Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion of Adjunct Faculty Members
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About This Policy
- Effective Date:
- 03-12-2002
- Date of Last Review/Update:
- 04-20-2023
- Responsible University Office:
- Faculty Affairs and Professional Development
- Responsible University Administrator:
- Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development
- Policy Contact:
- Assistant Director, Faculty Systems
- Policy Feedback:
- If you have comments or questions about this policy, let us know with the policy feedback form.
- Print or view a PDF of this policy
- Many policies are quite lengthy. Please check the page count before deciding whether to print.
Scope
This policy applies to all Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) adjunct faculty. University policy ACA-14 Classification of Academic Appointments defines Adjunct Appointments as appropriate for teaching appointments of individuals, whether compensated or volunteer, whose career paths lie primarily in another position or employment. That is, the appointment is “adjunct” (“auxiliary”) to the career of the appointee, as well as to the faculty of the unit. Adjunct faculty in IUSM includes faculty that are not paid or are paid part-time for teaching (0.5 FTE or less).
Policy Statement
- Criteria for Appointment and Ranks
The adjunct designation is used to identify faculty members who participate in the missions of the School on a voluntary or part-time paid basis. Using the Special Titles provision in ACA 12, General Provisions Regarding Academic Appointments, IUSM will use the term “Adjunct” in the faculty member’s published title.
Appointments as adjunct faculty require evidence of professional expertise, willingness, and ability to perform the proposed educational activity, and potential as a role model and colleague. These criteria may be met by specialty or subspecialty board certification plus current state licensure or the equivalent.
- Adjunct appointment at the rank of Clinical Lecturer: This rank will be applied to those individuals who contribute to the teaching program directly or administratively, but who do not meet the criteria for any of the following ranks. Title will be conferred as Adjunct Clinical Lecturer.
- Adjunct appointment at the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor: An individual should have demonstrated through educational, service, or scholarly activities or local recognition that appointment or promotion to this rank is justified. Terminal degree in field of expertise is required for this and all the following ranks. Title will be conferred as Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor.
- Adjunct appointment at the rank of Clinical Associate Professor: An individual shall have a minimum of five (5) years of exemplary service as adjunct clinical assistant professor at Indiana University School of Medicine or equivalent rank elsewhere or have demonstrated through additional activities and/or recognition that appointment or promotion to this rank is justified. Title will be conferred as Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor.
- Adjunct appointment as Clinical Professor: An individual shall have demonstrated excellence as a teacher and exceptional service to the University, served a minimum of five (5) years as adjunct clinical associate professor at Indiana University School of Medicine or equivalent rank elsewhere, or have demonstrated through additional activities or national recognition that appointment or promotion to this rank is justified. Title will be conferred as Adjunct Clinical Professor.
- Sufficient Contribution to the University
- The principal criterion for adjunct appointments is teaching, chiefly of IUSM medical students, residents, or fellows, but also other IUSM learners.
- Adjunct appointments for contributions in research are restricted. Those restrictions are covered in a separate set of guidelines.
- Other contributions such as administration, committee service, scholarship, etc. that support the IUSM missions are also considered and encouraged.
- Admission or referral of patients for medical care does not constitute a teaching commitment or count towards teaching time per se.
- The minimum time spent in teaching activities should be determined by each department or regional campus.
- Initial Appointment
The department chair or regional campus dean (in collaboration with the respective department chair) can initiate the appointment of an adjunct faculty member. See the Related Information section of this document for specific procedures.
- Reappointment, Termination or Change in Rank
The chair of the respective department or the regional campus dean (or designee) will review the adjunct faculty performance at least once every three years or more frequently if department or campus policy outlines a more frequent evaluation. Lack of contributions (see II above) to the teaching mission of IUSM for three years may result in revocation of the faculty appointment. The School of Medicine reserves the right to conclude an adjunct faculty appointment at any time.
- Nomination and Documentation for Promotion
Nominations for promotion ordinarily will come from the department chair or regional campus dean but may be initiated by the candidate or any other faculty member of the School of Medicine.
Candidates for promotion will submit a dossier to the department chair or regional campus dean in accordance with the procedures of the School of Medicine. The dossier should include as a minimum a curriculum vitae and a summary of the candidate’s IUSM teaching/academic contributions. The department chair or regional campus dean will solicit at least two letters of recommendation from full-time[1] faculty members. For promotion to full professor, two additional letters of recommendation are also required. The two additional letters can be from full- or part-time IUSM faculty, from faculty external to the institution, or IUSM adjunct faculty, or some combination thereof.
All dossiers will be forwarded to the School of Medicine with a letter of recommendation from the Department Chair, Regional Campus Dean (when applicable) and the department or regional campus Primary Committee. Promotion reviews for adjunct faculty members are conducted within the school and do not route to the IUPUI campus for review.
[1] Full-time faculty member is interpreted as an individual that has a full-time academic appointment at the School of Medicine or for faculty at one of the IUSM Regional Campuses, an individual that has a full-time academic appointment at the host higher institution (Purdue, Ball State, Notre Dame, University of Southern Indiana, etc). Letter writer must be at or above the rank the candidate is seeking, however that can be waived for designated education leaders (e.g. Clerkship Director, Residency Director, Vice Chair for Education).
- Support and Reward Systems
Adjunct faculty members should be provided with appropriate materials and sources of information to effectively carry out their roles and ensure efficient communication with others in IUSM. The School and departments should collaborate to ensure that all adjunct faculty members are supported, recognized, and rewarded. Adjunct faculty members are eligible for and encouraged to take advantage of the many offerings of IUSM. This includes, but is not limited to, opportunities for professional development to address teaching and other skills available through IUSM Faculty Affairs and Professional Development and other sources; and department teaching activities such as grand rounds, faculty development workshops and continuing medical education outreach. Adjunct faculty also have access to resources including, but not limited to, the medical school library, discounted or free computer software, and can acquire CME at the discounted (and often free) IU faculty rate. This includes earning CME credits through the “Learning through Teaching” program.
- Rank upon Being Hired as Full- or Part-Time IUSM Faculty
Should an adjunct faculty member be recruited as a full-time (0.75 FTE or above) faculty member by the IU School of Medicine, academic rank will be determined according to the standards for full-time employed faculty upon hiring.
Reason for Policy
Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) has a long-established and strong tradition of adjunct faculty participation in the School’s missions, especially in educational programs. The more than 3,000 adjunct faculty members constitute a major component of the IUSM faculty, emphasizing the important role played by these individuals. These faculty members are critical to the missions of IUSM and their contributions are anticipated to increase both in scope and variety. Given these facts, efforts must be made to recruit, support, evaluate, and reward these faculty members.
Procedures
Appointment Process for Adjunct Faculty
Method #1 (Recommended and Strongly Preferred for Regional Campuses)
A prospective adjunct faculty member is provided with the link to the online Personal Profile Form (PPF). This version of the PPF is more extensive than the paper version identified in Method #2 below and so a curriculum vita (CV) is not required if the online PPF is completed correctly. When the online PPF has been completed, the PPF is routed to the appropriate department chair for approval. Department Chair (or designee) reviews online PPF and approves or disapproves the appointment. The designated staff for the hiring unit is notified, via automated email, of the decision. If the online PPF is incomplete or if additional information is needed, the hiring unit will contact the prospective faculty member for needed information.
Method #2
Department or regional campus staff collects the IUSM Personal Profile Form (PPF) and a CV from the prospective adjunct faculty member. Regional campus emails the PPF, CV and statement describing what the prospective faculty member will be doing to the appropriate department chair for approval.
Once approval from the department chair has been received, the department or regional campus staff will initiate an eDoc and submit the required hiring paperwork identified in the Academic Edoc Processing Checklist found under Appointment Documents on this webpage https://faculty.medicine.iu.edu/let-us-help/recruitment-appointment/. The approval email from the chair is to be included in the hiring paperwork, if Method #2 was used.
History
- Task Force on the Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion and Recognition of Volunteer Faculty 2/02; ratified by IUSM Executive Committee 3/11/02; voted to accept by Faculty Steering Committee 3/12/02.
- Revisions approved by Faculty Steering Committee 9/17/15 and IUSM Executive Committee 10/5/15.
- Revisions approved by Faculty Steering Committee 11/15/2018 and IUSM Executive Committee 1/7/2019.
- Changes from volunteer to adjunct completed 12/2021 to be consistent with the retirement of the volunteer title changes made in 2020. No approval necessary for this update.
- Policy updated on 20 April 2023 to reflect change in University Office title and to update an outdated link.