Procedures for Appointment, Reappointment, and Provisional Appointment to the Graduate Faculty

The general position of the College of Education regarding Graduate Faculty membership is consonant with that of the Graduate School; namely, that membership allows a faculty member: (1) to serve as a major professor for doctoral students; and (2) to teach research-oriented, advanced graduate courses (e.g., courses numbered 800 and above). The College of Education adheres to the procedures established by the Graduate School and this document provides information on how an application is initiated and processed within the College. Applications are forwarded to the Graduate School twice yearly, in the Fall and the Spring terms. The Graduate School requests that applications for reappointments be submitted in the Spring term. Applications for initial and provisional appointments can be made in either the Fall or Spring term. The College and Graduate School deadlines for submission of applications is provided to all Department Heads during the summer for the following academic year.

Application and Review Procedure

Each application originates in the department. The application for initial or provisional appointment consists of responses to the topic outline provided in the Graduate School Procedures The Dean of the Graduate School notifies graduate faculty members who are due for reappointment. For Reappointment applications, there are two options: (1) provide an updated vita, and a cover sheet with responses to Parts A, B, E, and F from the Graduate School topic outline, and indicate the page numbers of the vita that address Parts C and D from the outline; (2) follow the complete topic outline provided in the Graduate School Guidelines (parts A-F) indicating only the activities for the last seven years (time since last appointment).

All eligible faculty (e.g., faculty who hold Graduate Faculty membership) shall vote on the applicant. Upon receiving a positive vote, the Department Head details the vote (give the actual number of yeas, nays and abstentions - do not indicate unanimous) and provides their own recommendation which should include:

the actual vote of departmental graduate faculty
a brief history of the applicant's appointment/reappointment to Graduate Faculty (Indicate if the person is currently appointed to provisional status)
a summary addressing scholarly competence, intellectual leadership, and experience with graduate education
an explanation of the faculty member's role in graduate education (how important is what the person does to the graduate program in the Department, within the last 7 years & in the future)

For reappointments, the department head must add information in their letter on the applicant's budgeted time over the previous seven years (see Graduate School Guidelines, page 7). With a positive recommendation from the Department, the application package (the application plus Department Head's letter ) is forwarded to the Associate Dean's Office for the College-level review.

⁽¹⁾ Approved May ???? by the Faculty Senate

Provisional Appointments: During the hiring process for faculty at the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, or full professor, a request may be made by the appropriate dean for Graduate Faculty status. A written request with the faculty votes, along with a c.v., for Graduate Faculty appointment must be forwarded to the Dean of the Graduate School, and a duplicate package sent to the Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. Graduate Faculty status will begin with date of employment. The applicant’s department head must notify the Dean of the Graduate School when the applicant accepts employment. Newly appointed Graduate Faculty members will be eligible for reappointment in three years and thereafter reappointment every seven years.

College-level Review: For the College-level review of initial appointments or reappointments, submit one original and nine copies of the application package. Six copies will be forwarded to the Graduate School and one copy will be retained in the College office. Do not put application packages in binders or folders. The departmental cover letter should be stapled to the top of each application.

At the College level, the graduate Faculty Appointments and Reappointments Committee is convened to discuss and decide what recommendation will be made to the Dean of the College of Education regarding the applicants' qualifications for Graduate Faculty membership. The Committee's recommendations are based on three categories of qualifications relevant to Graduate Faculty membership: (1) Scholarly Competence, (2) Intellectual Leadership, and (3) Experience with Graduate Education. Descriptions of these categories are provided in the Graduate School Guidelines, pages 3-4, found at the web address listed above.

Following the Committee's decision, a letter giving the Committee's vote and rationale for its recommendation is forwarded to the Dean of the College. The Dean's designee will notify the Department Head and School Director of the Committee's and Dean's recommendation. If the recommendation is positive, the Committee's letter, Dean's letter and the application package are forwarded to the Graduate School. If the decision is negative, the application is not forwarded. However, the applicant may ask for a reconsideration.

Reconsideration Procedures

If an applicant or his/her Department does not concur with the Committee or Dean's recommendation, then the applicant or Department Head may request in writing a reconsideration. The reconsideration must specify the basis for the reconsideration (e.g., new information has been received, or explanation of information in the original application). When such a request is made, the Dean shall convene the same Graduate Faculty Committee that originally reviewed the application. The review and reporting procedures described above for the College-level shall be repeated.

If the reconsideration vote is positive, the application will be forwarded to the Graduate School with the other applications receiving a positive vote. If the vote is a split vote, it is considered a negative vote. If the reconsideration vote is negative, the process ends.