(Revised per proposal 25-84)

1. Full-Time, Visiting Non-Tenure-Track Appointments

Although the University seeks to employ a full-time, tenure-track faculty, it is occasionally necessary to hire individuals to full-time, non-tenure-track positions in visiting appointments. Such faculty will be typically hired through a national search process, comparable to that for tenure-track hires. Individuals in these positions serve for limited periods of time, usually for one year and normally not to exceed three years. When distinctive needs arise and candidates have demonstrated excellence in job performance, departments may request visiting appointments longer than three but no longer than six years. (In some circumstances, such as spousal/partner employment, continuing long-term non-tenure track appointments [see I.B.3-4] are possible.)

a.   Retention of visiting faculty beyond the initial appointment will be determined by the Dean of the Faculty, in consultation with the Provost. Such decisions will be based on clearly demonstrated academic need in the department, and qualifications and performance of the candidate.

b.   A visiting member of the faculty normally teaches three courses, or the equivalent, each semester and maintains office hours. They may also assume responsibilities such as the supervision of directed studies or senior research and service to the department, keeping in mind their differential teaching load.

c.   A visiting faculty member on a semester or a yearly contract and working the equivalent of a 75% teaching load or greater over the contracted period is eligible for all staff benefits available to full-time faculty (see “Faculty Benefits” section for further information).

d.   Scholarly or artistic productivity is not formally required for visiting faculty during their initial one-to-three-year appointment, but they are strongly encouraged to continue their scholarly or artistic work during their employment as a part of their overall professional development.

e.   To qualify for reappointment beyond three years, the candidate must undergo a formal faculty review no later than during the third year of the original appointment. Through this review, the faculty candidate must demonstrate excellence in teaching during their time at Denison, and they are expected to outline plans for future scholarly or artistic development as well as engagement in the life of the college. The outcome of the review will be used in part to determine whether a renewal beyond the initial appointment is merited; however, any such renewal depends upon determination of relevant staffing needs by the Dean of the Faculty in consultation with the Provost

i. The performance of the candidate will typically be evaluated by a committee of three tenured faculty from the department/program, to be selected by the Dean of the Faculty in consultation with the department/program chair. Each member will draft a confidential letter to assess the performance of the candidate, based on the dossier and on observations of the candidate’s teaching. One member of the committee will serve as chair of the group, overseeing the review process and writing a composite letter to be shared with the candidate. The review committee chair may, but need not, be the chair of the department.

ii. Upon completion of the departmental review, the dossier and all review letters will be submitted to the President's Advisory Board for further consideration. For the purposes of overseeing these reviews, the Dean of the Faculty will serve in place of the Provost.

iii. Assuming a successful review (and demonstrated continued department/program need), a reappointment may be made for a 1–3-year span, as deemed most appropriate for the needs of the department or program by the Dean of the Faculty.

A full-time, non-tenure-track member of the faculty normally teaches three courses, or the equivalent, each semester, maintains office hours, and engages in some form of scholarly activity. A full-time member also assumes additional responsibilities such as the supervision of directed studies, senior research, senior project for recognition and the like, and the advisement of students, service to the department in a variety of ways, service on committees and/or councils, and the like.

2. Part-Time, Visiting Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Appointments

a. ​Normally, part-time visiting faculty appointments are made on a semester-by-semester basis, or year-by-year basis. A review of the person's work will usually occur after no more than six semesters of service. If a decision is made not to offer reappointment, the appropriate chair will inform the person of the rationale for the decision. If such faculty members are rehired, they will typically also be reviewed in their sixth year of employment, and at regular intervals thereafter.

b. Part-time faculty, working less than a 75% teaching load for the contracted period, are eligible for coverage under the State of Ohio Unemployment Compensation System, Workers' Compensation Program of the State of Ohio, the Federal Social Security Program. Part-time faculty working at least a 67% teaching load for the contracted period are additionally eligible for the core retirement benefit. (See section on “Faculty Benefits,” for further information).

c. Part-time teaching faculty are appointed according to the normal procedure for the recruitment and appointment of full-time faculty to the extent feasible, with modifications appropriate to their particular position. In general, in recruitment and hiring, Equal Opportunity procedures relative to race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, and gender are followed. The search normally is restricted to the immediate central Ohio area. Dossiers are submitted and reviewed by members of the department and personal interviews take place with the candidate(s). Appointments are made according to professional qualifications with due regard for high-quality prior service to Denison.

d. Part-time faculty generally are not expected to assume responsibilities related to advising students or service on committees or councils.

3. Continuing Faculty Appointments

In rare circumstances, a visiting faculty member may be retained in a non-tenure track capacity beyond six years. Such circumstances may include spousal employment (as noted in section 4 below), persistent curricular needs that may not be readily addressed with a tenure-track appointment, or staffing support to cover tenure-track faculty who are in long-term administrative roles. While continuing appointments are not tenure-track, they are afforded opportunities for professional development and advancement as described below.

a. Retention of non-tenure track faculty beyond six years will be determined by the Dean of the Faculty, in consultation with the Provost. Such decisions will be based on clearly demonstrated academic need in the department/program and the qualifications and performance of the candidate as demonstrated through a formal review as outlined below.

b. To attain the status of continuing faculty, candidates must normally undergo a successful review no later than their sixth year of employment. The general principles of the review process will be essentially the same as those for the review of tenured faculty (section I.A.5), except for the following.

i. The performance of the candidate will typically be evaluated by a review committee of three tenured faculty from the department/program, to be selected by the Dean of the Faculty in consultation with the department/program chair. Each member will draft a confidential letter to assess the performance of the candidate, based on the dossier and on observations of the candidate’s teaching. One member of the committee will serve as chair of the group, overseeing the review process and writing a composite letter to be shared with the candidate. The review committee chair may, but need not, be the chair of the department.

ii. Expectations regarding scholarly or artistic and service work will be adjusted relative to tenure-track expectations, taking into consideration the teaching responsibilities of the faculty member (typically a 3/3 load) and the stage in their appointment.

iii. The candidate’s dossier and all review letters will be submitted to the President's Advisory Board for further consideration. For the purposes of overseeing these reviews, the Dean of the Faculty will serve in place of the Provost unless the candidate is applying for promotion to Associate Professor (see below).

iv. Usually, external reviewers will only be engaged in non-tenure track reviews if the candidate is seeking promotion in rank to Associate or Full Professor.

v. The President’s Advisory Board will make a recommendation to the Dean on changing the candidate’s status from “visiting” to “continuing” faculty. The Dean, together with the Provost, will make the final decision.

c. Continuing faculty are reviewed on a seven-year review cycle, with a salary review taking place after three years of active teaching since the most recent review, a senior faculty review three years later, and a presumed sabbatical in the following year, as per the conditions described in section II.A.2.

d. Continuing faculty are expected to take on additional responsibilities to those of short-term visiting faculty, including formal academic advising, scholarly or artistic productivity, and other contributions to the department and the college. Such expectations, however, must be tailored to the faculty’s teaching load, which by default is 3/3 (rather than the usual 3/2 teaching load for tenured and tenure-track faculty). Consonant with these expanded expectations, such faculty will be provided increased Professional Development Fund support comparable to that provided to tenure-track faculty.

e. Continuing faculty may request consideration for promotion to Associate Professor or Professor, as appropriate relative to their current academic rank. This may be done as part of the sixth-year review described above, as part of a subsequent senior faculty review, or at a time deemed appropriate by the Provost. Whether such a request is warranted will depend on the status not only of the candidate’s teaching, but also their scholarship and other contributions to the college, and as such, the candidate should consult with their department/program chair as well as the Dean of the Faculty and the Provost. Any promotional review should a) involve all tenured members of the candidate’s department/program, b) involve an external review of scholarship, and c) be overseen by the Provost in line with tenure-track promotional reviews.

f. Continuing appointments remain non-tenure track and may be terminated at the end of a contract period, at the discretion of the Dean of the Faculty and the Provost or for other reasons as described in section I.A.8.

4. Spousal/Partner Faculty Appointments

As part of its program to attract and retain faculty, Denison attempts to offer continuing non-tenure-track appointments to qualified spouses/partners of faculty. Such appointments are initially contingent upon institutional need and the qualifications of the spouse/partner; reappointment is contingent upon continuing need as well as satisfactory performance as determined through the regular review process. These will normally be part-time appointments. Spouses/partners in such appointments are eligible to apply for full-time positions, including tenure-track positions, when they occur.