Visiting Scholar/Fellow Appointment Process

Visiting Scholar

A Visiting Scholar is a person with a record of distinguished scholarly achievement who is coming to conduct their own scholarship. Normally, these persons currently hold professorial or senior research appointments at other universities and are on sabbatical or leave under sponsorship of a major grant, such as a Fulbright or Guggenheim.

Appointments are only considered when it is evident that residence in the GSD will be of significant benefit to the research in progress and when the residence of the scholar will benefit scholarship and/or instruction in the Faculty of Design. These appointments are unpaid. No space, staff support, or benefits are available to Visiting Scholars.

Visiting Fellow

A Visiting Fellow is a person with some scholarly or professional achievement beyond the normal scholarly or professional degree who is coming to engage in research or otherwise participate in academic endeavors of the school. Appointments are only considered when it is evident that participation at the GSD will be of significant benefit to research or academic endeavors of the school. Most international fellows applying from abroad are funded by a foundation, government grant, or company.

All international fellows should be certain they can provide evidence of sufficient funding. Visa authorization is contingent upon the certification of funds to cover expenses. These appointments are unpaid. No space, staff support, or benefits are available to Visiting Fellows.

These unpaid academic appointments are governed by policies set forth in the Non-Faculty Academic Appointments Handbook.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

• Visiting Scholars/Fellows receive Harvard IDs and Library privileges
• The faculty sponsor must serve as host and be in residence for the duration of the visit

APPROVALS:

• Visiting Fellow status is not to be used for people who are enrolled in a degree program (doctoral or masters) at another institution. These individuals may pursue special student status through the Admissions Office, bearing in mind that Harvard is no longer able to sponsor student visas for special students (at this time only US citizens or permanent residents can apply for special student status).
• Visiting Fellow status is not to be used for people whose principal activity at GSD will be to support, collaborate or otherwise work on a faculty research project under the direction of the faculty member. Those individuals should be hired as Research Associates and must be paid according to established GSD guidelines.
• Requests for Visiting Scholar and Visiting Fellow appointments are reviewed for approval by the Executive Committee. Faculty are permitted to sponsor not more than one unpaid visiting appointment per year.
• If approved, all visiting appointees must sign the appropriate Harvard University Visitor Participation Agreement

For additional information regarding these types of appointments, please refer to the Non-Faculty Academic Appointments Handbook.

If you would like to recommend a Visiting Scholar or Visiting Fellow, please submit the application below. For questions, please contact Tim Hoffman in Faculty Affairs.

Faculty Leave Policies & Forms

Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MAPFML)

• MA PFML Summary for Faculty and Academic Appointees (PDF)
• MA PFML Checklist for Faculty and Academic Appointees  (PDF)

Leave of Absence Request Forms

• Faculty Long-term Leave of Absence Request Form

Additional Policies 

Tenured Faculty Sabbatical Policy Guide (PDF)

GSD Policies Regarding Retired Professors (Research & Emeritus/a Professors) (PDF)

Faculty Benefits

Teaching at the GSD

Research

Faculty Affairs Resources

Faculty Appointments Handbook

Orientation Programs for New Faculty

Welcome to the Graduate School of Design! For over eighty years, the GSD has pioneered excellence in the practice of design, education, and research.

Each semester the GSD offers orientation events for all new faculty members. Our goal is to welcome you to the GSD and Harvard University community and connect you to the resources you need to make your transition to GSD as smooth as possible.

Please review the information below to learn more details on the orientation sessions and the resources available.

The Faculty Affairs Office is always available to answer any questions that are not covered here, and we encourage you to refer to our Faculty Affairs Office Resource Center for more information on our faculty policies, teaching resources, hiring TAs, benefits, and other work/life resources.

Orientation Program	Date & Location	Description
Pre-Term Faculty Orientation Session: Course Prep & Student Affairs	Wednesday, August 6 (9:30a.m.-10:30a.m.) via Zoom	Academic Departments and Student Affairs staff will provide information useful to faculty prior to the start of the term. Topics covered will include creating syllabi, hybrid teaching, course presentations, course budgets, resources for students, and to how to address accommodation requests.
GSD New Faculty Welcome and Academic Affairs Orientation	Thursday, September 4 (11:30a.m. -1:30p.m.) Gund 112/Stubbins or via Zoom	An opportunity to meet Dean Whiting and other administrators over lunch, meet other new faculty, and hear about campus updates, and resources to help you get started. Please RSVP to indicate whether you are able to join in person or via Zoom.
Full Faculty Meeting	Wednesday, September 10 (12:30p.m.–2p.m.) Gund 112/Stubbins or via Zoom	The first full faculty meeting will include critical overviews of Student Affairs Resources, Community Values, and Campus Life.
Frances Loeb Library Orientation and Overview of FabLab Resources	Thursday, September 11 (11a.m.-12:30p.m.) Frances Loeb Library	This session offers an opportunity to learn about our collections, access services, research and teaching offerings, and Fabrication Lab resources.
Overview of the Tenure Track	TBD

University Updates

In 2024, President Alan M. Garber and Provost John F. Manning established several working groups and task forces. Below please find the final reports addressing important issues affecting our campus and community:

• Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias

• Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian Bias
• Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery : The first phase of the initiative’s work was to uncover the truth of Harvard’s ties to slavery through deep research guided by a committee of distinguished faculty drawn from across the University. This research provides a strong foundation for our next phase: the process of reckoning and repair.

Harvard Wide Resources

• Harvard University Community and Campus Life  works with stakeholders and partners across the University to guide Harvard’s culture toward inclusive excellence.
• MessageMe  is Harvard University’s emergency notification system.
• For navigating Life at Harvard, the Campus Map  and the Harvard International Office’s Welcome Guide  are helpful resources.
• Office of the Vice Provost for Research : The OVPR reviews, develops, and implements Harvard’s research-related policies, as well as the organization and execution of academic research, especially in the sciences.
• The Harvard Federal Credit Union  (HFCU) exclusively serves the Harvard community, providing a complete line of services (banking and loans) for all your financial needs.
• Guide to Harvard Terms and Acronyms.
• Harvard Info Center and Tours : Harvard University established the Visitor Center in 1962 as the front door to the University, where students greet visitors from all over the world, answer questions about campus, and provide official tours of Harvard.
• Harvard Police Department : The mission of the Harvard University Police Department is to maintain a safe and secure campus by providing quality policing in partnership with the community.
• Faculty Development: National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD)  focuses on skills for thriving in today’s academy, such as strategic planning, productivity, work-life balance, and healthy relationships. Faculty Development hosts an institutional membership with the NCFDD, allowing their resources to supplement those that Schools and other units may provide.
• Harvard’s Central Faculty Affairs Office: Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty.

Hiring RAs, Non Faculty Appointees

Is the work to be performed part of a research effort and/or academic in nature?

Yes: Please review the content on this page.

No: If the work is not academic in nature, it requires a staff position.  Please contact Human Resources for more information

 

Do you want to hire a student?

Yes: Please refer to Hiring Students: Information for Faculty

No: If you want to hire a recent graduate/no longer a student, or a new employee who is not affiliated with GSD, Faculty Affairs will assist you.

 

These are some factors to consider before offering post-graduate employment:

• New graduates are treated as new hires. Tim Hoffman, Assistant Director of Faculty Affairs, will be able to assist to with the hiring process and answer any questions.
• Even if the graduate will continue to work on an ongoing project that was initiated while they were a student, under your direct or indirect supervision, the terms and conditions of employment will change once they are no longer an enrolled student. The rules that will be applied are not specific to GSD; we follow university, state, and federal policies as applicable.
• Please remind your employee(s) that they should not continue working/logging hours once they graduate, unless and until hire paperwork is completed and processed, including confirmation of available funds.  This means it is important to begin new hire paperwork well in advance of the graduation date, to allow sufficient time for getting the hire approved and set up. Contact Tim as soon as possible!
• New graduates and other non-student academic employees are hired through Faculty Affairs.  Those who have been student RAs will need to transition to employee status, and will no longer file paperwork and timesheets in the Academic Business Office.  Pilar Raynor Jordan manages student payroll, but once someone graduates, they can no longer be on a student payroll, and Pilar will no longer be the appropriate point of contact.
• You are responsible for ensuring there is a clear transition for your research assistant, from the student payroll to an employee payroll.
• Most receive NFA (non-faculty academic) appointments as Research Associates, and are paid on the monthly academic payroll. These employees work either full- or part-time, with a monthly salary, and do not report hours.
• Occasionally, new graduates may continue working on a short-term basis (up to 90 days) on a weekly payroll with an hourly rate. As an exception, they may be approved to work for a longer period, if they work less than half time (14 hours/week).
• With all job types there may be other complicating factors such as visa requirements or budget constraints. To avoid problems, it is critically important that you consult us before making an offer of employment, ESPECIALLY IF YOUR RA WILL BE WORKING ON AN Optional Practical Training (OPT) VISA.
• Tim Hoffman is the contact person for hiring research assistants, research associates, post docs, and any other academic workers who are not current students, and not faculty.
• Submit hire forms for NFA appointments (PDF) and temporary/short-term employment (PDF) to Tim Hoffman. Please note that these forms should be completed by the hiring manager (you, the faculty member, or an administrator/designate), not by the prospective employee. Please consult Tim in the Faculty Affairs Office with any questions about this process.
• Questions regarding availability of funding may be referred to Nelson Wong in GSD Finance.

Finally, if you are considering hiring a research associate from outside GSD for academic work/research support, the above policies also apply, and you should contact Tim Hoffman about how to structure the job prior to making a specific offer of employment.

 

Faculty Appointments Handbook – Introduction

The Graduate School of Design educates leaders in design, research, and scholarship to make a resilient, just, and beautiful world. To succeed in its mission, the GSD must develop an academic community of excellence. The Faculty Appointments Handbook describes faculty searches, promotions and reappointments, policies and procedures, approved by the Office of the Provost at Harvard University, for individuals who fill faculty positions in the school. The Handbook is intended to complement and extend university policies and, should conflicts arise, university policies shall govern.

The Faculty Appointments Handbook is one of three documents that explain policies and procedures relevant to faculty members at the GSD. The others include the Faculty Policies Handbook , which describes policies and procedures relevant to faculty engagement, employment, and conduct, and the Guidelines for Instruction Handbook (PDF), which describes policies and procedures for course planning, delivery of instruction, departmental and program-related resources, and other aspects of curricular engagement.  

The total number of positions on the Faculty of Design and, in particular, the balance between senior and junior voting faculty positions are largely governed by the academic requirements of the school and the financial resources available. The GSD intends to select the best available person to fill each position, whether from inside or outside the school. 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 school seeks to appoint and promote individuals who are highly effective teachers as well as creative and productive scholars and/or practitioners. Individuals are appointed to the voting faculty or the non-voting faculty. Junior and senior positions on the voting faculty are filled through searches for external candidates, promotions of internal candidates, and reappointments of internal candidates.  

Revised July 2025

GSD-Faculty-Appointments-Handbook (PDF Version)