Promotions approved for 60 term faculty

In the first year of a new classification system for Iowa State's term faculty, 60 individuals were approved for advancement this spring. They represent all seven academic colleges and four of the five professorial tracks in the new term faculty system: teaching, clinical, research and adjunct. The fifth, practice track, is for term faculty who come from nonacademic employers and work primarily in classroom instruction.

"We are excited to be able to celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of our outstanding term faculty for the first time under this new policy," said associate provost for faculty Dawn Bratsch-Prince. "Their work is fundamental to the excellent education Iowa State offers.

"When we pledge to invest in our people, in terms of professional development and career advancement, it's important to include all of our faculty and respect the work of everyone," she noted, thanking the faculty team that labored for several years to develop the new titles and policies for the Faculty Handbook.

Approximately 600 part- and full-time Iowa State faculty have nontenure-eligible -- or term -- appointments.

Heavy lift by a task force

Following two years of information gathering, feedback and proposal writing by a Faculty Senate task force, senators approved the new system in spring 2018 and it took effect July 1, 2019. Each of the five tracks includes the ranks of assistant, associate and full professor, adding a third rank to the former two-step process. There also is a lecturer option for early-career teaching term faculty. The university-wide system replaced a network of college processes for appointments, evaluation and advancement that could be inconsistent.

When it was implemented last July, Bratsch-Prince said colleges submitted recommendations for moving their term faculty into the new titles based on both their experience and performance at Iowa State.

The 60 term faculty members who were promoted this spring are a big increase over recent years, when an average of 25 term faculty advanced, she said. Bratsch-Prince attributed the jump to the addition of a third rank and to clear, consistent guidelines for all Iowa State term faculty.

Term faculty advancement by college

In addition to new titles that take effect Aug. 16, promoted term faculty receive an increase to their base salary and longer appointments.

Related story:

Term faculty have new titles, more consistent policies, Sept. 5, 2019