Standard 10: Faculty
The institution’s
instructional, research, and service programs are devised, developed,
monitored, and supported by qualified professionals.
Relative to this standard, an accredited institution is expected to possess or
demonstrate the following attributes or activities:
Standards for ensuring faculty
quality are embedded in university policies for the appointment, promotion and
review of faculty (section 60.5 of the
University Policy Library (UPL) – see element 6 below).
Faculty ranks/titles and their equivalencies are defined in section 60.5.2 and 60.5.3
of the UPL. The conditions of employment
of faculty are set forth in section 60.5.4 of the UPL.
The faculty survey provides
each faculty member with the means to document their accomplishments and
activities for required review in the tenure and promotion process. The faculty survey database provides
fundamental data on the preparation and qualifications of
The university
employs over 2,900 full-time faculty and 1,750 part-time faculty. Of the full-time faculty, 2,360 are
tenured/tenure-track faculty, 553 are non-tenured regular faculty, and 618 are
research faculty. (Additional Faculty Data).
Section 10.1.3 of the UPL designates the various schools of the
university responsible for its instructional programs. School By-Laws describe the process
for designing, maintaining, and revising curricular requirements and academic
standards within each academic unit. The
university senate is responsible for regularly reviewing and revising minimum
standards of admission, scholarship and honors and provides an advisory
function on broad educational policy (section 50.2.2 of the UPL and the University Senate Handbook ).
Institutional support for
faculty comes from many quarters. The Center
for Teaching Advancement and Assessment Research provides critical
resources to faculty. Graduate student
instructors are assisted through the Teaching Assistant Project (TAP), which is an initiative that
provides certificate programs, special issues seminars, web-based publications,
and discipline-specific training. In
addition, two mini-conferences
(the Annual Teaching Assistant Workshop
and the Annual Conference on Ethics in
Teaching and Research) are offered to teaching assistants, graduate
students, and faculty. Through the Faculty Academic Service Increment
Program (FASIP), individual faculty are annually rewarded through
compensatory increases for their contribution to teaching, research,
scholarship, and service. The university
has recently re-invigorated the position of the Vice President for
Undergraduate Education and has undertaken steps to support faculty in their
teaching of undergraduates. One sign of
this support for undergraduate instruction is the inclusion of the Vice
President for Undergraduate Education on the Promotion Review Committee
(at page 13), a critical instrument in the appointment, reappointment and
promotion of faculty.
The Academic
Excellence Fund is a university initiative that provides seed funds for research¸ instructional and
outreach initiatives of individual faculty.
Research activities of faculty
are supported through the Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate
and Professional Education. The Office
of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Office of Corporate Liaison and
Technology Transfer provide a
multitude of services and programs for faculty in support of their research and
partnerships with industry and other third parties.
The President’s Research in Service to
New Jersey includes two annual programs developed to support faculty in
their research and outreach efforts to the state of
The university has implemented various initiatives over
the years to support diversity in all areas of faculty work. These have included the Promotion
of Women in Science, Engineering, and Math, and the establishment of
the Office of Faculty
Diversity Initiatives.
The fundamental method
utilized by the university in recognizing the interrelationships among
scholarship, pedagogic activities, learning, research, and service is through
the Promotion Review Process (see Element 6 below).
Responsibility
for hiring and promoting faculty begins at the departmental level and proceeds
through the Promotion Review Committee (PRC), which is chaired by the Executive
Vice President for Academic Affairs. See
Sections 60.5.5,
60.5.10
and 60.5.11
of the UPL for procedures involved in the appointment of faculty.
Sections 60.5.5, 60.5.6, 60.5.7,
and 60.5.13 set forth the procedures for the promotion of faculty to
particular ranks and post-tenure review.
The criteria required for the
appointment and promotion of faculty are described in section 60.5.14. Additional information about the evaluation
of faculty in the tenure and promotion process is found in sections 60.5.15 through
60.5.18.
Collective Bargaining Agreements
between the faculty union and the university set forth the conditions for
operationalizing the above policies. Section XIV of the Agreement Between Rutgers, the
State University of New Jersey and Rutgers Council of the American Association
of University Professors Chapters July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2007
stipulates the specific steps to be implemented in the reappointment/promotion
process. Sections IX and X of the AAUP –
In addition, the By-Laws of the faculty of the various
schools at
Instructions and forms for tenure and promotion are available online.
Section 50.1.6 of the UPL specifies the responsibilities of unit deans. Dean vacancies are filled through an
extensive and nationwide search process.
Each unit dean meets annually with the Executive Vice President of
Academic Affairs or their respective campus provost at which time their unit’s
performance during the past year is evaluated and discussed. In addition, unit
deans are evaluated on a five-year cycle in accordance with a process
recommended by the University Senate.
The process was first established in 2001 and then modified in
2004. For the current version of the
process and its acceptance by the central administration see Report
on Evaluation of Administrators by Faculty and Students and adoption
by the central administration. The evaluation of the Dean is not a personnel
evaluation, in the sense that it is not to be used as the basis for a personnel
action. Rather, it is an opportunity to
make a periodic assessment of the status of the Dean’s vision for the School,
provide a balanced and constructive view of his/her Deanship, and make
observations about where improvements could be made, noting things that work
well and suggesting ways that some things might work better. The review is conducted by a special Dean’s
Evaluation Committee (DEC) appointed by the Executive Vice President for
Academic Affairs or the Campus Provost with input from the University Senate
Executive Committee. The majority of DEC
members are faculty, but the group may include up to three administrators,
students, and other constituents. See a schedule
of decanal appointments and reviews.
Departmental chairs are evaluated
by their faculty colleagues through the process of departmental faculty
elections. A listing of department
chairs and their starting dates can be found at this link.
Tenured and tenure track
faculty are reviewed through the PRC process, which continues through
post-tenure review (see element 6 above). Similarly there are regular procedures for
review of full-time non-tenure track faculty (section 60.5.10 and 60.5.14).
Staff are annually reviewed through the Pay for Performance guidelines.
The Agreement Between Rutgers the State University of New Jersey and
Part-Time Lecturer Faculty Chapter Rutgers Council of the American Association
of University Professors Chapters July 1, 2003 - June 30, 2007 stipulates
the conditions of employment for Part-Time Non-Tenure-Track Instructional
faculty.
Academic freedom is integral
to the mission of the university. Its
importance is put forth in the university policy statement on academic freedom
and ethical behavior (section 60.5.1). The university senate advises the president
on matters of academic freedom (see section
2.2.2 of University Senate Handbook).
See also standard 6, element 5.
The University Senate conducts
periodic studies about adequacy of faculty.
An example of these include: