Instructional appointments are one of the most essential activities of the departmental hiring unit. The recruitment and hiring processes for tenure-track and teaching/clinical/librarian faculty are extremely varied. The following section outlines the various faculty titles available on campus and the requirements for their use, as well as the guidelines for recruiting and hiring multiple faculty groups are outlined. Please contact the Office of Faculty Affairs if you have any questions about this process.

Faculty Titles and Ranks

  • Assistant Professors: should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or equivalent qualifications. They should be well-qualified to teach at the undergraduate or graduate levels, participate in scholarly/creative work, and if applicable, clinical activities. 
  • Associate Professors: should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or equivalent qualifications, a record of successful teaching experience, accomplishment and promise for significant contributions in scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service experience. If applicable, they will also have a record of successful clinical activity. In most cases, the award of tenure accompanies appointment or promotion to associate professor, with the exception of the University of Colorado Law School, where promotion and tenure can be separate processes.
  • Professors (also called “Full Professors”): should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or equivalent qualifications, and: (a) a record since earning the terminal degree or equivalent qualifications that, taken as a whole, may be judged to be excellent; (b) a record of significant contribution to graduate and undergraduate education, unless individual or departmental circumstances can be shown to require a stronger emphasis, or singular focus, on one or the other; and (c) a record since receiving tenure or promotion to Associate Professor that indicates substantial, significant, continued growth, development, and accomplishment in teaching, scholarly/creative work, leadership and service, and if applicable, clinical activities.  
  • Distinguished Professors: This title is extended by the Board of Regents to recognize the outstanding contributions of tenured full professors to their academic disciplines (see subsection (J) of Regent Policy 5.C(2) – Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Appointments and APS 1017 – Procedures for Implementing Regent Actions on Distinguished Professorships). The faculty awarded this title must demonstrate accomplishments in accordance with the following criteria: (a) excellence in the promotion of learning and student attainment of knowledge and skills; (b) distinguished performance in scholarly/creative work; and (c) outstanding leadership and service to the profession and to CU and/or affiliate institutions. It is reserved for a select group of faculty members who are leaders in their respective fields as attested to by national or international recognition and/or their significant public service achievements. 

Clinical faculty titles are meant for faculty working in healthcare education, clinical or public health practice, or a healthcare or health sciences setting. 

  • Instructor, Clinical Teaching Track: should have a master’s degree in their field or equivalent experience and should be well qualified in their primary area(s) of responsibility.
  • Senior Instructor, Clinical Teaching Track: should have at least a master’s degree or equivalent experience and a record of successful experience in their primary area(s) of responsibility. 
  • Principal Instructor, Clinical Teaching Track: should have at least a master’s degree or equivalent experience and a consistent record of excellence in their primary area(s) of responsibility.
  • Assistant Professor, Clinical Teaching Track: should have the terminal degree in their field or equivalent experience and demonstrated success in their primary area(s) of responsibility.  
  • Associate Professor, Clinical Teaching Track: should have the terminal degree in their field or equivalent experience, considerable evidence of success in their primary area(s) of responsibility and demonstrated leadership and service.
  • Professor, Clinical Teaching Track: should have the terminal degree in their field or equivalent experience, and a record of excellence in their primary area(s) of responsibility that indicates substantial, significant, and continued growth and accomplishment. 

  • Chairs: The chair shall be the principal officer of the department and is responsible for the effective and efficient administration of the department. The chair shall also have the responsibility for providing intellectual leadership toward achievement of the highest possible level of excellence in the teaching, research, and service activities of the department, and for providing direction in academic planning and support for faculty development. Administratively, the chair is responsible to the dean of the college as well as to the department. With the advice and counsel of colleagues in the department and acting under the rules of the department, the chair is the departmental representative and spokesperson. In implementing the rules of the department with respect to recommendations for faculty appointments, promotions, tenure, and salary increments, the chair may submit their own comments to the dean in addition to the recommendations of the department, but may not overrule decisions of the department or of regularly constituted committees of the department.
  • Associate Chairs: The title of Associate Chair may be appointed to departments in which size and/or complexity require the assistance of an associate to the chair. The Associate Chair supports the work and role of the department chair and is also responsible to the dean of the college and the department. The role of Associate Chair may necessitate serving as acting chair at those times when the department chair’s schedule requires her/him to be either absent from a departmental event or, for example, when the chair is recused from personnel voting procedures.
  • Faculty Directors: The title Faculty Director is designated for those faculty members who serve as faculty-rank directors of academic programs and for faculty in academic programs who perform activities comparable to that of a chair in an academic department.
  • Associate Faculty Directors: The title Associate Faculty Director may be appointed to programs in which size and/or complexity require the assistance of an associate to the faculty director. This title is reserved for individuals assigned responsibilities similar to those of an associate chair. 

CU Boulder will use only the Teaching Professor series for all of our faculty who specialize in teaching. CU Boulder will not use the Instructor series outlined in APS 5060 because we do not want to create an additional tier or hierarchy of faculty who specialize in teaching (i.e., teaching-track faculty). 

  • Assistant Teaching Professors: should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or equivalent experience and should be well-qualified to teach at the level of instruction to which they are assigned.
  • Associate Teaching Professors: should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or equivalent experience, and a record of successful teaching experience.  
  • Teaching Professors: should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or equivalent experience, and a consistent record of excellent teaching and pedagogical development since being appointed as Associate Teaching Professor.  

  • Scholar in Residence: should hold the terminal degree in their discipline or equivalent experience but have spent much or all of their careers outside academia. This title is given to individuals whose combination of academic background and career expertise in areas of business, industry, law, K-12 education, the arts, or government makes them valuable contributors to the undergraduate or graduate academic program of their primary unit. These appointments are at-will.
  • Artist in Residence: should hold the terminal degree in their discipline or equivalent experience but have spent much or all of their careers outside academia. This title is given to individuals whose career experience as an artist makes them valuable contributors to the undergraduate or graduate academic program of their primary unit. These appointments are at-will.  

  • Lecturers: should have a graduate degree and/or advanced experience in their profession or field of expertise. Lecturer is the title given to an individual hired to teach only on a course-by-course and part-time basis. Lecturers are qualified to teach the particular course or courses for which they have been hired. These appointments are non-voting, not tenure-eligible, and are at-will.  
  • Emeritus/Emerita: Emeritus/Emerita is an honorary designation awarded upon retirement to faculty with a record of strong contributions to the university. Faculty are nominated for emeritus/emerita status by their department and approved by the dean, provost, and chancellor. The emeritus/emerita designation is added to the title/rank held by the faculty member at the time of retirement.
  • Adjoint: The “adjoint” designation, applied at the end of a faculty title, is used for individuals, such as employees of national research institutes or other agencies or institutions, who offer courses or supervise academic programs with or without compensation from the University of Colorado. Their academic qualifications should be similar to those of faculty in the Tenured and Tenure-Track series. These appointments are at-will.
  • Visiting: The designation “visiting” before an academic title indicates that the faculty member has a temporary appointment for a defined period such as an academic year, semester, or summer term. The visiting title should indicate the faculty member’s rank at their home institution or planned for at the University of Colorado. The award of this title does not guarantee future hiring at the University of Colorado or hiring at this rank. Visiting titles may also be offered to newly-hired faculty members who are awaiting formal review of their credentials for appointment as associate or full professor. In these cases, visiting appointments will not usually extend beyond one year. The visiting position is non-voting and at-will.
  • Courtesy: A “courtesy” appointment is a non-voting, unranked, unpaid designation given to a faculty member in one unit (the “home” unit) within the CU System (i.e., another department, school, or college on any CU campus), who has substantial interaction with the courtesy unit. Faculty with courtesy appointments are typically CU regular faculty external to the department/school/college/campus, who have scholarly and creative work, collaborations, or teaching relevant to the courtesy unit. Courtesy appointees may teach or cross-list courses or co-supervise graduate students in the courtesy unit but would not otherwise participate in the courtesy unit’s governance or activities. Teaching or cross-listing across campuses is subject to separate MOU with at least deanlevel approval on each campus. The basic procedures for approval of courtesy faculty are governed by the dean’s offices. These appointments are at-will.
  • Working Retiree – Faculty: In accordance with CU Administrative Policy Statement (APS) 5054: Hiring Retirees to Work in Staff or Faculty Positions, the University of Colorado has established new job codes that must be used when hiring retirees to a new post-retirement position to ensure accurate leave status and benefits accounting for all working retirees. The new faculty position job codes are as follows:
    • 1620 – Working PERA Retiree – Faculty 
    • 1621 – Working ORP Retiree – Faculty 
 

 

Recruitment and Hiring

Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty

The recruitment of tenured and tenure-track faculty begins with provost's approval of a search, and the Faculty Position Recruiting Authorization Form (RAF) approved by the academic unit chair and dean. The RAF will then be submitted by the school/college/institute dean's faculty liaison to the Office of Faculty Affairs for final approval.

Specialized Faculty

The recruitment of specialized faculty (teaching/clinical, faculty-in-residence, etc.) will be administered by the dean's office of the respective school/college. 

Administrative Faculty Positions

The recruiting guidance in this section refers to the following positions: Chairs, Associate Chairs, Institute Directors, Faculty Directors, Associate Faculty Directors, and Associate Deans (faculty-occupied positions). 

Dual Career Hiring

In the course of hiring, a primary academic unit may find a preferred candidate requesting that their partner also be considered for a hire. Dual career hiring can be a powerful tool for recruiting and retaining first-rate faculty.

Policy Resources - Recruitment and Hiring