Provost & Academic Vice President

Offering Letter Templates & Instructions
Notation/Terminology in the Offering Letter

Notation

When filling in the blanks in the offering letter, notations are used to designate fields that need to be completed (parentheses), or fields that are optional [brackets]. When constructing the letter, insert or delete the appropriate text, and omit the parentheses or brackets. In order to allow options, there may be an occasional “or” inserted to indicate options. The word “or” should be deleted to make the sentence grammatically correct. The revision number and the letter template name displayed at the bottom of the template letters are for internal use only and should not be printed on the outgoing letter.

Terminology

It is essential that correct information is inserted in the blank fields in the following statement(s), “ Your salary will be $       per month.” “The period of your appointment will be (start date) to (end date) .” “This is a       month       percent appointment.” Variations of the order of these statements appear in the offering letters; however, the information inserted should be applied with the following in mind.

Dollar Amount Field

The dollar amount field is the amount that you will pay each month to the individual. For example, if the Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE) monthly salary is $5,000.00, and the appointment is 50%, then the amount in the letter is the amount that you will pay, or $2,500.00.

Start Date Field

The start date field specifies the first date of employment. These are salaried positions, based upon a monthly rate of pay. Payment for partial month assignments is pro-rated, based on the number of days worked that period.

End Date Field

The end date field specifies when the appointment ends within the fiscal year period (7/1/yy through 6/30/yy).

Number of Months Field

The number of months field is the number of months the employee in a continuous position is expected to be employed in successive fiscal year periods. A fiscal year is 12 months from July 1, year1 through June 30, year2. Position lengths (number of months) vary, depending upon the category of employment. For example, a tenure track faculty member starting mid-year is a nine-month employee (not a 4.5 month employee). Similarly, an administrator beginning in May who is expected to work 12 months in the next fiscal year is a 12 month employee (not a 2 month employee).

For a temporary appointment, the number of months field defines the number of months that the employee will be paid to work.

Percent Field

The percent field is 100% if the appointment is full time. If the appointment is part-time, the percent of appointment can be rounded in the offering letter to two places when it is not evenly divided. For example, if a person is working ½ time, the percent is represented as 50%. If working 1/3 time, the percent may be represented as 33.33%. For 2/3 time, the percent may be represented as 66.67%. For part-time faculty employees, the colleges are encouraged to define a formula based upon criteria particular to the discipline.