All Faculty and Academic Staff

Graduate Faculty Definition

January 25, 2017
Revisions Approved, Graduate Council, December 6, 2018

Article I. Graduate Faculty and Graduate Instructional Academic Staff

Section 1. Definition. Graduate faculty and graduate instructional academic staff shall include University of Wisconsin Oshkosh personnel who are qualified to engage in graduate-level activities.

Section 2: Graduate-Level Activities. Activities may include, but are not limited to: assignment to graduate classroom instruction; graduate curricular oversight and assessment; graduate admissions decisions and recommendations; graduate student academic advisement; facilitation of graduate student growth and development; Graduate Council and/or departmental graduate committee activities; candidacy and comprehensive examination responsibilities; involvement in culminating projects such as field projects, theses, dissertations, seminar or clinical papers, clinical internship or clinical practicum instruction; external promotion of graduate activities.

Section 3: Minimum Criteria for Qualification. Although individual departments may adopt more stringent requirements based on departmental needs, the minimum requirements to qualify as a member of the Graduate Faculty or Graduate Instructional Academic Staff are:

1. A graduate degree in the appropriate professional field or discipline as determined by the individual department; and
2. A record of productive scholarship, creative endeavor, or achievement in application (e.g., mentor, teacher, practitioner).
3. In the absence of a terminal degree in the specific, relevant discipline, the University may hire faculty or instructional academic staff if they meet the following criteria for equivalent experience. To be qualified on the basis of equivalent experience, instructors must have a documented record of discipline-based practice at a level that ensures mastery of the content of the courses taught and ongoing currency in the field. The experience must provide evidence of breadth and depth of knowledge in real-world situations relevant to the discipline. Each academic program may identify additional ways to document equivalent experience. In addition to professional experience relevant to the field, the candidate must demonstrate evidence of a minimum of two of the following (non-inclusive):
   1. publications, recognition of scholarly activity, or
   2. licensure or professional certification, or
   3. documentation of excellence in practice (excluding higher education instruction), or
   4. qualifications as determined by specialty accreditation agency, or
   5. invited guest presentations at professional conferences, or
   6. evidence of continuing education, or
   7. documentation of other professional activities demonstrating the acquisition of ongoing currency within the discipline.

At the point of hire, both the Dean and the Provost must authorize the final hire based on the department’s/unit’s/program’s previously approved criteria for equivalent experience.

Section 4. Appointment and Renewal Process

A. By October 1st of each academic year, each college/unit shall provide the Dean of Graduate Studies a list of new nominees, continuing members, and deleted members of the Graduate Faculty.

B. Assignment to participate in graduate-level activities will follow standard University, College, and Departmental personnel and administrative protocols.

All Faculty, Instructional Academic Staff and Professional Academic Staff

All Faculty and Academic Staff [pdf]