Appointment of Graduate Faculty

Initial Appointment

Newly hired, tenure-track assistant professors automatically receive a seven-year Associate Member graduate faculty appointment. 

Promotion & Tenure

The promotion and/or tenure package will include a recommendation for graduate faculty status to be effective the same date as the proposed action.  The Graduate School,  working with Human Resource Management, will document the outcome of the review. 

HRM provides information relevant to the promotion and tenure process for HR Contacts, departments, and colleges. If further information is needed, please visit the HRM website.  

Annual Performance Review

All faculty participate in an annual performance evaluation. In the annual evaluation, the department chair will consider whether the graduate faculty member has demonstrated a current and sustained record of scholarly or creative activities consistent with the standards for graduate faculty status. Based on the evaluation, the department chair will recommend to the dean:

• Conditional Continued Graduate Faculty Appointment– with recommendations for improvement in teaching and/or research

• Change to Three Year Associate Member
  
  If the chair recommends conditional continued appointment or change/removal of graduate faculty status, the faculty member must submit a current CV to the dean. The dean will make the final determination of the graduate faculty status. Changes in graduate faculty status should be documented with a justification given.  A review of the graduate faculty status of Deans, Vice-Chancellors, and others reporting directly to the Provost is included in the individual’s annual review by the Provost and any change in the graduate faculty status is reported to the Dean of the Graduate School. If faculty member meet expectations, Full Member status is restored. If faculty member does not meet expectations, he/she must continue as a Three Year Associate Member.

• Removal of Graduate Faculty Status

Term or Off-Campus Affiliate Appointment

Faculty not on tenure-track or not appointed on the LSU A&M campus should include a graduate faculty status evaluation in annual reviews. These appointments usually involve research affiliate or professional affiliate status, which will continue as three-year term appointments. New appointments and re-appointments should be reviewed and reported to the Graduate School upon recommendation by the academic dean. The Graduate Council will make a recommendation regarding graduate faculty status to the Dean of the Graduate School who will make the final approval.

Nominations for affiliate graduate faculty appointments are reviewed by the Graduate Council quarterly. The Dean of the Graduate School will make the final approval and notify the college dean and representative of the final decision.

To complete this process, nomination forms, including a letter of justification and current curriculum vitae,  should be submitted through the Affiliate Graduate Faculty Nomination portal (https://lsu-gradschool.infoready4.com).
 

Administrative Approval

All other graduate faculty appointments are handled via administrative approvals by Department Chairs with the Academic College Dean’s recommendation using an administrative approval form accompanied by the nominee's current vita. All requests must include a rationale explaining why the department is requesting approval for the nominee to teach courses for graduate credit or serve on student committees.

For more information on Administrative Course Approval or Administrative Committee approval, please click the buttons below. You may also reference the Faculty Credentials and Qualifications Manual.

Appeals

The faculty member may appeal the decision regarding her/his graduate faculty status to the Graduate Council. The appeal must include the justification for the status change or conditional continuation from the academic dean. The faculty member may choose to provide a defense of his/her record in addition to the CV. The Graduate Council will make a recommendation to the Provost who will make the final decision regarding the individual’s graduate faculty status.