Research Faculty

[The following was approved on May 23, 1996, in accordance with provisions set forth in SIU Board of Trustees 2 Policies C.]

Research faculty positions are non-tenured, non-tenure track, term appointment positions that typically do not include direct teaching responsibilities or service duties. Salaries will ordinarily be funded from external research grants generated by the individuals themselves. Research may be completely independent or in collaboration with one or more faculty members on campus. These collaborators may support the candidate until external funding is secured, or during short gaps when funding is not available.

Since these individuals will be on term appointment, the university is under no obligation to provide tenure. This policy is consistent with the AAUP which "makes no recommendation for a tenure policy for investigators who do not have regular academic appointments." Nor does promotion from one rank to another within this category involve granting of tenure.

Each department or academic unit will establish a set of guidelines concerning qualifications for appointment, criteria for promotion, salary increases, access to departmental space and support funds, recommendations for service on and/or chairing of graduate student committees, and departmental voting privileges. These guidelines must be approved by the appropriate deans and vice chancellor. Graduate faculty status will follow established procedures.

Qualifications for appointment and promotion are the same as for standard tenure-track appointments with the following exceptions:

1. There is no requirement of teaching or service duties, although these activities may be carried out by mutual consent of the individual and the department.
2. Appointment and promotion will be made under the same guidelines as standard faculty positions, requiring approval of the departmental faculty, chair, dean, and vice chancellor (again with the proviso that no teaching or service duties are required). Cross appointments will require the approval of faculty, chairs, and deans of all units involved. Since the individual is expected to devote full-time duties to research, the standards for promotion in this area will be proportionately greater than for standard faculty with only partial research appointments. Promotion carries no tenure status.
3. Since the individual is expected to secure external research funding, appointment will be on a temporary basis. Renewal will be denied if, in any consecutive 24-month period, the individual does not have one or more major external grants on which he/she serves as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator with direct costs in sufficient amount to provide for his/her salary as PI or co-PI.