Adjunct, Courtesy, and Visiting Professor Guidelines; Visiting Scientist; Unpaid Academics Guidelines

Additional requirements for requests for unpaid appointments during Cornell's Hiring Restriction for the 2025-26 Academic Year, to be submitted with request to HR:

Documentation showing that this individual is employed by another institution.
Documentation showing that the individual has a paid appointment by another institution.
If the individual is a student, documentation indicating this individual is a student at another institution.
Please provide a budget of how the individual’s expenses will be paid during the appointment period.
Justification and supporting documentation/rationale for unpaid appointment – i.e., fellowship.
Clarification/justification of why there is payment for a housing allowance.
Explanation of how the Visitor Fee will be paid

1.Procedures for Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion of Adjunct and Courtesy Faculty (all ranks)

Initial Appointment

Adjunct and Courtesy appointments are made to individuals who have primary responsibilities and a professor title elsewhere, but will be contributing to the academic program of the department. Please work with your SrAD assistant to determine if adjunct or courtesy is more appropriate, and note that collaborations are not generally reasons to need an adjunct or courtesy appointment. Because appointment procedures are identical to those for regular academic positions, the candidate submits an updated cv and a request to the department chair with a brief description of how they will be involved with and will contribute to the department. Be sure to check the fee payment requirements below.

The faculty meet to discuss the candidate and whether they would like to offer an adjunct or courtesy appointment. A vote of the faculty (either at the meeting or by ballot) is taken. Assuming a positive vote, the Chair then submits a letter to the Senior Associate Dean making the request for adjunct or courtesy status and detailing the person’s contributions to the department and the results of the vote. The candidate’s materials accompany the Chair’s letter, all of which should be submitted in electronic form as one pdf file. Please be sure to copy your Senior Associate Dean’s assistant with all files to help facilitate the process.

Reappointment

Adjunct/Courtesy Assistant Professors are appointed for up to three years. Adjunct/Courtesy Associate Professors and Adjunct/Courtesy Professors are appointed for up to five years. All are renewable. To reappoint the faculty member, the same procedures as the initial appointment should be followed. The candidate should provide an updated cv and a statement of how he/she will be involved with and contribute to the department. The faculty should meet and discuss the candidate and whether renewal of the appointment is desirable and warranted. A vote of the faculty (either at the meeting or by ballot) should be taken. If the vote is positive, the Chair should then submit a letter to their Senior Associate Dean requesting renewal of adjunct/courtesy status for the candidate. The letter should detail the candidate’s contribution to the department and the results of the vote. The candidate’s materials should accompany the Chair’s letter, all of which should be submitted in electronic form as one pdf file. Please be sure to copy your Senior Associate Dean’s assistant with all files to help facilitate the process.

Promotion

Promotion would be expected after five years time-in-title or promotion in the candidate's primary appointment. The faculty meet to discuss the candidate and whether they would like to offer a promotion. A vote of the faculty (either at the meeting or by ballot) is taken. Assuming a positive vote, the Chair then submits a letter to the Senior Associate Dean making the request for promotion and detailing the person’s contributions to the department and the results of the vote. The candidate’s updated CV should accompany the Chair’s letter (a candidate statement is not required unless a reappointment is accompanying the promotion), all of which should be submitted in electronic form as one pdf file. Please be sure to copy your Senior Associate Dean’s assistant with all files to help facilitate the process.

Fee Payment Determination

CALS pays a library fee to central for all academic titles (paid and unpaid) on an annual basis of $2277 (this amount is subject to change as the university fee changes). If one of the following criteria are met, CALS will pay the fee. If none of these criteria are met, the unit will pay the fee; please send an unrestricted Cornell department account number with your request. Please note the fee must be paid annually, is not pro-rated, must be paid to CALS by the unit, not the individual, and is not refundable unless the individual's visa is denied (the fee is to pay the university library fee, but is also to acknowledge the staff time required to administer these appointments). :

Paid adjunct appointment – salary paid for at least 10% FTE
Primary appointment elsewhere at CALS (with strong justification that second appointment is needed)
Federal Scientist (Federal Scientists from USGS are given the Courtesy Professor title, Federal Scientists from USDA are given the Adjunct Professor title, due to differences in the MOUs, please discuss with SrAD if needed)
BTI Scientist
CALS TT professor who resigns from CALS/Cornell (not eligible for emeriti title) – CALS will cover the fee for a two-year appointment as an adjunct to allow sunsetting of grants and graduate students. This benefit is being temporarily extended (2025-2028) to Federal Scientists who are involuntarily separating from Cornell-CALS.
Instructor of Record on current course
Faculty external to Cornell who will be serving on student committees or providing projects for students; please include details on student programs in request

What Happens Next

The Senior Associate Dean will review the materials and consult with the Chair and others, as necessary. If the appointment or reappointment is approved, the Department Chair will be informed. The Department will then supply a letter to the candidate informing them of the appointment or reappointment with a copy to their HR representative (please use the paid or unpaid academic offer letter templates found here). CALS HR will process the transaction.

Eligibility

From the University Faculty Handbook: Adjunct Appointment. Adjunct may be applied only to assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. A person whose title is modified by the word adjunct is one who, though his or her primary responsibility is outside the department, is willing to contribute part-time to the academic program. The appointment normally involves compensation [Note: in CALS adjunct titles are typically unpaid]. The academic qualifications of individuals appointed to adjunct professorships are comparable to those of regular faculty members, and appointment procedures are identical to those for regular academic positions. Adjunct appointments of professors and associate professors can be for up to five years, while those of assistant professors are for up to three years. Both are renewable. The approval of the dean is required. Individuals holding adjunct professorships are members of the university and college faculties but do not have voting privileges. Voting membership in college faculties may be conferred by the college.

2.Appointment and Reappointment of Visiting Professors (all ranks)

The visiting assistant-associate-full professor title, similar to the adjunct and courtesy titles above, incurs an annual library fee. CALS typically uses this unpaid title for

New tenure-track faculty hires whose start date is not immediate (CALS will pay the fee and SrAD approval is not required)
Faculty who are visiting Cornell on sabbatical or other reasons (CALS will not pay the fee and SrAD approval is required)

'Visiting' should be modifying the title the candidate has at their primary university or will be given at Cornell, i.e., someone who will be hired into a TT assistant professor position would be given an unpaid visiting assistant professor title. The visiting associate/full professor titles can be used up to three years at a time for a maximum of five years. Visiting assistant professor can be used for up to three years at a time for a maximum of four years. (Changing to a different visitor title is not allowed by CALS and does not reset the clock).

For situations that align with 2. above, the Chair submits a request letter/e-mail to the SrAD office (a faculty vote is not required) including CV, an unrestricted Cornell department account number to pay the library fee, and other pertinent materials. Please note the fee must be paid annually, is not pro-rated, must be paid to CALS by the unit, not the individual, and is not refundable unless the individual's visa is denied (the fee is to pay the university library fee, but is also to acknowledge the staff time required to administer these appointments).

Additional information is available in the Faculty Handbook, including the following excerpt:
At times, a department may offer space and facilities to a scholar or a scientist on leave and receiving total support and compensation from an institution or an agency other than Cornell. If the individual is a member of the faculty of another college or university, the “visiting” appointment should be made at the same professorial rank he or she currently occupies. If the person does not already have a professorial title, the unpaid “visiting fellow” title should be used.

3.Appointment and Reappointment of Visiting Scientists

The visiting scientist title, similar to the adjunct, courtesy, and visiting professor titles above, incurs an annual library fee. CALS typically uses this unpaid title for

Faculty who are visiting a Cornell PI (CALS will not pay the fee and SrAD approval is required)

'Visiting' should be modifying the title the candidate has at their primary university. The visiting scientist title can be used up to a maximum of three years. (Changing to a different visitor title is not allowed by CALS and does not reset the clock).

The Chair submits a request letter/e-mail to the SrAD office (a faculty vote is not required) including CV, an unrestricted Cornell department account number to pay the library fee, and other pertinent materials. Please note the fee must be paid annually, is not pro-rated, must be paid to CALS by the unit, not the individual, and is not refundable unless the individual's visa is denied (the fee is to pay the university library fee, but is also to acknowledge the staff time required to administer these appointments).