About Dates/Deadlines
Dates and deadlines play an important role across Interfolio products, including Faculty Search (FS), Review, Promotion & Tenure (RPT), and Faculty Activity Reporting (FAR). This article explains the different types of deadlines used in each product (hard vs. soft deadlines), how they function, and what actions they trigger once they pass. Understanding how deadlines behave helps administrators set clear expectations, avoid unintended submissions or lockouts, and plan review timelines effectively.
Please note that while all deadlines are in EST for all institutions, hard deadline jobs are scheduled to run once per night based on UTC time and do not automatically adjust for daylight saving time. As a result, during certain parts of the year, submissions may appear to process at 1AM EST instead of 12AM. This behavior is intentional to avoid early submissions and is a known system limitation. If precise timing is critical, we recommend planning deadlines with this in mind.
Check out our Automated Email Notifications article for more information on notifications triggered after deadlines have passed.
Deadline Types
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Soft Deadlines: With soft deadlines, each section must be manually submitted, but candidates can submit packets after the deadline. Administrators can see the date when the materials were submitted.
Individual section due dates are always soft deadlines. If the overall packet has a hard deadline, all sections are automatically submitted on the packet's due date, regardless of individual section deadlines.
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Hard Deadlines: When a hard deadline is selected and the date passes, the packet is automatically submitted, locked, and sent to the first review step of the workflow and the Unit Administrator or Case Manager is notified. Candidates cannot submit after the deadline. To unlock sections for editing after this date, contact the case administrator.
Please note that hard deadlines are in the EST time zone.
About Dates and Deadlines
| Date Description |
Module |
Hard Deadline (Y/N) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position Open Date | FS | Does not apply | The position is automatically published when the open date, set during Position Creation, passes. If approval is needed, it goes live the morning after approval (if the open date is earlier). |
| Position Rolling Deadline | FS | No | No deadline if position is rolling |
| Position Deadline (Specific Date) |
FS |
Yes | Applicants who have not submitted their applications will not be able to edit or submit their materials after the deadline. |
| Recommendation Request |
FS |
|
|
| Candidate's Packet Due (overall) | RPT | The deadline type is set by an Administrator and applies to all cases across the institution. |
|
| Candidate's Packet Section Due Dates | RPT | No |
|
| External Evaluations | RPT | Yes | The Accept/Decline link within the email will expire after 30 days. However, the External Evaluator will still be able to log into their account to access the request. |
| Committee/Candidate Shares w/ File Response Enabled | RPT | Yes | |
| Step Details Due Dates/Committee Review Due Dates | RPT | No | |
| Initiate Faculty Input | FAR | Yes | If due date is set. Ongoing is always open |
| Faculty Classification Initiated input (Message Due Date) |
FAR |
Yes |
|
| Faculty Classification Initiated input (Message Expiration Date) |
FAR |
Yes |