Membership Application and Guidelines

Becoming Graduate Faculty at MTSU

Overview
Procedures for Applying
Printable Version of Guidelines
Faculty Membership Categories
Doctoral Membership [Initial Appointment]
Doctoral Membership [Re-appointment]

Full Membership [Initial Appointment]
Full Membership [Re-appointment]
Associate Membership
Adjunct Membership
Appointment Chart
Application for Faculty Membership

Overview of Graduate Faculty Membership

Only members of the MTSU Graduate Faculty are eligible to teach 5000/6000/7000 level graduate courses (including dual-listed UG/GR courses) or serve on thesis or dissertation committees.

Doctoral faculty status is required to chair dissertation committees.

Doctoral, Full or Associate faculty status is required to chair thesis committees.

This document establishes minimum criteria for all full-time, adjunct and post-retirement faculty and for administrators holding faculty rank. Individual programs may apply more stringent criteria by vote of the faculty of the program and with the approval of the Graduate Council and the dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

All academic deans and associate deans are granted full membership.

Because appointment to the MTSU Graduate Faculty demands knowledge of current scholarship in the discipline and because continuing professional activity is a distinct part of a faculty member's work at this university, the criteria below must be met to attain and maintain active graduate faculty status.

Procedures for Applying for Graduate Faculty Membership

The applicant accesses and completes the appropriate form. (Handwritten forms are not accepted.) DO NOT send a resume or curriculum vita.

The applicant obtains the necessary signatures and letter of recommendation from the department chair, if applicable.

The applicant sends the original and six (6) copies of the signed form and any necessary attachments to the College of Graduate Studies, Sam H. Ingram Building, MTSU Box 42.

The College of Graduate Studies routes the form and documentation to the Graduate Faculty and Program Review sub-committee for discussion prior to the regular meeting of the Graduate Council. The sub-committee makes recommendations to the Graduate Council which then makes recommendations to the dean of the College of Graduate Studies. Persons accepted for graduate faculty membership receive notification from the College of Graduate Studies and their acceptance is noted in the Graduate Council minutes.

Graduate Faculty Membership Categories

There are four different categories of graduate faculty membership:

Doctoral Graduate Faculty membership - Membership is limited to tenure-track or tenured faculty teaching in doctoral degree granting departments or in interdisciplinary doctoral programs holding Full membership and meeting the teaching and research/scholarly and creative activity criteria established by the Graduate Council. Doctoral Graduate Faculty membership is a five-year renewable term.

Full Graduate Faculty Membership - Membership is granted to tenure-track or tenured faculty having taught at the graduate level and meeting the teaching and research/scholarly and creative activity criteria established by the Graduate Council. Full Graduate Faculty membership is a five-year renewable term.

Associate Graduate Faculty Membership - Membership is available to tenure-track or tenured faculty who do not meet the criteria for Full membership. Associate Graduate Faculty membership comprises either a five-year non-renewable term (for initial Associate membership) or a three-year non-renewable term (for faculty who formerly held, but who no longer meet the criteria for re-appointment to, Full membership).

Adjunct Graduate Faculty Membership - Membership is for part-time adjunct faculty members and full-time faculty members on non-tenure track appointments at MTSU. Individuals who are not MTSU faculty and who have specific expertise pertinent to graduate education programs may be recommended for Adjunct membership. Adjunct status must be renewed every three years. Adjunct members shall not direct doctoral dissertations or master's theses, but may serve as committee members/readers and teach graduate courses.

Doctoral Faculty Membership - Initial Appointment

These criteria apply to faculty with at least three years of graduate faculty experience in higher education holding Full graduate faculty membership and who desire eligibility to chair doctoral dissertations.

Requirements for Consideration

Must hold the doctoral degree in the discipline and must be teaching in a doctoral degree granting department or in interdisciplinary doctoral programs.

Must be a Full member of the Graduate Faculty. (Applicants granted doctoral faculty membership automatically receive Full graduate faculty status.)

Must be recommended by the department chair and the applicant's dean.

Must satisfy both criteria:

Scholarly Teaching, and
Publications / Research / Other Professional Activities.

Scholarly Teaching:

Must provide a letter from the department chair describing graduate teaching expertise (letter must address instructional expertise in courses rather than research expertise). (Not required when applying for re-appointment.)

Must have been involved in graduate education and

Have taught one 6000 or 7000 level course within the last three years, OR

Have served on at least one dissertation committee through to completion in the last three years.

Publications/Research/Other Professional Activities

Must meet either Publications, or Research/Other Professional Activities. (Examples of required documentation include first page of article, title page of book, printed program or proceedings from national or international meetings showing date and citation.)

Publications: These require primary authorship or relevant co-authorship. If not yet in print, the faculty member may submit documented evidence of acceptance (i.e., in press).

Within the last three years the applicant must:

have published a scholarly book requiring independent review, OR

have published two articles or essays in peer-reviewed academic journals.*

Research/Other Professional Activities: Must be equivalent in contribution, rigor, and peer-reviewed status as publication criteria defined above as determined by the Graduate Council. The burden of evidence rests upon the applicant to prove that the contribution, rigor, and peer-reviewed status of the research, product design, or scholarly activity meet the criteria.

Must be recommended by the Graduate Council.

Must be approved by the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

These are minimum standards in assessing doctoral graduate faculty membership. Individual programs may apply more stringent standards by vote of the faculty of the program and with the approval of the Graduate Council and the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

*Note: If only one article or comparable publication has been published during the period under review, then at least two research presentations at professionally recognized conferences may be substituted for a second publication. Faculty members using this option shall demonstrate engagement in ongoing research intended for publication. If this exception is granted the subsequent review for renewal of doctoral faculty status must include two published works as described above.

Application for Faculty Membership

Doctoral Faculty Membership - Reappointment

These criteria apply to faculty with at least five years of graduate faculty experience in higher education holding doctoral graduate faculty membership who desire eligibility to chair doctoral dissertations.

Requirements for Consideration

Must hold the doctoral degree in the discipline and must be teaching in a doctoral degree granting department or in interdisciplinary doctoral programs.

Must be a Full member of the Graduate Faculty. (Applicants granted doctoral faculty membership automatically receive Full graduate faculty status.)

Must be recommended by the department chair and the applicant's dean.

Must satisfy both criteria:

scholarly teaching, and
Publications / Research / Other Professional Activities.

Scholarly Teaching:

Must have been involved in graduate education as follows

have taught two 6000 or 7000 level courses within the last five years, OR

have served on at least one dissertation committee through to completion in the last five years.

Publications/Research/Other Professional Activities:

Must meet either Publications, Research / Other Professional Activities. (Examples of required documentation include first page of article, title page of book, printed program or proceedings from national or international meetings showing date and citation.)

Publications: These require primary authorship or relevant co-authorship. If not yet in print, the faculty member may submit documented evidence of acceptance (i.e., in press).

Within the last five years the applicant must:

have published a scholarly book requiring independent review, OR

have published three articles or essays in peer-reviewed academic journals.**

Research/Other Professional Activities: Must be equivalent in contribution, rigor, and peer-reviewed status as publication criteria defined above as determined by the Graduate Council. The burden of evidence rests upon the applicant to prove that the contribution, rigor, and peer-reviewed status of the research, product design, or scholarly activity meet the criteria.

Must be recommended by the Graduate Council.

Must be approved by the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

**Note: If only two articles or comparable publications have been published during the period under review, then at least two research presentations at professionally recognized conferences may be substituted for the third publication. Faculty members using this option shall demonstrate engagement in ongoing research intended for publication. If this exception is granted the subsequent review for renewal of doctoral faculty status must include three published works as described above.

Application for Faculty Membership

Full Membership - Initial Appointment

These criteria apply to tenured and tenure-track faculty with at least three years of graduate faculty experience in higher education.

Requirements for Consideration

Must hold the terminal degree in the teaching field. If the terminal degree is not a doctorate in the field, the applicant must present external (off campus) evidence that the degree is considered terminal or sufficient by the discipline.

Must be recommended by the department chair and the applicant's dean.

Must satisfy both criteria:

Scholarly Teaching, and
Publications or Presentations or Research/Other Professional Activities.

Scholarly Teaching

must provide a letter from the department chair describing graduate teaching expertise. (letter must address instructional expertise in courses rather than research expertise). (Not required when applying for re-appointment.)

must have been involved in graduate education and

have taught one 6000 or 7000 level course within the past three years, OR

have served on two thesis committees or one dissertation committee seen through to completion within the past three years.

Publications/Presentations/Research/Other Professional Activities:

Must meet either Publications, Presentations, or Research/Other Professional Activities (Examples of required documentation include first page of article, title page of book, printed program or review of performance, proceedings from meetings showing date and citation.)

Publications: These require primary authorship or relevant co-authorship. If not yet in print, the faculty member may submit documented evidence of acceptance (i.e., in press)

Within the last three years the applicant must:

have published a scholarly book requiring independent review, OR

have published one article or essay in a peer-reviewed academic journal.

Presentations: Presentations includes artistic performances/presentations, product design, or the presentation of scholarly papers at professional meetings.

Within the last three years the applicant must:

have created at least one original work for presentation/performance or a product designed and exhibited on an international, national, or regional level. The submitted activity must have been subject to external (off campus) review and be equivalent in contribution and rigor to the publication criteria defined above, OR

have presented a scholarly conference paper to at least one international or national or at least two regional conferences. The submitted activity must have been subject to external (off campus) review and equivalent in contribution and rigor to the publication criteria defined above.

Research/Other Professional Activities: Must be equivalent in contribution, rigor, and peer review status as publication criteria defined above as determined by the Graduate Council. The burden of evidence rests upon the applicant to prove that the contribution, rigor, and peer-reviewed status of the research, product design, or scholarly activity meet the criteria.

Must be recommended by the Graduate Council.

Must be approved by the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

These are minimum standards in assessing graduate faculty membership. Individual programs may apply more stringent standards by vote of the faculty of the program and with the approval of the Graduate Council and the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

Application for Faculty Membership

Full Membership - Reappointment

These criteria apply to faculty with at least five years of graduate faculty experience in higher education.

Requirements for Consideration

Must be recommended by the department chair and the applicant's dean.

Must satisfy both

Scholarly Teaching, and
Publications or Presentations or Research/Other Professional Activities.

Scholarly Teaching

Must have been involved in graduate education and

have taught two 6000 or 7000 level courses within the past five years, OR

have served on two thesis committees or one dissertation committee seen through to completion within the past five years.

Publications or Presentations or Research/Other Professional Activities

Must meet either Publications, Presentations, or Other Professional Activities. (Examples of required documentation include first page of article, title page of book, printed program or review of performance, proceedings from meetings showing date and citation.)

Publications: These require primary authorship or relevant co-authorship. If not yet in print, the faculty member may submit documented evidence of acceptance (i.e., in press)

Within the last five years the applicant must:

have published a scholarly book requiring independent review, OR

have published two articles or essays in peer-reviewed academic journals.

Presentations: Presentations includes artistic performances/presentations, product design, or the presentation of scholarly papers at professional meetings.

Within the last five years the applicant must:

have created at least one original work for presentation/performance or a product designed and exhibited on an international, national, or regional level. The submitted activity must have been subject to external (off campus) review and be equivalent in contribution and rigor to the publication criteria defined above, OR

have presented a scholarly conference paper to at least two international or national or at least three regional conferences. The submitted activity must have been subject to external (off campus) review and equivalent in contribution and rigor to the publication criteria defined above.

Research/Other Professional Activities: Must be equivalent in contribution, rigor, and peer review status as publication criteria defined above as determined by the Graduate Council. The burden of evidence rests upon the applicant to prove that the contribution, rigor, and peer-reviewed status of the research, product design, or scholarly activity meet the criteria.

Must be recommended by the Graduate Council.

Must be approved by the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

Application for Faculty Membership

Associate Membership

Associate Membership is available for full-time tenure track or tenured faculty, in departments having graduate programs and/or graduate minors, who hold the terminal degree and who do not meet the criteria for Full membership.

(1) Initial Associate membership comprises a five-year term that is not renewable. Faculty holding initial Associate membership are encouraged to apply for Full membership as soon as they are eligible. (2) Faculty who have held Full membership but who no longer meet the criteria for re-appointment as a Full member are eligible for one three-year non-renewable appointment as an Associate member.

Requirement for Consideration

Must hold the terminal degree in the teaching field. If the terminal degree is not a doctorate in that field, the applicant must submit documentation that the degree is considered terminal or sufficient by the discipline, e.g., a letter from the department chair, peer evaluation committee, or applicant's dean.

Be recommended by the department chair and the applicant's college dean.

Be recommended by the Graduate Council.

Be approved by the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

Restrictions

An Associate Member shall not direct a doctoral dissertation, but may serve as a committee member/reader.

An Associate Member may direct Master's theses after serving as a committee member on one thesis/dissertation to completion.

Application for Faculty Membership

Adjunct Membership

Part-time adjunct faculty members and full-time faculty members on non-tenure track appointments at MTSU, and individuals who are not MTSU faculty members but have specific expertise pertinent to graduate programs may be recommended for Adjunct membership. Adjunct status must be renewed every three years. Adjunct members shall not direct doctoral dissertations or Master's theses, but may serve as committee members/readers and may teach graduate courses.

Requirements for Consideration

Must hold the terminal degree in the teaching field. If the terminal degree is not a doctorate, the applicant must provide external (off campus) evidence that the degree is considered terminal or sufficient by the discipline.

Provide evidence of qualifications to execute assignments successfully.

Be recommended by the department chair and the applicant's college dean.

Be recommended by the Graduate Council.

Be approved by the Dean, College of Graduate Studies.

The department chair must:

provide evidence that the adjunct is qualified to execute assignments successfully by attaching a copy of the approved MTSU Academic Preparation Certification (APC) form to the application for adjunct graduate faculty membership.

Application for Faculty Membership

Revised - January 2, 2012