Preface

The University of Michigan is one of the great public research universities of the United States, guided by the commitment and vision of its Board of Regents, executive officers, deans, and, importantly, by its faculty. Since the nineteenth century, the University has provided a national model of a complex, diverse, and comprehensive public institution of higher learning that supports excellence in research; provides outstanding undergraduate, graduate, and professional education; and demonstrates commitment to service through partnerships and collaborations that extend to the community, region, state, nation, and around the world.

Michigan’s position of leading excellence in higher education rests on the outstanding quality of its nineteen schools and colleges on the Ann Arbor campus, as well as on the national recognition of the excellence of individual departments and programs and on the many major scholarly and creative contributions of its faculty.

It is the University’s goal to create a climate that enables faculty to focus their time and energy on their scholarly, research, or creative pursuits; their teaching; their clinical work; and their service. As in any complex institution, clear policies and procedures help the University to function more effectively and efficiently, enabling faculty and staff to focus on their pursuits and responsibilities. The purpose of the Faculty Handbook is to provide information to faculty about a wide range of administrative matters that include general University principles and practices, the ins and outs of faculty appointments, tenure, faculty governance, and many more topics. In addition, the handbook provides information about key resources available to faculty.

The University is a highly complex and decentralized institution. It would be virtually impossible to capture in detail the many policies, procedures, and information that affect faculty, and to attempt to do so would duplicate many existing resources. With this in mind, the Office of the Provost provides the Faculty Handbook as a navigation aid. The reader is given brief descriptions of existing policies, procedures, and resources, and referred to primary resources for more information.

The handbook overview can be downloaded as a PDF from the Faculty Handbook homepage, and serves as a convenient one-page description of the faculty handbook, a few key links, and list of the chapter titles.

The handbook is updated to reflect changes in policy and to revise outdated information. In addition, it provides direct access to a wide variety of resources through hyperlinks. Some of the resources (for example, the Standard Practice Guide references) are provided in Portable Documents Format (PDF).

The Faculty Handbook is not intended to be a primary source of official University policy. Official policies are found in the Bylaws of the Board of Regents, the Standard Practice Guide (SPG), the bylaws of the schools and colleges, and many other documents, some of which are referenced in the handbook. Throughout the handbook, references to authoritative sources of University policy are provided. The handbook is not intended to directly establish or imply contractual obligations to any faculty group or individual faculty member. Official University policies may be revised at any time. Unless otherwise stated, revised University policies, when approved, apply to University faculty and staff, regardless of their initial appointment dates.

Although the Faculty Handbook is written for Ann Arbor faculty, it includes information about University of Michigan-Dearborn and University of Michigan-Flint. Key differences among the campuses are noted and some information about local resources provided by the provosts on those campuses has been included. The UM-Dearborn Faculty Handbook Supplement. The U-M Flint Campus Bylaws for Shared Governance is also posted online.

Every effort was made to ensure that the information contained in the Faculty Handbook is accurate as of February 2024. However, the University of Michigan is a dynamic institution, constantly growing and changing. Some of the information will become out of date. Please contact the Provost’s Office with questions at (734) 764-9290.

February 2024

Regents of the University

Jordan B. Acker, Huntington Woods
Michael J. Behm, Grand Blanc
Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor
Paul W. Brown, Ann Arbor
Sarah Hubbard, Okemos
Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms
Ron Weiser, Ann Arbor
Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor
Santa Ono (ex officio)

Nondiscrimination Policy Statement

The University of Michigan, including the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint campuses as well as Michigan Medicine, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office (ECRT, formerly the Office for Institutional Equity, or OIE), 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, 734-763-0235, TTY 734-647-1388. For other University of Michigan information, call 734-764-1817.

For additional information, please see SPG 201.35.