Academic Administration

Prestige and Joint Faculty Appointments Standard Operating Guidelines & Procedures

Updated: February 2026

For Questions and Assistance Contact: Academic Finance and Faculty Administration (AFFA) at Academicfinanceandfacultyadmin@utoledo.edu

The College of Medicine and Life Science follow guidelines for joint appointments through their Office of Faculty Affairs.

These guidelines define the roles and rationale for Prestige and courtesy Joint Faculty appointments; provides procedures for appointing these faculty and provides guidelines for governing their conduct. The University recognizes the need for non-University faculty to serve as Prestige faculty. Prestige faculty can serve to enhance student learning, contribute to faculty success, and improve the regional, national and international reputation of the University. In addition, to promote interdisciplinary initiatives, the University also recognizes the need for joint appointments of full-time faculty members across multiple departments and/or colleges.

Prestige Faculty Appointments: Prestige faculty are non-University faculty that may contribute to various academic endeavors. 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. Prestige faculty may 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 Prestige faculty engaged in research and must be approved by the Dean of the University Libraries. Prestige faculty have three (3) year appointments that may be renewed at the discretion of the department chair and dean.

1. Expectations for Prestige faculty appointments include;
   1. Prestige faculty appointments shall not be granted primarily for providing benefit to the individual seeking the appointment, financial interests or their employer’s financial interests.
   2. Prestige faculty appointments shall not be granted when the appointment may create undue risk for the University.
   3. No monetary renumeration will be provided to compensate Prestige faculty for their
   4. The Prestige 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 prestige appointment. The candidate may be required to work with export controls or other research regulations through the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
   5. Prestige 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.
   6. When sending correspondence, submitting manuscripts or grant proposals, Prestige faculty must identify their full-time employer and clearly state they are not paid employees of the University of Toledo.
   7. Prestige faculty must adhere to all federal laws, state laws and University of Toledo policies while working on campus and/or interacting with University faculty, staff, and students.
   8. The University does not provide worker’s compensation, general liability or errors and omissions insurance for Prestige faculty.
      
      
2. Renewal and termination of prestige appointments
   1. The process in (C)(1) must be followed to renew an affiliated faculty appointment prior to the expiration after three (3) years.
   2. Prestige faculty appointments will be automatically terminated if the renewal process is not followed and if the original appointment term lapses.
   3. Prestige faculty appointments may be terminated by the dean or provost at any time during the appointment term.
      
      
3. Prestige faculty appointment process
   1. Request for Prestige faculty appointments must be initiated by the department chair or dean.
   2. 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 A request may be in memo format.
   3. 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.
   4. The chair forwards the request and CV to the dean for
   5. If the dean approves the request, the CV, request memo, faculty vote documentation and a draft appointment letter, is forwarded to the provost office via email to Academic Finance and Faculty Administration at academicfinanceandfacultyadmin@Utoledo.edu.
   6. For prestige appointment 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.
   7. If the provost approves, the signed appointment letter will be returned to the college to distribute to the candidate.
   8. The candidate will return a signed appointment letter agreeing to abide by the expectations outlined in the appointment letter. A signed copy should be retained by the college and sent to AFFA email.
   9. If needed, the department will complete an Affiliate Account request to obtain a Rocket number and UTAD ID for the candidate. The department/college is responsible for maintaining affiliate access for prestige appointments.
   10. The appointment is effective for three (3) years from the appointment letter date or as indicated in the appointment letter. Appointments may be renewed by following the process above.
   11. The department may include the name of the Prestige faculty member to the list of department-affiliated faculty annually requested by the dean.
   12. The department may choose to include the name of the Prestige faculty member in on-line and print versions of their faculty directory.

Joint Faculty Appointments: Full-time tenured, tenure-track faculty may 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 may have up to 5-year terms that may be renewed at the discretion of the chairs and deans of both departments in which the faculty has primary and secondary appointments and the provost.

1. Expectations for Joint appointments
   1. Joint appointments are governed by all University policies, rules and regulations and collective bargaining agreements applicable to their primary appointment.
   2. Joint appointments have no bearing on tenure, promotion or professional assessments applicable to primary appointments.
      
      
2. Renewal and termination of Joint appointments
   1. The process in (F)(1) must be followed to renew a joint appointment prior to the expiration date.
   2. Joint appointments will be automatically terminated if the renewal process is not followed and if the original appointment term lapses.
   3. Joint appointments may be terminated by the dean or provost at any time during the appointment term.
3. Joint appointment of faculty process
   1. Request for a joint appointment must be initiated by the department chair or dean.
   2. 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 A request may be in memo format.
   3. The chair should secure the approval of full-time department faculty, with approval recorded in meeting minutes.
   4. The chair forwards the request and CV to the dean for
   5. The dean will forward the request to the dean of the primary appointment college and then to the provost office for joint appointments in which the candidate’s primary appointment is outside the requesting college.
   6. If both deans approve the request, the CV, request memo, faculty vote documentation and a draft appointment letter, is forwarded to the provost office via email to Academic Finance and Faculty Administration at academicfinanceandfacultyadmin@Utoledo.edu.
   7. If the provost approves, the signed appointment letter will be returned to the initiating college to distribute to the candidate.
   8. The candidate will return a signed appointment letter to accept the joint
   9. The appointment is effective for 5 years from issuance of the appointment letter.
   10. The department will include the name of the jointly appointed faculty member to the list of department-affiliated faculty annually requested by the dean.
   11. The department may choose to include the name of the jointly appointed faculty member in online and print versions of their faculty directory.
   12. If a joint appointment includes changes in compensation or workload percentages, a new offer letter and APA with the appropriate percentage of compensation budgeted to each department based on the proposed workload percentages may be needed. Please contact AFFA for further information in these circumstances.