CON Procedures for Appointment as Graduate Faculty

Home   Faculty Policies                    


UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER
COLLEGE OF NURSING
Procedures for Appointment as Graduate Faculty Subsection: 4.4.7
Section 4.0 - Faculty Policies Originating Date: October 2012
Responsible Reviewing Agency:
Executive Council
Revised: January 2015 (changes)
Revised: November 2021 (changes)


New faculty members with the rank of assistant professor or higher, who hold a terminal degree, and who are appointed to specific term, health professions or continuous appointments, are automatically appointed as Graduate Faculty in their letter of appointment at the time of hire, contingent upon the approval of the campus Dean for Graduate Studies. Upon hire, the Dean’s Office communicates to the Dean for Graduate Studies that a faculty member has been hired and offered graduate faculty status.

New faculty members with a special appointment at the rank of assistant professor or higher (or who are appointed as senior lecturers or adjunct faculty members) and who hold a terminal degree must apply for Graduate Faculty status. Criteria for membership on the graduate faculty (University of Nebraska Graduate College Policy Handbook, Section II.D) are that the nominee must:

  1. hold the rank of Senior Lecturer 1, Assistant Professor or above;
  2. hold the terminal degree normally accepted for academic employment in the discipline or its clear equivalent as determined by the Graduate Committee of the nominee's department/school or interdepartmental area;
  3. be actively involved in scholarly activity and/or graduate teaching as part of his or her regular duties; and,
  4. have demonstrated clear evidence of continuing scholarly activity at the national level and potential in the discipline, beyond teaching.

The following process must be used (University of Nebraska Graduate College Policy Handbook, Section II.D.2, p. 6).

  1. Submit an application form and vita to the chair of the department or assistant dean of a division.
  2. All graduate faculty members in the College must vote on the application and at least 2/3 of the graduate faculty must vote to support the application. The chair of the department or the assistant dean for the division will write a letter to the Dean of Graduate Studies at UNMC explaining the reasons for support of the nomination. If either of these individuals is not a graduate faculty member, the letter will be written by the Dean of the College of Nursing. The nomination materials will be sent to the Dean of Graduate Studies at UNMC with the letter of support.
  3. The Dean of Graduate Studies at UNMC will review the nomination and if approved, will forward it to the Dean of the University of Nebraska Graduate College.
  4. The Dean of the University of Nebraska Graduate College makes a determination and if approved, will appoint the faculty member to Graduate Faculty status.
  5. Procedures for appeal may be found in the University of Nebraska Graduate College Policy Handbook, (Section II.E., p. 10). Nomination forms may be found on the University of Nebraska Medical Center Graduate Studies web pages, at https://www.unmc.edu/gradstudies/faculty-staff/index.html.