Office of the Provost
Academic Regulation
CATEGORY: ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
SECTION: Faculty Appointment and Tenure
SUBJECT: Graduate Faculty Qualifications
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 5, 1988
PAGE(S): 2
I. SCOPE
This policy establishes the qualifications for:
- Membership in the Graduate Faculty
- Teaching graduate courses
- Serving on doctoral dissertation committees
II. POLICY
Regular membership in the Graduate Faculty may be recommended for:
- Full-time or tenure-stream part-time members of the University faculty
- Academic staff with faculty status, who are approved to direct graduate study and research at all levels
Adjunct membership may be recommended for persons:
- Whose primary responsibilities are outside the University, but who hold a part-time faculty appointment
- Approved to direct graduate study and research at all levels
The primary qualification for membership in the Graduate Faculty is the competence to direct graduate study and research at all levels. Therefore, each nomination for membership should include documentation of the candidate's experience in:
- Research
- Teaching of graduate level courses
- Supervision of graduate research
- Scholarly publications
- Professional employment
The completion of a doctoral dissertation is not in itself sufficient evidence of qualification, nor does the lack of a doctorate automatically exclude a faculty member.
Appropriately qualified faculty members who are not members of the Graduate Faculty may be assigned by their chairman, with the approval of the Graduate Faculty of the department, to:
- Teach graduate courses
- Direct master's level research
- Serve on doctoral dissertation committees, provided that a majority of the committee are Graduate Faculty members.
Candidates for advance degrees, especially those seeking a degree from the University of Pittsburgh:
- Do not qualify for membership on doctoral dissertation committees
- Should not serve on Masters committees except in exceptional circumstances
- Should not be assigned the responsibility for teaching graduate courses, except in a few professional areas, under supervision of a member of the Graduate Faculty