The University Statutes (II.2) define The Adjunct Faculty as "those persons holding instructional and/or research positions without contract of appointment to the faculty.” Adjunct faculty may be full-time or part-time, and may be appointed on a short- or longer-term basis. Adjunct faculty are appointed by the Provost on the recommendation of the Dean and/or Department Chairperson, and their contracts may be renewed. The Dean and/or Department Chairperson may recommend reappointment of a full-time adjunct faculty member only after a review of the adjunct faculty member’s performance by the tenured faculty of the Department.

Adjunct faculty appointments may be made with the titles of adjunct professor, adjunct associate professor, adjunct assistant professor, adjunct instructor, lecturer, special lecturer, research professor, associate research professor, assistant research professor, and research instructor. Particular titles that are appropriate to the individual’s role and/or discipline may replace or elaborate the title “adjunct” though, for university-wide purposes, the individual remains a member of The Adjunct Faculty. Each dean must receive written approval for the titles to be used in his or her school from the Provost.

Adjunct faculty possess rights and privileges relating to academic freedom. They are not eligible for tenure, nor are they eligible to vote on matters concerning promotion. However, each full-time adjunct faculty member shall have the rights and privileges described below. Individual schools may establish additional policies regarding their adjunct faculty members, provided these policies do not conflict with the university-wide policies and have the written approval of the Provost.

Promotion of Full-Time Adjunct Faculty

Each school will establish a committee to review the promotion of full-time adjunct faculty according to the following guidelines:

• Promotion to associate adjunct professor should follow at least six years of excellent service in the capacity, research or teaching, for which the faculty member was hired;
• Promotion to full adjunct professor should be very rare and reserved for faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching in either scholarship or service, and have a national reputation.

The dean will send his or her recommendation to the Provost who will make the final decision on each such promotion.

Voting and Other Rights of Full-time Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct faculty members are not eligible to serve on university-wide statutory committees established by provision of the University Statutes. These statutory committees include the Faculty Hearing Committee, the Faculty Review Panel, and the Faculty Grievance Committee. In all other cases the Provost will determine the eligibility of full-time adjunct faculty to vote in university-wide elections and to serve on university-wide committees. Voting rights of adjunct faculty in department or school elections or on departmental or school issues, unless restricted to The Faculty or otherwise limited by the University Statutes, may be decided within departments and schools. Service on school or departmental committees, unless restricted to The Faculty or otherwise limited by the University Statutes, may be decided within departments and schools.

All provisions of the Faculty Handbook apply to full-time adjunct faculty, with the exception of those policies expressly reserved for tenured or tenure-track faculty. While full-time adjunct faculty are not excluded from various other programs, it is the expectation that the particular focus of their appointments will make application for certain programs appropriate and for other programs less appropriate, e.g., research faculty might apply for research development proposal funds, while faculty whose responsibilities are focused on teaching might appropriately seek teaching/advising grants.

Individual schools or departments will determine the school or departmental support activities or opportunities that will be available to adjunct faculty in their divisions to assist them in fulfilling their specific responsibilities.