Graduate Faculty Appointment and Reappointment Procedures

The Department Chair/Head (with the approval of the College Dean, as appropriate) generally nominates new tenure-track faculty members to the Graduate Faculty soon after their appointment to the faculty.  Candidates for initial appointment should obtain a password from the Graduate School (contact Dean Flowers at flowegt@auburn.edu) and upload nomination materials to the Graduate Faculty Approval System (GFAST is located in AU Access, and can be found by searching for “Grad Students” on the Discover tab.) Upon approval at the departmental level, nomination materials are automatically forwarded to the Graduate School for review and approval by the Dean of the Graduate School and the Graduate Council.  The names of candidates approved for initial appointment to the Graduate Faculty are published monthly in the Minutes of the Graduate Council.

Current Graduate Faculty Members are notified by the Graduate School with instructions for initiating their re-appointment for a new seven-year term. Candidates for re-appointment are thus encouraged to upload re-appointment materials to the Graduate Faculty Approval System (GFAST is located in AU Access, Faculty/Advisors tab, under the Graduate School heading.). Following departmental procedures approved by the Graduate Council and maintained in a central archive, Graduate Faculty (Level 2) in the department review the candidate’s materials and vote on the proposed nomination for re-appointment. If approved, the results of the vote, including the number of Graduate Faculty members eligible to vote, is forwarded for action to the Dean of the Graduate School and the Graduate Council. The names of candidates approved for re-appointment to the Graduate Faculty are published monthly in the Minutes of the Graduate Council.

• Criteria for graduate faculty teaching and mentoring will be determined by department/college for its graduate programs. At a minimum, all criteria must satisfy the minimum requirements detailed below.

Criteria should specify in reasonable detail what that program considers to be the minimal acceptable performance for a 7 year period in terms of scholarship and teaching.

• Graduate programs not affiliated with a department/college may establish graduate faculty criteria with approval from the dean of the Graduate School.
• Graduate faculty levels may be defined that are teaching only as well as the more traditional levels that include both teaching and the directing of graduate students.
• These criteria will be reviewed and approved by the Graduate Council and the Graduate School will maintain a central archive for graduate faculty criteria.

• Faculty will continue to apply and submit documentation through a central system (GFAST at present) with 7 year terms of appointments.
• Applications for appointment/re-appointment are to be reviewed and decisions rendered at the department level. In cases where a program is not affiliated with a specific department/college, decisions are to be rendered at that program level. A college/school may also choose to provide review.
• The Graduate School will review appointment/re-appointment documents to ensure that the procedures/criteria for a given program are followed. Faculty denied graduate faculty status can appeal to the Graduate School for a detailed procedural review.

• Earned doctorate/terminal degree in the teaching discipline or a related discipline.

Or

• Documented exceptional competency and achievement.*

*Such as “related work experiences in the field, professional licensure and certifications, honors and awards, continuous documented excellence in teaching, or other demonstrated competencies and achievements.”

Documentation of performance at or above a level that satisfies the program’s minimum acceptable performance in teaching for the past 7 years must be provided.

• Earned doctorate/terminal degree in the teaching discipline or a related discipline.

Or

• Earned degree at/above the level of the student’s degree program, and demonstrated exceptional competency and achievement.*

*Such as “related work experiences in the field, professional licensure and certifications, honors and awards, continuous documented excellence in teaching, or other demonstrated competencies and achievements.”

Documentation of performance at or above a level that satisfies the program’s minimum acceptable scholarly performance for the past 7 years must be provided.