Faculty collaboration and interdisciplinary activities are to be encouraged and supported. In some cases, to foster such activities, faculty may pursue joint appointments with other departments within the same college/school or across different colleges/schools within Texas A&M University.
There are two types of joint faculty appointments:
-
Courtesy Joint Faculty Appointment – specific overview provided below.
-
Full Joint Faculty Appointment – involves a split in compensation and associated time and effort between two or more units. [Specific overview for full joint faculty appointments to be updated shortly.]
A Courtesy Joint Faculty Appointment is used to acknowledge a faculty member who makes contributions to teaching, research and/or service in another academic department in addition to their primary academic department with no salary obligation from the department in which the courtesy joint faculty appointment is held. A courtesy joint faculty appointment does not convey full faculty status (including voting privileges or space) in the joint academic department.
Courtesy joint faculty appointments may be made at any time, are always for a limited term of up to five years and are renewable with the agreement of the faculty member and all involved department heads, deans, and the vice president for faculty affairs. A courtesy joint faculty appointment may not last beyond the end date of a faculty member’s primary appointment.
Faculty members hold a courtesy joint faculty appointment at the same rank they hold in their primary academic department. The department in which the courtesy joint faculty appointment is held will not be involved in the tenure or promotion process for the faculty member with a courtesy joint faculty appointment. However, the faculty member may request that their primary academic department solicit input from the department head or appropriate faculty in the joint academic department to document contributions made. If a faculty member is promoted in their primary academic department, the joint academic department must approve the change in rank for the courtesy appointment or end the courtesy appointment.
The joint (requesting) academic department must initiate the “Courtesy Joint Faculty Appointment and Reappointment Form” and secure appropriate administrative signatures prior to the start of the courtesy joint faculty appointment. To request Vice President for Faculty Affairs approval, the joint academic department will need to submit the form along with the faculty member’s CV through DocuSign to the Faculty Affairs Signing Group.