Graduate Faculty Appointment Designation Policy
Faculty participation in graduate student advising, instruction, and research mentoring is integral to the educational mission of Syracuse University. The Graduate School provides one of two levels of graduate faculty appointments to classify faculty roles and responsibilities in relation to graduate education. Graduate faculty are those members of the university who are charged with graduate student teaching, serving as a graduate student thesis and/or dissertation advisor and serving as a member of master thesis and/or dissertation defense committees. In general, all tenured and tenure-track faculty with graduate education responsibilities are eligible to be designated with graduate faculty status upon being hired. Graduate faculty affiliates are faculty members with term appointments who are appointed by department, school, or college nomination, primarily for the purpose of being eligible to serve on thesis and dissertation committees.
To highlight interdisciplinary linkages, graduate faculty and graduate faculty affiliates can also be considered for joint affiliations with other departments, schools, or colleges. Moreover, graduate programs that benefit from involvement of faculty collaborators from other universities may choose to provide a graduate faculty affiliate appointments where appropriate. Currently, non-tenure-track faculty and faculty from other institutions may only serve as dissertation committee members through petitioning the Graduate School. A graduate faculty affiliate appointment eliminates the need for a petition. Moreover, the appointment provides visibility and recognition to well-qualified non-tenure-track faculty who wish to support graduate student research through thesis and dissertation committee work.
To increase the visibility of available faculty advisors for recruitment and to assist current graduate students in selecting thesis and dissertation committee members, a roster listing individuals with Graduate Faculty and Graduate Faculty Affiliate appointments will be maintained by the Graduate School. Faculty wishing to list joint affiliations with other departments, schools, or colleges may do so with the department chair/school director/dean approval from the affiliated department, school, or college.
The roles, responsibilities, and appointment processes for the two levels of graduate faculty appointments are described below.
Graduate Faculty
Roles and responsibilities. Individuals with a full graduate faculty appointment typically teach graduate-level courses, serve as graduate student dissertation or thesis advisors, and serve as members of master thesis and/or dissertation defense committees. In addition, graduate faculty are expected to serve on behalf of the Graduate School as oral defense chairs for students from other doctoral programs and, where appropriate, to engage in department/school/college or university-level service in support of graduate education.
Graduate faculty are also expected to participate on thesis and dissertation committees to support graduate students in other programs. In addition, graduate faculty from one program may serve as a co-adviser for a graduate student in another program, assuming the student maintains a co-mentor who is a member of the graduate faculty from their graduate program of enrollment.
Graduate faculty are expected to engage in research and stay updated on advancements within their respective fields of study. Graduate faculty must adhere to all university policies and procedures, including policies pertaining to responsible conduct in research. Newly appointed graduate faculty are expected to participate in an orientation session on graduate mentoring provided by the Graduate School at the time of their hire. All graduate faculty are also expected to pursue appropriate mentoring, professional development, and support from their home department/school/college, the Graduate School, and other university supports to maintain a focus on excellence in graduate student mentoring.
Appointment process. In general, all tenured and tenure-track faculty with graduate education responsibilities are eligible for graduate faculty status upon being hired. As such, it is expected that individuals appointed to the graduate faculty as full members will have appropriate research expertise and possess a terminal degree in the relevant discipline.
Newly hired tenured and tenure-track faculty with graduate education responsibilities are granted graduate faculty designation at the time of their hire. Of note, departments, schools, or colleges may set additional policies, thresholds, and expectations regarding graduate faculty advising and mentoring. Upon completion of an orientation session from the Graduate School in the fall or spring semester, new graduate faculty will receive an appointment letter from the Graduate School that outlines the responsibilities and expectations of the appointment.
To establish graduate faculty designations among current faculty at the time of this policy’s implementation, the Graduate School will provide each department, school, or college with a current list of their tenured or tenure-track faculty for review. The Graduate School will work collaboratively with individual department chairs, school directors, or deans to establish an inclusive listing of current tenured and tenure-track faculty who will be designated with graduate faculty appointment status based on their current or intended engagement in mentoring/advising and teaching of graduate students. Unless otherwise specified by the department chair, school director, or dean, with concurrence of a given faculty member, faculty on the list are presumed to be eligible to serve as graduate faculty and, therefore, to serve as thesis or dissertation advisers for discipline-relevant master’s and doctoral students. In some instances, a tenured or tenure-track faculty member may be omitted from the list of Graduate Faculty if there is a shared understanding at the program and school/college leadership level that the faculty member’s job responsibilities do not currently include mentoring doctoral or master’s students on thesis or dissertation projects.
Joint affiliations. Faculty wishing to secure a joint faculty appointment affiliation with another department, school, or college may do so with approval from the affiliated department, school, or college. A memo from the department chair, program/school director, or dean from the outside department, school, or college should be provided to the Graduate School Dean and affiliated department chair/school director/dean to confirm that the joint affiliation is supported by a majority of graduate faculty in that department/school/college.
Specially Appointed Graduate Faculty. Other qualified non-tenure-track faculty, including those with a research professor appointment, may be appointed by the Graduate School Dean to receive a full graduate faculty appointment. Nominations for a special appointment to the Graduate Faculty should be submitted to the Graduate School Dean. Included with the nomination should be an outline of the faculty member’s qualifications, the rationale for the special appointment, an indication that appointment has majority approval of graduate faculty in the program, and the nominee’s curriculum vitae.
Term length. Full graduate faculty membership is of an unlimited duration so long as a full-time Syracuse University faculty appointment is active and responsibilities are met. Emeritus/a faculty and faculty who leave the university can serve on graduate committees for up to 5 years and as dissertation advisor for 1 year following departure from their tenured faculty appointment (as per the academic rules).
Removal of Graduate Faculty status. In rare circumstances, and only with support from the relevant academic dean, a department chair or school director may submit a request to the Graduate School Dean to have a member removed from the Graduate Faculty, but only in circumstances where a member has been grossly neglectful of their responsibilities. In addition, if the Graduate School Dean independently becomes aware of a significant concern about a graduate faculty member being grossly neglectful of their responsibilities, the Graduate School Dean may initiate a review, in consultation with the department chair or school director and the school/college dean.
In the event that removal of Graduate Faculty status is being considered, the Graduate School Dean will initiate a formal review process. As part of this process, the Dean shall appoint an ad-hoc Graduate Faculty Advisory Committee composed of three highly respected faculty members with appropriate disciplinary diversity and familiarity with graduate education standards.
The ad-hoc committee will be charged with reviewing all relevant materials, including the rationale for the proposed removal, evidence provided, and any response or statement submitted by the faculty member in question. The committee may also consult with relevant department chairs/school directors, program directors, or other stakeholders as appropriate.
Upon completing its review, the committee will submit a written recommendation to the Graduate School Dean. The Graduate School Dean will make the final decision regarding removal, giving full consideration to the committee’s recommendation. The outcome will be communicated in writing to the affected faculty member, relevant academic units, and the Provost’s office.
Graduate Faculty Affiliates
Roles and responsibilities. Non-tenure-track faculty at Syracuse University with appropriate research experience and a terminal degree in their field of study may be nominated to serve as graduate faculty affiliate. A graduate faculty affiliate designation is made to indicate that a non-tenure-track faculty member is eligible to serve on thesis or dissertation committees. Graduate faculty affiliates are also eligible to serve as instructors for graduate-level courses, but affiliate status is not a requirement to engage in graduate-level instruction.
In the context of PhD defenses, a graduate faculty affiliate who serves on a dissertation defense committee counts toward the four-member minimum committee size, as specified by Graduate School policy and outlined in the academic rules and regulations.
The decision to contribute as a graduate faculty affiliate is considered a teaching activity. As such, graduate faculty affiliate work on thesis and dissertation defense committees should be recognized in the context of annual performance reviews, but such activities are in no way a requirement for faculty on term appointments.
Eligibility and appointment process. Any graduate faculty member may nominate a non-tenure-track faculty member with appropriate research experience and a terminal degree in the appropriate field of study to serve in this capacity. In addition, faculty members with exceptional qualifications who do not hold a relevant terminal degree may also be nominated.
Nominations for graduate faculty affiliate status should be submitted in memo format by the graduate program director or department chair/school director/dean to the Graduate School Dean. The memo should provide a brief rationale for the nomination, a summary of the candidate’s qualifications, and a confirmation that the nomination is supported by majority of the graduate faculty in the program. Final approval of the nomination will be provided by the Graduate School Dean.
Nominations require the majority approval of both graduate faculty in the program and the Graduate School Dean.
Term Length. Graduate faculty affiliate appointments are granted for a five-year term, with the possibility of renewal. Appointments are terminated if a faculty members leaves their faculty position.
Graduate faculty affiliates from other universities. Graduate programs that benefit from involvement of faculty collaborators from other universities (e.g., SUNY ESF, SUNY Upstate Medical University faculty) may choose to provide a graduate faculty affiliate appointment to faculty from other institutions. The nomination process is the same as what is described for graduate faculty affiliates appointed from Syracuse University.
Approved by Provost: July 24, 2025