Prospective Members

Welcome to a new beginning! This handbook provided by the CAUT will be useful in answering many of your potential questions before making the decision to become a faculty member.

Congratulations on your job offer! But before you sign…

Like many candidates for university positions, you may feel lucky to get a job offer. The salary offered may seem very appealing compared with your income as a graduate student, and the prospects for renewing your position or for obtaining tenure may look impressive.

You may feel reluctant to ask future colleagues about their salaries and other details of their individual appointments. You might assume that those colleagues who do provide information are able to represent fully what is possible in your own situation. Meanwhile, the administration representative with whom you’re dealing may be helpful and supportive. Although you might expect that misunderstandings can be corrected after accepting the offer, in many cases this may well not be true.

Perhaps you’re worried that negotiating astutely for your future will cast you as a ‘troublemaker;’ perhaps you doubt that there is scope for any negotiation at all. You may even feel embarrassed to ask that verbal agreements be put in writing, especially if you have been assured that the issues addressed are dealt with routinely for all employees. And the deadline for signing may be approaching rapidly.

For any or all of these reasons, you might sign a contract that will put you at a disadvantage for the rest of your career. Your future faculty association or union can help you obtain more complete information about the implications of an offer and the ins and outs of negotiating a fair and reasonable appointment. If you call before you sign, here are 10 important questions you should ask.

Handbook can be found here
New Faculty Handbook

Resources