Partner Opportunity Hire

The Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost manages central salary funding support for strategic recruitment from a single fund. This allows for flexibility in partnering with colleges who have the primary role in requesting support for strategic and partner opportunity hires. Depending on the appointment type, the Provost’s Office may provide support continuously to the college (i.e., continuous appointment) or on an annual basis for fixed terms (i.e., term appointment).

    Strategic recruitment (all faculty) 

The Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost expects departments/schools and colleges to recruit excellent candidates in all of their faculty searches. In exceptional circumstances, central funds can be requested to support the strategic recruitment of a tenured, tenure-eligible, or term faculty member who supports the university's strategic goals, including contributions to the state of Iowa through extension and outreach. The department/school and college must make a compelling case that the targeted hire meets the university's strategic goals. 

    Partner opportunity hire (tenure-eligible/tenured faculty)

The department/school and college can request central funds to support partner opportunity hires for newly appointed tenured or tenure-eligible faculty hires within 12 months of hire. The partner opportunity hire may reflect a faculty (tenured, tenure-eligible, or term) or staff (Professional & Scientific) appointment. 

When the partner opportunity hire is appointed to a tenured/tenure-eligible position or a continuous P&S position, the funding is considered continuous. There is a reallocation to the college base budget, as long as their faculty partner remains at the university. 

For all other term positions (faculty or P&S), the funding is provided for the length of the term, but is eligible for renewal. The term of the funding should align with the term of the appointment.   

In order for the partner opportunity hiring effort to be successful, each college and department/school are expected to participate collaboratively in the process. Departments/schools and colleges should aim to be flexible in identifying positions that can be successful for everyone involved, both in the long and short terms. When a faculty candidate seeks a partner hire of any type, the department chair/school director should immediately notify their college dean or associate dean of the request. The associate dean reviews the partner’s CV to determine possible disciplinary or career fit. If the best fit appears to be in another college, the associate deans of the two colleges will discuss opportunities. Consult our more detailed workflow (PDF) as a guide to the academic opportunity hire process.

The partner opportunity hire funding for term positions (faculty or P&S) is contingent upon the continued employment of their faculty partner. 

If the faculty partner is no longer employed by the university but the unit employing the partner opportunity hire wishes to retain them in their position, the funding agreement for the partner opportunity hire’s position must be reviewed by all units involved and an agreement made regarding continuation of contributed funding.  

If the partner opportunity hire chooses to pursue another position at the university, central funding may be discontinued. 

The Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR) manages research funding and faculty start-up support. The Provost’s Office does not cover or share in start-up costs. Visit the Office of the Vice President for Research website for details about scope and process for start-up funding requests.

The Provost’s Office will provide up to 1/3 of the proposed starting salary and benefit costs for strategic recruitment and partner opportunity hires. The source of the remaining 2/3 of the salary and benefits is determined by the units seeking the hire (e.g., if two units are involved, each may contribute 1/3). The central contribution from the Provost’s Office remains a fixed dollar amount for the term of the commitment and for as long as the primary faculty hire remains employed at Iowa State.  Annual salary increases for the partner opportunity hire are covered by the hiring department/school and not the Provost’s Office. Annual support for term appointments adjusts with the annual fringe benefit rate.

In the case of partner opportunity hires, once a dean receives funding approval from the Provost’s Office, the Human Resources (HR) Partner will review the appointment request to ensure that deans and department chairs/school directors follow hiring protocols and procedures. This may include: classifying a new position, requesting a waiver of advertisement, managing the application and interview process, facilitating required background checks and disclosures, ensuring visa questions are referred to International Students and Scholars Office, etc. This early consultation on the process will allow for more timely approval of the final hire by University Human Resources and/or the Office of Equal Opportunity.

The partner opportunity hire must perform to expectations as required of any employee. The partner opportunity hire’s unit, not the faculty partner’s department, shall evaluate performance. When the partner opportunity hire is appointed to a term position (faculty or P&S), their position renewal will be based on performance considerations. Poor performance can result in non-renewal or termination.

The Provost’s Office will track its financial commitments and the effectiveness of hires that receive central funding. The Provost’s Office tracks only its own funding commitments to partner opportunity hires. Each college or unit is responsible for tracking its own contributions. 

To facilitate budgetary planning within each unit, each fiscal year the Provost’s Office will report to the colleges the list of central funding committed to its departments/schools for ongoing strategic faculty hires, partner opportunity hires, retentions, National Academy hires, and Presidential High Impact hires. This list will also list the funding that will revert to the Provost’s Office as a result of faculty departures.  

When a faculty member departs, thereby ending a continuous commitment, the partial funding commitment from the Provost’s Office ends. The provided partial salary support returns to the Provost’s Office in the same fraction of the original contribution. In most cases, this is one-third of the ending salary and benefits. The Provost’s Office reinvests the dollars into its funding pool.