Approving Courtesy Affiliate Faculty

Affiliate faculty members encourage and facilitate the interdisciplinary mission of the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) through research collaborations with other Colleges and Departments at Penn State University.

Affiliate status can be granted by the College to individuals using the following process. This is also the mechanism by which courtesy appointments are offered to faculty of other units at Penn State.

Procedure

To become an affiliated faculty member with a zero-percent appointment with IST, a candidate must be nominated by a current IST faculty member. The candidate must be employed by Penn State and have the appropriate qualifications given the proposed relationship with the college.

The process is as follows:

1. An IST faculty member must provide the name of the candidate along with a letter of recommendation and current vita to the Dean for initial review. The candidate may also provide a
   memo of interest in becoming an affiliate and include what contributions they anticipate making to
   the College.
2. The Dean will forward the candidate’s materials to core faculty for further review unless the Dean,
   after consultation with the Faculty Council, determines that the candidate’s nomination should not
   receive further consideration.
3. When materials are forwarded to the core faculty, these materials will include a brief explanation
   why the candidate would be a useful affiliate and candidate’s CV.
4. Any member of the faculty can request that the candidate be discussed at an upcoming faculty
   meeting. If any such requests are received, the nominating faculty member will be asked to briefly
   speak on the candidate’s behalf at the next faculty meeting. Others may also add support at this time.
   Core faculty can then discuss pros and cons of the candidate.
5. If no requests are received to discuss a candidate at a faculty meeting, or after a discussion at a
   faculty meeting (if requested), The Office of the Dean will send out an e-vote. The majority of those
   voting must be supportive in order to proceed.
6. The Dean’s Office communicates results to the core faculty and the candidate.
7. If approved, the candidate is added as an affiliate faculty on the IST website, information is sent to
   the University Bulletin as an update and the new affiliated faculty member is added to the
   appropriate list serves. Normally appointments shall be for three years.
   

Review/Renewal

When existing appointments come due for review/renewal, the name and affiliation of the individual up for renewal shall be shared with the faculty. Renewals must be explicitly supported by at least one member of the faculty.

Any member of the faculty can request that the candidate be discussed at an upcoming faculty meeting. If any such requests are received, the candidate will be discussed at a future faculty meeting after which a vote shall be taken according to the process described above.

If there are no calls for discussion at a faculty meeting, and there is explicit support expressed by at least one member of the faculty, the appointment shall be renewed.

7/7/2016 (kw)
Revised: 3/4/2021 (kb)
Revised: 11/2/2016
Revised by: Dr. Andrew Sears 6/22/2022 (sb)