Graduate Faculty Meetings

The Graduate School facilitates two key forums that engage graduate faculty in meaningful discussions and decision-making processes.

1. Graduate Council
   The Graduate Council oversees policies and matters related to graduate education at Grand Valley. This body includes two faculty representatives from each academic college, ensuring comprehensive representation and collaboration.

2. Graduate Program Directors Meetings
   Held monthly, these meetings provide a platform for program directors to receive updates and share information pertinent to their respective graduate programs.

Both forums play a vital role in advancing the mission and quality of graduate education.

• Policies & Procedures Main Page
• Faculty and Staff Advising Guidebook
• Graduate Faculty Handbook
• Graduate Director's Handbook

Policy on Tenure and Tenure Track Faculty Engaged in Graduate Education:

Tenure and Tenure Track Faculty Electronic Application

Approved Tenure and Tenure Track Listing (as of August 5, 2024)

Qualifications for Tenured and Tenure-track Faculty Engaged in Graduate Education

Graduate study involves specialized knowledge and concentrated study in a particular area that is aimed at acquiring discipline-specific skills to practice a profession or to engage in advanced research.  To ensure that graduate programs maintain these expectations requires that the faculty acknowledges them conceptually and through action, and that the University, Colleges, and departments utilize faculty qualified to participate in graduate education.  Faculty members involved in developing the current knowledge, methods, and techniques of 59 their disciplines provide educational opportunities commensurate with those expectations and with best practices for graduate education.  Faculty may be recognized as qualified graduate faculty at one of two levels (full and associate) and may be involved with graduate education in several different ways (e.g., teaching, mentoring, advising) depending on their interests and/or other commitments or assignments.  Tenured or tenure-track faculty who are recognized as Full Graduate Faculty are eligible to serve as chair of a thesis or dissertation committee in addition to teaching, mentoring, and advising graduate students.  Associate Graduate Faculty may participate in graduate education as noted above, but may not serve as chair of a graduate student thesis or dissertation committee.  Being qualified to engage in graduate education does not imply that a faculty member will be limited to working at the graduate level. Indeed, faculty engaged in graduate education may be equally engaged in undergraduate education.  Individual faculty assignments for any given semester are the responsibility of the academic unit. 

Levels of Faculty Involvement

Full Graduate Faculty: Tenured or tenure-track faculty who meet the following criteria will qualify as full graduate faculty.

Minimum criteria to be recognized as Full Graduate Faculty are:

• Must be tenured or on tenure track at GVSU, at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher.
• Must possess an earned doctorate or another discipline-appropriate terminal degree from an accredited institution. Alternatively, and in highly limited circumstances, a faculty member may be qualified based on demonstrated exceptional scholarly, creative, or professional achievement.
• Must have had active involvement in graduate education (teaching, advising, or mentoring graduate students).  If faculty members have not been active in graduate education previously they must provide a statement that identifies their potential for effective mentoring and teaching, including examples that support their request (see addendum parts 1 & 3 for examples).
• Must demonstrate continuing and productive scholarship, professional achievement, performance, or creative activity during the period prior to application for, or renewal of, this level of standing (see addendum part 2 for examples).
• Must demonstrate active professional service in the discipline (see addendum parts 1 & 3 for examples).

Associate Graduate Faculty: Tenured or tenure-track faculty who meet some, but not all of the requirements for Full Graduate Faculty may qualify as Associate Graduate Faculty if their professional or academic training provides relevant experience.

Minimum criteria to be recognized as an Associate Graduate Faculty Member: 

• Must be tenure-track at GVSU, at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher.
• Must possess an earned, discipline-appropriate, graduate degree from an accredited institution.  Alternatively, and in highly limited circumstances, a faculty member may be qualified based on demonstrated exceptional scholarly, creative, or professional achievement.
• Must have had active involvement in graduate education (teaching or mentoring graduate students).  If faculty members have not been active in graduate education previously, they must provide a statement that identifies their potential for effective teaching and mentoring, including examples that support their request (see addendum parts 1 & 3 for examples). 

This policy was adopted by UAS on October 29, 2010. Any revisions will need to comply with faculty governance review processes.

Policy on Non-Tenure Track Faculty Engaged in Graduate Education:

Online Graduate Faculty Application (for those with a GVSU log in)
Use the MS Word format (for those without a GVSU log in)

Approved Non-tenure Track Listing (as of August 5, 2024)

Qualifications for Non-tenure Track Faculty Engaged in Graduate Education

In accordance with the university’s mission, vision, and core values, the faculty and administration are committed to high academic standards.  Furthermore, the GVSU community affirms: 1) that achieving and maintaining academic rigor and quality is as important to post-baccalaureate programs as it is to baccalaureate programs, and 2) that policies and procedures that ensure appropriate rigor and quality are essential.  Central to the quality of any educational program are qualified faculty committed to the educational ideals of the institution and higher education in general.  Two factors conspire to achieve a quality educational program.  First, it is incumbent on the University, Colleges, and departments to hire qualified faculty, and second, faculty should pursue common goals and standards regarding post-baccalaureate education. Thus, the policies outlining Non-tenure Track Faculty Engaged in Graduate Education who are the Instructor of record have been instituted to ensure the quality of graduate education at Grand Valley State University.  The term Nontenure Track Faculty (including Affiliate Faculty, Visiting Faculty, and Part-Time Faculty) is defined in Chapter 4 Section 3 of the Administrative Manual.

A. Rationale and Philosophy: There are widely recognized differences between baccalaureate and post-baccalaureate education deeply embedded within academic culture.  These differences include the basic tenet that graduate/professional students are expected to work at a higher intellectual, more demanding, and rigorous educational level.  Ensuring that post-baccalaureate programs maintain these fundamental distinctions requires that the faculty acknowledge such distinctions conceptually and through action, and that the University hires faculty qualified to participate in post-baccalaureate education.

Grand Valley State University non-tenure track faculty engaged in graduate education must be current with the knowledge of their disciplines, and are expected to be active in advancing their field through ongoing scholarly activity and appropriate service.  In general, non-tenure track faculty should be able to demonstrate excellent classroom instruction and active and sustained scholarly and professional service.

B.  Expectations for Non-tenure Track Faculty:

1. Responsibilities.  Non-tenure track faculty meeting the criteria set forth below may teach graduate level courses within a precise area related to their expertise as defined by and related to the topic and field of their appropriate degree.  Minimal coursework related to a particular topic or subject does not constitute expertise.  In addition, non-tenure track faculty may also serve on graduate student committees, supervise graduate students in clinical settings, and may supervise a clinical case report but may not supervise a graduate student project, thesis, or dissertation.
2. Minimum Criteria for Non-tenure Track Faculty  
   1. Education:
      1. an earned doctorate or another terminal degree, OR, 65
      2. a master’s degree with at least three years of qualifying experience post-master’s degree conferral and prior approval of the appropriate unit head OR,
      3. in limited cases, holding a bachelor’s degree in the discipline or content area being taught with appropriate tested experience as defined by the graduate program, and distinguished professional accomplishments.
   2. Non-tenure track faculty members must present evidence of scholarly activity, creative activity, or equivalent professional accomplishments within the last three years. Although ongoing graduate level course work and other professional development may be relevant, alone, they do not qualify an individual to be a non-tenure track faculty member engaged in graduate education.  Scholarly activity may include but is not limited to giving presentations at professional conferences and publications in professional journals. Other professional accomplishments beyond professional development may also be considered.  In some cases, a professional with unique skills and qualifications engaged in the ongoing application of current knowledge (e.g., attorneys practicing business law and clinicians) may be qualified to teach graduate courses within the area of their expertise. 

This policy was adopted by UAS on March 27, 2009. Any revisions will need to comply with faculty governance review processes.