Affiliated Faculty Process and Policy
Name of policy: College of Engineering affiliated faculty and joint appointments
Policy number: TBD (new policy proposal)
Approving officer: Dean of Engineering
Responsible agent: College of Engineering Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Scope: All academic departments within the College of Engineering
Created: July 18, 2019
Approved: December 19, 2019
Last revised: March 25, 2022
Keywords: affiliated, joint appointment, part-time, prestige, faculty, engineering
(A) Policy statement: The College of Engineering recognizes the need for non-University employees to serve as affiliated faculty. Affiliated faculty can serve to enhance student learning, contribute to faculty success, and improve the regional, national and international reputation of the University. To promote interdisciplinary initiatives, the College also recognizes the need for joint appointments of full-time faculty members across multiple departments and/or colleges.
(B) Purpose of policy: this policy defines the roles and rationale for affiliated faculty, provides procedures for appointing these faculty, and provides guidelines for governing their conduct.
(C) Scope: this policy governs the selection and conduct of affiliated faculty, sometimes referred to as prestige faculty. This policy also governs processes for joint appointments. To maintain consistent nomenclature, the following faculty classifications should be used:
(1) Full-time faculty: full-time faculty have either 9-month or 12-month permanent appointments and are full-time employees of the University. This includes tenured and tenure-track (T/TT) faculty on 12-month administrative appointments; T/TT faculty on 9-month appointments; and lecturers on 9-month appointments. Non-administrative T/TT faculty and lecturers are represented by the UT-AAUP collective bargaining unit. Non-administrative and non-UT AAUP full-time faculty include EECS faculty hired for the Lorain County Community College University Partnership Program, clinical faculty, and research faculty on permanent appointments whose salary is paid by the University and not by external research funds.
(2) Visiting assistant professors (VAPs): VAPs are full-time faculty have temporary appointments that are renewed on an annual basis. Subject to budgetary considerations, and at the discretion of the department chair, VAPs may be renewed to teach full-time for up to three (3) years, including during the summer as part-time faculty. The UT-AAUP collective bargaining agreement governs assignment of academic year and summer workload to VAPs and to part-time faculty (see (C)(3) below) in the context of giving priority to T/TT faculty and lecturers in the collective bargaining unit. Otherwise, VAPs are subject to applicable UT policies and are not subject to the UT-AAUP collective bargaining agreement.
(3) Part-time faculty: part-time faculty are paid to teach courses on a part-time basis in each semester, with a maximum of eight (8) credit hours per semester. Subject to budgetary considerations, and at the discretion of the department chair, part-time faculty may be renewed to teach courses across multiple semesters, including summers. The UT-AAUP collective bargaining agreement governs assignment of academic year and summer workload to VAPs (see (C)(2) above) and to part-time faculty in the context of giving priority to T/TT faculty and lecturers in the collective bargaining unit. Otherwise, part-time faculty are subject to applicable UT policies and are not subject to the UT-AAUP collective bargaining agreement. Part-time faculty may be appointed as affiliated faculty (see (C)(4) below) to retain their faculty status during semesters in which they do not teach.
(4) Affiliated faculty: affiliated faculty are non-University employees that can contribute to various academic endeavors that require the possession of a University Rocket ID number. These activities include but are not limited to working with faculty on unfunded or externally funded research or serving as an instructor of an independent study, thesis or dissertation section. In many cases, a University Rocket ID may be required for compliance with research policies or training requirements. Affiliated faculty receive a University Rocket ID and email address, but do not receive monetary compensation from the University and do not receive access to facilities such as the Student Recreation Center as part of their appointment. Access to University Libraries is only granted for affiliate faculty engaged in research and must be approved by the Dean of Engineering and by the Dean of the University Libraries. Affiliated faculty have three (3) year appointments that may be renewed at the discretion of the department chair and dean.
(5) Joint appointments: full-time T/TT faculty can have a joint appointment in a second department outside of the primary department in which their tenure or tenure-track appointment resides. Joint appointments may be granted to facilitate teaching of courses or supervision of student research, thesis and dissertations across multiple departments. Faculty with joint appointments typically have a primary appointment outside the College. Alternatively, both primary and secondary appointments can be within the College. Joint appointments have three (3) year terms that may be renewed at the discretion of the chairs of both departments in which the faculty has primary and secondary appointments.
(D) Affiliated faculty: the following section describes the process for appointing affiliated faculty and the process for renewing and terminating these appointments. This section also describes expectations for affiliated faculty duties and performance.
(1) Appointment of affiliated faculty
(a) Request for affiliated faculty appointments must be initiated by the department chair or dean.
(b) Requests should include the candidate’s full name, current employer, curriculum vitae (CV), a description of University activities that may benefit from this appointment, and any facilities and equipment that the candidate will be required to access to complete these activities. The request should also identify the IT-related access needed, such as a UToledo email address, OneDrive access, and MyUT access.
(c) The chair should secure the approval of full-time department faculty, with approval recorded in meeting minutes or majority support documented in e-mail responses.
(d) The chair forwards the request and CV to the dean for approval.
(e) If the dean approves, the request is forwarded to the provost.
(f) For affiliate requests initiated by the dean, the dean should secure the approval of full-time college faculty, with approval recorded in meeting minutes or majority support documented in e-mail responses.
(g) If the provost approves, the dean sends an appointment letter to the candidate that indicates this is an unpaid assignment and provides a list of expectations to maintain the affiliate status.
(h) The candidate will return a signed statement agreeing to abide by the expectations outlined in section (D)(2).
(i) The department will complete an Affiliate Account request form to obtain a Rocket number and UTAD ID for the candidate.
(j) The appointment is effective for three (3) years from the appointment letter date.
(k) The department will include the name of the affiliated faculty member to the list of department-affiliated faculty annually requested by the dean
(l) The department may choose to include the name of the affiliated faculty member in on-line and print versions of their faculty directory.
(2) Expectations for affiliated faculty
(a) Affiliated faculty appointments shall not be granted primarily for providing benefit to the individual seeking the appointment, her/his financial interests or her/his employer’s financial interests.
(b) Affiliated faculty appointments shall not be granted when this appointment may create undue risk for the University.
(c) No monetary renumeration will be provided to compensate affiliated faculty for their time.
(d) Affiliated faculty may be reimbursed for travel or other expenses at the discretion of the department chair and/or dean.
(e) The candidate must acknowledge that there is no potential conflict of interest between their full-time employment or other financial interests and the activities intended to be associated with the affiliated appointment.
(f) Affiliated faculty must not imply or state that they are paid by or a full-time employee of the University of Toledo in written or verbal communication.
(g) When sending correspondence, submitting manuscripts or grant proposals, affiliated faculty must identify their full-time employer and clearly state that they are not paid employees of the University of Toledo.
(h) Affiliated faculty must obey all federal laws, state laws and University of Toledo policies while working on campus and/or interacting with University faculty, staff, and students.
(i) The University does not provide worker’s compensation, general liability or errors and omissions insurance for affiliated faculty.
(3) Renewal and termination of appointment
(a) The process in (D)(1) must be followed to renew an affiliated faculty appointment prior to the expiration after three (3) years.
(b) Affiliated faculty appointments will be automatically terminated if the renewal process is not followed and if the original appointment term lapses.
(c) Affiliated faculty appointments may be terminated by the dean or provost at any time during the appointment term.
(E) Joint appointments: the following section describes the process for awarding, renewing and terminating joint appointments. This section also describes expectations for jointly appointed faculty duties and performance.
(1) Joint appointment of faculty
(a) Request for a joint appointment must be initiated by the department chair.
(b) Requests should include the candidate’s full name, current employer, curriculum vitae (CV), and description of University activities that may benefit from this appointment.
(c) The chair should secure the approval of full-time department faculty, with approval recorded in meeting minutes.
(d) The chair forwards the request and CV to the dean for approval.
(e) The dean will forward the request to the dean of the primary appointment college and then to the provost for joint appointments in which the candidate’s primary appointment is outside the College of Engineering.
(f) If approved, the dean sends an appointment letter to the candidate and issues an APA with the appropriate percentage of compensation budgeted to each department based on the proposed workload. An APA is not required if there is no change in how the compensation is budgeted.
(g) The candidate will return a signed statement to accept the joint appointment with the workload percentages described in (E)(1)(f).
(h) The appointment is effective for three (3) years from issuance of the APA.
(i) The department will include the name of the jointly appointed faculty member to the list of department-affiliated faculty annually requested by the dean.
(j) The department may choose to include the name of the jointly appointed faculty member in on-line and print versions of their faculty directory.
(2) Expectations for joint appointments
(a) Joint appointments are governed by all University policies and collective bargaining agreement applicable to their primary appointment.
(b) Joint appointments have no bearing on tenure, promotion or professional assessments applicable to their primary appointment.
(3) Renewal and termination of joint appointments
(a) The process in (E)(1) must be followed to renew a joint appointment prior to the expiration after three (3) years.
(b) Joint appointments will be automatically terminated if the renewal process is not followed and if the original appointment term lapses.
(c) Joint appointments may be terminated by the dean or provost at any time during the appointment term.
(F) References
(1) Collective Bargaining Agreement – T/TT unit
(2) Collective Bargaining Agreement – Lecturer unit
(4) University of Toledo policy website
(5) Research compliance website
Signature block
No policies have been superseded by this policy.
Review/revision completed by dean and chairs
Initial effective date: December 19, 2019
Revision date(s): February 29, 2019
February 3, 2021
March 25, 2022
Next review date: TBD