To all UM faculty,

As described in my email dated Sept. 14, and on the Office of the Provost webpage on organizational and staffing changes, UM is working to match its instructional resources to student demand and strategic priorities.

I will be asking academic units to develop instructional staffing plan recommendations based on budget targets that must be achieved by June 30, 2021. To develop these plans, it will help to know who among UM’s current faculty is planning to leave the University voluntarily within the next three years (by June 30, 2021).

The purpose of this message is to invite faculty who are planning to leave the university voluntarily in the next three years to provide formal notice to the university by Oct 12, 2018. This will help academic units make accurate projections while they develop their instructional staffing plan recommendations.

We know that some faculty intend to end their employment with the university voluntarily before the end of June 2021. Reasons might include, but are not limited to taking a position at another university or outside of academia, retirement, or focusing on other priorities. To allow academic units to make accurate projections, each voluntary planned departure must be officially documented as a legally binding commitment to end employment with the university by a specified date. Only voluntary planned departures that are officially documented can be used in a department’s instructional staffing plan.

Faculty can indicate their desire to end employment voluntarily with the university using the Voluntary End of Employment Agreement. Completed Agreements must be submitted electronically via the Office of the Provost website, or delivered to the Office of the Provost, addressed to me and marked “confidential”, no later than 5 p.m. October 12, 2018.

For planning purposes:

• Faculty on academic year appointments may plan to end employment at the end of an academic year (AY 18-19 ends 5/3/19; AY 19-20 ends 5/1/20; AY 20-21 ends 5/7/21)
• Faculty on fiscal year appointments may plan to end employment at the end of a fiscal year (6/30/19, 6/30/20, or 6/30/21)
• Faculty can also plan to end employment at the end of a semester within an academic or fiscal year (see the academic calendar for dates)

Please direct any questions you have about voluntarily ending your employment with the university to provost@umontana.edu.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Jon Harbor, Provost

This message was sent by the Office of the Provost to all UM faculty.