Select a question to see the answer. To view all answers, click here.What is being done to prevent tenure-track positions from becoming professional-track positions when tenured faculty retire or leave the university?
How soon will instructors who have been teaching at MSU for five or more years be eligible for promotion?
How does this initiative benefit MSU in terms of our goal to become a top 50 research university?
Who will determine how many instructional faculty positions a department can have?
Will faculty in Clinical Faculty positions be forced to change tracks?
What will the process be for faculty who do want to change to one of the new tracks?
How does the number of tenure track positions factor into our research ranking?
Will departments be forced to create positions with these new faculty ranks?
Will departments with instructors be required to develop the process for promotion to Instructor 2 and 3?
Will previous experience at another institution as an instructor count toward promotion at MSU?
What will be done to rectify OP 56.06 with the Faculty Handbook in the promotion process for non-tenure-track faculty ranks?
What will be the process once the new faculty ranks are created?
Will Instructor with sufficient years of experience and qualifications be allowed to move directly from Instructor 1 to Instructor 3?
Will those holding a title of Associate Clinical Professor be allowed to transfer directly to Associate Teaching Professor, or will they be forced to move to Assistant Teaching Professor?
Will instructors who meet the qualifications be automatically allowed to transfer into one of the new professorial ranks?
How will the creation of these new faculty lines affect the Graduate Faculty? Will these faculty be able to serve as Graduate Faculty?
Can these non-tenured faculty lines (particularly Teaching Professor and Professor of Practice) serve as PI or co-PI on federal grants?
Will the new faculty lines be 9- or 12-month appointments?
Will the voting be by line item or will it be one block vote for all the positions?
Will a tenure-track faculty position be allowed to convert to a professional track position without a search?
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What is being done to prevent tenure-track positions from becoming professional-track positions when tenured faculty retire or leave the university?
That is a decision that will be coming from the affected faculty, department head, and dean. There certainly may be some instances where the case will be made to the provost that such a change is warranted, but it would only be on a case-by-case basis, and full justification would be required. This has already been the case with the clinical faculty positions that have been created. This initiative in large part is focused on developing more appropriate titles, and allowing the use of the term clinical professors to be used in a more appropriate way.
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How soon will instructors who have been teaching at MSU for five or more years be eligible for promotion?
If the new faculty ranks pass the general faculty vote, the Robert Holland Faculty Senate will have to update Section V of the Faculty Handbook (the section dealing with promotion and tenure) to include guidance for promotion for the new ranks. Changes made to Section V of the Faculty Handbook will not be effective until one year later to allow departments and colleges sufficient time to edit their promotion and tenure guidelines accordingly. Applications for promotion of instructors could take place in the fall or early spring while these policies are developed, with an effective date for successful promotions of July 1, 2023.
MSU must carefully balance our faculty among the various faculty ranks existing and proposed. As we continue to grow enrollment, substantial strain has been placed on tenure-track faculty to provide additional teaching, which can reduce their time for research and scholarship. These new faculty ranks will allow tenure track faculty the time necessary to better balance their time between teaching, research, and service.
This will be a decision for the affected faculty, department heads, and deans. We should not impose a one-size-fits-all minimum or maximum; departmental needs will vary widely across the institution.
No.
This should be a decision that follows MSU’s shared governance approach. A letter requesting such a change should be written by the faculty member, with concurrence from the departmental P&T committee, department head, college P&T committee, and dean. For clinical faculty converting to teaching professor or professor of the practice titles, in most cases it is expected to be automatically approved, but each specific case should be reviewed by all affected parties.
There are some ranking systems that do take into account the number of tenure track faculty, thus the reason to carefully balance faculty positions. However, most ranking systems take into account faculty research productivity as much as faculty numbers, and this effort is providing tenure track faculty the appropriate time for research and creative activities rather than substantial increases in teaching workload.
No. This will be a decision made by the faculty, department heads, and deans. These new faculty ranks are options that will be provided, but in no way will they be mandated.
The new ranks of Teaching Professors and Professors of Practice are, in many ways, cleaning up the use, or at times misuse, of what we already have in place with Clinical Professors. Thus, it is not a new set of faculty ranks as much as clarifying positions we have already created.
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Will departments with instructors be required to develop the process for promotion to Instructor 2 and 3?
Yes. All instructors should have the opportunity for career advancement, so development of the promotion process will be mandatory for all departments with Instructors.
Yes. We will need to work out a process to determine how to credit these years of experience, since current policy requires this to be designated in the offer letter, but a policy will be developed to accomplish this.
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What will be done to rectify OP 56.06 with the Faculty Handbook in the promotion process for non-tenure-track faculty ranks?
Language from OP 56.06 will be harmonized into the Faculty Handbook, negating the need for a separate operating policy.
With a positive vote of the faculty, Faculty Senate will begin debate on changes to the Faculty Handbook necessary to accommodate these ranks. Faculty Senate has tentatively called a special meeting for May 6, depending on the general faculty vote, to consider the proposed changes developed by a special committee. These changes can be viewed in the Faculty Senate agenda package, at: https://www.facultysenate.msstate.edu/sites/www.facultysenate.msstate.edu/files/2021-04/FS_April_2021_Agenda.pdf
Once the changes to the Faculty Handbook have been made, this guidance will be provided to departments and colleges, and the process of revising their existing promotion documents will proceed in the fall semester, with an expected completion by January 2023. Once these departmental and college promotion processes have been established, Instructors will be allowed to submit an application package, and those who are successful will be promoted to Instructor 2 effective July 1, 2023.
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Will Instructor with sufficient years of experience and qualifications be allowed to move directly from Instructor 1 to Instructor 3?
No. MSU will require a stepwise procession from Instructor 1 to Instructor 2 to Instructor 3.
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Will those holding a title of Associate Clinical Professor be allowed to transfer directly to Associate Teaching Professor, or will they be forced to move to Assistant Teaching Professor?
Any faculty member holding the title of Associate Clinical Professor who wishes to be retitled will be allowed to move the title to Associate Teaching Professor or Associate Professor of Practice, whichever is most appropriate.
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Will instructors who meet the qualifications be automatically allowed to transfer into one of the new professorial ranks?
No. Instructors are in a different track (rank and title structure) and cannot automatically transfer. Instructors will be able to apply to new professorial positions if they meet the qualifications.
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How will the creation of these new faculty lines affect the Graduate Faculty? Will these faculty be able to serve as Graduate Faculty?
Teaching Professors and Professors of Practice will be able to serve as graduate faculty. Clinical Professors already hold this privilege.
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Can these non-tenured faculty lines (particularly Teaching Professor and Professor of Practice) serve as PI or co-PI on federal grants?
Yes, these titles will qualify to serve as PI or co-PI on proposals.
We expect most will be 9-month appointments. There may be circumstances in which a 12-month appointment is most appropriate so that will be a possibility as well.
There will be one vote for all new faculty titles and ranks.
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Will a tenure-track faculty position be allowed to convert to a professional track position without a search?
Except under unique circumstances, any movement from one track to another would require a new position to be established and a search process implemented.