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C10: Employment and Advanced Degrees

Policy

Approved by Faculty on March 9, 1976, by Regents on March 19, 1976. Amended in 1979.

1. Faculty Members

a. No member of the faculty may be awarded an advanced degree by the University in the same department or degree program in which the faculty member is employed.

b. Faculty members are encouraged to take courses outside their own departments, whether or not toward a degree. A master's degree may be sought in such a department by following all of the normal procedures applying to such a pursuit, with the provision that a full-time faculty member may not enroll for more than six (6) hours per semester.

c. Similarly, a Ph.D. degree in a clearly separate program in a different unit of the University may be sought, with the following additional provisions;

  1. advance written approval of the faculty member's department chairperson and college dean, with information copies filed with the Office of Graduate Studies and the Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs;
  2. except during the Ph.D. residence semesters, maximum enrollment in any semester may not exceed six (6) hours;
  3. during the two (2) semesters of residence requirement the faculty member may:
    a. take a leave of absence without pay, or
    b. become part time, with an academic workload not to exceed half time;
  4. during the residence semesters the faculty member must complete at least nine (9) credit hours each semester or an equivalent program of study and research.

2. Graduate Students

a. A qualified graduate student may, in accordance with the graduate policies of the University, be appointed as a teaching assistant or teaching associate, neither of which is a faculty rank, in the major department or, with the approval of both chairpersons involved, in a department other than the major.

b.

  1. A graduate student, i.e., a student who is formally pursuing a graduate degree at this University and who does not hold a faculty appointment, may not be given a concurrent faculty appointment in the same department or degree program. Where the student's degree program is not clearly departmentalized, faculty appointment is prohibited within the college or school awarding the degree.
  2. A graduate student may be offered a faculty appointment outside his or her department and degree program only with the approvals of the Graduate Studies Dean and the Provost/Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, in addition to the normal department and college or school approvals. In such a case, the individual becomes a faculty member governed by section 1 above.
  3. Paragraphs 2.b.(1) and (2) above also apply to graduate students during summer sessions, whether or not they are enrolled at the time.