Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide college-specific guidance for processing faculty courtesy appointments as well as provide links to university resources.
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Best Practice Recommendation: Units who wish to extend courtesy appointments ought to have standard reasons for doing so and a standard definition of what it means within the context of the unit; i.e., for what reason would someone be offered a courtesy appointment? What does it mean and what purpose does the appointment serve?
Generally speaking, this appointment is meant to indicate an active connection and meaningful connection to the unit and/or its programs.
Depending on the terms of appointment, there might need to be faculty votes prior to extending the offer of courtesy appointment. (e.g., voting rights or GSC membership)
Courtesy Faculty: Faculty who have a formal affiliation with an academic unit but who do not hold a primary or joint faculty appointment in said unit. There are no financial or employment obligations involved in these appointments. In other words, a courtesy appointment does not come with any additional pay and does not have a bearing on the individual's employment relationship to the university. That said, the faculty promotion review process typically includes feedback from academic units where a promotion candidate is Courtesy Faculty.
Per AskUs, Courtesy Faculty are "academic appointments that establish a relationship between faculty and another academic unit without the necessity of an additional job that has scheduled weekly hours or compensation. The other academic unit would be another college, school, or department outside the academic unit of their primary academic appointment.
Courtesy appointments allow academic units to:
create a relationship with an outside faculty member without the necessity of an additional job or PAR.
track and report on these faculty. "
Ex. A faculty member who is a Professor of Anthropology (100%) can have courtesy appointments in the Center for Women's and Gender Studies and the Department of American Studies without affecting FTE, etc.
A distinction is made between Courtesy Faculty, which is a formal appointment, and a faculty affiliation of any other kind (being listed on a unit's website, serving on a non-departmental governance committee, cross-listing courses, etc.)
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