Proposed changes to Policy B3.1 "Clinician-Educator and Practitioner-Educator Faculty Titles" - 2nd Comment Period
Comment period runs November 27, 2023 through December 12, 2023. Please send comments to for the Office of the University Secretary to collect and submit to the appropriate committees.
This fall the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (AF&T) sent a proposed interim policy which will create the faculty title Practitioner-Educator to faculty for review and comment. Thank you to all who provided feedback during the first comment period. AF&T reviewed the comments received and made changes where appropriate. To allow faculty to review and comment on these subsequent changes, AF&T is sending the proposed interim policy out for an additional 15-day review and comment period. These subsequent changes are highlighted in purple in the draft and are summarized below:
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The Clinician-Educator section introduced the term “equivalent doctoral degree.” Commentors requested a definition for this term. A definition was added in the Definitions Section which includes a list of degrees that qualify as equivalent doctoral degrees.
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In the Practitioner-Educator section the term “terminal degree” was used as criteria for the title. Commentors asked for clarification of a terminal degree. This section has been expanded to clarify the required credentials to qualify for Practitioner Educator and deletes the use of the term “terminal degree.”
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Commentors also requested definitions for “healthcare professionals” and “patient care” and definitions for these two terms were added to the Definitions Section of the policy.
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Commentors asked about procedures for reclassification in accordance with this Policy. Language was added to the Procedures section stating that “colleges and schools will develop written procedures approved by their voting faculty pertaining to reclassification in accordance with this Policy, Faculty Handbook policies, and UNM hiring policies.”
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Commentors expressed concern that this title could result in current faculty being moved out of their tenure track or Clinician-Educator positions. This is not the intent of the policy. This policy aligns UNM titles with nationally recognized practices and offers promotion opportunities, thereby increasing faculty rights for current and prospective non-tenure track faculty.