Regulation of Professor of Practice Appointments

Scope

All individuals holding Professor of Practice appointments.

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Policy Statement

1. Use of Professor of Practice Appointment
   1. The primary responsibility of Professors of Practice is teaching. Appointees may be assigned research and service responsibilities, but these activities must be in support of teaching, student development, and placement. Appointments of Professors of Practice are restricted to those who have achieved distinction in their chosen field of practice, and who bring to the university unique practical experiences and talents that will benefit our students. Appointees shall hold the terminal professional degree in the field or give evidence of equivalent capabilities by virtue of experience. 
   2. Academic units who use this rank must develop policies that define expectations for “excellence” in instruction. Because numerical summaries in student course evaluations may reflect cultural biases, and low participation rates may skew results, numerical ratings should not be used as the primary source of data for evaluating teaching. Each unit faculty governance organization shall have a policy for evaluating teaching that provides for qualitative student feedback and other sources of information. 
   3. The Professor of Practice title may be preceded by Visiting or Adjunct.
2. Rights and Privileges
   1. Professors of Practice are expected to follow and will be protected by university policies, including those pertaining to academic freedom, faculty hiring, and faculty annual reviews. The faculty salary policies of the university, campus, school, and department shall apply to this rank. Professors of Practice have the right to petition the campus faculty board of review. They are not eligible for university sabbatical leave, but schools may provide sabbatical-like leaves for Professors of Practice to provide opportunities for professional learning and collaboration with colleagues.
   2. Participation in university and campus faculty governance is governed by the Constitution of the Faculty of Indiana University and the faculty constitutions on each campus. The role of Professors of Practice in governance within the unit shall be determined by vote of the tenured and tenure-probationary faculty of the unit, provided that where non-tenure-track appointees have voting privileges, their voting participation must be structured in a way that reserves at least 60% of voting weight to tenure-track faculty. The academic integrity of the school and its programs ultimately is the responsibility of tenured and tenure-probationary faculty.
   3. The rights of Professors of Practice and the regulations concerning their roles within each school shall be written and available to the school faculty. A copy of all rights and regulations shall be filed with the campus chief academic officer and with the campus faculty governance body.
   4. Professors of Practice are not eligible for academic administrative appointments at and above the department chair level.
3. Appointment
   1. Candidates for initial appointments as Professor of Practice shall be reviewed by faculty in the appointing academic unit; a majority vote in favor among eligible faculty is required for appointment. Candidates will have their credentials reviewed by the Provost/Chancellor or designee, who must approve the offer.  Professors of Practice should be accorded as many faculty rights and privileges as are consistent with their qualifications and responsibilities in accordance with the University Faculty Constitution.
   2. Professors of Practice are subject to a seven-year probationary period, with an initial appointment of three years and the opportunity for annual appointments thereafter through year six.
      • University practice requires that probationary periods be served on a continuing basis unless a leave of absence has been applied for and been granted.
   3. While Professors of Practice are not eligible for tenure, they are eligible for a long-term appointment following the probationary period.
      1. A major performance review shall take place before the end of the seven-year probationary period, and if performance is judged excellent, an appointee shall be given a long-term appointment (either a three-years rolling appointment or a five-year term).
      2. The criteria for granting long-term appointments shall be based only on those responsibilities that are assigned to the appointee and shall be analogous to the criteria for granting tenure.
      3. Each school will establish procedures and specific criteria for review of individuals concerning the renewal of long-term appointments.
   4. The Professor of Practice appointment may not be converted to a tenure-track position.
   5. The university is not obliged to relocate within the institution Professors of Practice whose positions are eliminated because of closure, permanent downsizing, or changing staffing needs of their academic programs.
4. Dismissal

   Professors of Practice during the probationary period shall be subject to the same policies and procedures with respect to appointment, reappointment, non-reappointment and dismissal as apply to tenure-probationary faculty during the probationary period. After the probationary period, dismissal of a Professor of Practice holding a long-term appointment which has not expired may occur because of closure or permanent downsizing of the academic unit in which the faculty member teaches and serves; otherwise, dismissal shall occur only for reasons of professional incompetence, serious personal or professional misconduct or university financial exigency. Non-reappointment of Professors of Practice to a new appointment may occur for the foregoing reasons or may occur as well for reasons of changing staffing needs of the academic unit’s program. Non-reappointment decisions regarding Professors of Practice holding a long-term appointment after the probationary period must be made with faculty consultation through processes established by the school’s faculty governance organizations. The jurisdiction of campus faculty grievance processes includes dismissal and non-reappointment of Professors of Practice.

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Definitions

Personal or professional misconduct: Conduct that has been determined to violate a misconduct policy of the university or a campus which has been enacted or approved by a faculty governance organization, including UA-03, Discrimination, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct; ACA-30, Research Misconduct, ACA-33, Code of Academic Ethics, and campus policies on personal misconduct.

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History

This policy was adopted by the UFC on May 6, 2011.  It was revised in 2020 and to cross-reference the ACA-41, the university’s financial exigency policy (UFC Executive Committee, May 14, 2020), and to define personal and professional misconduct (UFC, December 7, 2020).

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