INST 100 - Joint Faculty Appointments
Number: INST 100
Effective: December 1, 2016
Department: Instruction
Last Revision: December 19, 2016

Purpose

To establish guidelines for the joint appointment of a full time faculty member to multiple instructional departments or where there would be more than one supervisor.

Scope

Applies to all full-time faculty.

Definition

Joint Appointment: a faculty member holds a joint appointment if he or she holds appointments in two or more academic departments.

Administrative Home: the administrative home of a faculty member who holds a joint appointment is the department responsible for the execution of all personnel processes; the administrative home carries out these responsibilities in coordination with all departments participating in the joint appointment.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): Designates the administrative home, addresses all principles outlined within this policy, and sets forth the terms of the joint appointment.

Policy

CWI recognizes that some faculty members have interests and capabilities that draw them into collaborations with colleagues from different fields. These faculty members are particularly important to efforts that cross the disciplinary boundaries between academic departments or programs. To encourage interdisciplinary activities, CWI provides for the joint appointment of faculty members to multiple academic departments. The proper formation of a joint appointment is dependent on adherence to principles and procedures that promote clarity, administrative efficiency, and the success of the academic departments as well as the faculty member.

Guidelines

  • A faculty member can enter a joint appointment at different career stages (new and existing faculty members). For new faculty positions, the search committee shall include representatives from two or more of the departments involved. A draft MOU shall be developed before hiring.
  • Joint appointments shall be structured such that the faculty member actively participates in all of the departments involved.
  • Each department participating in the joint appointment is responsible to integrate the faculty member into the department.
  • The terms of a joint appointment should be expressed in language that is clear and direct such that participating departments understand their respective responsibilities and commitments.
  • The terms of a joint appointment should address the following issues:
  1. the administrative home and its responsibilities to the faculty member;
  2. the manner in which the administrative home interacts with the other departments;
  3. the rights and responsibilities of the faculty member relative to each department, including access to resources;
  4. the processes for promotion, annual evaluation, decisions related to salary adjustment, and dispute resolution;
  5. the percentage of full time equivalent (FTE) load allocated to each department; and
  6. the assignment of workload to participating departments.
  • The processes for promotion should be a single joint process.
  • The process for annual evaluation and annual salary adjustment should be a single joint process that incorporates supervisory input from each department.
  • The process for an annual assessment to measure the appropriateness of the administrative terms of the appointment should be clearly stated.
  • The rights of a jointly appointed faculty must be identified in the event the joint appointment is terminated.

Procedure

  • Deans and/or Chairs of relevant departments will develop an MOU to address the principles outlined above.
  • The MOU is not considered finalized until it has been reviewed and signed by the faculty member and by the Chairs and Deans of the relevant departments. Signed MOUs should be maintained in the faculty member’s file held by the administrative home department.