The
University Senate of
NON TENURE-TRACK FACULTY APPOINTMENTS
(Proposal 4-95)
(Proposal 4-07)
(Proposal
35-15)
(Proposal
36-15)
Senate Policy 701.2
Adjunct (Professor,
Associate Professor, Assistant Professor):
An appointment at this rank is offered to persons not
regularly or primarily employed within the academic unit at the University.
Such individuals--because of training, experience, credentials, and
interest--are invited to participate in the teaching, research, and/or
instructional programs of academic departments. Remuneration may be provided
for teaching and/or research activities. Appointments shall be for no more than
three years with the possibility of subsequent reappointments.
Affiliated Faculty
Appointment (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor):
Affiliated faculty appointments are used to acknowledge and support the
scholarly contributions that faculty may make in more than one discipline.
All faculty members holding affiliated appointments must
have a primary appointment within an academic department or school. The primary department or school will be
responsible for annual reviews for the faculty member’s reappointment, tenure,
promotion, and salary consideration. The
primary department/school will seek and consider written input from the chair
of the department(s) and/or dean of the school(s) hosting the faculty member’s
affiliated appointments.
Affiliated faculty appointments are at the same rank
(i.e., professor, associate professor, or assistant professor) as a faculty
member’s primary appointment.
Affiliated faculty will not be evaluated in any way for
tenure and/or promotion by a unit in which they hold an affiliated appointment.
Affiliated faculty appointments are possible with
non-departmental and interdisciplinary programs as well as with departments or departmental
programs.
All requests for affiliated appointments must be
approved by the provost and President. Requests for affiliated appointments
also need approval from the:
·
faculty member’s
primary academic department chair or school dean,
·
dean of their primary
college (if in a college),
·
approval from the
affiliated-appointment discipline’s department or school (for disciplinary
appointments) or the appropriate executive group or director and graduate dean
(for interdisciplinary appointments)
· dean of the faculty member’s affiliated-appointment college (if the affiliated-appointment discipline is housed in a college.
Emeritus
(Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor):
An honorary rank awarded to retirees who have tenure in the professorial ranks
and have served the University with distinction. Recommendations for emeritus
status shall be made by the members of the retiree's academic department
through administrative channels to the President for presentation to the Board
of Control (Board of Control Policy 16.8). Emeritus faculty shall be invited to
participate in commencement processions and similar ceremonies and be entitled
to certain other privileges within the University such as parking and library
access.
Instructor:
There are many instances where a
Department/School may need to hire someone on a temporary basis to fill unmet
teaching needs when a regular faculty member is on sabbatical or family leave.
These temporary needs will continue into the future and will sometimes occur on
a semester-by-semester basis. The title of “Instructor” will be
reserved for cases such as these. Instructors will have no expectations placed
on them other than teaching (and associated duties such as office hours) and
their appointment could be for full-time or part-time work with contracts of no
more than one year. Minimum qualifications for an Instructor are a master’s degree, or a bachelor’s
degree and professional qualifications.
Lecturer:
There are many cases where NTTF serve in a continuing basis and/or where
NTTF lines may be an established part of the general fund budget. For NTTF in
these positions, a career path should be established so that their
contributions are recognized and appropriately rewarded. The three proposed
titles for NTTF in this category are 1) Lecturer, 2) Senior Lecturer, and 3)
Principal Lecturer. Lecturers of all ranks must be appointed for a minimum of
75% effort and will receive regular university benefits—appointments
of less than this will be made at the Instructor rank. Minimum qualifications
include a master’s degree or equivalent
professional qualifications. Lecturers of all ranks may be expected to advise
students, serve on committees, participate actively in professional societies,
and conduct research. In each case, yearly teaching loads for Lecturers will be
negotiated with the Department Chair/School Dean taking into account the
non-teaching or scholarly activities.
Lecturers will be appointed for 2-year
rolling terms, i.e., they will automatically receive a 2-year contract at the
end of each year unless they are informed that their appointment is terminated.
Effectively this means they will have a one-year notification period for
non-reappointment.
Lecturers will be eligible for
promotion to the rank of Senior Lecturer based on criteria established within
the academic units and the recommendations of relevant committees and
administrators at the university. Likewise, Senior Lecturers will be eligible for
promotion to Principal Lecturer. Both Senior and Principal Lecturers will serve
in continuing appointments with a one-year notification of termination. A
salary increment for promotion through the ranks will be awarded to the
affected faculty.
Professor of Practice:
In certain cases, especially where an individual has significant industrial or professional
experience, a new NTTF category will be established—Professor
of Practice. Professors of Practice will be NTTF and will be appointed on a
continuing basis, similar to Senior and Principal Lecturer appointments.
Faculty in the Lecturer ranks will generally not be eligible for promotion to
this category, with the exception being current (AY2006-07) Lecturers whose
qualifications are in keeping with appointment to this rank and for special
cases where a person has achieved significant
professional experience while serving as a Lecturer. Minimum qualifications for
Professors of Practice will be a BS degree with significant professional
experience.
ROTC Faculty Appointments:
An appointment conferred upon ROTC officers assigned to
duty with the Army or Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps units at the
University. The senior commissioned officer of the Army or Air Force units
shall be appointed Professor of Military Science or Professor of Aerospace
Studies, respectively. Commissioned officers or other warrant officers shall be
appointed Assistant Professor of Military Science/Assistant Professor of
Aerospace Studies or Instructor of Military Science/Instructor of Aerospace
Studies. Non-commissioned officers shall be appointed Instructor of Military
Science/Instructor of Aerospace Studies. These appointments involve no
compensation from the University and terminate when the duty assignment ends.
Visiting (Professor,
Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor):
A guest appointment normally offered to a faculty member from another
institution and appointed at the rank of that institution. Responsibilities
will normally be similar to those of tenure-track faculty in the department to
which the appointment is made. Visiting appointments shall normally be for one
year or less.
Employment
Issues:
Individuals appointed to the Lecturer and
Professor of Practice ranks are eligible for merit increases according to established
university procedures. Regional searches (at a minimum) will be conducted for
NTTF in the Lecturer and Professor of Practice ranks; no search is required for
Instructors, since the expectation is that they will be serving on a limited,
temporary basis. All policies in place for faculty searches, including
Affirmative Action practices, will apply to Lecturer and Professor of Practice
searches. In some cases, a search for a Lecturer could yield a candidate who is
better qualified to serve as a Professor of Practice or vice versa. Adjustments
to rank title are permitted in these cases without a new search.
Promotion
Process for Lecturers:
Each academic unit will establish provisions for the
promotion process through the Lecturer ranks, including promotion criteria and
unit-level review procedures. Provisions will include the establishment of a
unit-level committee, with committee membership parameters determined by the
unit. NTTF faculty in the rank of Lecturer or Senior Lecturer who wish to be
considered for promotion will submit documentation similar to that contained on
the F-Form for TTF in February of a given year. The promotion process will be:
1)
The Department/School
committee makes a written recommendation and forwards with the documentation to
the Chair/Dean.
2)
The Department
Chair/School Dean makes a written recommendation and forwards with the
documentation to the College Dean or Provost as appropriate.
3) The College Dean (as applicable) makes a written
recommendation and forwards all documentation to the Provost.
4) The Provost reviews the documentation and makes a
recommendation to the President.
5)
The President makes the final promotion decision.
The Provost will oversee the
implementation, including timing, of this proposal. Issues in implementation
will include: 1) unit level development of promotion provisions for NTTF, 2)
adjustment of rank definitions so that they are in compliance with this
proposal, 3) establishment of the appropriate salary increments for promotions
within the NTTF ranks, and 4) review of cases of current faculty in the
Lecturer rank to make changes to appointments as necessary.
Termination:
Termination policies currently in place for Michigan Tech contractual employees (e.g., coaches) will be in effect for NTTF in all categories described previously. The termination policy currently in effect is found in the following paragraphs.
Termination Policy for Contractual Employees
The Employee is employed at the will of
the University and this Agreement can be terminated at any time with or without
cause by the University.
a. If the University terminates the employment other than for substantial failure as set forth below, or cause, it shall pay the Employee a post termination stipend in an amount equal to the Employee’s salary for the remainder of the term of the agreement. The Employee shall not be entitled to any fringe or other employment benefits after notice of termination. As determined by the Dean of the School/Chair of the Department, the employee may or may not be required to continue to serve, with a continuation of benefits, in the same capacity as originally hired during the notice period.
b. In the event that the University terminates this Agreement due to cause or the substantial failure on the part of the Employee to comply with the obligations which determination shall be made solely by the University in its good faith discretion, the University shall have no further obligation to the Employee hereunder. In such event the Employee will be immediately terminated and will not be entitled to any further compensation, wages, stipends, post termination payments, fringe benefits or damages of any nature with the exception of wages actually earned prior to the date of termination.
Proposal 4-95:
Adopted by Senate: January
25, 1995
Approved by President
(with modifications): March 15, 1995
Modifications Adopted by
Senate: March 22, 1995
Approved by Board of
Control: November 17, 1995
Proposal 4-07:
Introduced in Senate: 11
October 2006
Slightly revised and
Adopted by Senate: 25 October 2006
Approved by
Administration: 11 December 2006 with NOTE: The Provost will be
working with Academic Human Resources on implementation.
Replaced MTU with Michigan
Tech per university policies: 28 January 2014
Proposal 35-15:
Introduced to Senate: 01 April 2015
Approved by Senate: 15 April 2015
Approved by Administration: 22 April 2015
Proposal 36-15:
Introduced to Senate: 01 April 2015
Approved by Senate: 15 April 2015
Approved by Administration with Editorial Amendment: 22 April 2015
Senate introduced the editorial amendment: 09 September 2015
Senate approved the editorial amendment: 23 September 2015