Faculty Orientation Affairs and Research

Promotion and Tenure

The RPT process is an important part of academic life at UCCS, and it helps to ensure that faculty members are recognized and rewarded for their diverse contributions to teaching or librarianship, scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service. You will need to review the RPT criteria for your college and department.

Annual Performance Review

The university rates faculty members' performance each year and uses the results to determine merit and other pay adjustments. Tenured/tenure track faculty are assessed on a three-year average and instructors are evaluated annually. The process is submitted through Watermark Faculty Success, which is also the system to manage the Course Evaluations and Surveys.

Course Buyouts and Offloads

All course buyouts require the approval of both the Department Chair and the appropriate Dean. Course buy-outs are distinct from a course offload. An offload is a zero-cost redistribution of workload. Deans have the authority and flexibility to approve differential workloads in the form of course offloads for faculty as they see fit.  

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

IRBManager is an electronic system for IRB application submission and management of IRB-related study records. The system provides automation to the IRB application and review process with conditioned questions, electronic signatures and routing, and email notifications.

Office of Sponsored Programs & Research Integrity

OSPRI is here to help you! Explore the guidance documents and informational pages to support your proposal process, responsible conduct of research, conflict of interest, and more research integrity topics.

The Office of Research

UCCS takes pride in being the only higher education institution in Southern Colorado that explicitly includes research as part of its mission. We have funding opportunities, research resources, student research programs, and more. 

The Office of Institutional Data, Effectiveness, and Analytics (IDEA) merges the Office of Institutional Research with the Business Intelligence Team. IDEA empowers data-informed decision-making at UCCS by collecting, analyzing, and sharing insights related to student success, enrollment management, institutional effectiveness, faculty productivity, student learning, and other key performance indicators.

You can explore enrollment trends, common data sets, survey data, and more.

The University of Colorado Board of Regents consists of nine members serving staggered six-year terms, one elected from each of Colorado's eight congressional districts and one from the state at large. The board is charged constitutionally with the general supervision of the university and the exclusive control and direction of all funds of and appropriations to the university, unless otherwise provided by law.

The System dictates multiple laws, policies, and resolutions that UCCS follows. The System also outlines the Faculty Handbook within the central Office of Faculty Affairs.