NRC: A Data Based Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs

Faculty

For information on the Faculty Questionnaire

The NRC study defined three kinds of program faculty:

1. Core program faculty. These are faculty members who have served or are serving as a chair or member of a program dissertation committee in the past 5 academic years (2001-2002 through 2005-2006) or who have served or are serving as a member of the graduate admissions or curriculum committee. The faculty member must be currently (2006-2007) and formally designated as faculty in the program and may not be an outside reader who reads the dissertation but does not contribute substantially to its development. In general emeritus faculty are not to be included except for those who, within the last three years, have either chaired a dissertation committee (i.e. been the PhD supervisor) or have been the primary instructor for a doctoral course listed in the catalog for credit.
2. New program faculty. These are faculty members who are not listed as core faculty members, have been hired in tenured or tenure-track positions in the past 4 academic years (2003-2004 through 2006-2007), and who are expected to become involved in the graduate program.
3. Associated faculty. These are faculty who have served or are serving as a chair or member of program dissertation committees in the past 5 years (2001-2002 through 2005-2006), have a current (2006-2007) faculty appointment at your institution, but who are not designated core or new faculty in the program. Do not include outside readers or faculty currently employed at other universities. In general emeritus faculty are not to be included except for those who, within the last three years, have either chaired a dissertation committee (i.e. been the PhD supervisor) or have been the primary instructor for a doctoral course listed in the catalog for credit.

What about faculty members with joint appointments?

A faculty member may be listed as a core faculty member in those programs in which he or she is formally designated as faculty. For example, if a faculty member holds a joint appointment in History and Classics and serves on dissertation committees in both fields, she may be listed as a member of the core faculty in both the History program and the Classics program. The faculty member's publications and citations will be apportioned among programs based on the number of dissertation committees she has served on in each program.

How should clinical faculty be categorized?

Clinical faculty will usually not be involved in the supervision of dissertations and so, in this case, will not be listed. In the event that they meet the faculty definition, clinical faculty could be considered either core or associated faculty depending on how the individual is appointed. If the faculty member serves on dissertation committees in a program covered by the taxonomy, but is formally designated as faculty in a clinical department (e.g. Internal Medicine) only, then that faculty member would be considered associated faculty. If a clinical faculty member is formally designated as faculty in a program covered by the taxonomy and serves on dissertation committees in that same program, then that person would be considered core faculty.

May faculty who are not employed by the university be considered program faculty?

Faculty who are not employed by the university may still be considered associated faculty for a program as long as they hold some type of university appointment. For example, a faculty member with an adjunct appointment who works in industry or at a national lab may be considered associated faculty if she has served on a dissertation committee in the past 5 years. Adjunct faculty may not be classified as core faculty. If faculty have left your university for a faculty position at another university, they will be on their current employer's faculty lists and should not be considered part of your faculty anymore.

What about senior new hires who have experience with doctoral programs at their previous institutions but have not yet been appointed to any committees here?

According to the NRC guidelines, faculty in this case should be listed as new program faculty with no current or former doctoral students.

All definitions on this website are taken from the NRC FAQ website.