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Arts and Science Policies and Procedures
Clinical Assistant Professor, Clinical Associate Professor, Clinical Professor
This document supplements NYU policies applicable to full-time continuing contract faculty. If any part of this document is inconsistent with NYU policies, the NYU policies then in effect will control. As with all NYU and FAS policies, this document is subject to change, and the policies in effect at the time of an action will apply to that action.
Introduction
Clinical faculty are full-time Continuing Contract Faculty positions that provide coordination, continuity, and consistency in instruction and/or administration. Appointees must be experienced or highly knowledgeable in their particular fields and, where relevant, have had experience in curriculum development and supervision of laboratory facilities and teaching assistants. Appointees should possess relevant advanced degree or scholarly or professional credentials, which may vary by discipline and department, as developed in consultation with the Divisional Dean.
Clinical appointments are primarily teaching positions, and often include some administrative and/or supervisory responsibilities. Research is not part of the clinical faculty’s formal obligations; however, research activities may be considered when being reviewed for reappointment, promotion, or annual reviews. Although clinical appointments are without tenure, they are typically multi-year appointments. Clinical faculty members are protected by academic freedom. They receive the same health, retirement and tuition remission benefits as tenured and tenure track faculty. Clinical faculty are ineligible for sabbaticals and generally ineligible for NYU faculty housing.
The appointment processes for Continuing Contract Faculty, including clinical faculty, shall reflect the University’s overriding commitment to enhance academic excellence and to provide students with the best available educational experience. Thus, each Continuing Contract Faculty appointment and reappointment shall be evaluated in the light of the contribution it makes to the distinct excellence of the school, including its educational and training programs, and shall exemplify the University’s commitment to appoint and retain the best faculty in all disciplines.
Titles and Qualifications
Clinical Assistant Professor - Teaching experience, minimum of a master's degree in the field of expertise, or other appropriate advanced degree.
Clinical Associate Professor – At least six years of relevant teaching and professional experience at NYU or elsewhere; evidence of supervisory experience (where relevant); superior contributions to the teaching program; as well as recognition for excellence in the professional field and innovation in the area of instruction. Minimum of a master's degree in the field of expertise or other appropriate advanced degree.
Clinical Professor - A minimum of 12 years of teaching and related professional experience at NYU or elsewhere, evidence of extraordinary contribution to the NYU teaching program, and evidence of recognition for leadership and innovation in the professional field (e.g. leadership in a relevant national organization or recognition for excellence and innovation in teaching). Minimum of master's degree in the field of expertise or other appropriate advanced degree.
As per University Bylaw 81(c), “Degree Programs” a degree candidate who accepts appointment as a full-time Continuing Contract Faculty member must there upon relinquish candidacy for a degree at NYU. As appropriate, the FAS Dean can request an exception from the NYU Board of Trustees.
Continuing Contract Faculty also include Language Lecturers and Senior Language Lecturers, who are addressed separately under [Language Lecturer and Senior Language Lecturer Appointments].
Areas of Responsibilities – Responsibilities include some, but not necessarily all of the following, and need not be restricted to them:
Teaching - The normal course load for clinical faculty is three courses per term. This load may be reduced depending on other assigned duties or responsibilities. With the approval of the relevant Divisional and School Deans, administrative and professional duties and other professional activities that serve FAS may, if comparable in time demands to one or more courses, substitute for such courses.
Service - Participation on departmental, FAS and/or University-wide committees is expected. Individual departments and programs will determine the appropriate opportunities for service. Clinical faculty are also expected to be available to provide advice to the department chair or director of undergraduate studies or director of graduate studies regarding curriculum, teaching assignments, and any other matters related to their area of instruction.
Research - Although there is no obligation to conduct research, clinical faculty are deemed eligible to serve as Principal Investigators (PIs)/Project Directors (PDs) on proposals and awards for sponsored programs supporting training; pedagogical and curriculum development; basic, applied and experimental research; and public service and evaluation. The policy and procedures for approval of PI/PD status for Continuing Contract Faculty (as amended 10/4/2019) is available [here].
Administration – In some cases, clinical faculty will have program-related administrative duties, including but not limited to: curriculum development, selection of textbooks and instructional methodologies, implementation of technologies, class schedules, student advisement, supervision of laboratories (if applicable), supervision and training of clinical faculty and adjuncts, and program management.
Terms of Appointment
Unless stipulated otherwise in an appointment letter, clinical faculty are appointed for the academic year (September to May) and paid over twelve months (starting October 1). If appointed mid-year, the term of the appointment should be aligned to include the partial year and subsequent full academic year (i.e., the initial appointment would be for at least 1.5 years).
Summer teaching appointments are optional and are made, subject to curricular needs and the faculty member’s desire to teach, with additional compensation. Administrative duties that carry over beyond the nine-month academic year and require service during the summer may carry additional summer compensation.
For Clinical Assistant Professors, the initial appointment can be made for one to three years. Subsequent reappointment can be made for one to three years. For Clinical Associate Professors and Clinical Professors, the initial appointment is also for one to three years. In no case will a series of one year contracts exceed 3 years.
Candidates are eligible for five-year reappointment contracts at all ranks only if they have been at NYU for at least six years and have had at least one prior contract renewal at NYU.
The length of reappointment is determined by performance as well as curricular needs of the department or program.
One-year appointments are exceptional and typically reserved to address temporary programmatic needs (e.g., a leave or resignation), though appointments may be renewed on an annual basis for up to 3 years on the recommendation of the chair or director.
There is no limit to the number of terms that a clinical faculty member at any rank can be reappointed.
Appointments automatically terminate at the close of the period of time stipulated in the contract, unless there is an official notice of renewal.
Annual Review
Clinical faculty are subject to the annual merit increase (AMI) review, conducted for all full-time faculty members by the department chair or program director, with input from the appropriate faculty committee, as per department or program procedure. Clinical Faculty will submit an Annual Faculty Personnel Record Supplement, usually in January of each academic year, to report on their teaching and service. This report will be used in the annual merit review, which typically considers the faculty member’s teaching performance, contribution to the effectiveness of the program or department, and relevant administrative performance. Note that additional weight will be given to the performance of administrative duties for faculty whose duties are primarily administrative. Scholarly and research activities (e.g. publications) are not required, but may be considered.
Governance
Full Faculty meeting attendance and voting rights can be found under University Bylaw 82 (c). FAS practice is to hold joint full faculty meetings inclusive of continuing contract faculty, including clinical faculty, and tenure/tenure track faculty. Clinical faculty are also eligible to participate and vote in the FAS Faculty Assembly.
At the department level, continuing contract faculty, including clinical faculty, may participate as members of the department faculty in department governance, with the exclusion of matters related to promotion and tenure, and hiring of tenured and tenure-track faculty, and matters directly or indirectly affecting the individual’s candidacy for a degree, or matters affecting their status on the faculty of NYU (e.g. curricular changes that impact their contract renewal or relate to their personal degree program (if an exception to Bylaw 81(c) has been approved).
Procedures for Recruitment and Appointment
As part of the Annual Planning Report, each chair/director forwards to the Divisional Dean a Faculty Staffing Plan outlining requests for new faculty hiring. In particular, the request should include a justification that there is an important teaching need, and that this need can best be met with a continuing contract faculty appointment, including a clinical faculty appointment, rather than a tenured or tenure-track faculty member. Detailed procedures for recruitment of new full time faculty, including clinical faculty, are available online at Recruitment of New Faculty.
Contracts specifying the terms and length of employment are issued by the Divisional Dean.
Procedures for Reappointment General Considerations
Reappointment is based on departmental criteria of overall performance as a teacher and, if applicable, as an administrator. Research activities are not required for reappointment, but may be considered. In addition, reappointment is subject to the academic and curricular needs of FAS and the University; thus, review for reappointment and promotion shall consider curricular or structural changes and improvements in academic programs. Even in those cases in which a candidate satisfies the appropriate standards of achievement, the decision to reappoint or promote may be impacted by curricular and structural changes and improvement in academic programs. In this case, the basis for non-reappointment will be clearly stated in the notice given to the faculty member. The review will also comment on whether the faculty member would be able to teach in the revised curriculum and or new academic structure, and in what capacity.
Covid Impact Statement
The University recognizes that COVID may have had an adverse impact on faculty members’ teaching and research performance. To ensure that the review for reappointment and promotion reflects the impact of COVID, faculty have the option to include a COVID impact statement in their reappointment and/or promotion docket. The impact statement should include a short description of the impact COVID had on their performance of their duties, including teaching (and research and creative work, where relevant). The impact statement should be incorporated into the statements on teaching (and research and creative work, where relevant). Note that any external evaluators contacted by the department or the dean’s office will receive the statements of teaching and research as part of the materials to be reviewed. The information provided in this COVID impact statement will not negatively affect the review. At a minimum, the information will be treated neutrally and at a maximum, it may positively impact the review.
Reappointment for Multi-Year Contracts of Three Years or More, and/or Promotion
University guidelines require Continuing Contract Faculty, including clinical faculty, to be reviewed in the penultimate year of a multi-year contract. Penultimate year reviews must be submitted by the department or program to the appropriate Divisional Dean by March 15. If the department has any concerns that a clinical faculty member is not fulfilling the requirements of the position or that the position may not be needed to fulfill the teaching mission of the department or program, these should be clearly outlined in the report submitted to the Divisional Dean. Any reservations must be shared in writing and in person with the faculty member, who is obliged to acknowledge receipt of this information by countersigning the report on a summary of the report, so that the candidate is under no misunderstanding regarding the expectations. The chair or director must submit a written report to the Divisional Dean that includes the substance of the review and a recommendation for reappointment, promotion or termination. In the event of a decision to reappoint the faculty member shall complete the remainder of their term and shall be reappointed, normally for another multi-year term.
Following a review, if the decision is not to offer a reappointment, the faculty member shall be notified of the decision no later than August 31st of the penultimate year, and shall continue to be under contract for the final year.
Upon request, the timing of a review may be delayed by stopping the contract clock for reasonable cause that has been approved by the Divisional Dean, e.g., medical, personal, as primary caregiver for child, spouse, parent, same sex domestic partner, or by contractual stipulation or negotiation.
When a position is to be eliminated at the end of the contract term and there is no similar position open, there is no reappointment process and the faculty member will be notified in the penultimate year; however, the faculty member may request a performance review for career development.
For faculty whose responsibilities are primarily administrative, greater weight will be given to performance of these duties in both multi-year appointments and recommendations for promotion.
Reappointment for One-Year or Two-Year Contracts
In addition to contracts of three years or more, clinical faculty may be recommended by the department chair or director to a series of one-year or two-year full time contracts. In the third year of continuous one-year appointments, the faculty member shall be subject to formal review comparable to those to which faculty members on longer multiyear contacts are subject.
Clinical faculty members will be limited to no more than three consecutive one-year contracts. After three such contracts they will either be provided with a multi-year contract or not reappointed at all. In the case of continuing two-year contracts, the faculty member shall be subject to formal review comparable to those which faculty members on longer multi-year contracts are subject to in the first semester of the third year of continuous service.
Formal Review Processes
The review, whether for renewal and/or promotion is undertaken by a committee appointed by the department chair or director or elected by the department or faculty as per the custom of the department or program. The committee must consist of three to five full-time faculty, with a minimum of one tenured or tenure-track faculty and at least one Continuing Contract Faculty member. Any deviation from this configuration of the committee must be approved by the appropriate Divisional Dean. If a department or program does not have sufficient tenured or tenure track faculty to participate in the review process, the department or program committee may consist entirely of Continuing Contract Faculty from the program, or at the discretion of the Divisional Dean, an ad hoc committee of Continuing Contract Faculty from other FAS departments or programs may be formed.
In the case of promotion to Clinical Associate Professor, Clinical Assistant Professors are not eligible to serve. In the case of promotion to Clinical Professor, Clinical Assistant Professors and Clinical Associate Professors are not eligible to serve.
In the case of reappointment, the committee shall not include clinical faculty under review for reappointment that year.
I. PROMOTION: General Procedures
If the review packet is for promotion, it also must describe how the candidate meets the qualifications for Clinical Associate Professor or Clinical Professor as prescribed by the “Titles and Qualifications” section of this document. Furthermore, the candidate must have been in their current rank for a minimum of three years and had at least one prior reappointment at the current rank to be eligible for promotion in rank.
In addition to the consideration of teaching, administration, and service activities, recommendations regarding promotion also may be based on a prognosis of the clinical faculty member’s future achievements based on dependability, growth, potential, and versatility of the faculty member as they will contribute to the evolving mission of FAS. Research activities are not required for promotion, but may be considered.
Candidates may request promotion during their second review in rank and any year after.
II. DEPARTMENTAL PROCEDURES
The candidate should submit a personal statement, curriculum vitae, course syllabi, and teaching evaluations to the chair or director of the department; for candidates on multi-year appointments, this should be submitted on or before February 1 of the penultimate year of their current appointment. These materials are to be made available to the review committee for their evaluation. The review committee should prepare a report of their evaluation and recommendation, which has been read, approved, and signed by all committee members before it is submitted to the department. The review may be written by the committee chair or a member of the committee. The committee report should represent a collective judgment of the committee or, in the case of a divided opinion, a majority of the committee. If there is a division, the dissenting opinion should be appended to the majority review. The committee report may be supplemented by input from other members of the department. Depending on the norms of the department, the committee report and supporting materials may be made available to all eligible faculty for a vote. Eligible faculty include all full-time members of the faculty that are of equal or higher rank than the faculty member being reviewed or promoted as determined by the department.
The review packet to be presented to the department chair/director and/or the full faculty should normally include:
- An up-to-date curriculum vitae of the candidate
- A description of the candidate's teaching and administrative responsibilities
- An optional COVID Impact Statement may be included as part of the Personal Statement. See Provost Memo on Impacts of COVID for Faculty Reappointment and Promotion Reviews
- A list of all courses taught since the last review
- Committee service
An evaluation of teaching performance of the candidate, which should include:
- Course evaluations (provided by the department administration)
- Course syllabi (provided by the candidate)
- Reports of classroom observation (provided by department administration or committee)
An evaluation by the committee of the candidate’s other contributions to the instructional program, for example, curriculum development
1. If applicable, an evaluation of the candidate’s administrative performance, including any role in the training and supervising of other faculty. Note that additional weight will be given to the performance of administrative duties for faculty whose duties are primarily administrative
A personal statement from the candidate assessing their contributions
If applicable, scholarship including, but not limited to, research and publications related to their specific discipline or field, to the pedagogy of their field, or to the work of the department/program/university may be included.
Candidates may include additional documents to support their renewal and or promotion.
The committee will consider all work activity, as listed above, since the last review, including materials from the ultimate year of the previous contract.
The recommendation of the chair/director should be forwarded to the Divisional Dean along with a draft of the candidate’s summary letter, the review packet, the committee’s recommendation and, in the case of a full faculty vote, the vote of the faculty by March 15th.
Following approval of the Divisional Dean a summary of the review, prepared by the chair or director in the form of a letter, must be given to the candidate and discussed with them by the chair or director. The candidate must sign the letter to indicate that they have read it and discussed it with the chair or director. This summary must cover both strengths and weaknesses of the candidate's performance.
The summary letter to the candidate must include the recommendations of the evaluation committee as well as the chair/director’s recommendation to the Divisional Dean, including promotion, the length of reappointment (if that is the decision), and a signature block for the candidate. It must also include the following sentences:
Regardless of the merits for reappointment/promotion at this time, this letter does not constitute a guarantee of future reappointment.
Candidates will be judged for reappointment/promotion in the future according to the conditions and standards in effect at the time of their next review.
I have read this letter and understand its content.
III. A&S DEAN’S OFFICE PROCEDURE
The departmental review and all relevant supporting materials will be reviewed by the relevant Divisional Dean. Additional input from the Dean of the College of Arts and Science, and the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science may also be sought, as appropriate. In the event of a split vote or other reasons deemed necessary to insure a thorough review the Deans may consult with faculty from academic departments other than the candidate's home department. If there are questions in any particular case, the chair of the department review committee may be asked to provide additional information to the Divisional Dean.
The Divisional Dean makes their recommendation to the Dean of Arts and Science. If the recommendation of the Divisional Dean is contrary to the recommendation of the chair/director or if the case produces a negative or split committee vote, the Divisional Dean will also forward the review packet to the Dean of Arts and Science. After receiving the Divisional Deans advice and relevant materials, the Dean of Arts and Science will inform the department chair of the advice provided by the Divisional Dean as well as their own decision. If the decision of the Arts and Science Dean is contrary to that of the departmental evaluation committee, the Dean will provide the department chair with the reasons. The chair or director has an opportunity to respond to the Dean’s decision in writing and provide additional information within ten days.
Notice of intention not to reappoint shall be sent to the faculty member not later than August 31st of the penultimate year of the contract.
Faculty Grievances
Faculty Grievances are classified into two main types: 1) those connected with reappointment or promotion and 2) those concerned with other matters, such as duties, salaries, perquisites, and working conditions
As per university guidelines, with respect to grievances related to reappointment and promotion, outcomes of the review process or decisions reached through the review process can be grieved only to the extent that they involve violation of University-protected rights of faculty members. Thus, a grievance of either type must allege that 1) the procedures used to reach the decision were improper, or that the case received inadequate consideration; or 2) that the decisions violated the academic freedom of the faculty member in question, in which case the burden of proof falls to the grievant.
The decision not to undertake the reappointment process where a position is to be eliminated at the end of the contract term, and where no similar position is open, is not the basis for a grievance.
A clinical faculty member whose contract is non-renewable or who is not eligible for reappointment cannot grieve a decision not to reappoint.
Individuals on multi-year contracts of three years or more who are subject to a review process to determine whether they are to be reappointed do have a right to grieve the process in the event it leads to a negative decision with respect to reappointment or promotion, under the same criteria as cited in the preceding paragraph.
Faculty on continuous one-year or two-year appointments are similarly entitled to grieve the process in the event the third year review process leads to a negative decision.
If a faculty member’s grievance is not settled informally at a level below the Dean, or by the Dean themself, the faculty member may appeal to the Dean to convoke the FAS Grievance Committee, to hear grievances in order to advise the Dean.
The FAS Grievance Committee is composed of nine tenured full professors elected by the FAS, with three members from each academic division, and six at large continuing contract faculty (senior language lecturer, clinical associate and full professors), two from the Expository Writing Program and four from other units in FAS. Sitting department chairs and program heads may not serve on the Committee on Grievance. The Dean shall convoke the committee within fifteen working days of receiving the faculty member’s appeal.
Appeal
Following the review of the FAS Grievance Committee, in the event the decision of the Dean of Arts and Science is not to reappoint or promote, an appeal can be made to the Provost, following the procedures enumerated in the Faculty Handbook.
General Disciplinary Regulations
All faculty members have an obligation to comply with the rules and regulations of the University and its schools, colleges, and departments. These rules protect the rights and freedoms of all members of the academic community. In particular, the faculty member is obligated to comply with the standards of academic freedom as outlined in the Faculty Handbook.
Disciplinary action may follow when the faculty member engages in other conduct unbecoming a member of the faculty, such as violation of the New York University Rules for the Maintenance of Public Order, any action which interferes with the regular operations of the University or the rights of others, any serious violation of the law, or any other conduct prejudicial to the teaching, research, or welfare of the University as set forth in the Faculty Handbook.