Faculty

The faculty of the university is defined as full-time members of the academic staff having the rank of instructor or higher (or equivalent ranks).

Distinguished Professorships

Boyd Professors

Faculty members who are designated as Boyd Professors have attained both national and international distinction for outstanding teaching, research, or other creative achievement. The Boyd Professorship is the highest professorial rank awarded by the university.

Alumni Professors

Selection as an Alumni Professor is based on reputation for excellence in instruction, especially in undergraduate teaching; record of active and continuing interest and participation in areas of professor-student relations; dedication to an academic field; and outstanding professional relationships with other faculty and staff members.

Please see the Office of Academic Affairs website for a complete and up-to-date list of professorships.

Graduate Faculty

The LSU Board of Supervisors requires the university to maintain a graduate faculty comprised of members of the teaching, research, and extension faculties who have been so designated by the President, upon the recommendation of the Graduate Council acting upon appropriate nominations. LSU’s Graduate Faculty enables the university to maintain its accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) while furthering the university’s national flagship agenda to increase the number and quality of graduate students and programs.

As described below, faculty members can qualify, depending on their qualifications, for the following types of graduate faculty membership: associate, full, research affiliate, or professional affiliate.

The academic deans are responsible for Graduate Faculty appointments for tenured and tenure-track faculty in their programs. The deans may elect to involve an associate dean or a college committee in the review process but the dean retains responsibility for the appointment of graduate faculty in their colleges. The Graduate School dean with the involvement of the Graduate Council maintains and periodically reviews records of graduate faculty status.

The academic deans approve graduate faculty status within hiring, promotion and/or tenure decisions, and in annual reviews (see items 1, 2, & 3). They continue to recommend three-year appointments for professional and research affiliates (see item 4) and recommend administrative approvals for non-graduate faculty (see item 5).

Graduate Faculty Status is determined and evaluated in the following situations.

1. INITIAL APPOINTMENT – With initial appointment at LSU, Graduate Faculty (GF) status (Associate, Member, Research Affiliate or Professional Affiliate) and term will be noted on the appointment form. The Graduate School (GS) working with HRM will document these GF appointments. For tenured and tenure-track appointments the academic dean’s approval of GF status on the appointment form is required. Assistant professors are appointed as associate members for six year terms.
2. AT PROMOTION AND/OR TENURE REVIEW – The promotion and/or tenure package will include a recommendation for GF status to be effective the same date as the proposed action. GS working with HRM will document the outcome of the review. Graduate Council Subcommittee review is continued for tenure and promotion as one part of the Provost’s Advisory Committee review.
3. ANNUAL REVIEW – All faculty participate in an annual performance evaluation. In the annual evaluation, the department chair will consider whether the graduate faculty member has demonstrated a current and sustained record of scholarly or creative activities consistent with the standards for GF status. Based on the evaluation, the department chair will recommend to the dean (a) continued appointment to GF; (b) conditional continued appointment to GF – with recommendations for improvement in teaching and/or research; (c) change/removal of GF status. If the chair recommends conditional continued appointment or change/removal of GF status, the faculty member must submit a current CV to the dean. The dean will make the final determination of the GF status. Changes in GF status should be documented with a justification given. A review of the GF status of deans, vice presidents, and others reporting directly to the provost is included in the individual’s annual review by the provost and any change in the GF status is reported to the graduate dean.
4. TERM OR OFF-CAMPUS APPOINTMENTS – Faculty not on tenure track or not appointed on the LSU A&M campus should include a GF status evaluation in annual reviews. These appointments usually involve research affiliate or professional affiliate status, which will continue as three-year term appointments. New appointments and reappointments should be reviewed and reported to the GS upon recommendation by the academic dean. The Graduate Council will make a recommendation regarding GF status to the graduate dean who will make the final approval.
5. ADMINISTRATIVE APPROVALS – All other GF appointments are handled via administrative approvals by chairs with the academic college dean’s recommendation using an administrative approval form with CV. Administrative appointments should be sent forward to the GS upon recommendation by the academic dean for approval by the GS dean.

The faculty member may appeal the decision regarding his/her GF status to the Graduate Council. The appeal must include the justification for the status change or conditional continuation from the academic dean. The faculty member may choose to provide a defense of his/her record in addition to the CV. The Graduate Council will make a recommendation to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development who will make the final decision regarding the individual’s GF status.

Types of Membership

Associate Member (A)

Privileges and Responsibilities

• Engage in all graduate education activities.
• Chair a thesis or dissertation committee.

Terms and Criteria

• Newly appointed tenure-track assistant professors in units offering work for graduate credit are normally appointed to an associate member six-year term, subject to annual review.
• Faculty members with at least seven years in rank as associate professor or full professor who do not maintain full membership may be eligible for a renewable, three-year associate member term in units offering work for graduate credit.
• Associate members of the graduate faculty must possess the highest degree appropriate to the field or unquestionable evidence of comparable achievement in the field.
• To maintain graduate faculty status associate members must demonstrate a current and sustained record of scholarly or creative activities indicated by publications in recognized journals in the field, books, and exhibitions or performances.

Full Member (M)

Privileges and Responsibilities

• Determine policies of The Graduate School.
• Engage in all graduate education activities.
• Nominate faculty for membership on the graduate faculty.
• Chair a thesis or dissertation committee.

Terms and Criteria

• Newly appointed associate professors with tenure or tenure-track in units offering work for graduate credit are normally appointed as full members, subject to annual review.
• Newly appointed full professors with tenure or tenure track in units offering work for graduate credit are normally appointed to as full members, subject to periodic review.
• Full members of the graduate faculty must possess the highest degree appropriate to the field or unquestionable evidence of comparable achievement in the field.
• To maintain graduate faculty status full members must demonstrate a current and sustained record of scholarly or creative activities indicated by publications in recognized journals in the field, books, and exhibitions or performances.

Research Affiliate (F)

Privileges and Responsibilities

• May serve as a member of thesis and dissertation committees but may not chair except by permission of the college dean and dean of The Graduate School.
• May engage in instructional activities at the master’s and doctoral level.

Terms and Criteria

• Individuals nominated for research affiliate may be appointed to a renewable, three-year term.
• Research affiliate membership is available to individuals whose appointments reside in units not offering work for graduate credit or whose appointments are not tenure-track.
• Research affiliate members must possess the highest degree appropriate to the field or unquestionable evidence of comparable achievement in the field.
• To maintain graduate faculty status research affiliate members must demonstrate a current and sustained record of scholarly or creative activities indicated by publications in recognized journals in the field, books, and exhibitions or performances.

Professional Affiliate (P)

Privileges and Responsibilities

• May engage in instructional activities at the master’s level.
• May not engage in instructional activities at the doctoral level except by permission of the college dean and dean of The Graduate School.
• May serve as a member of thesis committees but may not normally chair except by permission of the college dean and dean of The Graduate School.

Terms and Criteria

• Individuals nominated for professional affiliate by units offering work for graduate credit may be appointed to a renewable, three-year term based on evidence of expertise or knowledge that is directly relevant and applicable to the professional program in which the individuals will be teaching.
• Expertise is defined in terms of recent activities recognized by the focal area as indicative of excellence. Appropriate indicators may include but are not limited to: terminal degrees in focal or relevant areas; professional certification; licensure, diplomas, or record of professional practice; and demonstrated professional excellence through performances, exhibitions, presentations, professional publications, or national awards.
• Normally, a person who is eligible for full or associate graduate faculty status is ineligible for professional affiliate status.
• Individuals whose professional activities are a function of their LSU employment are normally ineligible for professional affiliate status.

Emeritus

A faculty member who holds full membership on the graduate faculty may be named as graduate faculty emeritus upon retirement provided that the faculty member has been approved for emeritus status through the university per PM69. Emeritus graduate faculty status allows these faculty to continue to work with graduate students on master’s and doctoral committees as chairs and members.

Review of Nominations

For individuals who are not appointed to tenure-track or tenured positions, units may nominate them for the appropriate level of membership. When it is time for a faculty member to be reviewed for graduate faculty status, The Graduate School will notify the unit. Graduate Faculty nomination forms may be obtained online from The Graduate School.

The dean of The Graduate School, or his/her representative, will review the Graduate Faculty Nomination and current vita to see that the nominee meets the requirements for appointment to the graduate faculty. The dean will appoint a committee comprised of the dean and three members of the Graduate Council to review the nomination. These four persons will independently review the nomination and arrive at their determinations as to the level of membership the faculty member should be accorded. Their votes will be recorded and tallied. If the majority of the votes agree with the nomination made by the unit, the nomination then goes to the entire Graduate Council for final review and vote.

If less than a majority agree with the unit’s nomination, the dean will call the committee together to review the nomination. Each member of the committee then has an opportunity to discuss the nomination and change his/her vote. If the majority then agrees with the unit’s nomination, the nomination goes to the entire Graduate Council for review and vote.

If there is not a majority of votes that support the unit’s nomination, the dean will contact the chair to apprise him/her of the situation and determine if there is any additional information that can be supplied to support the nomination. The chair may agree with the committee’s decision, in which case the nomination goes to the entire Graduate Council for review and vote. If the chair wishes to appeal the preliminary decision of the committee, additional materials may be submitted. If additional information is to be submitted, the chair should normally submit it to the Graduate School within two weeks. The materials are placed with the original nomination form and vita and each committee member independently reviews them once again as if it was a new nomination. The results of this second review are then submitted to the entire Graduate Council for review and vote.

At any time, units may submit a new nomination for a faculty member. Moreover, an individual faculty member may submit an appropriately prepared nomination at any time.

Evaluation of Administrators

The following is copied from a memo by Dean Hargrave to all departments on November 7, 1978 and is the procedure that is still followed by the Graduate Council today.

With respect to the extent to which persons with administrative responsibilities must satisfy requirement for “current and sustained creative activities related to programs of graduate education as evidenced, by publications in recognized journals in the field, ….” The Graduate Council, in 1978, passed a resolution on this question:

“For department chairmen, deans, associate deans, and other persons holding administrative positions, the publication productivity may be less than that expected of other members of the department. At the same time, however, some “current and sustained activity” should be in evidence. Graduate Faculty membership should reflect a working relationship to the graduate program as well as the proper qualifications for that relationship.”

Administrative Approval to Teach Graduate Courses

The following is copied from a memo by Dean Hargrave to all departments on November 7, 1978 and is the procedure that is still followed by the Graduate Council today.

The Graduate Council has recommended that the Dean of The Graduate School grant administrative approval to teach 4000-level courses for graduate credit to faculty who do not meet the scholarship requirement for Associate Member or Member of the Graduate Faculty but who have the highest degree appropriate to the field and hold the rank of Assistant Professor or higher. It is best to submit that member for Administrative Approval rather than as Associate Member or Member.

Administrative Approval requests may be made for a period of up to three (3) years. A Graduate Faculty Administrative Approval Request Form and current LSU format vita should be submitted with the request.

Please see the Graduate School website for a complete and up-to-date list of graduate faculty members.