Academic Appointments with Teaching Functions

The academic appointments policy establishes the standards and procedures for appointments of individuals who will have teaching functions. The University asserts the importance of ensuring that our students are taught by individuals who have appropriate qualifications, are recognized as teachers, and enjoy the privilege of academic freedom as described in Board of Regents Policy: Academic Freedom and Responsibility. The University affirms that an appropriate complement of regular faculty will direct the University's ongoing intellectual programs, accompanied by term (non-tenure track) faculty, academic professional and administrative employees (P&A) and graduate teaching assistants. The University will strive to ensure that all such faculty and P&A employees be appropriately selected, reviewed and fairly treated.

This policy also establishes common expectations for the appointment of all instructors of record teaching courses for academic credit at the University of Minnesota.

Appointment Categories

In order to be able to assure our students that quality instruction is provided, to provide appropriate certification to accrediting organizations, and to comply with University regulations, instruction in courses for credit may only be offered by persons who hold appointments in one of the following five categories.

1. Regular (Tenured and Tenure-Track) Faculty:
   Members of the tenured and tenure-track faculty.
2. Term (Non Tenure-Track) Faculty:
   2A. Contract Faculty. Members of the faculty on annual, renewable, or multi-year contracts.
   2B. Temporary Faculty. Members appointed to address temporary needs of 1-2 years.
   2C. Visiting Faculty. Faculty at other universities who are temporarily here.
3. Adjunct Faculty:
   3A. Adjunct Faculty from Within the University. Persons who hold regular or term (contract or temporary) faculty status in one main department and who are appointed by a second department or college.
   3B. Adjunct Faculty from Outside the University. Professionals in the community who offer instruction on an occasional, part-time basis.
4. Academic Staff:
   4A. Academic Professional Staff Who Hold Primary Responsibility for Teaching.
   4B. Academic Professional or Administrative Staff with Primary Non-Instructional Duties Who Assume Part-Time Instructional Duties.
5. Graduate Teaching Assistants:
   Students registered in a graduate or post-baccalaureate professional degree program may also provide assistance to the faculty in teaching or advising students registered for specific courses, or may be the instructor of record for an entire course, in accordance with the standards of the academic unit and those in the Policy and Guidelines for Graduate Assistants.

Qualifications for Academic Appointments with Teaching Functions

The primary qualification for academic instructional appointments with primary teaching functions is a degree earned from an accredited academic institution in the United States or a college or university of equivalent quality outside the United States, in a field or subject area relevant to the courses being taught. The assumed standard for all instructional appointments is generally a terminal degree or a degree at least one level higher than the degree in the area or related area of the course being taught. Examples of the latter include a master’s degree to teach a course that counts toward a bachelor’s degree or a doctoral degree to teach a course that counts toward a master’s degree. Exceptions include cases where the norm in the discipline (e.g., J.D. holders teaching Ph.D. students in law-related fields or M.F.A. degree holders teaching Ph.D. students in the arts) or the accreditation standards of the profession require otherwise.

The academic department determines whether an instructional appointee’s earned academic degree, or work toward an academic degree, is relevant for the discipline or field in which courses are taught. The importance of multidisciplinary instruction in many fields must be kept in mind, as it may require instructors who teach courses offered through the same department or program to have degrees in different, but cognate, areas. If an instructional appointee holds no master’s degree or higher in a related discipline or field, the appointee must have completed a minimum of 18 graduate credit hours in a discipline or field relevant to their instructional areas. Teaching in graduate programs requires a relevant terminal degree and a record of research, scholarship or achievement appropriate for the graduate program.

Individuals who do not have the academic credentials described above can be otherwise qualified to teach courses if they possess substantial equivalent experience. The department should follow the guidelines for assessing equivalent experience as described in this policy, in collegiate academic personnel plans, and in communication from the Office of the Provost. Equivalent experience is not based exclusively on teaching experience, and previous years of classroom instruction does not solely constitute equivalent experience. Instructor qualifications on the basis of equivalent experience must be determined by the department in which the courses are taught and are subject to the approval of the relevant campus, school, or college and the Office of the Provost. Any hiring decision based on equivalent experience shall be made with the goal of providing students with the best possible learning experience.

Some characteristics of equivalent experience that may be considered relevant include, but are not limited to:

• Substantial graduate-level academic coursework and/or methodological training in a related discipline appropriate to the field of instruction;
• A record of research, creative activity, scholarship or achievement appropriate to the field of instruction;
• Related research experience in industry;
• Practical and professional experience and accomplishments in, for example: arts, business, engineering, legal, media or public service;
• Relevant clinical experience;
• Relevant certifications or additional credentials;
• Demonstrated competency or fluency in a relevant skill or skill set.

When someone has been hired with the equivalent experience qualifications, the academic unit shall maintain the satisfactory qualification to teach in the instructor’s personnel record.

Caveat

This policy is intended to provide general information to University employees and to serve as internal guidelines for University administrators. The information described in this policy is not a condition of employment, and the language is not intended nor does it create a contract between the University and any employee. Employees may resign their employment in accordance with the terms of their contracts and appointments, and the University may terminate an individual employee's employment as provided in the applicable University policies and in accordance with the procedures established for that class of employee. The University reserves the right to change, add to, eliminate or modify any of the requirements and procedures described in this policy at its discretion, with or without notice, and in accordance with any applicable University consultative processes.

Provisions and Terms

Collegiate Personnel Plans

Each college or campus as appropriate, led by the dean or vice chancellor for academic affairs, must adopt a personnel plan that articulates which of the appointment options will be used by the college/campus, in addition to its regular faculty, to carry out its teaching functions and ensure the academic quality of its programs. The plan is to indicate the necessary qualifications for the different teaching functions and the appropriate balance of responsibilities carried out by faculty and those carried out by academic staff (e.g., types of courses, advising, clinical supervision, etc.) for which members of each group will be responsible. The plan should also indicate opportunities for professional development available to employees in the relevant appointment categories. The overall collegiate personnel plan must be developed through a process that includes substantial representation of tenured and tenure-track faculty, term faculty and academic professional and administrative staff, as applicable, and must be approved by the normal college/campus governance processes and by the dean or vice chancellor for academic affairs. Appointments made to any position with responsibilities primarily for instruction (term [non-tenure track] faculty, teaching specialists, senior teaching specialists, lecturers and senior lecturers) must also be made only in accordance with the plan.

1. Supplemental Plans

   The collegiate personnel plan must include the rationale for any significant variations from the established collegiate patterns in making academic appointments in specific academic units within the college/campus. In addition, the collegiate plan must include a specific supplemental plan for any unit in which the number of FTE contract faculty positions (category 2A) plus the number of FTE academic professional positions with primary responsibility for teaching (category 4A) exceeds 25% of the faculty. Each supplemental plan should indicate the appropriate balance of faculty and academic staff responsibility, to include the levels and types of courses for which members of each group will be responsible. This supplemental plan must be developed in broad consultation with the leadership, faculty and academic staff of these units.

2. Plan Approval

   The Executive Vice President and Provost will review and approve all collegiate personnel plans, in consultation with the Vice President for Human Resources, other appropriate vice presidents and vice chancellors/chancellors, and the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure. For units in the health sciences, college plans will first be reviewed and approved by the senior health sciences officer prior to submission to the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. For system campuses, plans must be approved by the respective vice chancellor/chancellor prior to submission. This process for units in the health sciences and system campuses applies throughout this document, even though it may not be restated.

   Once a collegiate personnel plan has been approved by the Executive Vice President and Provost, it need only be updated if there are substantial modifications in the plan. Each collegiate personnel plan should be reviewed at least once every five years.

3. Reporting and Monitoring

   The Executive Vice President and Provost will make available data documenting the numbers of individuals falling within each of these appointment categories, broken out by department, college and campus, as well as aggregated. This information will inform the collegiate dean, vice chancellor/chancellor and other central officers involved in the annual collegiate academic planning and budgeting compact process, and will also be available to inform the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, which will review this information for consistency with the approved plan and the academic mission of the University.

4. Review of Policy

   This policy will undergo a comprehensive review every four years. This review should examine both the success of the policy in meeting the University's goals of providing appropriate instruction of the highest possible quality for all students and the suitability of its provisions for the future of the University. This periodic review does not preclude earlier changes, should the need arise.