Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
Appointment,
Promotion and Termination of Faculty in Non-tenure Track Positions
Approved
by the Faculty Senate January 8, 2007 and the Provost April
2, 2007.
Applies
to all full-time faculty holding the rank of Senior Lecturer,
Lecturer, Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Instructor,
Instructor and Visiting Faculty who are not in the SOM or
the
SOPP.
Instructors
and all ranks of Visiting Professors
are temporary appointments. Visiting Professor appointments
may be made or continued for a maximum of three years; and
Instructor appointments may be continued in one year increments
for a maximum of six years. There is no limit to how
long Lecturers and Clinical Faculty in the College of Nursing
and Health may be continued in these positions. Regardless
of the length of appointment, nothing in this policy implies
permanency or tenure.
I.
Temporary Faculty Appointments
Instructor
is the fully-affiliated rank assigned to those who are
qualified to teach but who may or may not hold the terminal
degree in the discipline of the department of appointment.
Initial appointments are for up to one year and may
be extended in one year increments when the advertisements
for the position and the appointment letter state that such
extensions are possible. Instructor appointments may
not be extended beyond a total of six years of service.
Visiting
Assistant Professor, Visiting Associate Professor, or Visiting
Professor is the rank assigned faculty members whose
education and experience is equivalent to Wright State faculty
with the corresponding rank. Frequently, these faculty
hold the equivalent professorial rank at another university.
Initial appointments are for up to three years.
If an initial appointment is for less than three years, it
may be extended to a total of three years when the advertisements
for the position and the appointment letter state that such
extensions are possible.
II.
Continuing Faculty Appointments
Lecturer
is the fully-affiliated rank assigned to those who are
qualified to teach and who may or may not hold the terminal
degree in the discipline of the department of appointment.
Initial appointments are for three years and may be extended
by a succeeding three-year appointment. Before the
faculty member's sixth year as a Lecturer, the university
will (a) notify the faculty member that the appointment will
not be continued or (b) offer a continuing appointment with
no identified date of termination.
Faculty
may be appointed to the rank of Lecturer upon beginning Wright
State employment or after serving for a time as an Instructor.
An appointment to Lecturer can only occur if a Lecturer
position is open. Instructors should have no expectation
that this will happen, however; the university's decision
to create a Lecturer position is based on university needs,
regardless of the performance level of existing Instructors.
Before beginning an internal or external search for
a Lecturer, the Department Chair or Dean will notify all eligible
Instructors in his or her department or college and name a
search committee that includes at least one Lecturer.
An Instructor applying for a Lecturer position in an internal
search must have an Instructor appointment that is eligible
for an extension or that has been continued for six years.
Senior
Lecturer is the fully-affiliated rank assigned to those
who have been promoted to that rank because of sustained outstanding
performance in teaching and service for a minimum of six years
at the Lecturer rank and demonstrated leadership within the
university, the discipline or the community. A Lecturer
may apply for promotion to Senior Lecturer, following criteria
and procedures for promotion maintained in her or his college
of appointment.
Clinical
Instructor and Clinical Assistant Professor are
the fully-affiliated ranks assigned to those who teach clinical
and classroom courses and who may or may not hold a terminal
degree in the discipline. Initial appointments are
for three years and may be extended by a succeeding three-year
appointment. Before the faculty member's sixth year
as a Clinical Instructor and/or Clinical Assistant Professor,
the university will (a) notify the faculty member that the
appointment will not be continued or (b) offer a continuing
appointment with no identified date of termination.
Faculty
may be appointed to the rank of Clinical Instructor or Clinical
Assistant Professor upon beginning Wright State employment,
depending on their credentials and experience. A Clinical
Instructor may apply for promotion to Clinical Assistant Professor
upon obtaining the required credentials and experience, following
criteria and procedures for promotion maintained in the College
of Nursing and Health.
III.
Termination of Appointments
In
addition to resignation or retirement, faculty appointments
may be terminated due to (1) completion of a fixed-term appointment,
(2) poor performance, (3) just cause, (4) enrollment or curricular
changes that eliminate the need for their services, and (5)
financial exigency.
(1)
Termination at the Completion of Fixed-term Appointments.
Faculty
on fixed-term appointments (Instructors, Visiting Professors,
and those Lecturers and Clinical Faculty who are in their
initial appointment periods) are automatically terminated
at the conclusion of their appointments unless the university
offers them a succeeding appointment.
- When possible, faculty
should be notified by February 1 of the year their fixed-term
appointment expires if they are being offered a succeeding
appointment.
- Notice of termination
is not required for faculty who complete fixed-term appointments.
Even if succeeding appointments had been received
in earlier years, faculty on fixed-term appointments should
not expect that their employment will continue after the
fixed-term unless they have received a written offer of
continuation from their dean.
(2)
Termination for Poor Performance
Faculty
in all ranks on fixed-term or continuing appointments may
be terminated for poor performance. When notified in
writing by February 1 of their first academic year's service,
faculty will be terminated at the conclusion of that academic
year. Following the first year, the university will
provide written notice at least twelve months in advance of
termination.
Criteria
for non-reappointment of faculty based on unsatisfactory performance
are:
a.
The performance was specified in a written evaluation.
b. The faculty member
was given an opportunity to address the unsatisfactory
performance.
c.
The unsatisfactory performance continued.
(3)
Terminations for Just Cause
Just
cause terminations may be based on (a) demonstrated incompetence
or dishonesty in teaching or scholarship, (b) substantial
and manifest neglect of duty, (c) personal conduct that substantially
impairs the faculty member's ability to fulfill his or her
institutional responsibilities, or (d) malicious conduct that
directly obstructs the performance of instructional or scholarly
programs authorized or permitted by the university.
Terminations for just cause shall be effective at the end
of the academic year except as otherwise ordered by the Board
of Trustees.
(4&5)
Termination Due to Reduced Need and Financial Exigency
Faculty
who are terminated because of enrollment declines or curricular
changes will be notified in writing by the provost at least
twelve months in advance of termination. The specific
changes necessitating their termination will be specified,
along with confirmation that the termination is not based
on their quality of performance.
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