Graduate Faculty Status Defined and Requirements

 Graduate Faculty Status recognizes those faculty members eligible to serve as committee chairs and (typically concomitantly) as faculty research advisors of graduate students in a specific department or program. Faculty with Graduate Faculty status also count toward the home department’s or program's required majority on the committee.  All tenured/tenure-line faculty members in the units in which they hold an appointment have Graduate Faculty Status by default.  The faculty of each College determines the specific processes and criteria for granting Graduate Faculty status to career-line faculty members whose lines reside in the unit. 

Emeriti faculty of the department or program as well as other university faculty who do not hold a formal, compensated position in the department or program may be granted a Courtesy Appointment, which confers Graduate Faculty privileges in a specific department or program for up to five years, subject to unit-level approval and renewal procedures. Renewal will occur automatically if the appointee continues to serve as a doctoral committee chair or as a research advisor during the appointment term, unless the program instructs the Graduate School otherwise. Courtesy Appointments are not official faculty appointments; these appointments are used exclusively to designate and track Graduate Faculty Status within a particular graduate degree program for the purpose of serving on graduate student committees.

Faculty who are external to the University of Utah, including Adjunct Faculty, are ineligible for Graduate Faculty Status, but they may serve as external committee members, including as co-chairs. Accordingly, faculty members who leave the University relinquish Graduate Faculty status upon separation; however, they may continue to support graduate students through continued mentoring and as co-chairs, or as external committee members.  

Colleges must have a documented process for granting Graduate Faculty status and shall notify the Graduate School of all individuals who have Graduate Faculty status in the department, program, or college. While the Graduate School does not monitor processes for granting Graduate Faculty status, colleges or departments may request guidance from the Graduate School on common practices. It is usual among peer institutions that extant Graduate Faculty identify and evaluate candidates for Graduate Faculty status, including Courtesy Appointments.