Research FAQS (Updated 12/12/13)
I. Criteria for Appointment, Promotion, and Advancement
The criteria set forth below are intended to serve as a guide in judging a candidate for appointment, promotion, or advancement in the Professional Research Series. In applying these criteria in cases involving individuals at the level of Assistant Researcher, due consideration must, of course, be given to the individual’s promise as well as achievement.
The Review Committee shall judge the candidate with respect to the proposed rank and duties, considering the record of the candidate’s performance in (a) research; (b) professional competence and activity; and (c) for candidates at the ranks of Associate Researcher and Researcher, service.
A. Research
The Professional Research Series is for appointees who engage in research equivalent to that required for the Professor Series and not for appointees whose duties are limited to contributing high-level skills to a specific research or creative program (e.g. Project Scientist Series) or to providing technical assistance to a research activity. Evidence of a productive and creative mind should be sought in the candidate’s published research or recognized artistic production in original architectural or engineering designs, or the like. As such, the particular contribution should be evaluated in terms of the level of appointment or advancement proposed. There should be evidence that the candidate is continually and effectively initiating and taking part in creative activity of high quality and significance appropriate to the field, and that intellectual growth as well as the accumulation of experience is evidenced. Publications in research and other creative accomplishment should be evaluated, not merely enumerated. Work in progress should be assessed whenever possible. Account should be taken of the type and quality of creative activity normally expected in the candidate’s field. Appraisals of publications or other works in the scholarly and critical literature provide important testimony. Due consideration should be given to variations among fields and specialties and to new genres and fields of inquiry including work that advances the scholarly understanding of equitable access and diversity. The candidate may also function as a member of a team, but in such circumstances the unique contribution of the candidate to the team’s efforts needs to be documented. When published work in joint authorship (or other product of joint effort) is presented as evidence, it is the responsibility of the Department Chair to establish as clearly as possible the role of the candidate in the joint effort.
B. Professional Competence and Activity
A candidate for appointment or advancement in the Professional Research Series should indicate increasing competence in the development or utilization of new approaches and techniques for the solution of professional problems, progressive involvement in the affairs of the profession, and extended recognition by peers.
C. Service
Service only is required for Associate Researcher and Researcher Series ranks. There are numerous categories of recognized service and the following list is not meant to be all inclusive but just to provide examples. Service to the community, state, nation, professional organizations both in their special capacities as scholars and in areas beyond those special capacities, when the work done is at a sufficiently high level and of sufficiently high quality, should be recognized as evidence for promotion and advancement. Serving on committees of professional organizations, reviewing manuscripts for journals or grants for funding agencies are other examples. Service activities related to the improvement of elementary and secondary education represent another example. Similarly, contributions to student welfare through service on departmental committees and as advisers to student organizations should be recognized as evidence, as should contributions furthering diversity and equal opportunity within the University through participation in such activities as recruitment, retention, and mentoring of scholars and students.
II. Instructions for Transferring from the Professional Research to the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series
All individuals presently in the Professional Research Series have the option of either remaining in that series or transferring to the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series. The precise timing of the transfer will be the choice of the candidate and is described below. For individuals who choose to remain in the Professional Research Series, future advancement in that series will be evaluated based on the revised criteria in The CALL, grounded in Academic Personnel Manual Section 310, and elaborated in this Appendix, above. These new criteria are effective on July 1, 2013.
A. Appointees at the Assistant Researcher Rank in the Professional Research Series (Steps I - IV)
When each appointee becomes eligible for the next step or for rank advancement to Associate, that appointee will have the option of transferring to the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series. The primary reason to transfer is that the appointee is not engaging in research equivalent to that of the Professor Series, but is contributing high-level skills to a specific research or creative program or is providing technical assistance to a research activity more in line with the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series. As such, the appointee could not be advanced to the next step or rank in the Professional Research Series and would remain at the existing step until the Eight-Year Limit occurs or there is a mandatory Five-Year Review. In order not to penalize appointees, the University will make the transfer to the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series at the same salary as the appointee received in the Professional Research Series. Salaries for subsequent advancement in the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series for these individuals will be based on percentage increases in the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series (as determined by the existing Salary Scales for that series), but added to the initial salary from the Professional Research Series when the transfer into the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series occurred.
B. Appointees at the Associate Researcher (Steps I - III) and Researcher Rank (all Steps)
Appointees at these ranks also have the option of transferring to the Project (e.g., Scientist) Series when they are eligible for their next step or rank advancement. However, individuals at these ranks also will be allowed a five-year grace period from July 1, 2013 to make the decision to transfer. During that period their advancements will be evaluated according to the “old” criteria in The CALL utilized for the Professional Research Series. If appointees choose to transfer, their present and future salaries will be under the same regulations as those described above for the Assistant Researcher rank transfers. At the end of the grace period, if the appointees do not transfer, the advancement criteria will revert to the revised criteria described in The CALL and this Appendix, above.
Revised 04/02/13
Web page updated 06/03/13
