officer.

This revision of the Faculty Handbook was done in accordance with Chapter 8 of the Faculty Handbook (“Revision of the Faculty Handbook”).