As defined in AR 5:1, a visiting scholar is “an individual who is pursuing an independent program of research at the University, or is participating in an existing research program, ordinarily while on leave from another professional position.” Individuals in visiting scholar positions should not be teaching and should not be a student visiting from another institution. Non-degree-seeking visiting graduate students who seek to engage in research or other appropriate activities at the University should contact the Graduate School. Likewise, non-degree-seeking visiting undergraduate students who seek to engage in research or other appropriate activities should contact Enrollment Management.
AR 5:1 stipulates that visiting scholar classification confers “a temporary appointment for a term not to exceed one year, subject to renewal in exceptional cases if approved by the Provost or Vice President for Research.”
Key steps when initiating the visiting scholar appointment process are as follows:
- Faculty member discusses potential research collaboration with faculty member from another university or representative from another government.
- Faculty member obtains support from department chair/center director and from dean for the visiting scholar appointment.
- If the individual is from outside the United States, consult with the International Center’s guidance for inviting J-1 scholars to campus.
- In Faculty Database: A request to appoint the individual as a visiting scholar is entered in the form of a board action. Associated supporting information is emailed to Margaret Leach in the Office for Faculty Advancement and must contain the following elements:
- Name and current position of visiting scholar
- Faculty member at UK with whom the visiting scholar will collaborate on research
- Description of the research to be conducted at UK
- Appointment period of the appointment (NOT to exceed one year, although the potential for a one-year extension may be included)
- Description of any UK resources (e.g., salary, office space, computer) committed to support the visiting scholar
- Signature of the department chair and the dean
- CV of the visiting scholar
- In Faculty Database: When the board action is approved, the system automatically creates the visiting scholar appointment for the period indicated on the board action.
- In SAP HR: an employee assignment is entered
- Before entering in SAP, if at all possible, the board action should be approved by Office for Faculty Advancement (per the prior step)
- The employee assignment is entered using the appropriate coding for visiting scholar per the university personnel structure. This is required whether the individual is paid or unpaid.
- See Appendix 1 for information on Faculty Database and SAP-HR integration
- Any request for extension of the appointment period must be initiated at least two months in advance of the original appointment. Similar to the initial appointment, a board action is entered into the Faculty Database and associated supporting information sent to Margaret Leach in the Office for Faculty Advancement.
Appendix 1: Faculty Database and SAP-HR entry and integration
Colleges, departments and other units have staff who are familiar with procedures for entering employee assignments in SAP and entering board actions in the Faculty Database. This appendix provides a brief rationale for making the entry in both systems and brief explanation of integration points.
SAP:
- Once approved, visiting scholars whether paid or unpaid should be entered into SAP since it is the system of record for all employee assignments. The individuals are assigned the Linkblue ID that enables them to have access to University resources (email, access to buildings, labs, etc.)
- Creation of the position and employee assignment should follow the rules and procedures established per University Human Resources. Examples:
- Responsibility for entry of the employee assignment will be driven by the unit of the visiting scholar position. For example, the assignment could be in a center.
- The ending date of the assignment while active will be 12/31/9999, as required by the SAP system. Only when the visiting scholar assignment ends (or is withdrawn or inactivated per the appropriate SAP action) will the assignment be delimited with the exact end date.
Faculty Database:
- Board action entry provides a framework for:
- Approval workflow already established for academic appointments
- Validation checks to ensure protocol is followed, for example verifying the appointment period of 1 year before the board action can be submitted. Verifying the individual was not previously appointed and needs an extension.
- Creation of the board action will be performed by the academic home unit of the UK faculty member who will be the primary research collaborator. This is consistent with:
- The process for academic appointments (i.e. faculty employed by centers also have the academic appointment in an academic home unit.)
- The protocol that requires the request be approved by the dean.
- Approved board actions automatically create the Visiting Scholar appointment record, capturing additional information not on the SAP assignment. Examples:
- The exact academic appointment period, whereas the associated HR assignment is open-ended (12/31/9999)
- Exit plan notes for individuals who have been appointed for a period longer than 1 year
- Link to the faculty research collaborator who proposed the appointment
Integration:
- HR assignment information is imported daily into the Faculty Database. It is used by validation reports to identify discrepancies from two perspectives:
- Individuals who have visiting scholar assignments in SAP, but do not have an approved board action and visiting scholar appointment in the FDB.
- Individuals who have visiting scholar appointments in the FDB, but do not have an associated SAP assignment.
- SAP historical assignment information for visiting scholars was imported into the FDB for reporting and as basis of validation checks for adherence to protocol.
- Visiting scholar appointments will be exported to HANA analytics for institutional reporting.