New Academic Appointment Dates

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• What is changing for August 2024?

  The academic appointments for new and rehired FTE faculty, teaching assistants, and instructional assistants will begin on August 16 rather than September 1. Appointments will end on May 15 instead of May 31. This two week “shift” aligns academic appointments with the academic calendar rather than the fiscal calendar. Continuing employees will remain unchanged. 

• Rehire vs Reappointment

  Rehire and reappointment are defined as follows:

  • Faculty members are rehired if they have been through the separation process. 
  • Faculty members are reappointed if they have not been terminated and if they had a faculty appointment the previous semester or summer. Considered continuing employees and will remain unchanged.

• What are the benefits of this change?

  New and rehired faculty and graduate student employees will have active university appointments when they begin work, including:

  • Access to university systems before the start of the academic term.
  • Insurance coverage and workers compensation upon commencing employment. Please note GIA/GTA are still subject to the 60-day waiting period before medical benefits take effect.
  • Receiving first paycheck on September 1, rather than October 1.

• What are the affected appointments for August 2024?

  1. New and rehired FTE faculty: Faculty of instruction, faculty of practice, research faculty, tenure line faculty (excludes per course faculty and phased retirement status)
  2. New and rehired graduate/ doctoral instructional assistants and graduate/ doctoral teaching assistants

  Position	Start Dates
  FTE faculty assigned as instructor of record	August 16
  Per course faculty	September 1
  Graduate instructional assistants and doctoral instructional assistants (GIA/DIA)	August 16
  Graduate teaching assistants and doctoral teaching assistants (GTA/DTA)	August 16
  Graduate research assistants and doctoral research assistants (GRA/DRA)	No defined start or end date
  Graduate assistants and doctoral assistants (GA/DA)	No defined start or end date

  We acknowledge that there may be specific situations related to visas and work authorization dates that interfere with the ability to start work and be in residence on August 16.  These situations will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. 

• Salary Spread Notification

  Employees with an 8/16-5/15 nine-month contract will not be able to elect salary spread.

  *Continuing employees will remain unchanged. 

• Summer coverage for faculty

  During the summer, your insurance coverage will continue as normal with no interruptions. If you are working during the summer, your employee insurance premiums (if applicable) will be deducted from your paycheck as normal. If you do not work during some/all of the summer months, you would need to make arrangements to either prepay for your summer insurance premiums or pay your premiums monthly. HR Benefits sends an email in early May with your payment options. Please note: If you miss a payment deadline, your insurance coverage does not lapse and will continue to be active

• How will this change in appointment dates affect paychecks?

  If you are a new or rehired faculty member with a nine-month appointment, effective August 16, your nine months of compensation will be distributed differently.  You will receive your first two weeks of compensation on September 1. This paycheck will be compensation for the two weeks worked from August 16-31.  Your final paycheck on June 1 will be compensation for the two weeks worked from May 1-15. 

• How will this change my Retirement Service Credit?

  Retirement service credit is used to determine eligibility for TRS retirement and retiree insurance. To earn a year of retirement service credit, Teacher Retirement System (TRS) of Texas and Optional Retirement Program (ORP) participants must have a minimum of 90 paid days during each September 1 – August 31 plan year, except for the final year before retirement. Employees paid for the full fall semester who retire December 31 will earn a year of retirement service credit. Review the TRS Service Credit Brochure for more information.

  It is possible for an eligible employee to contribute to TRS or ORP without earning a year of retirement service credit. This occurs when:

  • Employees separate prior to earning 90 paid days for the plan year and don’t retire at the end of the fall semester.
  • Unpaid time-off or leave results in fewer than 90 paid days for the plan year.
  • Faculty are only assigned for the fall semester and either don’t return for the subsequent fall semester or don’t retire at the end of the fall semester. Review table below for details.

  Benefits Eligible Employment	Assignment Dates	Eligible Employment for September 1, 2024 – August 31, 2025  Plan Year	Start Dates
  Fall Semester Only	August 16 – December 31, 2024	September 1 – December 31, 2024	No credit due to fewer than 90 paid days, unless retiring December 31, 2024
  Subsequent Fall Semester	August 16 – December 31, 2025	August 16 – 31, 2025	One year of credit, when combined with previous fall semester to earn 90 paid days.

• University Holiday Pay

  The holidays below will shift to different semesters beginning in 2024 and might impact the number of holidays you are paid for each year.

  Holiday	Current Semester	New Semester
  New Year’s Day	Fall	Spring
  Memorial Day	Spring	Summer
  Independence Day	First Summer Session	Second Summer Session

• Why is salary spread not available for new and rehired faculty with an 8/16-5/15 nine-month contract?

  TXST has mandated an August 16, hire date for all new and rehired FTE (Full Time Equivalent) faculty assigned as instructor of record. The effective date for these faculty contracts is 08/16/2024. This date overlaps salary spread payouts in process for the FY2024. We cannot change salary spread payroll processing rules mid-year. 

• Hourly to salary position changes

  Within SAP, an employee cannot cross payroll areas within the same calendar month (Hourly and NSNR employees are paid on the S-1 semi-monthly payroll; regular status salaried employees are paid on the monthly M-1 payroll). All hourly and NSNR employees must complete their temporary hours within the previous month of the new hire date of the regular faculty position. For example, an hourly employee must end work on July 31, to start in a new faculty position on August 16, 2024.  

  All hours worked in the hourly position must be entered and approved in time management within the month earned and prior to the processing of the new appointment. If you have an employee moving from one payroll area to another - hourly to salary or salary to hourly, please contact Human Resources for guidance

• How do I handle a Student Worker moving to a GIA/DIA or GTA/DTA title in fall 2024?

  If a Student Worker will be moving to a GIA/DIA or GTA/DTA in Fall 2024, their graduate appointment hire date should be 8/16/24 to align with the new contract start dates for all IA and TA titles. Employees may not be in the hourly/Student Worker and salaried/Graduate appointment payroll systems within the same calendar month. To accomplish this, their hourly Student Worker assignment must be separated no later than 7/31/24 so that they may move to the monthly/salaried payroll system in August 2024. See PCR guidance below.

  PCR Guidance: 

  The Student Worker department PCR initiator should initiate a Separation PCR (not an End Additional Appointment since there will be a break in service before being rehired as a graduate employee) with a 7/31/24 separation date at the latest; please use their last day worked in July as the separation date and note their last day worked within the PCR comments. Additional notes: 

  • All hourly Student Worker time entry should be entered into SAP and approved by 5pm on 7/31/24, and their separation PCR should be initiated as soon as possible to facilitate this.  
  • It is fine to initiate their separation PCR prior to their last day worked if you note their expected last day worked within the Separation PCR comments.  
  • The HRIS Team will confirm the last day worked within CATS_DA and confirm that all time entry has been approved before separating their Student Worker assignment. It is very important that the separation PCR is initiated and processed timely to facilitate this transition smoothly. 

  To rehire the employee into their GIA/DIA or GTA/DTA appointment, an Additional Appointment PCR with reason code "Rehire - existing position" or "Rehire - new position" should be initiated with an 8/16/24 effective date.  Additional notes: 

  • TA graduate appointment titles should have their contracting forms attached to the PCRs using the 8/16/24 - 12/31/24 or 8/16/24 – 5/15/24 contract dates.  
  • The Additional Appointment PCR should use reason code "Rehire - existing position" if the position # you're using on the PCR has been used by a previous graduate student before in the past. The Additional Appointment PCR should use reason code "Rehire - new position" if the position # you're using on the PCR is brand new and has never been used before in the past. To find if a position # has ever had a holder, please follow the instructions below: 
    • Go into SAP transaction PO13D and enter the Position # in the blank Position field, hit enter 
    • Select “All” in the Time Period area 
    • Highlight the Relationships tab and hit the Mountain/Overview button at the top to view all relationships 
    • If any previous holders are seen – “existing position” reason code used, if no holders are seen – “new position” reason code used. Please see the visual below:  

  

  The position above has had previous holders, so the reason code “existing position” would be used, in this scenario. 

• I’m trying to initiate a new hire/rehire FTE faculty or IA/TA graduate student PCR with an 8/16/24 effective date using my FY25 fund and I am receiving an error/hard stop when I try to submit the PCR. Why is that?

  All PCRs with effective dates in August 2024 are still technically within FY24, therefore FY24 funds should be used on the August 2024 PCRs. The HRIS and back-office teams will flip funds to FY25 funds behind the scenes effective 9/1/24.

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