Graduate Faculty

Kutztown University Policy ACA-049

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to define the standards for appointing faculty members to the graduate faculty.
Scope

This policy applies to all candidates for graduate faculty status.
Key words and phrases:

None
Policy & Procedure(s)
- Definition:
  
  The graduate faculty at Kutztown University consists of those members of the University faculty who have the advanced educational preparation, specialized knowledge, and expertise to serve as teachers, scholars, and advisors in University programs that offer graduate degrees and/or courses for graduate credit.
  
  Only those individuals designated as graduate faculty will be appointed to teach courses in any graduate program or department, to serve as advisors to graduate students, and to serve on any graduate degree examination or thesis committee.
  
  Regular tenure track and tenured faculty are eligible for graduate faculty status. A graduate course(s) may be taught by a qualified non-tenure track faculty member. In this case, the academic department, with the college dean’s endorsement, will forward a recommendation to the dean of Graduate Studies for a one-year appointment to graduate faculty status.
- Designation of Graduate Faculty:
  
  The academic department, in conjunction with the department chairperson, has the primary role in designating individuals as graduate faculty. After the department has designated (by the majority secret ballot vote of the regular full-time faculty members within the department) an individual to be a member of the graduate faculty, this designation is forwarded to the dean of Graduate Studies. When forwarding the designation, the department is to include supporting evidence, including a recommendation from the department and the individual's curriculum vitae. The dean of Graduate Studies will consult with the appropriate college dean before making a decision. In the event of a difference of opinion between the department and the graduate dean with regard to the individual’s qualifications to be a member of the graduate faculty, the department’s designation shall be returned to the department for reconsideration. After such reconsideration, the department may resubmit the designation to the graduate dean. In the event that the differences between the academic department and the graduate dean remain unresolved, the graduate dean will make the final determination and provide a written explanation for the disagreement with the department designation to the college dean, department, and faculty member.
  
  If a faculty member receives a negative vote from the department, the faculty member can ask the department to vote again one year later.
- Qualifications of Graduate Faculty:
  
  Graduate faculty are expected to be productive members of the faculty in terms of teaching, professional and scholarly development, and University and community service. To be designated as a member of the graduate faculty, the individual is expected to fulfill those responsibilities. Qualifications for graduate faculty status are based on the following guidelines.
  1. Relevant or appropriate academic credentials such as the earned doctorate or acceptable terminal degree. Each department shall determine the credentials requisite to its discipline.
  2. Scholarly productivity as demonstrated by publications and professional presentations, research, and/or recognized creative work during the last five-year period. Each department shall determine the quality and quantity of scholarly productivity it deems appropriate to its discipline.
  3. Evaluated teaching performance and fulfillment of professional responsibilities. Each department shall determine the relative merit of the evaluative criteria it uses to evaluate graduate teaching (e.g., student evaluations, peer evaluations, departmental assignments, and, when appropriate, the quality of theses and dissertations supervised).
  4. Areas of demonstrated expertise and interest with respect to the needs of the graduate program. Each department shall determine the evidence it requires to identify such expertise and interest (e.g., doctoral level course work, publications, postdoctoral research).
    
    A member of the graduate faculty in a department offering a doctoral program is expected to have a terminal degree, or a recognized equivalent, in that discipline that is to be taught. The rationale for this expectation is that teaching and other service in a program that grants advanced degrees and/or graduate course credit requires the instructor to have the highest educational attainment.
    
    A member of the graduate faculty in a department offering a master’s program may have: (1.) a terminal degree or a recognized equivalent in that discipline to be taught; or, (2.) requisite experience and/or expertise in that discipline to be taught in ways other than formal advanced education and degrees, as deemed by the department to provide the high levels of performance expected of graduate faculty. The rationale for these options is to recognize that professional experience/expertise may be more beneficial to certain master’s programs and courses than a traditional terminal degree.
- Evaluation of Graduate Faculty:
  
  Those faculty members who are designated as graduate faculty are evaluated according to the provisions within the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) dealing with Performance Review and Evaluation. The provisions contained in the CBA specify both procedures and criteria to be used for evaluating faculty performance, the frequency of evaluation, and the timing of evaluations. During the normal review cycle, those members of the faculty who are designated as graduate faculty are treated in the same manner as all other faculty with respect to evaluation procedures, timing, and frequency.
  
  If there is a department committee established to deal with graduate matters, that committee should participate in the evaluation of a member of the graduate faculty. If a department does not have a committee charged with graduate matters, and a member of the graduate faculty is to be evaluated, the department evaluation committee should include at least one member who is also a member of the graduate faculty. The evaluation of a graduate faculty member’s performance as graduate faculty is to be an explicit component of the department committee’s evaluation, conclusions, and recommendations. This also applies to evaluations carried out by the department chairperson.
  
  Graduate faculty are to be reviewed every five years (determined by their date of appointment to the faculty) by the academic department, academic dean, and dean of Graduate Studies based on “Qualifications of Graduate Faculty.”
- Removal of Graduate Faculty Designation:
  
  If, as a consequence of an unsatisfactory performance evaluation, altered needs of a program, or a faculty member’s unwillingness to fulfill the responsibilities of graduate education, an academic department determines by the majority secret ballot vote of the regular full-time faculty members within the department that the designation of graduate faculty should no longer apply to a member of the department, the department may remove the designation. Notice of the removal of graduate faculty designation, together with a statement of their reasons for the removal, is then forwarded to the dean of Graduate Studies who will then consult with the appropriate college dean. In the event of a difference of opinion between the department and the graduate dean with regard to removing a faculty member’s designation as graduate faculty, the matter shall be returned to the department for reconsideration. After such reconsideration, the department may resubmit the removal to the graduate dean. In the event that the differences between the academic department and the graduate dean remain unresolved, the graduate dean will make the final determination and must provide a written explanation for the final decision to the college dean, department, and faculty member.
  
  Similarly, as a consequence of an unsatisfactory performance evaluation, altered needs of a program, or a faculty member’s unwillingness to fulfill the responsibilities of graduate education, the graduate dean or college dean determine that the designation of graduate faculty should no longer apply to a faculty member, notice of the removal of graduate faculty designation, together with a statement of reasons for the removal, are forwarded to the faculty member and chairperson of the department by the graduate dean. In the event of a difference of opinion between the faculty member and/or department with regard to removing a faculty member’s designation as graduate faculty, the graduate dean will make the final determination and must provide a written explanation for the final decision to the college dean, department, and faculty member.
- Course Assignment:
  
  Course assignments are made by the respective college dean upon the recommendation of the department chairperson. Since most departments have reporting lines to the college deans, the department chairperson will notify the appropriate college dean of all assignments of faculty members to graduate duties.

Effective Date

1994
Approved By

APSCUF Representative Council - March 10, 1994
APSCUF Representative Council - March 29, 1994
APSCUF Executive Committee - March 31, 1994
Meet and Discuss - April 19, 1994
APSCUF Representative Council – February 15, 2018
Meet and Discuss – February 20, 2018
Last Reviewed

October 2008; August 2009; August, 2010; August, 2011; August, 2012; August, 2014; August, 2015; August, 2017; August, 2018; August, 2019; August, 2020