Current Handbook Changes
Welcome! The below table details what each change will look like for the current Faculty and Staff Handbook (2024-2025).
- U = General University Information
- E = General Employee Information
- F = Faculty Policies and Procedures
- S = Staff Policies and Procedures
Please utilize the letter references above this section to locate the associated table below to learn more about the official Faculty and Staff Handbook changes at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith. Go Lions!
General University Information (U)
| Effective Date | Section Number | Summary of Update with Applicable Link |
| June 2024 | U.1 | Addition of paragraph with definitions of Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 changes. |
| July 2024 |
U.4 | Updated the number of students and employees per the UA System Website. |
| June 2024 | U.7 | Added reference to UA Board Policy 100.4 |
| June 2024 | U.7.2 | Updated Staff Senate link to Staff Senate webpage. |
| June 2024 | U.7.4 | Removed the broken link to the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Bylaws for Faculty Governance and left the "see the Faculty Governance homepage at My.UAFS. |
| June 2024 | U.7.5.12.1 | Removed the University Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee |
| June 2024 | U.8.1 | Removed Traveling Art Exhibit Gallery, CC main concourse, first floor & updated campus map link. Also updated Powell Student Health Clinic and UAFS Counseling Clinic locations. |
| June 2024 | U.8.5.1 | Removed Traveling Art Exhibit Gallery, CC main concourse, first floor |
| June 2024 | U.8.5.2 | Updated name to Stacey Jones Season of Entertainment |
| October 2024 | U.8.9.2 | Updated email to uafsmarketing@uafs.edu per the Marketing & Communications Office |
| October 2024 | U.8.9.3 | Changed section name to Strategic Communications Support and updated the wording in the section per the Marketing & Communications Office. |
| October 2024 | U.8.9.3.1 | Changed section name to Public Information and FOIA Compliance and updated the wording in the section per the Marketing & Communications Office. |
| October 2024 | U.8.9.3.2 | Added section per feedback from the UAFS Tabletop Exercise on 9/26/24. Wording for the section was provided by the Marketing & Communications Office. |
| October 2024 | U.8.9.3.3 | Moved from U.8.9.3.2 and updated the wording in the section per the Marketing & Communications Office. |
| July 2024 |
U.8.11 | Changed from SSC to HES |
| June 2024 | U.8.12 | Added link to State of Arkansas Procurement Laws and Rules & changed director of procurement to director of accounts payable |
| June 2024 | U.8.14.1 | Added emeritus staff to last sentence of the section. |
| June 2024 | U.8.14.4 | Removed UAFS Google Accounts from heading because there is no subsection for Google. |
| June 2024 | U.8.15 | Added link to State of Arkansas Procurement Laws and Rules |
| June 2024 | U.8.16.6 | Updated UAFS News Stories link and changed to university's social media accounts |
| June 2024 | U.8.16.9 | Updated parking information link & campus map link. |
General Employee Information (E)
| Effective Date | Section Number | Summary of Update |
| June 2024 | E.1.1.3 | Added emeritus staff and changed wording to match E.8.2.4 |
| June 2024 | E.1.1.5 | Added "for up to a total of three (3) academic years" to the first sentence for further clarification of current university practice. |
| June 2024 | E.1.2.2.2 | Changed from Regular Part-Time Employees to Regular Part-Time Staff |
| June 2024 | E.1.2.3.1 | Updated language to match E.1.1.5 |
| June 2024 | E.1.2.3.2 | Changed from temporary employees to temporary staff. |
| June 2024 | E.1.3.1 | Updated to semimonthly pay |
| June 2024 | E.1.4.1 | Removed "Employees in this category will receive letters of appointment annually." |
| June 2024 | E.1.6 | Added to the last section "For more information see E.2.12 Employment of Relatives (Nepotism)." |
| June 2024 | E.2.5 | Changed Notices link to https://uafs.edu/about/offices-and-services/human-resources/employee-notice.php. |
| July 2024 |
E.2.9.4.1 | Added policy under new section E.2.9.4.1 on Alcohol at University Special Events |
| June 2024 | E.3.2 | Added adjunct faculty for clarification & update to semimonthly pay |
| June 2024 | E.3.2.1 | Updated to semimonthly pay |
| July 2024 |
E.3.3.2 | Removed the word Daily from the title |
| July 2024 |
E.3.3.3.2 | Changed maternity leave to parental leave. |
| July 2024 |
E.4.3 | Updated to include changes from updated UA Board Policy |
| July 2024 |
E.4.9 | Updated to include information about the new UA Board Policy 420.2. |
| October 2024 | E.4.10 | Updated to include information about the new UA Board Policy 420.2 and the phase out information for the UAFS Catastrophic and Parental Leave Bank Program. |
| June 2024 | E.6.1 | Added E.2.14 for reference |
| October 2024 | E.6.9 | Updated because of feedback from the UAFS Tabletop Exercise on 9/26/24. Section was updated to include links to UA Board Policy 465.1 and Arkansas State Personnel Policy 18. Second to last paragraph in the section beginning with "Political bumper stickers..." was added and the wording comes directly from Arkansas State Personnel Policy 18. |
| July 2024 |
E.6.20 | Added new section E.6.20 Sleeping Overnight on Campus |
| June 2024 | E.7 | Removed the disclaimer about the section being under review per the Chancellor. |
| June 2024 | E.8.4 | Updated per UA Board Policy 405.5 |
| June 2024 | E.8.6 | Updated last sentence to 60 days or 480 hours to match UA Board policy 440.4 & include referral to section E.8.4.3.4. |
Faculty Policies and Procedures (F)
| Effective Date | Section Number | Summary of Update |
| July 2024 |
F.1.11.2 | Changed to "form must be obtained from the Office of Human Resources" |
| July 2024 |
F.1.14.1 | Added parental leave |
| July 2024 |
F.2.11 | Changed per Instructional Support. Refer to the LMS as “Blackboard Learn” instead of “Blackboard Learn 9.1” or “Blackboard 9.1". While the version is still technically “9.1”, Anthology, their parent company, refers to Blackboard Learn and the two versions “Original” and “Ultra.” (However, there is no need to mention the versions). “-" also sometimes called a course management system or CMS” can be removed. “(LMS)” is adequate these days. In the line about SafeAssign, changed “against” to “identifying potential”. |
Staff Policies and Procedures (S)
| Effective Date | Section Number | Summary of Update |
| June 2024 |
S.2 | Removed classified and non-classified titles. Changed to all full-time employees are subject to evaluation. |