3.4 - Rank
Members of the teaching faculty hold one of the following ranks: instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor.
3.4.1 - Placement and Promotion
The Board of Trustees, upon the recommendation of the president and provost, approves placement in rank or promotion to a higher rank.
3.4.2 - Minimum Requirements for Consideration for Placement or Promotion
The following rules for placement and promotion were adopted in 1998; faculty hired before 1998 were given the option of being eligible for their next appointment under the old rules.
3.4.2.1 - Instructor
A Master's degree.
3.4.2.2 - Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. degree or its equivalent; or
- Completion of all requirements for the doctorate except the dissertation and two years of college teaching or equivalent experience; or
- Master's degree and six years of college teaching or equivalent experience. (Equivalent experience is defined in Section 7.1.2.)
3.4.2.3 - Associate Professor
- Recommendation for reappointment with promotion by the majority of tenured members of one's department and by the Professional Status Committee, if the faculty member has been serving at the college, and
- Either:
- Ph.D. degree or its equivalent, plus a minimum of five years of college teaching at the rank of assistant professor or equivalent professional experience; or
- Highest degree commonly given in the field of professional specialization (M.F.A., M.B.A. plus C.P.A. or C.M.A., M.S.E. plus state licensure), completion of a minimum of eight years of full-time teaching on the college level and ability to demonstrate a record of successful professional activity during this period of academic employment; or
- Completion of all of the academic requirements for the doctorate except the dissertation and completion of eight years of college-level teaching or equivalent professional experience.
3.4.2.4 - Professor
- Recommendation for promotion by the majority of full professors in one's department and by the Professional Status Committee, if the faculty member has been serving the college, and
- A Doctoral degree (Ph.D., Ed.D., D.M., D.S.W., etc.) or a designated, terminal master's degree in the field of specialization and completion of a minimum of ten years of full-time college-level teaching or comparable professional experience, and normally five years of experience at the rank of associate professor. (Certain exceptions may be recommended by the president, in consultation with the Professional Status Committee, for promotion to the rank of Professor, including its full salary potential.).
3.4.3 - Promotion Procedure
The procedure for considering a faculty member for promotion is described in Section 3.7.
