Below are select personnel actions through which UW faculty, librarians, or other academic personnel might permanently reduce their appointment or temporarily reduce their FTE.

Please note that a partial reduction of appointment or FTE may impact UW benefits and voting eligibility. Unit administrators and academic personnel contemplating a reduction should review UWHR’s Eligibility for Insurance page for information about benefits eligibility. Faculty should also review OAP’s Voting Guidelines for information on a potential impact to voting eligibility.

For details on how to process the changes detailed below, visit the ISC’s Change Job user guide. Consult your Academic HR specialist before making appointment or FTE changes not reflected on this page.

Voluntary FTE Change

A voluntary FTE change is a permanent adjustment in the contracted appointment. If an appointment is reduced, the appointment percent (“roster” in Workday) cannot be increased for the remainder of the appointment term. Some academic personnel titles and ranks are not eligible for a reduction; others have limitations on the extent they may be reduced. For instance, postdoctoral scholars may not reduce their appointment and professorial faculty must maintain an appointment of at least 50%. Units should review the corresponding Academic Titles and Ranks page for specific eligibility before processing a voluntary FTE change request and consult with their International Scholars Operations advisor if the requestor is on a UW-sponsored visa.

Decisions about a reduction in teaching load and other faculty assignments are determined at the local level. Unforeseen instructional needs may warrant exceptional changes in appointment percent and FTE. Please visit OAP’s Annual vs. Quarterly Appointments web page for more details.

Faculty members who are not retired, but who have reduced their appointments, are not eligible to begin UW Retirement Plan (UWRP) distributions.

Required Documentation

For voluntary FTE changes, unit administrators should upload to Workday the following items as a single PDF:

  • Change request from the academic personnel
  • Chair/campus dean approval letter
  • Dean/chancellor approval letter

Reduced Responsibility

Some faculty members are responsible for securing a portion of their salary through external sources. When such faculty are temporarily unable to meet this obligation, they are placed in Reduced Responsibility status. UW’s Office of Research oversees this policy and process, as described in GIM 38 – Faculty Reduced Responsibility Status Involving External Funding. Please note that faculty with fully tenured appointments are not subject to Reduced Responsibility.

Leave-Related FTE Changes

Academic personnel who have been approved for a partial leave of absence require a leave-related FTE change in Workday. Review relevant leave pages for document.