(Approved by the Graduate Faculty Senate – March 18, 2003)
Initial Membership: Departmental or program doctoral faculty vote on recommendations for initial membership in the doctoral faculty. These recommendations are subsequently reviewed for conformance to departmental/program and Graduate Faculty Senate standards for doctoral faculty by the Dean of the Graduate School. This review will result in either a recommendation for approval or a denial. In cases where postponement is recommended, the Graduate Faculty Senate Executive Committee will be asked to assist in the review.
Faculty From Departments Without Doctoral Degree Programs: Faculty from departments/units that do not award doctoral degrees can attain doctoral faculty status by petitioning for affiliation with a doctoral degree granting program in a related discipline. Doctoral faculty from the affiliated program will provide the nomination for initial membership and serve as the reviewing body for renewal. In the event that affiliation with an appropriate doctoral degree granting department cannot be made, the Graduate Faculty Senate Executive Committee will serve as the nominating and renewal entity.
Transfer of Doctoral Faculty Status: Doctoral faculty members transferring from any department or campus within the University of Missouri System to the MU campus shall retain and be accorded the full status of their current doctoral faculty appointments.
There is a formal application process for Doctoral Faculty membership and renewal. If a department/program has 5 or more submissions (new nominations and/or renewals) at one time, they can contact Anita Cowan (cowana@missouri.edu) for a spreadsheet to enter the necessary information for consideration.
Doctoral faculty status must be renewed every five years to ensure that faculty are active scholars in their fields. The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) or Department Chair/Director should include the following information:
In the event of a negative decision, the department/program can request that the application be sent to the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty Senate for review and disposition.
After department/program faculty vote of to approve criteria, send an electronic copy for consideration by the Dean of the Graduate School to Anita Cowan. Updated policies should also be included with applications for new and renewed doctoral status.
Typically, all nominations for doctoral faculty are reviewed by the department/unit in which the faculty member has an appointment. However, because of the unique nature of cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary work, departments/units have the option of accepting the doctoral faculty status that a faculty member has obtained in their home department. This alleviates the burden of multiple reviews, on both the reviewing unit and candidate, who has multiple affiliations. Suggested wording is as follows: