Graduate faculty status and advising
Advising
The adviser acts as the student’s major guide and advocate. Upon admission to an M.A. or Ph.D. degree program, students are initially assigned a faculty adviser or co-advisers by faculty in the track. This initial adviser assignment should be considered temporary. Once students have identified a clear research focus (preferably within the first two years of the program), the official adviser is selected. Adviser selection must take the faculty member’s advising load into consideration—it’s important that the adviser selection be mutually agreed upon by student and faculty member. Students may change advisers by notifying the present adviser of the intent to change, securing agreement of another faculty member to serve as adviser, and completing the departmental Change of Adviser/Committee form and submitting it to the Graduate Studies Assistant in 125G Peik. (Students may also submit the information on this form via email –copying current and new adviser to signify approval. All email changes should be sent to cigs@umn.edu.)The decision to change advisers should be respected and supported by all faculty in the track.
Mutual responsibilities in graduate education
Graduate education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota is a shared responsibility. A major purpose of graduate education is to instill in each student an understanding of and capacity for scholarship, independent judgment, academic rigor, and intellectual honesty. Graduate education is an opportunity for the student to develop into a professional scholar. It is the joint responsibility of faculty and graduate students to work together through relationships that encourage freedom of inquiry, demonstrate personal and professional integrity, and foster mutual respect. C&I has adopted the eight principles included in the Graduate School’s principles regarding mutual responsibilities in graduate education.
Graduate faculty membership in education, curriculum and instruction
Membership in the Graduate Faculty for Education, Curriculum and Instruction permits faculty and P&A staff members to advise graduate students, serve on student committees, teach graduate classes, and participate in governance related to graduate programs. The following information describes the Graduate Faculty Membership categories, and outlines criteria for changing categories and for continued membership in the Education, Curriculum & Instruction graduate program. For current Graduate Faculty status of any faculty member at the University of Minnesota, please see the Graduate Faculty Roster.
Graduate faculty membership categories and associated responsibilities
Faculty and staff members must meet necessary criteria as outlined by the Graduate School before being nominated for membership in the department’s graduate faculty. The Criteria for Graduate Faculty Membership, as developed by the Education and Psychology Policy and Review Council in the Graduate School, are available online (pdf file).
The categories of Graduate Faculty Membership are:
Senior Member (SM)—Authorization to advise students at all levels, including the doctorate; to serve as a thesis reviewer and as an examiner on student examining committees, including service as chair of doctoral committees; to teach courses for graduate credit; and to participate in governance.
Affiliate Senior Member (ASM)—Authorization to assume the same responsibilities as senior member, but not to participate in governance.
Member/Advising (M2)—Authorization to advise students at the master’s level; to serve as a thesis reviewer at the master’s level and as an examiner on student examining committees at the master’s and post baccalaureate certificate levels; to teach courses for graduate credit; and to participate in governance. At the discretion of the appointing program, may also include authorization to co-advise doctoral students with a senior member or affiliate senior member of the graduate faculty, and to serve as a thesis reviewer and examining committee member for doctoral students, but not as chair. Affiliate
Member/Advising (AM2)—Authorization to assume the same responsibilities as member/advising, but not to participate in governance.
Member (M)—Authorization to serve as a thesis reviewer at the master’s level and as an examiner on student examining committees at the master’s and post baccalaureate certificate levels; to teach courses for graduate credit; and to participate in governance. At the discretion of the appointing program, may also include authorization to serve as a thesis reviewer and examining committee member for doctoral students, but not as chair.
Affiliate Member (AM)—Authorization to assume the same responsibilities as member, but not to participate in governance.
Examining Status (E)—Authorization to serve as a thesis reviewer and as an examiner on student examining committees at all levels, but not as chair, and to teach courses for graduate credit. Examining status does not include membership on the graduate faculty and does not confer governance privileges. The associate responsibilities for each membership category are summarized in the following table.
Summary of membership categories and associated responsibilities
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Criteria and procedures for changing membership categories
In most cases, new tenure-track faculty members at the assistant professor level are nominated for graduate faculty status at the Member/Advising level, which allows them to co-advise Ph.D. students and serve as sole adviser for M.A. students. A member may be nominated for Senior Member status by a senior colleague in the department after co-advising Ph.D. students through the following experiences at the University of Minnesota: doctoral program planning and approval, preparation for and passing of written and oral preliminary examinations, approval of the dissertation topic and plan, and presentation and successful defense of the dissertation. Co-advising through each of these experiences need not happen with the same student. Advising experience should also be documented by reference to service on examining committees, advising of M.A. Plan A theses and Plan B projects, and other graduate advising activities here and elsewhere. The following form is offered to assist professors in maintaining a record of their co-advising experience so that documentation can easily be provided. The Record of Ph.D. Co-Advising is available on the CI Intranet under Graduate Program.
Continued membership on the graduate faculty: criteria and procedures for review
Upon approval of the new Graduate School Constitution, each graduate program in the University was charged with the task of developing guidelines for review of graduate faculty members. The following revised criteria and procedures for review were discussed and approved by vote of the Education, Curriculum and Instruction graduate faculty in Spring, 2007. Once an individual becomes a member of the graduate faculty, s/he must maintain a solid record of advising and/or serving on student committees and must comply with Graduate School and department policies and guidelines regarding the advising relationship (see, for example, Mutual Responsibilities in Graduate Education). Affiliate members are reviewed on a regular basis and Senior Members or Members may be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee at the request of the department chair.
For Affiliate Members (both Affiliate Senior Members and Affiliate Members)
- Every three years, the DGS will request a report from each affiliate member in Education, Curriculum, and Instruction. The reports will address affiliate members’ activity in the following areas:
- Advising of students in the program of appointment
- Service on student examination committees
- Teaching of graduate-level courses in the program
- Scholarly, creative, or professional activity/accomplishment related to the program
- The DGS and the Graduate Studies Committee will review these reports. For each affiliate member, the DGS and Graduate Studies Committee will decide either to a) continue membership or b) request improvement. In the event of request improvement, the DGS will provide the affiliate member with clear, written instructions about the activities and accomplishments that will be required to remain on the graduate faculty of Education, Curriculum, and Instruction. The affiliate member may, of course, request that her/his graduate faculty status be terminated. If continued membership is desired, the affiliate member will have two years to make requested improvements.
- At the end of this two year period, the affiliate member will supply the DGS with another report. This report will be reviewed by the DGS and Graduate Studies Committee, and they will decide either to a) continue membership or b) request termination. In the event of request termination of graduate faculty status, the DGS will ask for a vote by Senior Members and Members of the graduate faculty of Education, Curriculum, and Instruction, in favor of or opposed to termination. If a majority oppose termination, membership will be continued. If a majority are in favor of requesting termination, the DGS will provide the affiliate member with the reasons for the request, and ask that the affiliate member voluntarily terminate graduate faculty status with Education, Curriculum, and Instruction. In the event that the affiliate member does not wish to give up graduate faculty status, the DGS will ask the Graduate School Dean to consider the request for termination and render a decision.
For Senior Members and Members
Membership or Senior Membership on the Education, Curriculum and Instruction graduate faculty is typically granted (by a vote of the graduate faculty) to faculty and instructional staff within C&I who meet requirements for graduate faculty status. All C&I faculty and instructional staff undergo a rigorous and comprehensive review by the department chair on an annual basis. The review involves examination of graduate faculty status responsibilities (research/scholarship, graduate advising and service on student committees, teaching) among other accomplishments and activities.
- Review of Senior Members and Members of the graduate faculty in Education, Curriculum and Instruction will occur only when requested by the Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. If the department chair observes a consistent pattern of neglect regarding graduate membership responsibilities on the part of a Senior Member or Member of the graduate faculty, s/he will request that the C&I Personnel Committee conduct a formal review. It is expected that a consistent pattern of neglect would emerge over a period of two or more years in most cases. In the event that the Senior Member or Member in question is a member of the Personnel Committee, s/he will be recused from the committee for the review.
- When the Personnel Committee receives such a request, they will ask the department chair for a record of documentation. They will also ask the Senior Member or Member under review for additional documentation based on the information provided by the department chair. The Personnel Committee will also consult with the DGS as needed throughout the review process.
- The Personnel Committee will review the documentation, and will decide either to a) continue membership or b) request improvement. In the event of request improvement, the Personnel Committee will draft a letter to the Senior Member or Member with clear, written instructions detailing the activities and accomplishments that will be required to remain on the graduate faculty of Education, Curriculum, and Instruction. The chair of the Personnel Committee will then provide the Department Chair with the draft of the letter. The Department Chair will review the draft, revise as needed in consultation with the Personnel Committee Chair and DGS, and forward the letter to the Senior Member or Member. The letter will be signed by the Dept. Chair, the Chair of the Personnel Committee, and the DGS. The Senior Member or Member may, of course, request that her/his graduate faculty status be terminated. If continued membership is desired, the Senior Member or Member will be asked to sign a copy of the letter requesting improvement as evidence that s/he understands what is expected and will have a maximum of two years to make requested improvements. The exact time frame allocated will be stipulated in the letter.
- At the end of every semester during the designated time period for improvement, the Senior Member or Member will supply the chair of the Personnel Committee with a progress report that outlines activities and accomplishments corresponding to the request for improvement. A final report at the end of the time period for improvement will be reviewed by the Personnel Committee, and they will decide either to a) continue membership or b) request termination. In the event of request termination of graduate faculty status, the Personnel Committee will ask the DGS to hold a vote by Senior Members and Members of the graduate faculty of Education, Curriculum, and Instruction, in favor of or opposed to termination. If a majority opposes termination, membership will be continued. If a majority is in favor of requesting termination, the Personnel Committee will provide the Senior Member or Member with the reasons for the request, and ask that the Senior Member or Member voluntarily terminate graduate faculty status with Education, Curriculum, and Instruction. In the event that the Senior Member or Member does not wish to give up graduate faculty status, the DGS will ask the Graduate School Dean to consider the request for termination and render a decision.
Revised Fall 2008
