Graduate Faculty

Status Review

Addendum to University guidelines:

The Eberly College follows the University guidelines on matters of graduate faculty status. This addendum clarifies operating principles within the College and applies onl y to tenure-track faculty members.

Our hiring process ensures new tenure-track faculty meet criteria for regular graduate faculty status. No separate application is required to initiate approval of graduate faculty status for beginning tenure-track faculty members.

The University requires an explicit decision on faculty status at least once every three years. All tenure-track faculty in the College will be reviewed annually for eligibility for graduate faculty status as part of the annual faculty evaluation process. This will be accomplished centrally within ECAS (dean's level) by review of annual faculty ratings (faculty should refer to their own departmental faculty evaluation guidelines for clarification of what constitutes satisfactory performance). Faculty who received unsatisfactory ratings in research or in teaching (when supervision of graduate students is a major component of the teaching assignment) for two consecutive years will undergo a status change from regular to associate membership. Should ratings remain unsatisfactory for a third year, the faculty member's status will be changed to non-member.

Membership in the graduate faculty once removed may be regained. Following a two-year period in which research and teaching evaluation ratings return to satisfactory levels, membership status will change from non-member to associate member. Following two additional years of satisfactory evaluation ratings, regular graduate faculty membership status will be restored.

Criteria for associate graduate faculty status will follow the University guidelines; applications for associate membership will be reviewed by the College committee for graduate studies.