Faculty Appointments
| No. 8-6 | Rev. 3-17-16 | Date 11-12-80 |
I. REFERENCES
PPM 3-1, Equal Opportunity and Non-discrimination Employment
PPM 3-2, Employee Definitions
PPM 3-5, Personnel Employment
PPM 3-6, Employment of Relatives
II. POLICY
Faculty appointments will be of two types, tenure track/tenured or contract. Tenure track appointments allow the faculty member to seek tenure as defined in PPM 8-21. Contract appointments are for a fixed time period and do not lead to tenure.
At the time of initial appointment and as part of the recommendation for faculty employment or when their terms of appointment are modified, the department chair and the dean of the college will review whether all appropriate degree requirements are met by the candidate.
Degree requirements shall be interpreted as requiring a degree from an institution accredited by an institutional accrediting agency that is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education or the foreign equivalent of such a degree. Equivalence of foreign degrees shall be evaluated by the regular faculty of the academic department and will be reviewed and approved by the college Ranking Tenure Evaluation Committee.
This defintion shall be used for any purpose for which degree requirements need to be considered. Degrees from unaccredited institutions (those not meeting the definition above) shall not be used in any way that suggests recognition, endorsement or approval by the University.
A. Rank
Academic ranks shall be assigned only to those faculty in tenure-track or tenured positions within teaching departments in the seven academic colleges and the Stewart library. The academic ranks recognized by the University are assistant professor, associate professor and professor.
At the time of their initial appointments:
1. The department in which the faculty member has been given the rank shall be specified in the letter of appointment.
2. Individuals hired into the rank of assistant professor must be reviewed by the regular faculty and the chair of the academic department and approved by the dean.
3. Individuals desiring to be hired into the rank of either associate professor or professor must be reviewed and approved by the regular faculty of the academic department in which rank is to be granted and by the college Ranking Tenure Evaluation Committee along with the department chair, dean, and provost.
4. At the discretion of the department and the college Ranking Tenure Evaluation Committee, up to two years in full-time, contract positions at Weber State University may be applied toward the probationary period for tenure or increment in rank should the person shift from a contract appointment to a tenure track appointment.
B. Titles
Faculty on contract appointments will be assigned one of the following titles: Instructor, Adjunct, Clinical, Affiliate, Concurrent, Research or Visiting.
Instructor - an individual having academic, professional or specializied training, employed on a half-time or more basis and is not hired as a tenure track faculty. An instructor is hired for a fixed time period and may be rehired at the sole discretion of the university. See PPM 8-7.
Adjunct, Clinical, Affiliate, Concurrent and Research faculty are defined in PPM 3-2.
Visiting Faculty - an individual whose primary affiliation is not with WSU. The university may employ an individual under this title for a limited amount of time. A visiting faculty may be given a title containing an academic rank (assistant, associate, full) provided the additional title of "visiting" precedes the designation of rank. Such establishment of rank has no significance for the achieving or holding of rank if the person should apply for a tenure track position.
Current faculty not meeting the above rank and title definitions at the time of the adoption of this policy will be allowed to retain their ranks and or titles but any faculty hired after this policy is enacted will need to meet the requirements as specified in this policy.
III. APPOINTMENT CRITERIA
A. Rank
1. Assistant Professor
Experience in teaching, in research or in other qualifying work is required. In addition, the master's degree shall be the minimum degree for appointment to this rank. In those areas where it is clearly established that a master's degree is not offered, a requisite degree and experience as determined by the department faculty, the college Ranking Tenure Evaluation Committee, the appropriate dean and the provost may be substituted for the master's degree.
2. Associate Professor and Full Professor
Requirements for appointment to the ranks of associate professor and full professor must be consistent with the requirements for promotion to these ranks.
NOTE: A truly exceptional person who has nationally recognized academic or professional achievements and lacks normal academic qualifications may be appointed to the associate professor or professor ranks upon the recommendation of the department faculty, the college Ranking Tenure Evaluation Committee, the appropriate dean and approval by the provost.
B. Title
1. Instructor
The master's degree shall be the minimum degree for an appointment with this title. However, under any of the following circumstances a baccalaureate degree and appropriate professional experience will be accepted for the position of instructor upon approval of the department faculty, the chair, the dean, and the provost.
2. Visiting Faculty
Requirements for appointment with the title of visiting assistant professor, visiting associate professor, or visiting full professor must be consistent with the requirements for tenure track/tenured ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, or full professor, respectively.
NOTE: A truly exceptional person who has professional achievements and lacks normal academic qualifications may be hired as an instructor or a visiting faculty upon the recommendation of the department faculty, the chair, the appropriate dean and approval by the provost.
IV. PROCEDURE
A. The department chair shall initiate the hiring process by obtaining authorization from the provost and the dean to establish or fill a position on the department staff.
B. The department shall determine qualifications for the vacant position. Before steps are taken to communicate with qualified candidates, the department chair shall negotiate the wishes of the department with the dean to obtain an agreement as to the qualifications and general responsibilities of the academic position to be filled. If this process fails to achieve an acceptable agreement, the provost can be asked to mediate the negotation.
C. When positions are approved and qualifications are determined, a screening committee of at least three members will be elected by department faculty. The screening committee may also contain persons from outside the department.
D. Candidates may be invited to come to the campus at college expense for personal interviews, to give lectures and/or to participate in other campus activities in order that the candidates may become better known and evaluated, and to assure that they become acquainted with the institution and the locality of their prospective work and domicile.
E. When the investigation of candidates has been completed, the department chair shall forward the recommendation of the department with all supporting information to the dean. No offers, verbal or written, shall be made to a candidate without the approval of the dean, the provost, and the EEO officer.
F. The appropriate dean shall submit the department's recommendation with all supporting documentation to the president, through the provost. The provost will indicate to the dean the approval or disapproval of the recommendations. Faculty shall be appointed according to a process allowing for adherence to equal employment opportunity standards and allowing for a close examination and systematic inquiry into their qualifications. Faculty members at Weber State University are appointed by the president and ratified by the Board of Trustees.
Temporary full-time faculty appointments to positions not leading to tenure shall be made in the same manner as regular faculty appointments.
Emergency appointments without tenure, though not necessarily precluding the attainment of tenure in the normal manner, may be recommended by the president to the Board of Trustees, after consultation with the appropriate department chair and dean with the provost, without following the procedures outlined above.
Under certain conditions, the procedures outlined in parts IV.C and D of this policy, and the requirements for recruitment and posting listed in PPM 3-5, part III, may be waived. Such conditions are met only when the individuals hired possess the required qualifications and their potential value to the college and the department is so great as to justify such a waiver. Examples include but are not limited to the following:
a). Truly exceptional candidates who are nationally recognized for outstanding achievement in their area of expertise.
b). Highly qualified candidates from gender groups or ethnic minority groups whose members are substantially under-represented in the department, provided the appointment meets a programmatic need.
In such cases, a department chair may seek permission to implement the above by following part IV of this policy, exclusive of parts C and D. Permission to implement may be granted and/or ratified by the Board of Trustees upon recommendation of the president, following consultation with the appropriate department chair and dean and the provost. In order to assure that the hiring of tenure-track faculty normally follows national recruitment efforts and is open to all qualified applicants, no department may rely on these exceptions for two successive hires.
V. AFFILIATIONS
Faculty members are required to use titles consistent with their academic degrees and primary area of teaching responsibility. Questions regarding appropriate titles will be resolved by the affiliated Department Chair or Program Director in consultation with the dean.