College of Education Policies

Clinical-track Faculty Appointment and Review

Consistent with the University's Clinical Track Faculty Policy as stated in the University Operations Manual, Section III-10.9, 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 Clinical-track Promotion Decision Making. The goal of such appointments is to allow flexibility to adjust programs in order to meet the changing needs of students and society.

DEFINITIONS

Clinical faculty hold service positions through which they contribute to the mission of the University. Clinical faculty are not eligible for tenure. They participate in the faculty governance process as described below.

Clinical faculty may hold salaried or unsalaried (adjunct) appointments. Salaried clinical faculty shall be designated as Clinical Professor of (Program Area); unsalaried appointments shall carry the adjunct designation, Adjunct Clinical Professor of (Program Area). Salaried and adjunct clinical appointments may be made at the ranks of instructor, assistant professor, associate professor or professor.

SALARIED APPOINTMENTS

Clinical faculty may hold salaried positions as employees of the University of Iowa. These faculty participate in faculty governance as defined below, receive usual faculty benefits, and undergo periodic performance reviews. For departments with fewer than 20 FTE salaried faculty, no more than two salaried faculty may hold clinical appointments. For larger departments, no more than 10% of the FTE salaried faculty may hold such appointments.

Requests for appointment. Requests for salaried clinical faculty lines will be initiated by the program coordinator and submitted to the Department Chair and Dean for review and approval. Recognizing the potential variance possible in clinical faculty assignments, each request is to 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 promotion and tenure guidelines for clinical faculty.

Qualifications for appointment: Clinical faculty must have qualifications consistent with tenured and tenure track faculty. Faculty appointed at the rank of Assistant Professor must have a doctoral degree in the appropriate discipline with appropriate experience as outlined by individual position descriptions developed at the time of position approval. Clinical faculty appointed at higher ranks must meet additional criteria outlined in this policy for those ranks.

Recruitment for salaried clinical faculty is to be conducted utilizing the same College of Education procedures used for hiring tenure track faculty.

Terms of appointment. Initial appointments for salaried clinical faculty are one to three years in duration. After a positive review in the third year, salaried clinical faculty will receive terms of appointment dependent on the rank. Instructors will receive two-year appointments; assistant professors, associate professors, and professors will receive three to seven year appointments. Further reappointment will be based on a formal review during the last year of the appointment.

Faculty Review. The review of clinical track faculty will be consistent with the review of tenure track and tenured faculty and will occur as follows:

	Review Schedule
Assistant Professor (Clinical)	Annually for first 6 years at University; thereafter at reappointment
Associate Professor (Clinical)	Annually for first 3 years at University; thereafter at reappointment
Professor (Clinical)	Annually for first 3 years at University; thereafter at reappontment

The DEO and department faculty must review all salaried clinical faculty at the time of reappointment. The written review should be based on criteria established at the time of the initial appointment to the clinical rank. 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. Support of the majority of tenured faculty of higher or equal rank is required for reappointment.

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 criteria established at the time of appointment as well as criteria established for promotion.

Results of all reviews are to be discussed with the clinical faculty member who should receive copies of all materials forwarded to the Dean's Office.

Promotion. The question of promotion of clinical faculty may be brought up during any regular promotion cycle. Promotion will follow the procedures for clinical track faculty and will be submitted to the Board of Regents for approval. Promotion review will be based heavily on the unique criteria established for individual positions at the time of appointment.

Qualifications for Specific Ranks. The ranks of clinical faculty shall be assigned as defined below:

Clinical Instructor:
Promise of ability in service, to include but not be limited to clinical service.
Promise of ability to contribute to teaching.

Clinical Assistant Professor:
Evidence of ability in service, to include but not be limited to clinical service.
Evidence of ability to contribute to teaching.

Clinical Associate Professor:
Acknowledged record of service and teaching success.
Evidence of progress toward a record of professional productivity beyond clinical service as defined by the expectations established for the position.

Clinical Professor:
Acknowledged record of service and teaching success.
An established record of professional productivity beyond clinical service as defined by the expectations established for the position.
Unmistakable evidence of recognition by peers as provided by documentation from internal and external reviews.

Termination and Non-renewal. Termination of salaried clinical faculty during the term of the appointment must be for failure to meet written standards of competence and performance established by the program and approved by the Department Chair at the time of the initial appointment.

A decision not to renew an appointment of a salaried clinical faculty member may be for failure to meet written standards of competence and performance established at the time of the initial appointment, or for changed economic circumstances or program needs such that the position itself is terminated. Non-renewal for changed economic circumstances or program needs may only occur at the conclusion of an appointment, and must carry appropriate notice.

Notice of non-renewal of appointment, or of intention not to recommend reappointment after a stated period has elapsed, is given in writing in accordance with the following standards:

1. No later than March 1 of the first year of service, if the appointment expires at the end of that year; or if a one-year appointment terminates during an academic year, at least three months in advance of termination.
   
   
2. Not later than December 15 of the second year of service, if the appointment expires at the end of that year; or if the appointment terminates during an academic year, at least six months in advance of its termination.
   
   
3. At least twelve months before the expiration of an appointment after two or more years of service in the institution.

A decision for termination or non-renewal is subject to the provisions of the Faculty Dispute Procedures.

Participation in Faculty Governance. Salaried clinical faculty members will 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. Exceptions include college or department committees that consider promotion and tenure, peer review for appointment, reappointment, or promotion of tenure track faculty, or of salaried clinical faculty of the same or higher rank. Salaried clinical faculty may serve on advising committees of Ph.D. students and, with approval of the DEO and the Graduate College, may direct or co-direct the committee.

Clinical faculty may not serve as Department Chair. They are, however, eligible to vote in the recommendation process.

Adjunct clinical faculty may hold nonsalaried positions with the University, but they are not considered employees of the University. These adjunct clinical faculty contribute in a material way to the University's mission, although their obligations are more limited in scope than salaried faculty. They do not receive salary or benefits outside of nominal remunerations. However, recognizing their contributions with an adjunct clinical faculty designation denotes the importance of their teaching and service functions. There is no limit on the number of such nonsalaried adjunct clinical faculty who can be appointed in the College.

Requests for Appointment. Requests for adjunct clinical faculty appointments are initiated by the program faculty and are subject to approval by the Department Chair, Dean, and Office of the Provost. As for salaried clinical faculty, position responsibilities and expectations are to be provided in language that will facilitate all review procedures.

Terms of Appointment. Adjunct clinical faculty may be appointed for terms up to one year with renewal possible. Renewal is not automatic and requires approval of the department faculty after a review of the clinical faculty member's performance.

Promotion. The procedures and qualification for promotion for adjunct clinical faculty are the same as for those established for salaried clinical faculty outlined above.

Termination and non-renewal. Decisions to terminate adjunct clinical faculty appointments will be reviewed by the Dean. Such decisions should be based on the defined responsibilities and expectations of the position and reasons for termination should be well documented. However, because nonsalaried adjunct clinical faculty are not considered employees of the University, such decisions are not subject to the provisions of the Faculty Dispute Procedures. Nonsalaried adjunct clinical faculty must be provided written notification of the decision to terminate the appointment prior to March 1 of that year.

Participation in faculty governance. Since adjunct clinical faculty are not considered University employees, they do not participate in faculty governance but are encouraged to attend department and collegiate meetings as appropriate.

Teaching. Teaching activities include, but are not limited to:

• Teaching students in the classroom or laboratory.
  
• Teaching students in a clinical setting.
  
• Developing curriculum: developing objectives, materials and methods, methods of evaluation, etc.
  
• Advising and counseling students; recruiting students.
  
• Facilitating teaching efforts of faculty, e.g. helping to assess the value of teaching objectives, or of methods of evaluation, providing content material for courses of study, etc.
  
• Serving as a member of education, curriculum, or admissions committees.
  
• Making efforts to improve personal teaching skills.
  
• Serving as a faculty instructor in continuing education activities.

Evidence of a faculty member's efforts in teaching must come from student evaluation, teaching awards, recognition by faculty, or professional organizations. For example:

• Faculty evaluations of the objectives, methods and materials of courses that have been designed and taught.
  
• Student evaluations of performance.
  
• Faculty evaluations of teaching effectiveness by faculty who have taught with or observed the faculty member's teaching skills.
  
• Evaluations concerning the performance of students taught by the individual whenever possible and appropriate.
  
• Organization of a new teaching program, or integration of teaching effort within or between departments.
  
• Development of better teaching techniques.
  
• Development of short courses or workshops for students, postgraduate professionals and lay public.
  
• 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.

Professional productivity. Professional productivity activities include, but are not limited to:

• Lectures and conference presentations
• Conference contributions such as organizing symposia and workshops
• Membership on an editorial board for a journal
• Editorship of a journal
• Publications or creative works
• Grant proposals or contributions
• Ad hoc reviewing
• Developing and evaluating new clinical approaches
• Organizing a new, or reorganizing an existing clinical service
• Contributing to continuing education programs or materials

Evidence of a faculty member's efforts in professional productivity might come from:

• Invited lectures
• Invitations to organize, chair, or participate in panels, symposia, or conferences.
• Successful competition for awards, prizes, grants, or contracts
• Letters written by peers outside the University

NOTE: Research or creative scholarship is not required for promotion on the clinical track; however, publications, grants, and other types of research and creative activity may provide evidence of professional productivity. It is also recognized that the categories of professional productivity and clinical and other service may overlap in some instances.

Clinical and other Service: Clinical and service activities include, but are not limited to:

• Participating and/or leading in professional organizations.
• Participating on and leading community service committees.
• Serving as an expert witness.
• Providing public or government service.
  Evidence of a faculty member's efforts in professional service and evidence of recognition by peers might be provided by:

• Letters written by peers outside the University.
• Extensive leadership experience in professional organizations.
• Extensive service on boards of directors or similar boards.
• Evidence from clients of outstanding clinical service.
• Election to membership in societies stipulating meritorious professional achievement.
• Election to offices in national or international societies.
• Invitations to be a visiting professor or clinical professor at other universities.

POLICY & PROCEDURE QUESTIONS: Contact Judy Brewer.