Home > III. Human Resources > Ch.10 - Faculty

10.8 Part-Time Faculty Members

(Regents 6/27-28/74)
  1. Definitions. As used in these regulations:
    1. "Part-time" means fifty percent or more but less than one hundred percent of full-time.
    2. "Faculty member" means a person holding the rank of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor.
  2. Mutual obligations. A part-time faculty member on the tenure track is expected to meet the various obligations of a full-time faculty member in proportion to the percentage of the appointment. Administrative units of the University are expected to assign duties and provide support to a part-time faculty member on the same basis as to a full-time faculty member, except prorated in accordance with the percentage of appointment.
  3. Requirements and qualifications. Except for the time periods specified in III-10.5, all requirements and qualifications of III-10.1–10.5 apply to part-time faculty members.
  4. Time periods. The six- and seven-year periods specified in III-10.5 are applicable to full-time faculty members. For the purposes of III-10.5, the service of part-time faculty members will be calculated by adding together part-time service (fifty percent or more) until the time periods set forth in III-10.5 and elsewhere have been completed. Thus, twelve years of fifty percent service will be deemed the equivalent of six years of full-time service; ten years of sixty percent service will be deemed the equivalent of six years of full-time service; eight years of seventy-five percent service will be the equivalent of six years of full-time service; and six years of seventy-five percent service coupled with three years of fifty percent service will be deemed the equivalent of six years of full-time service.
  5. Tenure status. Tenure status shall be awarded to part-time faculty members who are found to meet University standards for granting tenure, with the performance expectations to be identical with those required of full-time faculty members. Faculty service which is less than fifty percent of full-time service will not be credited towards completion of a probationary period leading to a tenure decision.
  6. Percentage of full-time service. The percentage of full-time service obligation and right of a part-time faculty member who has earned tenure normally will be at the median percentage of full-time service rendered by the faculty member during the probationary period. Part-time faculty members who currently have tenure shall have a percentage of full-time service obligation and right at the percentage at which the faculty member was serving when tenure was awarded.
  7. Adjusting part-time service. The decision to increase permanently to full time the percentage of a part-time faculty member's service is to be made in the same fashion as a new hiring decision and in all cases the person most qualified to fill the available position will be employed. A present part-time faculty member shall be given preference in filling a vacancy in their academic unit, however, if equally qualified for the position in comparison with all other applicants. In considering whether to increase a part-time faculty member to full-time status or to employ a new full-time faculty member, the decision will be made wholly on the merits of the candidates under consideration and shall not be influenced by the fact that it may be more inconvenient to move the present part-time faculty member to full time and to hire a new part-time faculty member than to employ a new full-time faculty member, nor to the extent fiscal resources permit, by the fact that the salary of the part-time faculty member when moved to full time may be higher than that of a full-time faculty member hired from off campus. A part-time faculty member and the collegiate dean may agree in writing at any time 1) to decrease permanently the percentage of full-time service to be required of the faculty member, as long as the percentage does not fall below fifty percent; and 2) to decrease or increase temporarily — for not more than two years — the percentage of service to be rendered.
  8. Reducing full-time appointment. Any agreement that a full-time tenured appointee will thereafter serve on a part-time basis shall specify either 1) that the tenured appointment thereafter will relate solely to service on an agreed part-time basis; or 2) that the appointee will return to full-time service on a specified date. Such an agreement shall be in writing and is subject to modification only by a written agreement between the faculty member and the collegiate dean. In no event shall the percentage of tenure status be reduced to less than fifty percent.
  9. Rights and Responsibilities. Part-time faculty members shall be entitled to all University, collegiate, and departmental rights, and have all responsibilities of full-time faculty members.