Classification of Academic Appointments

Scope

All units and academic appointees at Indiana University.

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Policy Statement

1. Tenure-Track Appointments

   Through their work and through their participation in faculty governance and administration, tenure track faculty and librarians have primary responsibility for the accomplishment and the integrity of the university’s academic mission

   1. Faculty Appointments. Tenure-track faculty have responsibility for teaching, research and service. Titles: Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor.
   2. Librarian Appointments.Tenure-track librarians have responsibility for performance of librarianship duties, professional development/research/creative activities, and service. Librarians have a master’s degree from an American Library Association-accredited library school or the equivalent professional credentials or a graduate degree in other professional or scholarly fields where appropriate. Titles: Librarian, Associate Librarian, and Assistant Librarian.

   History: University Faculty Council, February 13, 2001; April 28, 2009; Board of Trustees, May 4, 2001; June 12, 2009. Revised to adopt Teaching Professor in the Lecturer Rank, University Faculty Council, April 23, 2019; Board of Trustees, June 14, 2019. 

2. Non-Tenure-Track Appointments
   1. Clinical Appointments.The prefix “Clinical” is used for appointees whose primary duties are teaching students and residents/fellows and providing professional service in the clinical setting. Titles: Clinical Professor, Associate Clinical Professor, Assistant Clinical Professor; or Clinical Senior Lecturer and Clinical Lecturer.
   2. Lecturer & Teaching Professor Appointments. Lecturers/Teaching Professors may be assigned responsibility for teaching, and for research and service that supports teaching, in courses for which such assignments have been approved by the faculty of the academic unit. The Lecturer/Teaching Professor category is the appropriate classification for non-tenure-track teaching faculty in instances where the unit has a continuing need for the resource (except for clinical appointees, Professor of Practice appointees, and except in instances where adjunct appointments are appropriate, as specified below). Titles: Teaching Professor, Senior Lecturer, Lecturer.
   3. Professor of Practice Appointments. Professors of Practice may be assigned instructional responsibilities, along with activities in support of student development and placement. This classification is appropriate for individuals who have achieved excellence in a field of practice, and who have attained a position of regional, national and even international prominence. Title: Professor of Practice.
   4. Acting, Visiting, and Adjunct Appointments. The terms, “acting,” “visiting,” and “adjunct” may modify titles in any appointment classification, but constitute distinct appointment classifications. These classifications are non-probationary appointments. Visiting and Adjunct appointees do not have voting rights in faculty governance; Acting appointees’ voting rights in faculty governance within the academic unit is subject to unit regulation.
      • Explanation and comment on Acting, Visiting, and Adjunct Appointments: Visiting and Adjunct appointees do not have the kind of relationship to Indiana University and its programs that justifies voting participation in faculty governance. Since it is contemplated that Acting appointees will take up regular appointments on the expected fulfillment of conditions, their participation in governance is subject to unit regulation.
        • Acting Appointments. The qualification “Acting” indicates a temporary appointment with the understanding that when a specified condition (e.g., completion of a terminal degree) is met, the appointee will receive a regular appointment in the appointment classification indicated. Acting appointments may not continue for longer than two years, except in special circumstances approved by the campus’ Academic Officer.

          Explanation and comment on Acting Appointments: What are here termed “Acting” appointments have traditionally been used, with various terminology, for individuals who will take up tenure-track appointments on receiving a terminal degree, but acting appointments may be appropriate for clinical and lecturer appointments as well, for example, where a clinical appointment is conditioned on obtaining a license or a board certification. “Special circumstances” may relate to an individual case or to the circumstances of a field and unit, but exceptions should be granted consistently with the limitation of this classification as a temporary appointment.

        • Visiting Appointments. The qualification “Visiting” indicates a temporary appointment that may continue for no more than two years, except in special circumstances approved by the campus’s Academic Officer. Visiting appointees shall have the qualifications appropriate to the appointment classification indicated.

          Explanation and comment on Visiting Appointments: Visiting appointments are appropriate where there is a temporary need, for example, to fill the place of an appointee on leave, where there is an increased need for academic personnel in circumstances where there is uncertainty the need will continue, or where a position has become available or open with insufficient lead time to conduct an appropriate search. The university is not obligated to count service as a Visiting appointee as credit toward tenure or long-term contract status if the appointment is later changed to a regular appointment, but exceptions may be made in accordance with the procedures used by the university in making regular academic appointments.

        • Adjunct Appointments. The qualification “Adjunct” is appropriate for teaching appointments of individuals, whether compensated or volunteer, whose career paths lie primarily in another position or employment. That is, the appointment is “adjunct” (“auxiliary”) to the career of the appointee, as well as to the faculty of the unit. Adjunct appointments, therefore, are necessarily part-time. Adjunct appointments are appropriate for individuals who have expertise useful for the accomplishment of the unit’s mission where that expertise is not available in the unit’s regular faculty. An adjunct appointee does not participate in faculty governance in the unit in which an adjunct appointment is held. Those with adjunct appointments fall within three groups: individuals whose principal employments are outside the university; those whose principal employments are within the university in positions for which teaching is not an appropriate responsibility; and faculty whose work in a second academic unit justifies a courtesy appointment in that unit.

          Explanation and comment on Adjunct Appointments: Faculty who have full rights in more than one unit should have joint appointments. Discipline will be required to avoid appointment as adjuncts those who should be appointed as part-time lecturers.

   5. Research Appointments. Research appointees are those researchers who typically hold the terminal degree and postdoctorate experience (or its equivalent) and who are employed by Indiana University for research and service responsibilities. Titles: Senior Scientist (or Senior Scholar), Associate Scientist (or Associate Scholar) and Assistant Scientist (or Assistant Scholar).

      History: University Faculty Council, February 13, 2001; January 18, 2011; Board of Trustees, May 4, 2001.

   6. Please refer to campus-specific documents for policies and procedures pertaining to non-tenure-track academic appointees.
3. Specialist and Honorary Appointments
   1. Academic Specialist Appointments. Appointees with academic responsibilities who do not themselves offer courses for credit or act as principal investigators in research. The published academic regulations for each campus shall maintain a list of titles that fall within this classification.
      • Explanation and Comment on Academic Specialist Appointments: Many of the staff in this classification currently hold job classifications within Human Resources, but should be under Academic Officers’ administration. The Academic Leadership Committee has since passed the regulations, which appear below.
   2. Honorary Appointments. Honorary appointments are given to those not employed within the university who render service to the university’s mission in a manner that justifies the recognition of an honorary title. The published academic regulations for each campus shall maintain a list of honorary titles, indicated as such.

      History: University Faculty Council, February 13, 2001; Board of Trustees, May 4, 2001.

4. Resident, Clinical Fellow, Physician and Other Academic Appointments
   1. Resident. The title “Resident” is used for individuals who have completed the academic requirements for the M.D. or D.D.S. degree and wish to further develop the knowledge and skills acquired as a medical or dental student. This period of graduate education extends between one and seven years, depending on the specialty chosen. This training is usually obtained in the university-owned or affiliated hospitals.
   2. Clinical Fellow. The title “Clinical Fellow” is to be used only by the Medical Center for those individuals with doctoral degrees pursuing additional training in a specialized area. No degree is sought or given. Compensation is made in recognition of services performed or the achievement of prescribed objectives during a specified period.
   3. Physician. The title “Physician” is used only for medical doctors employed in the Student Health Center.

      History: University Faculty Council, April 11, 1978.

5. While the categories set forth in this policy cover most academic appointees, they are not exhaustive. Certain university officers who do not hold faculty ranks and interns in various programs are academic appointees. The above listing seeks simply to identify the major categories of appointees who participate in and help to perform the academic mission of the university.

(Administrative Practice)

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History

June 2025- Update Responsible Office

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