Categories for Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Non-tenure Track – Per Credit Pay Positions

Adjunct Instructor

Fulfills instructional needs within the context of an academic program. Must possess a graduate degree in field related to the appointment. Teaches one or more courses for the College, usually not exceeding eighteen credits per academic year. Scholarship beyond currency in one’s field is not required. No expectations for service to the constituent unit or to the College beyond teaching. Typically possesses less than four years of demonstrated teaching excellence or equivalent professional success. The person may apply for promotion to Senior Adjunct after at least four years out of the prior six years, and/or after teaching 72 credits at the Adjunct rank, including credit that may be granted for prior experience, assuming positions are available.

Senior Adjunct Instructor

Community Lecturer

Meets unique educational needs and possesses personal and/or professional expertise and experience relevant to the position as required without specific degree requirements. May have additional constituent unit responsibilities.

Non-Tenure Track – Salaried Positions

Lecturer

Fulfills instructional needs within the context of an academic program. Must possess a graduate degree in field related to the appointment. Teaches full-time for the College, usually not exceeding twenty-four credits per academic year. Contributes to regular governance and service to the constituent unit, as defined by this unit. Scholarship beyond currency in one’s field is not required. Typically possesses less than four years of demonstrated teaching excellence or equivalent professional success. The person may apply for promotion to Senior Lecturer after at least four years out of the prior six years, and/or after teaching 96 credits at the Lecturer rank, including credit that may be granted for prior experience, assuming positions are available.

Senior Lecturer

Visiting (Assistant, Associate, or Full) Professor

Fills a specific temporary or special need of the College within the context of an academic program. Includes sabbatical replacements and coverage of areas of specialty not covered by the regular faculty. May fulfill responsibilities needed by the constituent unit, including administrative needs. Must meet the minimum qualifications for the initial rank appointment.

Joint, Affiliate, and Externally – Funded Appointments

Joint, affiliate and externally-funded appointments are primarily intended for faculty who partition their academic activities among more than one constituent unit at Edgewood College, or whose work is partially funded by outside sources. In this document, academic activities are defined as those normally assumed by faculty members at Edgewood College and include teaching, scholarship, service responsibilities, and rotating Chair/Director assignments.

Joint Appointment: A faculty member has a long-term appointment to more than one school, department, program, center or institute at Edgewood College. His or her credit load and compensation are partitioned among units according to a formal agreement that is acknowledged in the contract issued by the VPAA.

Affiliate Appointment: A faculty member with a full-time appointment in one school/department participates for a period of time in the activities of another school, department, program, center or institute at Edgewood College. Affiliate appointments may be added without compensation or by informal agreement with the faculty member’s home school/department.

Externally-Funded Appointment: A faculty member in one school or department receives a portion of their salary from sources outside of the College. His or her credit load and compensation from Edgewood are adjusted accordingly.

Collaborative Agreements in the Hiring or Transition of Faculty into Joint, Affiliate and Externally-Funded Appointments

Faculty members who occasionally teach courses for or participate in the activities of more than one constituent unit are not required to seek a formally designated joint or affiliate appointment. However, when a faculty member assumes extensive responsibilities within multiple constituent units at Edgewood College or significant external responsibilities, it is important that their total workload be recognized and considered by all of the units to which they are appointed. The terms of such appointments must also be clearly articulated for the purposes of promotion and tenure.

To ensure a fair and collaborative understanding, a “terms of appointment” must be written and agreed upon by the faculty member and heads of all relevant constituent units. This document should:

Indicate approval of the appointment
Specify voting rights to be held by the faculty member
Assign a home department to the faculty member
Outline the division of teaching responsibilities and service activities among constituent units, as well as a plan for scholarly activity, and
Describe what happens if the joint appointment dissolves.

These “terms of appointment” will be considered to be in effect until the appointment terminates or they are replaced by newly agreed upon terms. For each of the components of the terms of agreement, there are some specific requirements for joint, affiliate and externally-funded appointments. These are elaborated upon below.

Joint appointments

The joint appointment must be approved by relevant constituent unit heads, Deans and the VPAA.
The faculty member is granted voting rights equivalent to a full-time faculty member in all units to which they are assigned, as per faculty association by-laws IV.C.1.a.
The faculty member is assigned a home academic unit for administrative purposes and to facilitate mentoring and review. It is desirable that joint appointees have mentors in both units, who work together to give consistent guidance regarding expectations for tenure and promotion.
In most cases, the total expectation for teaching should not be greater than 12 credits per semester (faculty may elect to take overloads on a semester-by-semester basis, but this should not be part of the terms of the appointment). The total service responsibilities and scholarship expectations should be in line with what is expected of faculty members with an appointment in one constituent unit.
The terms of agreement should include information about what happens if the joint appointment dissolves.

Affiliate Appointments

Assumption of formal affiliate appointment must be approved by the heads of both constituent units.
Affiliation with another constituent unit does not automatically confer voting rights, but it may be granted by members of the affiliate unit (with approval of Deans/VPAA) as per faculty association by-laws IV.C.1.a-c.
The faculty member retains their full-time home department for administrative purposes, mentoring, and review.
In most cases, the total expectation for teaching should not be greater than 12 credits per semester (faculty may elect to take overloads on a semester-by-semester basis, but this should not be part of the terms of appointment). The total service responsibilities and scholarship expectations should be in line with what is expected of faculty members with an appointment in one constituent unit.
The terms of appointment should include information about the duration of the appointment. Appointments may be extended by amending the terms of agreement.

Externally-Funded Appointments

The hiring or transition of faculty into externally-funded appointments must be approved by the head of the constituent unit to which the faculty member is appointed, its Dean, and the VPAA.
The faculty member is granted voting rights in the Edgewood College constituent unit to which he or she is appointment.
As with other full-time faculty who have appointments to single constituent units, the faculty member is assigned a home department at Edgewood College for administrative purposes and to facilitate mentoring and review.
Expectations for teaching, service and scholarship should be clearly outlined in relation to the proportion of the faculty member’s salary that comes from Edgewood College.
The terms of agreement should include the stipulation that renewal of contract at Edgewood and academic rank is contingent upon continuation of funding. Although faculty members with externally-funded appointments may be promoted from Associate to Assistant and to Full Professor according to the criteria for promotion at Edgewood College, they are generally not eligible for tenure unless an alternative source of funding within Edgewood College can be guaranteed in their terms of appointment.

Criteria, Clock and Review Process for the Promotion and Tenure of Faculty with Joint, Affiliate and Externally-Funded Academic Appointments

Faculty with joint and affiliate appointments are expected to fully meet the criteria for promotion and tenure as set forth in the Edgewood College faculty handbook. In some cases, the clock for tenure may be extended by the Academic Rank Committee if it is in the best interest of the faculty member.

Joint Appointments. The Academic Rank Committee will accept and evaluate joint annual reviews, and a jointly-written departmental letter of support that includes votes from all constituent units to which the faculty member is appointed. These units are required to consider the nature of the joint appointment in their review of a faculty member’s candidacy from the beginning of such an appointment. In addition, a faculty member with a joint appointment may include 1-2 additional letters of support from colleagues and students in their portfolio.

Affiliate Appointments. The tenure and review process is generally not altered for faculty members who assume affiliate appointments. One set of annual reviews, one letter of support, and a departmental vote should come from the faculty member’s home department. In the spirit of interdisciplinary collaboration at Edgewood College, we encourage home departments to consider the nature of affiliate appointments in their review process. If he or she wishes, a faculty member with an affiliate appointment may include 1-2 additional letters of support in their portfolio from colleagues in the constituent unit of their affiliate appointment.

Externally-Funded Appointments. As noted above, faculty with externally-funded appointments may apply for promotion from Assistant to Associate and to Full Professor, but may not apply for tenure unless an alternative source of funding from within Edgewood College is noted in their terms of appointment. Faculty with externally-funded appointments who assume duties that shift the balance of their activities away from what is normally expected of Edgewood College faculty (e.g., full-time teaching) should carefully evaluate whether they will meet the criteria for promotion as set forth in the faculty handbook.

Timeline to Tenure for Faculty Assuming Joint Academic/Administrative appointments

In exceptional circumstances (see Faculty Association Bylaws, article IV.C, 4.A), faculty in tenure track positions may be contracted to serve in joint academic/administrative appointments in which a significant portion of their workloads lies outside of traditional classroom teaching and the scholarship and service activities normally assumed by faculty. Such appointments can impact the timeline to tenure.

For tenure-track faculty assuming a short term (≤ 3 years) administrative role representing ≤ 20% of their appointment (e.g., a 3 credit hours release for serving as department chair), or whose administrative appointments include significant non-classroom teaching that can be evaluated by the Academic Rank Committee, the timeline for tenure review will not change.
For tenure-track faculty assuming a short or long-term administrative role that is > 20% of their appointment, the timeline to tenure may be extended. Request for such an extension must be initiated by the faculty member and negotiated with their Dean/the VPAA prior to commencement of the appointment. Terms of the extension will be based on the percentage of administrative service and determined prior to his or her transition to these responsibilities.
Faculty assuming long-term (> 3 years) administrative roles representing > 40% of their total appointment are not eligible to apply for tenure.