Instructional-track Faculty Appointment and Review

College of Education - approved 5/19/2017

Introduction. Consistent with the University’s Instructional Faculty Policy as stated in the University Operations Manual, Section III-10.11, non-tenure track faculty may be appointed and promoted in the College of Education as provided below and in the College of Education Procedures for Instructional-track Promotion Decision Making.

Justification. The College’s teaching mission is primarily carried out by faculty in three tracks. Tenured and tenure-track faculty carry out a comprehensive agenda of teaching, research, and service in a given area of scholarship. Clinical-track faculty carry out an agenda of teaching, professional productivity, and service, devoting a significant portion of their time to providing and overseeing the delivery of professional services. Instructional faculty carry out an agenda focused primarily on teaching related activities, and are hired rather than tenure-track or clinical-track faculty when programs have a need for specific, discreet professional or other expertise in the teaching of particular courses. Additionally, instructional-track appointments allow flexibility to adjust programs in order to meet the changing needs of students and society.
Role of Instructional Faculty. Instructional faculty serve the University of Iowa, College of Education predominantly through their contributions to the College’s teaching mission and they may also do some service. However, instructional faculty shall not be assigned primarily to perform service or administrative functions with few or no educational responsibilities. While primarily assigned to classroom teaching duties, they may also undertake other instructional activities such as advising students; supervising community-based placements and graduate assistants; leading independent studies; or assisting with course development. Instructional faculty are not eligible for tenure. They participate in the faculty governance process as described below.
Definition of Instructional Faculty Titles. Instructional faculty shall be designated as:
1. Lecturer in (Program Area),
2. Associate Professor of Instruction/Practice in (Program Area), or
3. Professor of Instruction/Practice in (Program Area).
  1. Instructional faculty appointments may be made at the ranks of lecturer, associate professor of instruction, associate professor of practice, professor of instruction, or professor of practice.
  2. The Associate Professor/Professor of Instruction title is applicable when instructional faculty have an established record of excellence in teaching and meet the qualifications for rank specified below.
  3. The Associate Professor/Professor of Practice title is applicable when instructional faculty are distinguished professionals whose professional expertise and experience qualifies them to teach, advise students, develop curricula, or engage in other pedagogical activities related to their expertise, and meet the qualifications for rank specified below.
Salaried Appointments. Instructional faculty must hold .50 FTE or greater salaried positions as employees of the University of Iowa. These faculty members participate in faculty governance as defined below, receive standard University benefits for faculty, and undergo periodic performance reviews. The college shall monitor the percent of its total salaried faculty (FTE) that hold instructional-track appointments.
Requests for Appointment. Requests for instructional faculty lines will be initiated by the program coordinator and submitted to the Department Chair and Dean for review and approval. Instructional faculty are searched for and appointed through University-wide recruitment processes. Each request must include a detailed description of the proposed duties and documentation of performance expectations. Such documentation is to include clear performance and promotion criteria in accordance with provisions of this policy and College of Education Procedures for Instructional-track Promotion Decision Making.
Qualifications for Specific Ranks. The ranks of instructional faculty shall be assigned according to the qualifications below. These qualifications will depend on the needs and standards of the specific programs.
1. Lecturer:
  1. Terminal degree or other educational qualifications appropriate to the position;
  2. Evidence of potential in teaching, which can be demonstrated through experience in classroom teaching (including as a teaching assistant), pedagogically related advising or mentoring, curriculum development, or other means; and
  3. Evidence of potential to contribute to departmental and collegiate service.
2. Associate Professor of Instruction:
  1. Holder of the doctorate or equivalent. Professional licensure where appropriate to the discipline;
  2. Established record of excellence in teaching; and
  3. Established record of excellence beyond teaching in service.
3. Associate Professor of Practice:
  1. Holder of the doctorate or equivalent. Professional licensure where appropriate to the discipline;
  2. Experience and achievement in a profession relevant to the position;
  3. Established record of excellence in teaching, advising students, developing curricula, or other pedagogical activities related to expertise, or an established record of success in professional endeavors indicating the potential for such excellence; and
  4. Established record of excellence in service.
4. Professor of Instruction:
  1. Holder of the doctorate or equivalent. Professional licensure where appropriate to the discipline;
  2. Sustained record of excellence across a range of teaching endeavors as recognized by faculty and students within the department, college, and/or University community; and
  3. Sustained record of excellence beyond teaching in service.
5. Professor of Practice:
  1. Holder of the doctorate or equivalent. Professional licensure where appropriate to the discipline;
  2. Substantial experience and outstanding achievement in a profession relevant to the position;
  3. Sustained record of excellence in teaching, advising students, developing curricula, or other pedagogical activities related to expertise, or a sustained record of success in professional endeavors indicating the potential for such excellence; and
  4. Sustained record of excellence in service.

Teaching and Service Load. The baseline expectancy is that a full time instructional faculty member will teach the equivalent of four formal courses per semester (80% of annual load) and contribute the balance of their effort in service (20% of annual load). In general, one course will be understood to be 3 s.h. Specifics may vary by departments and programs. Arrangements will be negotiated between the Department Chair and instructional faculty appointee, with the approval of the Office of the Dean. The agreement will be specified in the instructional faculty member’s employment agreement and reviewed at the end of each appointment term.

Based on load calculation (1 course = 10%), faculty members who teach five courses or more per academic year (≥ 50%) for more than one year must be appointed to the instructional track. Faculty members teaching four courses (40%) or less in an academic year will be appointed as adjunct faculty.

CHART FOR ACADEMIC YEAR APPOINTMENT
CALCULATION BASED ON 1 COURSE = 10%, LOAD = 80/20 TEACHING/SERVICE

PERCENT TIME	LOAD SPLIT %	AY COURSE LOAD
100%	80 / 20	4 / 4
87.5%	70 / 17.5	3 / 4
75%	60 / 15	3 / 3
62.5%	50 / 12.5	3 / 2

Terms of Appointment.
1. Lecturers shall receive a one-to-three year appointment.
2. Associate professors of instruction/practice shall receive a three-to-five year appointment.
  1. If hired into this rank, they may receive an initial probationary appointment of one-to-three years.
3. Professors of instruction/practice shall receive a three-to-seven year appointment.
  1. If hired into this rank, they may receive an initial probationary appointment of one-to-three years.
4. Reappointment is possible at the discretion of the college. Reappointments will be accompanied by an employment agreement describing workload allocation.
5. Termination and non-renewal of instructional faculty appointments shall follow the guidelines set forth in the Instructional Faculty policy (OM III 10.11g).
Faculty Review. Every instructional faculty member shall be evaluated annually, but not every annual evaluation must be equally extensive.
1. Evaluation of instruction should cover most if not all of the following elements:
  1. Review of scores and comments from student course evaluations,
  2. Review of course materials, both print and electronic,
  3. Review of grading, including examples of graded assignments, where appropriate, and
  4. Direct observation of instruction, where possible.
2. The DEO and department faculty must review all instructional faculty at the time of reappointment. The written review should be based on expectations established at the time of the initial appointment to the instructional rank, or the most recent criteria approved by the DEO. Criteria shall be consistent with the instructional faculty member’s workload allocation. The review is to provide an informative and useful evaluation and should also offer advice on how to improve any areas of deficit. If appropriate, feedback related to progress toward promotion should be addressed.
3. All tenured faculty, and any clinical-track and instructional-track faculty of higher rank in the department, may review and vote on the reappointment of instructional-track faculty members. In addition, clinical full and instructional full professors may vote on the reappointment of other instructional full professors. Support of the majority of tenured faculty in the department is required for reappointment.
4. Annual reviews at times other than reappointment are abbreviated reviews that may be conducted by the DEO or a designated committee. Annual reviews should result in a written report and should be based on the expectations established at the time of appointment as well as criteria established for appointment, reappointment and promotion, below.
5. Results of all reviews are to be discussed with the instructional faculty member who should receive copies of all materials forwarded to the Dean’s Office.
Promotion. The question of promotion of instructional faculty may be brought up during any regular promotion cycle.
1. At the rank of Lecturer, this review would normally occur during the sixth year of service; however, the DEO or dean may choose not to review the Lecturer or review the Lecturer at another time. If the DEO or dean decides not to review the Lecturer during or after the sixth year of service and after the Lecturer has requested timely review, the DEO or dean shall communicate to the Lecturer in writing the reasons for the decision. The Lecturer’s choice not to request promotion, or the DEO or dean’s decision not to review or promote a Lecturer, does not automatically require termination of employment.
2. Promotion will follow collegiate and University Procedures for Instructional-track Promotion Decision-Making and will be submitted to the Board of Regents for approval. Promotion review will be based heavily on the unique expectations established for individual positions at the time of appointment as well as criteria established for promotion.
3. Given that promotion within instructional faculty ranks is not mandatory, a negative recommendation on a promotion request need not translate into termination of employment.
Participation in Faculty Governance. Instructional faculty members enjoy participation in the academic life of the College. Such participation includes the right to be appointed to most department, collegiate, and university committees with full voting rights as defined in the College of Education Manual of Procedure.
1. Instructional faculty may serve on committees considering promotion and reappointment of instructional faculty and clinical faculty of lower rank than their own.
2. Additionally, instructional full professors may review and vote for reappointment of clinical full and instructional full professors in their department.
3. Instructional faculty with doctoral terminal degrees may serve on advising committees of Ph.D. students and, with approval of the DEO and the Graduate College, may co-direct the committee.
4. Instructional faculty may not serve on college or department committees that consider promotion and/or tenure, peer review (post-tenure), or reappointment of tenure track faculty.
5. Instructional faculty may not serve as Department Chair. They are, however, eligible to vote in the recommendation process.
Eligibility to Apply for Tenure-track Positions. Instructional faculty members may apply for open positions on the tenure-track, but they may be appointed to the tenure-track only one time during their career at The University of Iowa. Similarly, tenure-track faculty may apply for open instructional faculty positions, but an instructional faculty appointment shall not be used as an automatic default appointment for accomplished teachers who made an unsuccessful tenure bid.
Policy Adoption and Revision. Each collegiate instructional faculty policy, and any subsequent proposals to change the policy, shall obtain the approval of a majority of the voting faculty within the college by a referendum supervised by the Associate Provost for Faculty. Any proposal to adopt or to change a college’s instructional faculty policy shall also be approved by the Provost or designee.

Guidelines for Establishing Criteria for Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion for Instructional Faculty
1. Teaching.
  1. Teaching activities include, but are not limited to:
    1. Teaching students in the classroom or laboratory.
    2. Teaching students in a clinical setting.
    3. Developing curriculum: developing objectives, materials and methods, methods of evaluation, et
    4. Advising and counseling students; recruiting students.
    5. Facilitating teaching efforts of faculty, g. helping to assess the value of teaching objectives, or of methods of evaluation, providing content material for courses of study, etc.
    6. Serving as a member of education, curriculum, or admissions committee.
    7. Making efforts to improve personal teaching skills.
    8. Serving as a faculty instructor in continuing education activities.
  2. Evidence of a faculty member’s efforts in teaching must come from student evaluation, teaching awards, recognition by faculty, or professional organizations. For example:
    1. Faculty evaluations of the objectives, methods and materials of courses that have been designed and taught.
    2. Student evaluations of performance.
    3. Faculty evaluations of teaching effectiveness by faculty who have taught with or observed the faculty member’s teaching skills.
    4. Evaluations concerning the performance of students taught by the individual whenever possible and appropriate.
    5. Organization of a new teaching program, or integration of teaching effort within or between departments.
    6. Development of better teaching techniques.
    7. Development of short courses or workshops for students, postgraduate professionals and lay public.
    8. Development of better teaching materials, such as the preparation of a syllabus, book or procedures, course of study, laboratory manual, development of teaching procedures or other modes of evaluation.
2. Service
  1. Service activities include but are not limited to:
    1. Participating on or leading departmental, collegiate, or university committees.
    2. Participating and/or leading in professional organizations.
    3. Participating on and leading relevant community service committees.
    4. Providing professional reviewing services.
    5. Serving as an expert witness.
    6. Providing relevant public or government service.
  2. Evidence of a faculty member’s efforts in professional service and evidence of recognition by peers might be demonstrated by:
    1. Documentation of participation or leadership service departmental, collegiate, or university committees.
    2. Documentation of participation or leadership experience in professional organizations
    3. Documentation of participation or leadership service on boards of directors or similar boards.
    4. Election to membership in societies stipulating meritorious professional achievement.
    5. Election to offices in national or international societies.