POLICY ON GRADUATE FACULTY APPOINTMENTS WITHIN GSBMS

Purpose

According to the By-Laws of the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences (hereafter referred to as the Graduate School, or abbreviated as GSBMS) of New York Medical College (NYMC), the Graduate Faculty has the responsibility of establishing the academic policies of the Graduate School. As a mechanism for assuring the quality of the academic programs of the Graduate School, and as a mechanism for entrusting governance rights only to those individuals qualified to participate in such academic governance, it is Graduate School policy to review the professional, academic and scholarly credentials of all faculty who wish to participate in these programs to a substantive degree. The authority to approve membership on the Graduate Faculty is held by the faculty itself and is exercised by the Graduate Faculty Council, as specified in the By-Laws of the Graduate School. All appointments to the Graduate Faculty are subject to approval by the College's Board of Trustees.

Classification of Graduate Faculty

A Graduate Faculty Mentor has full faculty rights and full voting privileges in the Graduate School. He or she may sponsor a Ph.D. student or an M.S. student, and may serve on Ph.D. or M.S. thesis committees and as a reader / evaluator of an M.S. Literature Review. Such an individual may serve as a graduate course director, a graduate program director, a member of the Graduate Faculty Council, or as a member of any standing, regular or ad hoc committee of the Graduate Faculty. While a graduate faculty mentor is eligible to undertake the various faculty roles listed, assignment to these various tasks in any specific case remains subject to the usual approvals required by the Graduate School.

Individuals who are full-time NYMC faculty member with a primary or secondary appointment in one of the basic science departments are eligible for Graduate Faculty Mentor status. Also eligible are individuals who are not NYMC employees, but who hold an adjunct appointment in one of the basic science departments. Individuals who hold a primary appointment at another academic institution, however, are not eligible for graduate faculty membership.

In addition to these appointment criteria, the individual must demonstrate by scholarly record that he or she is competent to teach at the graduate level, is able to conduct independent research in an area relevant to one of the GSBMS academic programs, and, therefore, is qualified to oversee the education and training of a Ph.D. or M.S. scientist. These criteria are met by the attainment of a doctoral degree, an appropriate professional and scholarly record, evidence of independent investigation, research productivity and scholarship, and the existence of an active research program. The interest of the individual in participating in Graduate School programs must be attested to.

A Regular Member of the Graduate Faculty has the same rights and privileges as the Graduate Faculty Mentor except the right to sponsor a Ph.D. student or an M.S. student conducting a laboratory research-based thesis project. Assignment to these various tasks in any specific case remains subject to the usual approvals required by the Graduate School. Eligibility for regular faculty status is identical to that for mentor status except that a record of independent research is not required.

Adjunct or Visiting Faculty are individuals who bear a major teaching load in one or more approved graduate courses, but who are not members of the graduate faculty. Since they are not members of the graduate faculty, they cannot be course directors or graduate program directors, nor do they have the right to participate in Graduate School governance. If qualified, based on their expertise and/or experience, adjunct and visiting faculty can serve on Ph.D. or M.S. thesis committees and as readers / evaluators of M.S. literature reviews. In this capacity, however, they would not count against the Graduate School requirement for a certain minimum number of graduate faculty representatives on such committees. Although they cannot vote as members of the graduate faculty or serve on the Graduate Faculty Council, adjunct and visiting faculty can serve on ad hoc or special committees of the graduate faculty. They would be extended library privileges for the term of their participation in Graduate School teaching programs. All specific assignments of duties or privileges remain subject to the usual approval processes of the Graduate School.

The term Visiting Faculty will be used to designate those individuals whose primary appointment is as a faculty member at another academic institution, whereas the term Adjunct Faculty will be used for those individuals whose primary professional position is not academic or is in a non-academic institution, such as in industry, government or private practice.

Criteria for approval as adjunct or visiting faculty include the holding of an appropriate academic degree (Master's / doctorate / professional), the individual's professional and/or scholarly record, and his or her willingness to participate in Graduate School programs.

Appointment Processes

Regular Graduate Faculty Members and Graduate Faculty Mentors are nominated for membership by their department chairperson, and are reviewed by the Membership Committee, which is a standing committee of the Graduate School. The Graduate Faculty Council votes on the recommendations of the Membership Committee. The names of those elected to the graduate faculty are then submitted to the College's Board of Trustees (Academic Affairs Committee) for its approval. Graduate Faculty status is terminated concurrent with the termination of employment by the College, except in the case of emeritus faculty. Graduate faculty who no longer participate in the programs of the Graduate School, even though they maintain an association with NYMC, may also be subject to loss of graduate faculty status. This shall be ascertained by consultation between the dean and the appropriate department chair and graduate program director. Graduate faculty may resign their graduate faculty status at any time.

Adjunct and Visiting Faculty are nominated by the host graduate program, through the department chairperson. These nominations are considered by the Curriculum Committee, which is charged with reviewing all new and revised graduate courses. If the candidate is qualified, the Curriculum Committee will recommend provisional authorization for the first time that an adjunct or visiting faculty participates in a course. If the individual's performance meets an acceptable standard, approval may be extended for a period of three years and may be renewed thereafter for three-year terms. The Graduate Faculty Council votes on the recommendations of the Curriculum Committee, and the College's Board of Trustees (Academic Affairs Committee) votes on whether to approve these appointments.

History

The designation of a graduate faculty was created in The Organization and By-Laws of the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, approved by the College's Board of Trustees in February, 1969.

The eligibility criteria, approval procedures and role of the Membership Committee were subsequently established by the Graduate Faculty Council.

The distinction between the mentor and regular graduate faculty categories was created in 1993.

The definitions and standards outlined above, including the creation of the Adjunct / Visiting Faculty classification, were approved by the Graduate Faculty Council in October 1997.

This policy was approved by the Academic Affairs Committee (April 22, 1998) and the Governance Committee (May 1, 1998) of the College's Board of Trustees.