Academic Appointments at IU Indianapolis
IN-POL-FA15
About This Policy
- Date of Last Review/Update:
- 03-02-2026
- Responsible Campus Administrator:
IU Indianapolis Faculty Council
Office of the IU Indianapolis Provost
- Policy Contact:
IU Indianapolis Faculty Council, ude[dot]ui[at]licnuocf
Office of the IU Indianapolis Provost, ude[dot]ui[at]tsvrp
Scope
At IU Indianapolis, IU Columbus, and IU Fort Wayne:
Tenured and Tenure-Track (ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, librarian, associate librarian, assistant librarian) and Non-Tenure-Track (ranks of clinical, lecturer, professor of practice, research scientist/scholar)
Policy Statement
Full-Time Appointments at IU Indianapolis
As noted in University Policies, the academic work of the university is done by individuals holding academic appointments in different classifications including (among others) tenured and tenure-track faculty and librarians, clinical faculty, lecturers, scientist/scholars, and professors of practice. While information in University Policies address many expectations and requirements for most types of academic appointments, the following sections are included to provide contextual details and expectations for appointments at IU Indianapolis. For IU-wide information, please refer to University Policy BOT-06 (formerly ACA-14) "Classification of Academic Appointments."
For most human resources and governance purposes, a "full-time" appointee is one who has at least a 75 percent appointment at IU/IU Indianapolis. For faculty governance purposes, an individual who has an appointment split between two units will function as a "full-time" voting member for one unit, although the other unit may explicitly extend voting privileges to them.
Procedures
Clinical Appointments
This section supplements the university-wide description and policies for clinical appointments (non-tenure-track), as found in BOT-07 (formerly ACA-18 “Regulation of Clinical and Lecturer Appointments.”
Description of Clinical Track Appointments
Assistant, associate, and full clinical professors (hereinafter, “clinical faculty”) have responsibilities for teaching and service. They are to be evaluated on teaching and on service, and may seek promotion based on excellence in teaching, excellence in service, or on a balanced case. [NOTE: In the School of Medicine, the proper title form is Assistant/Associate/Professor of Clinical XXXX, where XXXX is the department or speciality; in other schools, the form is Clinical Assistant/Associate/Professor of XXXX.
Appointment and qualifications
The qualifications of people hired as clinical faculty will depend on the needs and standards of the department. For work or teaching that involves provision of regulated services, maintaining a relevant professional license is expected. For initial appointment at the rank of associate or full, the endorsement of the unit’s Promotion and Tenure Committee is required.
Initial appointments are for either one or three years; after a three-year initial appointment, reappointment is in one-year increments until a long-term appointment is awarded by the school. IU policy on notification of non-reappointment is in effect for all clinical faculty; after the second year of service, one year’s notice of non-reappointment is required. IU policy supports long-term appointments for clinical and lecturer faculty past a probationary period (BOT-07).
After an initial probationary period, determined by the school, clinical faculty may receive long-term appointments. Schools may tie these appointments to promotion (via campus procedures) or to an internal decision-making process. Schools or departments may require attainment of promotion (or long-term appointment) in order to maintain employment.
Nature of work
Clinical faculty typically have a lower class-based teaching expectation (number of sections) than lecturer-rank faculty, and a higher class-based expectation than tenure-track faculty. Clinical faculty may also have administrative responsibilities, although they may not be appointed to the status of department chair (IU policy), or of associate dean if the scope involves academic affairs (see section below on Associate Deans).
Clinical faculty positions involve one or more of the following:
- Provision of medical, health, or legal services to clients and patients; partnering with or directing learners in providing the same.
- Developing, training, or building professional skills.
- Organizing or supervising internships, practica, and other off-campus learning experiences.
- Leading interations with community organizations, businesses, and agencies
Faculty whose responsibilities do not include any of these or are clearly and exclusively (or nearly so) teaching in nature should be appointed as lecturer-rank faculty. However, some activities of lecturer faculty and clinical faculty will overlap.
Evaluation
Clinical faculty are expected to demonstrate satisfactory teaching and satisfactory service. With lecturer faculty, “service” may be solely university-based. With clinical faculty, there may be a disciplinary, professional, or community aspect to service as well.
Clinical faculty may select excellence in service, excellence in teaching, balanced-integrative, or a balanced-binned case. Excellence is manifested in relevant measures of outcomes (learning outcomes, service outcomes) as well as peer-evaluated dissemination. For consistency in expectations and evaluation, schools, departments, or programs should be clear in what is considered “service” and what is considered “teaching,” and make this explicit for external reviewers as well.
Lecturer Appointments
This section supplements the university-wide description and policies for lecturer appointments, as found in BOT-07 (formerly ACA-18 “Regulation of Clinical and Lecturer Appointments.”
Description of Lecturer track appointments
Lecturers, senior lecturers, and teaching professors are responsible primarily for teaching and scholarship in support of teaching. They are also expected to provide service that supports the academic mission of IU Indianapolis.
At the entry level, lecturers will have completed an appropriate advanced degree or have the appropriate credentials as determined by the hiring department. Lecturers may have organizational and oversight responsibility for the courses in which they teach. They will also perform service for the department or school. Senior members of the department will supervise and mentor lecturers, according to department policies. After having completed a probationary period satisfactorily, lecturers are eligible for long-term appointments. This long-term appointment is controlled by the school, which may or may not tie it to campus processes for promotion to senior lecturer or teaching professor.
Appointment and qualifications
The qualifications of people hired for lecturer positions will depend on the needs and standards of departments. For initial appointment at a rank above lecturer (senior lecturer and teaching professor), the endorsement of the unit’s Promotion and Tenure Committee is required.
Minimal qualifications may be:
1. an advanced degree in a relevant field,
2. experience and instruction in effective teaching within the discipline,
3. an enthusiasm for teaching (teaching undergraduates: 'undergraduates' is removed) and
4. a commitment to developing as an educational professional.
Initial appointments are for either one or three years. After a three-year initial appointment reappointment is in one-year increments until a long-term appointment is awarded by the school. IU policy on notification of non-reappointment is in effect for all lecturer faculty; after the second year of service, one year’s notice of non-reappointment is required.
After an initial probationary period, determined by the school, lecturer faculty may receive long-term appointments. Schools may tie these appointments to promotion (via campus procedures) or to an internal decision-making process. Schools or departments may require attainment of promotion (or long-term appointment) in order to maintain employment.
Non-Tenure-Track Faculty: Clinical and Lecturer
Orientation, supervision, and mentoring
New faculty should be oriented adequately to their responsibilities during their first year in the position. Mentors should be assigned within that first year to assist lecturers and clinical faculty in their work and to prepare for eventual promotion. Each school and department should establish clear reporting lines of authority
Promotion considerations
Promotion recognizes past achievement and indicates confidence that the individual is capable of greater responsibilities and accomplishments. Promotion considerations must take into account the individual’s contribution to the school/campus mission as well as differences in mission of varying primary and unit levels.
Promotion timelines may follow campus rules, which set no minimum or maximum time in rank, or schools may set their own expectations.
Clinical and lecturer positions are not intended to lead to tenure-track ones. Appointees who have extensive responsibilities for research or creative endeavors outside their teaching or service responsibilities should be appointed to tenure-track positions. Creation of a new non-tenure-track position is not intended to be a means of retaining a tenure-probationary faculty appointee who has not been able to demonstrate the performance levels required for tenure.
Equitable salaries and fringe benefits
Salaries for non-tenure-track faculty should be appropriate to their education, qualifications, experience, and responsibilities within their positions. Benefits such as retirement plans, access to health insurance, leaves of absence, and vacation should be equivalent to those offered to tenure-track faculty members.
Professional development
Schools and departments should put into place structures that provide clinical faculty and lecturers with on-going exposure to content and pedagogical developments within their fields. Professional development support should contribute to developing pedagogical practice and be equivalent to that which is provided to tenure-track faculty members. Responsibilities for the maintenance of professional licensure should be clearly specified.
Creation of new non-tenure-track positions
The chair of a department or director of a division will recommend the establishment of new lecturer or clinical faculty positions. These recommendations should be based on the teaching and service mission, goals, and needs of the department or division. The dean of the school and the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for IUPUI will review and act upon the requests.
Rights and privileges of clinical faculty and lecturers
Clinical faculty and lecturers (all ranks) must follow and are protected by university policies, including those pertaining to faculty hiring and faculty annual reviews. Clinical faculty and lecturers (all ranks) have the right to petition the school grievance committees and the IU Indianapolis campus faculty Board of Review for redress of grievances concerning dismissal, non-reappointment, academic freedom, salary adjustment, or other conditions of work. Clinical faculty and lecturers will follow the same procedures as tenure-track faculty members in doing so.
Research Associate
Research associates are professional academic appointees who are full-time researchers, but do not qualify for appointment to a research rank (research professor / research scientist). On the IU Indianapolis campus, they have representation on the Staff Council, and special grievance procedures have been developed for research associates and other academic staff who do not have access to Faculty Board of Review procedures. Regulation of Research Associates is described in BOT-09 (formerly ACA-20) Regulation of Research Appointments.
Research Scientist/Scholar
While a complete description of appointments to the research ranks is available in BOT-06 (formerly ACA-14) “Classification of Academic Appointments,” it is important to note that in certain cases alternative titles may be used for the scientist/scholar ranks. For individuals serving as principle investigators and applying for external grants, it may be advantageous to have a “professorial” title. Therefore, it may be requested that the following titles be assigned:
Assistant Scientist/Scholar = Assistant Research Professor
Associate Scientist/Scholar = Associate Research Professor
Senior Scientist/Scholar = Senior Research Professor
Regulation of research appointments is described in BOT-09 (formerly ACA-20) Regulation of Research Appointments.
Research professors/scientists have responsibility for research. They may do some service, and may teach upon occasion, but may not be promoted based on teaching or service. Units should delineate criteria for research scientists that clearly distinguish expectations for tenure track faculty from non-tenure track research scientists.
Academic Specialist
There are restrictions on hiring new academic specialists. Please contact the Office of Academic Affairs (ude[dot]ui[at]rhdaca) for more information.
This classification requires a specific title indicative of the work responsibilities. Currently approved titles include, but are not limited to director, manager, coordinator, advisor, community scholar, international affiliate, assistant dean, and associate dean. NOTE: an academic specialist may not serve as an associate dean for academic affairs or in a similar capacity by a different title if the position has direct authority over academic programs such as curriculum or academic personnel. Other titles may be approved by the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer.
Description:
This classification has been designated for appointees with academic responsibilities who do not themselves offer courses for credit or act as principal investigators in research. Such roles will include specialized academic functions such as curating collections, directing specialized academic advising, directing, scheduling, managing, or coordinating courses (but not curriculum development), administering research protocols, overseeing civic engagement, and general academic administration. Appointment in this classification will reflect the individual’s significant and meaningful contributions to meeting the educational objectives for the unit and campus. These may often be less than full time positions, but they may be coupled with actual teaching or research positions to total a full-time, benefits-eligible appointment for an individual.
Qualifications
Individuals serving in an academic specialist position must have at least a master’s degree in a field that will provide them the required expertise to perform the administrative or collaborative work required in their area.
Appointing Unit
An academic specialist may hold appointment in a department, school, center, or academic service unit subject to the approval of the senior academic administrative officer of the unit and the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer.
Term
Existing academic specialist appointments may be continued as permitted by funding. These are not tenure-eligible positions. Appointments at less than 100% FTE may be held in conjunction with other academic appointments to total 100% FTE. Required notice of termination is one pay period prior to termination date; it is expected that notice will be three months in the first year of appointment, six months in the second year of appointment, and 12 months thereafter.
Appointment Procedures
No new academic specialist positions may be created at IU Indianapolis, nor may a new person fill an existing position if the incumbent retires or resigns, according to administrative and IFC decisions. Any current position that becomes vacant should be reorganized as either a faculty (clinical, professor of practice, lecturer, or tenure track) or staff role.
Responsibilities, Rights and Privileges
Academic specialists are employees of Indiana University and are subject to IU Indianapolis and Indiana University regulations, including academic policies, to include, but not limited to, policies regarding academic ethics, sexual harassment, and non-discrimination. Academic specialists have the privileges of computer access, library resources, parking, and other use of facilities granted to academic appointees at IU Indianapolis. They are eligible for fringe benefits, if working at an appropriate FTE, and leave of absences. They have the right to notice of termination as noted above. They are not eligible to participate in faculty governance and are not eligible for tenure.
For Honorary and Voluntary Appointments, see IN-POL-FA21.
History
Section on Administrative Titles was originally approved by the Office of the Dean of the Faculties: 12/2009. It was later revised to reflect current professional staff appointment titles under the Job Framework Redesign: 05/2021
IUPUI was changed to IU Indianapolis to reflect the campus's name change.
The title of Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties or Chief Academic Officer was changed to reflect the new title of Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor: 3/2026
Clinical and Lecturer Section revised 6-2-22 with approval of the Faculty Affairs Committee, IFC Executive Committee, and the Faculty Guide Committee.