As approved by the Faculty Senate April 1, 2019 (Faculty Document 2776)
Whereas the Faculty Senate passed a resolution in December 2001 that the word “professor” shall not be used in a title without prior approval of the title by the Faculty Senate (Faculty Document 1596);
Whereas the use of contingent faculty as instructors is increasing nationally;
Whereas current UW-Madison titles for instructional academic staff do not reflect the qualifications and duties of many of these contingent instructors, can connote lack of permanence, often lead to the perception that instructors are not qualified, and do not align with professional titles at peer institutions;
Whereas these disadvantages hinder UW-Madison’s ability to recruit and retain the most qualified individuals and hamper professional advancement;
Whereas a faculty-academic staff ad hoc committee recommended creating a renewable, potentially indefinite, “Teaching Professor” title to recognize significant contributions to a unit or department’s broader teaching mission;
Whereas that same ad hoc committee recommended the redefinition of the “Lecturer” title to recognize its focus on effective delivery of instructional material, assessment, and grading for a course or series of courses within a sub-discipline, working independently or under general supervision of a faculty member, and spending no more than one-third time in non-teaching activities;
Whereas the ad hoc committee also recommended the renaming of the “Faculty Associate” title to “Instructional Administrator,” which would carry a maximum teaching load of one-third time and focus on non-teaching functions associated with instruction, such as development of pedagogy or assessment of student learning;
WHEREAS the ad hoc committee, the University Committee, and the Faculty Senate recognize the need for an instructional academic staff title series for professionals with a terminal degree and demonstrated expertise in a relevant discipline who: make significant contributions to their unit or department’s broader teaching mission, advance teaching and learning in their discipline, and use innovate strategies that produce course and/or curriculum improvement;
WHEREAS these same individuals may engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning and have an instructional and curricular impact both within their department and beyond through scholarly or expressive publications, sharing of creative and scholarly work, or the publication of textbooks or other related activities involving their discipline;
WHEREAS these same individuals may be involved in department, college, or university service, and may supervise teaching assistants, but would spend no less than 50% time devoted to classroom discussion;
Therefore, BE IT resolved that the Faculty Senate approves the creation of a “Teaching Professor” title series in the above context as part of the current Title and Total Compensation process;
BE IT FURTHER resolved that the Faculty Senate strongly opposes the use of “Teaching Professor” as a substitute for tenure-track faculty appointments and encourages the creation of mechanisms to ensure this;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the “Teaching Professor” title series should include all rights available to other renewable academic staff under Academic Staff Policies and Procedures.