Any faculty member, regardless of specific title series of appointment, is eligible for consideration for membership on the Graduate Faculty. Eligibility qualifications are as follows:
- The doctor's degree or its equivalent in scholarly reputation.
- The rank of assistant professor (or equivalent) or higher.
- Scholarly maturity and professional productivity as demonstrated by publications, editorial services, research surveys, creative work or patents, and research in progress at the time of appointment.
- Demonstrated participation in graduate teaching and research in the program.
Associate Member
Faculty members at the Assistant Professor level are typically appointed as Associate Members of the Graduate Faculty. Associate members are authorized to teach graduate courses, direct master's theses, and serve on and co-chair doctoral committees. Associate membership is limited to a term of three years with reappointment possible after departmental review.
Full Member
Faculty are eligible for appointment as Full Members of the Graduate Faculty upon promotion to Associate Professor. Full members are particularly responsible for:
- Guidance of doctoral student research and study to its completion. The finished work should meet or exceed accepted standards for publication, dissemination or performance within the particular discipline.
- Participation in the formulation of graduate curricula and policy.
In unique instances an advanced assistant professor may be nominated by his or her chairperson for full membership in the Graduate Faculty. To be considered for this status a nominee must meet the following criteria:
- Completion of a minimum of 2 years of employment at UK at the assistant professor level.
- Demonstration of the appropriate level of scholarly research and productivity and evidence of important contributions to the department's graduate program, including graduate teaching.
Non-UK Experts
Non-UK-affiliated experts can add valuable insights for graduate student research projects and thus be valuable members of student advisory committees. There are several ways that these experts can be appointed to serve as official members of graduate student committees. It is recommended but not required that such appointments are made in addition to the standard three member master's committee or four member doctoral committee consisting of UK faculty.
- If they are a faculty member at another academic institution, they can be appointed to Associate Graduate Faculty status in order to serve as a voting member of an advisory committee. The appointment is restricted to one committee and ends at the time the student successfully defends the thesis or dissertation. If the intent is to become more expansively involved in the graduate program (service on multiple committees; graduate teaching etc.) an adjunct faculty appointment is recommended prior to appointment to the graduate faculty.
- If they are experts who hold non-academic positions, there are several possibilities.
- They can be appointed as a Voluntary Series Faculty (AR 2:10), which is a 5-yr appointment, and then can be subsequently appointed to Associate Graduate Faculty status.
- They can be appointed as an Adjunct Series Faculty (AR 2:8) and then can be subsequently appointed to Associate Graduate Faculty status.
- They can be appointed to Auxiliary Graduate Faculty status for the duration of the student's dissertation research. Auxiliary Graduate Faculty are non-voting members of the student's committees.