List of Appointments
General Conditions for the Development of the Faculty
Additional Criteria Applying to Tenured and Junior
Appointments
Instruction and Research Conducted by Faculty
Appointment of Former GSD Faculty
Joint Appointments in other Harvard Faculties
Affiliate Status
Emeritus Status
Voting Status in the Faculty
Senior Faculty Council
Nondiscrimination and Nepotism
Affirmative Action
Each academic appointment to the Faculty of Design is made under one of the following titles and reflects the career patterns of the individuals and their relationship to the school's programs. Except for tenured appointments, all appointments are for fixed terms, and there are no obligations for reappointment beyond those terms. The structure of the faculty positions and the limitations on service, together with the procedural guidelines, are intended to provide both an orderly process for the evaluation of individuals holding faculty appointments and reasonable notice about the potential for and likelihood of reappointment.
The maximum time of continuous or discontinuous active service in each of the academic ranks is indicated in parentheses. For a summary, refer to Appendix IV (Chart Illustrating Maximum Years of Appointment in Each Rank or Position).
Senior Faculty Appointments: Tenured
Professor
Professor in Practice
Senior Faculty Appointments: Non-tenured
Term Professor (five-year limit per appointment, no limit on the number of reappointments, though a search is required for reappointment beyond ten years)
Adjunct Professor (five-year limit per appointment, no limit on the number of reappointments, though a search is required for reappointment beyond ten years)
Senior Lecturer (five-year limit per appointment, no limit on the number of reappointments, though a search is required for reappointment beyond ten years)
Junior Faculty Appointments (eight years total, see below)
Associate Professor (five years)
Adjunct Associate Professor (ten years, part-time)
Assistant Professor (five years, includes time spent as an Instructor/Assistant Professor)
Instructor/Assistant Professor (one year, with a possibility for a one-year extension under extenuating circumstances)
Multi-Year Appointments
Design Critic (three years, with possibility of reappointments, half-time or less)
Lecturer (three years, with possibility of reappointments, half-time or less)
Annual Appointments
Design Critic (one year, with possibility of reappointments; for reappointments beyond 10 cumulative years of consecutive or non-consecutive service, special rules apply)
Lecturer (one year, with possibility of reappointments; for reappointments beyond 10 cumulative years of consecutive or non-consecutive service, special rules apply)
Instructor (one year, with one reappointment)
Visiting Professor, Visiting Associate Professor, Visiting Assistant Professor (two years)
The maximum time of continuous or discontinuous active service for associate and assistant professors is eight years combined. A one-year extension may be granted for an unpaid professional leave (or leaves) of absence. An additional year may also be granted for maternity leave or primary child-care responsibilities. In such instances, the end date of the term of appointment will normally be extended by the amount of the leave. For information about leaves and their conditions, see the section on leaves in the GSD Faculty Handbook.
For all multi-year and annual appointments, a part-time appointment of any duration in any one year is equivalent to one year of service.
The maximum terms of, and total limits on, service described above
establish standards for personnel decisions. Under extraordinary circumstances,
however, these standards may be adjusted upon
recommendation of the Senior Faculty Council and approval by the dean
and the president or the president's designee.
General Conditions for the Development of the
Faculty
The school seeks to attract and retain individuals who possess the personal qualities that enable them to be highly effective teachers and contributors to the school's programs. These qualities generally include high levels of intelligence, clarity of expression, analytical ability, critical judgment, imagination, creativity, initiative, and industry. Essential also are a willingness to support free inquiry and expression by others and the capacity to work in constructive collaboration with others.
The school intends to select the best available person to fill each position, whether from inside or outside the university. If the best available person to fill a position does not meet the standards of excellence sought for the faculty, the school generally considers it better to leave the position unfilled.
The total number of positions in the faculty and the balance between junior and senior positions are largely governed by the financial resources available. It is normal practice to appoint more individuals to junior ranks than ultimately can be appointed to tenured professorships. As a consequence, most individuals appointed as assistant professors will continue their careers elsewhere. Individuals appointed or promoted to associate professor are not assured of future tenured appointments, and there is no routine review for considering promotion to a tenured position during an appointment as associate professor. At such times when an appropriate tenured position becomes available, an associate professor may be a candidate for the position as part of the normal search and review process, but there is no assurance that he/she will be the successful candidate.
Additional Criteria Applying to Tenured and Junior Appointments
In addition to the personal qualities sought in individuals appointed to the faculty, the school assesses candidates for appointment, reappointment, and promotion by the following criteria:
Teaching
Candidates must demonstrate achievement in teaching through their command of subject, logic of organization, clear communication of material, and capacity to develop relationships between the topic and the broader field. They shall also provide evidence of their ability to arouse curiosity in and stimulate creative work by students. Supervising independent study and research by students is part of the teaching responsibilities. The preparation of textbooks or teaching aids and development of the curriculum are added demonstrations of attainment in teaching, but they are not substitutes for successful classroom or studio performance.
Creative Work
A candidate's scholarship, design, or professional work, or a combination thereof must provide evidence of a creative and productive mind. The school will assess creative work by examining normal products of such activity, including drawings, models, exhibitions, and built work, as well as work and publications authored by the candidate and publications about the candidate's work. The work will be evaluated for originality, significance, and intellectual contribution to the field. Although the quality, rather than the quantity, is paramount, the candidate should show evidence of continuing productivity that will benefit the learning of others. Professional activities that do not represent significant original work are evidence of competence, but they are not substitutes for the requirement of creative achievement.
Academic Service
Academic service to the department, the school, and the university in the form of student advising and participation in program development and administration is mandatory for reappointment or promotion in all tenured and junior ranks.
Service to public agencies, community organizations, and professional societies shall be taken into consideration, but it is not a substitute for service to the school and university.
Summary
In the school's evaluation of candidates for appointment, reappointment or promotion, desirable personal qualities and high potential are not substitutes for a record of continued and productive achievement. Creative contributions to the field through scholarship and/or design are essential to effective teaching over time. Continued study and investigation with public exposition of research and professional accomplishments are normal obligations of faculty at Harvard.
The school appraises candidates according to individual career development. It is not expected that individuals in the initial phases of their careers will have the same records of achievement as more senior individuals in the field. The guiding principle is that the school should have a faculty of exceptional quality and that its individual members should be among the most creative and productive in the field when compared to individuals at comparable stages of career development.
Instruction and Research Conducted by Faculty
The Graduate School of Design benefits from the participation of many individuals who bring differing perspectives and experience to informal learning settings. Nevertheless, formal instruction shall be conducted only by individuals who currently hold valid appointments in the Faculty of Design or occasionally in another Faculty at Harvard, and who have been selected, reviewed, and approved essentially in accordance with the procedures described in this handbook. Similarly, research shall be conducted by individuals currently holding valid senior, junior, or multi-year appointments in the faculty who have been through the same selection and approval processes. Limited exceptions to these policies are defined for individuals who hold non-faculty appointments related to teaching and research.
Appointment of Former GSD Faculty
Individuals who have held the position of assistant or associate professor in the Faculty of Design may not be reappointed to the same position again unless the earlier appointment was not completed because of health reasons or other serious personal necessities. In such circumstances, a single reappointment for the balance of the incomplete term may be made without the normal notice and search process. An individual who completed a term as assistant professor but was not promoted to associate professor may be considered as a candidate for associate professor in a normal notice and search process, but only after a two-year break in service. The sum of prior experience shall be considered in determining the maximum number of years that should be permitted in non-tenured positions. An individual who has completed an appointment as an assistant or associate professor may be considered for a design critic or lecturer position, but only after a two-year break in service. A junior faculty member who wishes to switch to a part-time appointment may, upon recommendation by the chair and approval by the dean, resign from the associate or assistant professor position and accept an appointment as a design critic or lecturer. The maximum FTE will be .50 per year and the number of years of the lecturer or design critic appointment cannot exceed the number of years remaining in the junior faculty appointment as of the effective date of resignation. A reappointment can be made only after a two-year break in service.
Joint Appointments in other Harvard Faculties
Joint appointments in the Faculty of Design and another faculty at
Harvard may be made in the senior or junior ranks. Individuals appointed
to such positions normally hold the same position in each faculty. Joint
appointments are subject to the same conditions and terms of appointment
as
appointments in the Faculty of Design. The search, review, and approval
process shall be essentially the same as described for individual appointments,
where consistent with the requirements of the other Harvard faculty
involved.
Affiliate status in the Faculty of Design or in one of the academic departments of the GSD may be conferred on individuals who hold primary appointments in other faculties at Harvard. Such status shall be for a fixed term of up to three years; it may be renewed and must be approved by the deans of both faculties. Such status is dependent upon holding the position in the other faculty and may not be continued should the primary appointment lapse.
Individuals who have held appointments in the Faculty of Design as professor or professor in practice for the immediately preceding five years and who retire at age sixty or older shall receive emeritus status.
The position Research Professor is available to Graduate School of Design professors and professors in practice who, as they retire from active status, request this title in lieu of the designation Professor Emerita or Professor Emeritus. The title Research Professor can be held for a maximum of five years after formal retirement. Both in applying for this designation, and each year thereafter, the faculty member should write the Dean of the Faculty to state his or her planned research or creative design activities for the coming year. In the absence of such a statement, or at the individual’s request, or at the end of the five-year period, the title Research Professor will lapse in favor of emeritus designation.
Research professors are eligible for principal investigator status and may receive salary from sponsored research project accounts. They are also eligible to teach up to one course (or the equivalent, if participating in multiple courses) per year at the Graduate School of Design if so requested by their Department Chair and the Dean, with compensation to be negotiated. Such teaching agreements shall be annual, though renewable.
In accordance with university policy, an individual holding the rank of research professor is eligible to receive benefits as an active employee so long as his or her annual salary from all Harvard sources remains continuously at or above the minimum for such eligibility set by the University ($15,000 in academic year 2005-06). If annual salary falls below this minimum, the research professor becomes eligible for retiree benefits.
Senior and junior faculty are accorded voting privileges in the faculty and assume the rights and responsibilities related to this status. From time to time and on an individual basis, other instructional or administrative personnel may be granted voting status upon recommendation of the faculty and approval by the Governing Boards.
Members of the faculty holding positions as professor and professor in practice and the chairs of the academic departments who do not hold such positions, serve as members of the Senior Faculty Council. Among its duties, the Council serves as the standing committee on appointments.
Nondiscrimination and Nepotism
In making appointments to the Faculty of Design, search committee members and others are bound by the policies regarding nondiscrimination, equal employment opportunity and nepotism as outlined in Section III of the GSD Faculty Handbook.
Harvard University is committed to selecting and promoting faculty
without discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin,
sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, age, veteran status, or disability
unrelated to job requirements. The affirmative action plan adopted by
the university requires the faculties to take appropriate steps to recruit,
employ and promote qualified women and minority candidates as well as
qualified disabled persons and certain veterans. The responsibility
for compliance with affirmative action procedures rests with the chair
of the search committee, in consultation with the executive dean or the director of faculty planning.