A&S Administrative Gateway: Appointment titles and terms

Definitions of appointment titles. The University Handbook (Vol. II, Chapter 24) contains definitions for professorial ranks; for research, affiliate, acting, and visiting titles; for adjunct, joint, clinical, and emeritus appointments; and for Instructor, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Principal Lecturer, Artist in Residence and Senior Artist in Residence, and Teaching Associate titles.

Non-state-funded faculty titles. The titles for faculty members in non-state-funded positions make a distinction based upon the amount of teaching responsibility. Appointments involving minimal or no teaching activity use the titles of Research Assistant Professor, Research Associate Professor, and Research Professor. Faculty who do a substantial amount of teaching or supervising of graduate students but who do not hold state-funded positions use the titles of Assistant Professor WOT (without tenure), Associate Professor WOT, and Professor WOT.

Research faculty. Research appointees are academic personnel. Procedures for appointment, reappointment, renewal, and promotion, as well as salary and merit reviews, are the same as those for the regular faculty ranks. The departmental faculty who are eligible to vote on research appointments are the same as those who vote on regular appointments. Tenure is not acquired in any research appointment.

Persons holding the following research titles are voting members of the faculty: Research Professor, Research Associate Professor, Research Assistant Professor, and retired persons in these titles during the quarter(s) they are serving on a part-time basis. These research faculty are eligible to vote on all personnel matters except those relating to promotion and/or tenure. (See the section on Voting procedures for more information.)

Research faculty (except Research Associates) may be appointed to Graduate Faculty status and serve as regular members and chairs of supervisory committees for graduate students.

Evening Degree faculty. Although some faculty in A&S units are paid from Evening Degree Program budgets, they are still members of the College of Arts and Sciences. College procedures should be followed when making new appointments, reappointments, promotions, and other recommendations. The Evening Degree Program staff should be consulted for budget matters, such as salary level, moving expenses, equipment, etc.

Employment elsewhere. A person who holds a full-time regular or research faculty appointment should not be simultaneously employed elsewhere. Similarly, acceptance of a faculty position at another university normally means resignation from one's UW position (although special exceptions may be made by the Provost's Office). Persons who are employed elsewhere may be affiliated with the UW through appointments with visiting or affiliate titles.

Academic year dates. The regular academic year appointment is nine months, from September 16 through June 15. A twelve-month appointment, used for research and other faculty titles, runs from July 1 through June 30. The dates for academic quarters are:

Autumn Quarter--September 16 through December 15

Winter Quarter--December 16 through March 15

Spring Quarter--March 16 through June 15

Summer Quarter--June 16 through September 15

Multi-year terms. An appointment for a multi-year term requires that (1) the appointment is full time and (2) a national search was conducted at the time of hire or a waiver has been granted.

Joint appointments. At the time of a joint appointment, the faculty member's primary department must be determined, as well as the nature of his/her participation in governance and voting in the secondary department. This information should be reported in writing to the Divisional Dean(s).

Joint appointments of untenured faculty members should be made with great care.

Whenever feasible, interdepartmental committees should be appointed to evaluate the progress toward promotion of a faculty member holding a joint appointment. The committee should report to both units. When this is not feasible, at least one faculty member from each department should attend meetings of the other unit when the candidate's progress toward promotion is discussed. These procedures help ensure that both departments are informed of all accomplishments and any problems.

When two units agree to submit a search proposal for a joint position, all forms and communications with the Dean's Office regarding the search, including recommendations to hire, should be submitted jointly by the two units.

Visiting appointment. The visiting title, when used with the rank of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, or Instructor, indicates that the appointee holds a professorial position at another institution of higher learning and is temporarily employed by the University. An employee who does not hold a professorial position elsewhere, but who is otherwise qualified, may be designated as a Visiting Lecturer. For documentation and procedures, see Temporary appointments. For more information, see Academic Human Resource’s Web site on visiting appointments.

Visiting Scholar appointment. This appointment title is not processed through the Dean's Office. See the Academic Human Resources Web site for how to appoint a Visiting Scholar.