Categories of Graduate Faculty Membership

Introduction

In order to fulfill the purposes of membership, the University assigns Graduate Faculty members to categories having specific functional roles. Qualification for each category depends on education, experience, research, and professional recognition. The categories are: Non-categorized Graduate Faculty, Category I, Category IIA, Category IIB, and Category III.

Non-Categorized Graduate Faculty

Any Board of Trustees appointment to an administrative position such as dean or assistant dean in one of the schools with graduate programs or to a university administrative position that oversees graduate programs, such as president and vice-president for academic administration, automatically carries with it non-categorized graduate faculty status and does not require Graduate Council approval. However, such an administrator may request categorization.

Category I

A. Functions--The faculty member may perform the following:

1. Teach master's level courses.
2. Serve as chair or member of masters' advisory or comprehensive examination committees.
3. Serve as advisor for master's-degree students.
4. Serve as member of master's thesis committees.
5. On rare occasions, because of the faculty member's doctoral degree and/or special expertise and with special approval by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and the appropriate school dean, serve as member of doctoral dissertation committees.

B. Qualifications Required:

1. Rank of at least assistant professor.
2. A doctoral degree; or, for faculty with unique qualifications in areas in which the University offers graduate work, a master's degree or its equivalent with, normally, three years of full-time professional experience such as teaching, consulting, research or other experience appropriate to the area of expertise.
3. Evidence of satisfactory teaching potential or experience.

Category IIA

Category IIA provides for a temporary categorization and is intended to allow new or young faculty members a chance to develop a research record while not preventing them from contributing significantly to the teaching needs of doctoral programs. Category IIA may be assigned only once for a three-year term. At the end of three years, the faculty member must be re-categorized. If an appropriate research record has not been established, the faculty member will be reassigned to Category I.

A. Functions--The faculty member may perform all functions of Category I plus the following:

1. Teach doctoral-level courses.
2. Aid the School of Graduate Studies in monitoring master's-degree examinations and defenses.
3. Serve as member of doctoral program committees or academic advisor for doctoral students.
4. Serve as member of doctoral comprehensive examination committees.

B. Qualifications Required:

1. Rank of at least Assistant Professor.
2. A doctoral degree, satisfactory teaching experience, continuing professional activity in the form of clinical/consultant experience and/or regular attendance at professional meetings, and preferably some record of professional presentations.

Category IIB

A. Functions--the faculty member may perform all functions of Categories I and IIA plus the following:

1. Serve as School of Graduate Studies representative at doctoral final oral examinations and/or defense of dissertations.
2. Serve as member of doctoral dissertations, project and oral defense committees.
3. Serve as extra reader for theses/dissertations.
4. Direct master's degree theses and doctoral projects.

B. Qualifications Required:

1. Rank of at least Assistant Professor
2. A doctoral degree, except for certain professional programs, for example physical therapy, for which a master's degree is the discipline's recognized completion educational level for professional or scholarly activity, including graduate instruction.
3. Evidence of satisfactory teaching potential or experience and of scholarly activity such as one or more substantial article(s) in scholarly publications, or several scholarly presentations at recognized professional meetings, several creative presentations such as performances and exhibitions, or, for certain professional programs such as physical therapy, ongoing consultant or clinical contributions. Such professional activity must be continual.

Category III

A. Functions--The faculty member may perform all functions of Categories I and II plus the following:

1. Serve as chair of doctoral advisory, comprehensive examination, dissertation, project and oral defense committees.
2. Direct doctoral-degree dissertations

B. Qualifications Required:

1. Rank of at least Assistant Professor with a doctoral degree.
2. Evidence of satisfactory teaching and of mature, independent work continuing to the present in substantial scholarly research or creative activities related to specialty. Such evidence takes the form of scholarly book(s) or a minimum of three of the folloing: substantial articles in scholarly journals or books, scholarly presentations at recognized professional meetings, recognized art exhibitions or musical performances, or equivalent scholarly/professional activities. Such activity must be continual.

6/28/2011