The Graduate Faculty

The Graduate Faculty consists of members of the university faculty and other persons qualified by training and experience who are duly nominated and appointed. Only members of the Graduate Faculty may teach courses for graduate credit, supervise master’s programs and theses, or serve on doctoral committees.

See current membership criteria for Graduate Faculty status online at www.graduate.ku.edu. Criteria for membership in the Graduate Faculty, revised by the Executive Council of the Graduate Faculty, September 16, 2008:

Regular Graduate Faculty Membership. Regular members of the Graduate Faculty may teach courses for graduate credit, supervise the master’s program and thesis, serve on committees, and sit on doctoral and/or master’s committees. When appropriate, a qualified member of the Regular Graduate Faculty may be nominated to serve as co-chair of a specific dissertation committee if a faculty member with Dissertation Chair status serves as co-chair of the committee and agrees to ensure that all requirements are met. However, if the regular member of the Graduate Faculty has lost dissertation chair status, this does not apply. Present or newly appointed faculty members in tenure-track appointments with the rank of assistant professor or above in departments or programs with approved graduate programs are granted regular membership in the Graduate Faculty, provided they have received the terminal degree in their field of specialization or have acquired equivalent training and/or professional experience as determined by the appropriate Graduate Division. In special cases where faculty members who hold regular membership in the graduate faculty enroll in a KU graduate program as part of their professional development, they may be permitted to retain their graduate faculty status. They may not supervise or serve as the instructor of record for students who are peers in the graduate program in which they are enrolled. To hold regular membership in the Graduate Faculty, a faculty member must continue to show evidence of a pattern of productive professional activity demonstrating the ability to contribute to high-quality graduate education. The form that productive professional activity may take varies across disciplines. Conventional evidence of such activity includes such things as effective teaching, scholarly publication, participation in professional societies, and other scholarly activity. Graduate degree programs are responsible for monitoring faculty with regular membership in the Graduate Faculty.

This table shows the organization and privileges of the various types of Graduate Faculty appointments.

¹The term “doctoral committee” refers to both oral comprehensive and dissertation defense committees.

²A faculty member with the appropriate status may chair a degree committee alone or co-chair a degree committee with another faculty member (i.e., both co-chairs have equal status). Degree committees cannot have both a chair and a co-chair.

Chair of Doctoral Dissertation Committees (Dissertation Status).

It is the responsibility of each graduate degree program to establish standards for doctoral dissertation chair status and to nominate members of the Graduate Faculty who provide evidence of scholarship and involvement in graduate education to the dean of Graduate Studies for authorization to chair doctoral committees. It is the responsibility of the dean(s) of the College or school(s) in which the program resides to approve the standards. Upon approval, standards are to be filed with Graduate Studies, and it is the responsibility of Graduate Studies to approve nominees. To qualify for the privilege of chairing doctoral dissertation committees, a regular member of the Graduate Faculty should demonstrate a record of current scholarship, publication, or other contributions to the field. Additional standards, such as a record of teaching graduate courses or a record of advising and mentoring graduate students or service on thesis and dissertation committees, may be established by the program. Authorization for continuation of the privilege to chair dissertation committees is reviewed as part of each periodic graduate program review.

Ad Hoc and Special Graduate Faculty Appointments. When conditions warrant, Ad Hoc and Special membership in the Graduate Faculty may be granted to persons who do not meet all the qualifications for Regular Graduate Faculty membership. The essential condition for such appointments is that graduate education in the department recommending the appointment will be strengthened by the appointments. Ad Hoc and Special appointments are not to be used to avoid employing needed additional tenure-track faculty. Appointments that involve significant exceptions to these rules for membership come before the Executive Council of Graduate Faculty.

Ad Hoc Appointments to the Graduate Faculty may be granted to persons who are not employed by the university or its affiliates but who are uniquely qualified by training or experience for appointment for a specific, named purpose. Such an appointment is for the purpose of (1) teaching a course or courses; (2) cross-listing courses taught as part of a cooperative graduate program between KU and the appointee’s home institution as KU courses; (3) serving on the thesis, dissertation, or examination committee of a particular student or students; or (4) co-chairing a master’s thesis committee of a particular student.

Ad Hoc appointments are limited to a maximum period of five calendar years for teaching purposes or for the duration of the specified committee assignment. In special cases where faculty members who hold Ad Hoc membership in the graduate faculty enroll in a KU graduate program as part of their professional development, they may be permitted to retain their Ad Hoc graduate faculty status. They may not supervise or serve as the instructor of record for students who are peers in the graduate program in which they are enrolled. Emeritus faculty members who wish to continue serving on committees and teaching graduate courses should be appointed to Ad Hoc status. All nominations for Ad Hoc appointments must state clearly the specific purposes for which the nomination is being sought and, when it can be known in advance, the length of time for which it is being requested. When appropriate, a qualified individual with an Ad Hoc appointment may be nominated to serve as cochair of a specific dissertation committee if a faculty member with dissertation chair status on the Graduate Faculty serves as co-chair and agrees to ensure that all requirements are met.

Special Appointments to the Graduate Faculty may be granted to employees of the university and its affiliates who do not have tenure-track faculty appointments in a department granting graduate degrees but who are uniquely qualified by training or experience for service in the interest of graduate education at KU. Such membership is for the purpose of (1) teaching a course or courses; (2) having courses cross-listed as KU courses if they are part of a cooperative graduate program between KU and the appointee’s home institution; (3) serving on the thesis, dissertation, or examination committee of a particular student; or (4) chairing a master’s thesis committee of a particular student. Special appointments are limited to a maximum period of five calendar years for teaching purposes or for the duration of the specified committee assignment. In special cases where faculty members who hold Special membership in the graduate faculty enroll in a KU graduate program as part of their professional development, they may be permitted to retain their Special graduate faculty status. They may not supervise or serve as the instructor of record for students who are peers in the graduate program in which they are enrolled. All nominations for Special appointments must state clearly the specific purposes for which the nomination is being sought and, when it can be known in advance, the length of time for which it is being requested. Special appointments are reviewed by the appointing graduate department and continued as appropriate. When appropriate, a qualified individual with a Special appointment may be nominated to serve as co-chair of a specific dissertation committee if a faculty member with dissertation chair status serves as co-chair and agrees to ensure that all requirements are met.

Notice of Nonreappointment and Graduate Faculty Eligibility.

Faculty members given a notice of nonreappointment are not eligible to hold Graduate Faculty status in any category. Exceptions to this policy may be requested to allow the faculty member to serve on a graduate student’s committee if the student will meet all degree requirements within the semester. This request must be submitted by the chair of the department of the faculty member receiving the notice of nonreappointment to the appropriate dean of the school/division. If approval is granted there, the request is forwarded to the dean of Graduate Studies for final approval.

For a current list of Graduate Faculty, contact the Office of Graduate Studies.