EIU Graduate School

Associate Graduate Faculty Membership Policy

• Click here for Associate Graduate Faculty Nomination Form.

Designation:  Associate Graduate Faculty Members may teach, on a temporary basis, a graduate level course or courses when, due to sabbatical or other reasons, the designated member of the Graduate Faculty is not available.  Associate Graduate Faculty Membership is available to tenure track faculty, annually contracted faculty, or EIU employees who do not hold faculty rank, but have the terminal degree or meet the tested experience exception.

Faculty Appointments:  To be eligible for nomination, an EIU employee must meet the following Rank, Research/Creative Activity, and Degree Criteria:

1. Rank:  Have a tenure track or an annually contracted faculty appointment;
2. Research/Creative Activity: Exhibit continued professional research or creative activity in his/her specialization in which he/she is nominated to teach, and compliance with institutional policies on research;
3. Degree:  Hold a graduate degree appropriate to the field of specialization. If a nominee does not hold a terminal degree tested experience exceptions may apply. The use of tested experience should be coupled with advanced experience in the profession, specialized licensure, clinical training, and/or considerable post-graduate work beyond the master’s degree.

Faculty Appointment Exceptions:  Tested experience exceptions may apply. Any exceptions to the tested experience exception must have approval of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Administrative Appointments:  Administrators without faculty rank who are not Graduate Faculty may be nominated for Associate Graduate Faculty Membership if they meet the Research/Creative Activity and Degree Eligibility Requirements or tested experience exception.

Staff Appointments:  Staff without faculty rank may be nominated for Associate Graduate Faculty Membership if they meet the Research/Creative Activity and Degree Eligibility Requirements, or tested experience exception.

Nomination:  The Department Graduate Committee or Coordinator and Department Chair, nominate faculty who meet the eligibility requirements for Associate Graduate Faculty Membership to the College Dean and the Dean of the Graduate School.  At the time of nomination, the Department must document that the designated member of the Graduate Faculty is not available to teach the designated course or courses during the specified term or year; therefore an Associate Member is needed.

Appointment:  The Dean of the Graduate School is responsible for appointment of the Associate Graduate Faculty.

Length of Appointment:   Associate Graduate Faculty Members may be nominated to serve a one, two, or three-year term(s) depending on the needs of the program.

Reappointment:   Associate Graduate Faculty members may be reappointed at the conclusion of the appointment period. Reappointment parallels the process used for initial appointment.

Denial of Reappointment:  Reappointment will be denied when the Research/Creative Activity Criteria are not met.  Denial may include evidence that the Associate Member has not continued to participate in research/creative activity appropriate to his/her specialization or has engaged in research and related professional conduct that is non-compliant with institutional policies on the conduct of research/creative activity.

Duties & Limitations:  Associate Graduate Faculty Members are appointed to teach a specific graduate level course or courses.  Associate Graduate Faculty may not serve on committees, serve as a primary advisor, serve as committee chair, serve on the Council on Graduate Studies, or vote or deliberate in matters related to the Council. Waiver of these policies to permit additional duties for the associate graduate faculty member may be requested through the Dean of the Graduate School and the Council on Graduate Studies.

 Waivers of Associate Member Limitations:  Occasionally, Associate Graduate Faculty Members hold specialized expertise that can enhance the quality of graduate study in a program even though these members are in-eligible for Regular Membership.  In these cases, programs may petition the Council on Graduate Studies to waive the standard limitations and authorize the Associate Member privileges to perform duties reserved for Regular Members.  Such privileges may include service on a thesis committee, contributions to a curriculum committee, or support for the graduate program in other specialized ways.  In these cases, the Department Chair and Graduate Coordinator should provide a petition to the Council via the Graduate Dean to waive the standard limitations for a specified period of time.  The request must include identification of the specific privileges the Associate Member will perform for the program, a rationale for how this contribution will enhance the quality of graduate study in the program, and evidence that the Members of the Graduate Faculty support the authorization of such privileges to an Associate Member.