306 Graduate Faculty Membership Guidelines
 
Graduate faculty membership is required of individuals conducting courses offered for graduate credit and for those who assist graduate students as advisers or are members of graduate committees. Faculty members who have not been granted graduate faculty membership may not have primary responsibility for teaching courses numbered at the 5000, 6000, or 7000 levels. There are two levels of membership on the graduate faculty: full and associate. The level of appointment will be noted in the Graduate Catalog.

306.1 Full Membership

May be awarded to full-time faculty members who meet the following criteria:
  1. Possession of an appropriate earned doctorate or an appropriate professional degree in the teaching discipline from a graduate institution of recognized standing, or accomplishments that are considered equivalent (e.g., outstanding performance in the creative arts or in the business community).
     
  2. Demonstrated excellence in teaching at the graduate level and/or senior undergraduate level. Evaluations of teaching, peer/colleague evaluations, student evaluations and/or letters of support regarding the faculty member's teaching abilities (from chairs, deans, and colleagues) are required.
     
  3. Evidence of professional involvement and/or service through active participation in state, regional, national, or international professional meetings, membership on professional committees, or by holding office in professional organizations.
     
  4. Evidence of developed scholarship in the subject-matter field, or continued, noteworthy performance in the creative arts including publication and/or presentation in recognized disciplinary scholarly meetings or comparable activities in the creative arts.
Within a five-year period, faculty members must accumulate 12 points for scholarly activities to attain and to maintain full graduate faculty membership. Three categories of scholarly activities are described below. A faculty member who desires to be granted graduate faculty membership must make application to the dean of the college through the department chair/school director. Upon approval by the appropriate dean, the Graduate Dean and the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost will review the applications for graduate faculty membership. A faculty member who loses full membership for failure to accumulate 12 points within five years may petition for associate membership. Full members of the graduate faculty may teach graduate courses, supervise directed studies, serve on graduate examination and thesis committees, and direct theses. Members are evaluated every five years for reappointment to graduate faculty by the dean of the college, Graduate Dean, and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.

306.2 Associate Membership

May be awarded to full-time or adjunct faculty members who have no prior university teaching experience or others who do not qualify for full graduate faculty membership but who meet the following criteria:
  1. Possession of an appropriate earned doctorate or an appropriate professional degree in the teaching discipline from a graduate institution of recognized standing, or accomplishments that are considered equivalent (e.g., outstanding performance in the creative arts or in the business community).
     
  2. Evidence of professional involvement and/or service through active participation in professional meetings, membership on professional committees, or by holding office in professional organizations.
     
  3. Evidence of some scholarly achievement in the subject-matter field, or continued, noteworthy performance in the creative arts (including at least one contribution in at least one category of scholarly activities every year).
Associate members of the graduate faculty may teach graduate courses, supervise directed studies, and serve on graduate examination and thesis committees. Faculty members may remain associate members of the graduate faculty as long as they exhibit evidence of scholarly achievement, professional service, and demonstrate excellence in classroom teaching. Associate members may qualify for appointment as full members of the graduate faculty at such time as the criteria for scholarly activities can be met, along with documented evidence of service and excellence in teaching. Associate members who seek to maintain this graduate faculty status must make application to the dean of the college through the department chairs/school directors no later than August 1 of each year.

306.3 Emergency Exceptions

In case of documented emergencies (e.g., resignations, retirement, death, illness), an undergraduate faculty member may be certified temporarily to be the instructor of a graduate course until such time as the affected department or school will have had reasonable time to employ a replacement graduate faculty member. Recommendations for emergency certification must be approved in advance by the college dean, Graduate Dean, and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. An emergency exception normally will be valid for one semester and will not be valid for more than one academic year.

306.4 Administrative Officers

Individuals who are full-time employees of Troy University and who hold administrative positions or non-academic University administrative positions may not earn academic rank as a result of serving in such capacity. A faculty member who has academic rank and rights of tenure on the instructional staff and who accepts an appointment to an administrative office shall retain his/her academic rank and rights of tenure as an ex officio member of the instructional staff but shall have no rights of tenure in the administrative office to which he/she has been appointed. The additional salary, if any, for the administrative position shall be stated in the employment contract and shall not be paid to the faculty member when he or she ceases to hold the administrative position. An administrative officer having faculty status shall have all the responsibilities and privileges of faculty membership. Department chairs are not considered administrative officers; they are considered faculty members. Directors, associate deans, deans, and associate provosts are administrative officers. Administrative officers shall be appointed by the Chancellor and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Chancellor.