An employment contract is created when an offer of employment (Offer Letter) is accepted by a candidate and counter-signed by the Provost (offers are conditional subject to final approval by the Provost). A copy of the counter-signed letter is then provided to the new faculty member and it becomes an official employment contract and is legally binding upon UNM and the new faculty member.  Offer letter templates are available to assist hiring officers with drafting offer letter/contracts.

Faculty members with continuing appointments hold employment contracts which automatically renew subject to satisfactory performance. FHB B3.1 Continuing contracts can only be discontinued per FHB B4-B6 procedures. Non-continuing contracts (temporary contracts) may be either Renewable or Non-Renewable. Renewable indicates the appointment will automatically cease at the end of its stated term unless hiring officer exercises his/her discretion to request renewal (no presumption of renewal). Non-Renewable indicates the appointment will automatically cease at the end of its stated term with no option of renewal, e.g., Visitorships. A brief guide to types of appointments can be found at the Office for Academic Personnel (OAP) website under "Academic Appointments and Titles."

Amendments to the terms of an appointment must be memorialized in writing and are subject to approval by the appropriate university officials.

Faculty with continuing appointments receive a base salary associated with their appointment in exchange for delivery of an appropriate academic workload which typically encompasses some combination of teaching, research and service. Faculty are eligible for increases to their base salary for meritorious service and/or promotions in rank, as documented through various means (most commonly through the annual, retention, promotion, or tenure review processes). Base compensation changes can be initiated through the "Salary Planner" process which occurs in the Spring of each year. Appointment status, and base compensation changes that occur off-cycle, must be initiated by [ request forms].

A portal under the Employee Tab in  LoboWeb, entitled "Faculty Contract Summary" allows faculty members to verify their current appointment and compensation data as shown in Banner. Tenure clock information is included for probationary faculty. Faculty members in need of a hard copy record of their current appointment and compensation data of record can print one on demand by using the portal's print feature. Academic units have the ability to query Banner data by using the MyReports tool to verify all current appointment and compensation data for their faculty members.