How to Apply for Graduate Faculty Status

There are two main categories of Graduate Faculty Status: Regular and Associate. Regular graduate faculty must also be approved for the Doctoral Chair Endorsement to be eligible to chair doctoral committees and guide dissertation research and writing. All tenured, tenure track, and full-time contract faculty are eligible to apply for either Regular or Associate membership. Part-time contract faculty may be considered for Associate membership only. 

Regular membership
Submit a current vita (full or abbreviated, although abbreviated covering the last six years in encouraged). The vita must list educational history, including highest degree earned. If you submit a full vita, please indicate evidence of scholarly competence during the last six years by listing most recent entries first with a bold or italicized font or by highlighting the appropriate evidence. If indicated on the vita, this information does not need to be repeated in the memo. (See next paragraph.)

The department chair or chair of the committee that evaluates graduate faculty
applications then submits a memo describing how you meet the criteria for membership as outlined in the department document. This memo should be concise with bullet points and contain signature lines for the representative designated in your departmental document (department chair or chair of committee that evaluates graduate faculty applications), the college dean, and the graduate dean. Note: Department chairs (or committee chairs) and deans should not sign their own applications.

Doctoral Committee Chair Endorsement
This endorsement is required if you are chairing a doctoral committee. If you are applying for this endorsement, you must have an earned doctorate. Follow the steps for regular membership and add a sentence to the memo that you seek this approval. The department memo should specify how you meet the criteria for this endorsement.

Associate Membership
Submit a current vita (full or abbreviated). The vita must list educational history, including highest degree earned, and address your qualifications in the area of expertise as related to graduate education and the specific role you’ll fulfill if approved.

The department chair or chair of the committee who evaluates graduate faculty
applications then submits a memo describing how you meet the criteria for membership as outlined in the department document. It should be concise with bullet points and contain signature lines for the representative designated in your departmental document (department chair or chair of committee that evaluates graduate faculty applications), the college dean, and the graduate dean.

The complete graduate faculty policy regarding responsibilities, prerogatives, and eligbility is found in the Faculty and Professional Personnel Handbook on pages 229-231.