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Courtesy Faculty Guidelines

Procedures for Appointment and Reappointment of Courtesy Faculty

 

Initial Appointment

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. 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. 

The faculty meet to discuss the candidate and whether they would like to offer a courtesy appointment (at assistant, associate, or full rank). A vote of the faculty (either at the meeting or by email or qualtrics ballot) is taken. Assuming a positive vote, the Chair then submits a letter to the Senior Associate Dean making the request for courtesy status and detailing the person’s anticipated 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

Courtesy Assistant Professors are appointed for up to three years. Courtesy Associate Professors and Courtesy Professors are appointed for up to five years. Both are renewable. To reappoint the courtesy faculty member, the same procedures as the initial appointment should be followed. The candidate should provide an updated cv and a statement of how they 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 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.

 

Fee Payment Determination

CALS pays a library fee to central for all academic titles (paid and unpaid) on an annual basis of $2277 (we will periodically verify this with the CALS financial office as the amount changes). Typically Courtesy Professor appointments in CALS are for Federal Scientists, so they meet the criteria below:

  • Federal Scientist (Federal Scientists typically are given the Courtesy Professor title, please discuss with SrAD)

If none of the following criteria are met, the unit will pay the fee; please send an account number with your request.:

  • Paid appointment – salary paid for at least 10% FTE (available for adjunct titles only; courtesy titles are unpaid)
  • Primary appointment elsewhere at CALS (with strong justification that second appointment is needed) (typically adjunct)
  • 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 (typically adjunct)
  • Former Cornell TT professor (when not eligible for emeriti title, i.e. resigned from Cornell) – CALS will cover their first appointment as an adjunct (3 or 5 years depending on rank)
  • Instructor of Record on current course (typically adjunct)
  • Currently on student committees or providing projects for students; please include student names in request (typically adjunct)

 

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:  

The Bylaws of the University, in the Article on the Instructional and Research Staff, describe use of the “courtesy” modifier as follows (note that “by the President” means “under presidential authority,” indicating that the appointment does not require Trustee approval):

“Courtesy Appointments: Persons having professional qualifications for regular faculty appointments who serve on the staff of an academic department although employed by an outside agency, may be appointed by the President to the teaching staff at the professorial, instructor or lecturer level with the modifier “courtesy” appended to the appropriate title. Such courtesy appointments may be approved for renewable terms of not to exceed five years each. Courtesy appointments, reappointments and promotions shall be subject to the same departmental and college reviews as regular professorial appointments. Such appointments shall be without salary or fringe benefits.”

People with courtesy appointments housed in an academic department receive neither salary nor salary-related plan benefits from the university and have a primary responsibility outside Cornell, although they are expected to perform at Cornell at least some of the functions associated with the title. The normal departmental and college-level decision process for appointments is followed. Courtesy appointments can be made for terms of up to five years and are renewable; there is no limit to the total time permissible in the titles with reappointments. It is customary for the length of a “courtesy” instructor or lecturer appointment not to exceed the limit that governs an appointment to the unmodified title, for instance three years for a courtesy lecturer, renewable.

Individuals holding courtesy professorial appointments are voting members of the University Faculty.

The modifier “courtesy” may be used with the following titles: professor, associate professor, assistant professor, professor of the practice, associate professor of the practice, assistant professor of the practice, research professor, associate research professor, assistant research professor, clinical professor, associate clinical professor, assistant clinical professor, instructor, senior lecturer and lecturer.