Faculty Handbook Excerpts

Language from the Faculty Handbook

The dean of the college may appoint a faculty member as a "core member" (see description below) of an interdisciplinary program ("IP"), either at the time of hire or at any time in a faculty member's career. Such appointments shall be made in consultation with the faculty member, the program chair, and the faculty member's department chair, as well as with the Williams or Law School dean, when the faculty member is in either of those academic units. (If this is a new appointment, and the hiring dean is not the Dean of the College, then the hiring dean will include the specifics of the IP appointment in the initial appointment letter; the Dean of the College will then issue a followup letter that confirms the IP appointment.) The interdisciplinary program chair will provide annual written input to department chairs regarding the tenure-track core faculty member's contribution to the interdisciplinary program. The department chair will incorporate this feedback into annual and first and second pre-tenure reviews. When the faculty member's tenure committee is formed, she or he may request that a tenured professor from the IP serve on this committee. The candidate and the committee chair will agree on at least two eligible faculty to serve on the committee and will suggest these names to the appropriate dean, who will determine the IP member to serve as a full voting member of the committee.

For faculty who are initially hired into a department along with a specified teaching obligation and core appointment in an interdisciplinary program, the department DFDD shall be the governing ("primary") document in that faculty member's evaluation process. The program DFDD shall guide the input of the interdisciplinary program to the evaluation process. In such appointments, the interdisciplinary program chair will provide annual written input to the department chair regarding the tenure-track core faculty member's contribution to the interdisciplinary program, and shall sit as a full voting member on the first pre-tenure, second pre-tenure, and tenure committees. (If a faculty member is hired primarily into an IP, then that IP constitutes the "primary department" and its DFDD governs the faculty member's reviews. If that faculty member also has a specified teaching obligation in another department or IP, then that department/IP functions like the IP described above, with its DFDD considered "secondary" and serving to guide the input of the department/IP chair in the evaluation processes.)

For faculty who are hired into a joint appointment in two departments or a department and program ("joint" defined as a split teaching load approximating 50-50), one department or program shall be designated as the "primary" department/program at the time of the dean's appointment letter. That department/program's DFDD shall be the governing document in that faculty member's evaluation process. The "secondary" DFDD shall guide the input of the other department or program to the evaluation process. In these cases, each department/program shall be represented as full voting members on all review committees (first pre-tenure, second pre- tenure, and tenure). The balance between the two departments/programs shall be determined by the Dean in consultation with the candidate, the program and department chairs, and where applicable the other academic dean(s). For such joint appointments, the academic citizenship expectations should approximate an even split between the two departments/programs. The candidate will not be expected to fulfill the service roles of both departments/programs.

Promotion to Full Professor

Faculty who are at the rank of tenured associate professor who have appointments in IPs shall be evaluated using comparable processes:

1. An associate professor who is a core member of an IP: the IP chair will provide annual written input to department chairs regarding the core faculty member's contribution to the interdisciplinary program; when the faculty member's promotion committee is formed, she or he may request that a full professor from the appropriate IP serve on this committee. The candidate and the committee chair will agree on at least two eligible faculty to serve on the committee and will suggest these names to the appropriate dean, who will determine the IP member to serve as a full voting member of the committee. (If a faculty member is a core member of 2 IPs, then each will provide the appropriate input to the review process.)
2. An associate professor who has a specified teaching obligation to an IP: the IP chair will provide annual written input to department chairs regarding the core faculty member's contribution to the interdisciplinary program; when the faculty member's promotion committee is formed, a core member of the IP shall serve as a full voting member on that committee. The candidate and the committee chair will agree on at least two eligible faculty to serve on the committee and will suggest these names to the appropriate dean, who will determine the IP member to serve as a full voting member of the committee. (If a faculty member is a core member of 2 IPs, then each will provide the appropriate input to the review process.)
3. An associate professor who holds a joint appointment in both a department and a program (or 2 programs or 2 departments): the chair or designee of the secondary department/program will provide annual written input to department chairs regarding the tenure-track core faculty member's contribution to the interdisciplinary program; when the faculty member's promotion committee is formed, each department/program shall be represented as full voting members on the committee. The balance between the two departments/programs shall be determined by the Dean in consultation with the candidate, the program and department chairs, and where applicable the other academic dean(s). (If a faculty member is a core member of 2 IPs, then each will provide the appropriate input to the review process.)