Graduate Faculty

Faculty and Staff Resources

Graduate faculty status is awarded to faculty whose training, experience, and scholarly accomplishments uniquely qualify them for academic life at Buffalo State.

Graduate faculty appointment

Graduate faculty status is awarded to faculty who by virtue of their training, experience, and scholarly accomplishments are uniquely qualified. The Buffalo State College Directory of Policy Statements (DOPS) VI:II:00 lists the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of graduate faculty as follows:

  • May teach graduate courses
  • Shall accept the assignment of graduate advisees and shall serve as mentor or reader for master's thesis or project or independent study for graduate students
  • Shall certify and recommend for graduation all graduate students completing requirements for their respective curricula
Criteria

Teaching at the graduate level presupposes advanced intellectual or practical achievements; such faculty should demonstrate state-of-the-art or cutting-edge competence in order to provide proper instruction for graduate-level students. Members of the graduate faculty shall hold the highest recognized degrees in their field of specialization together with suitable experiences and scholarly achievements required by the nature of their teaching. Each department shall establish minimum criteria that further clarify the type of training, experience, and demonstrated scholarly activity required.

Terms

Appointment to the graduate faculty varies: faculty who have continuing appointments may apply for a five-year term; tenure-track faculty and faculty with full-time lecturer appointments may apply for a term up to three years; adjunct faculty may apply for a one semester or one year appointment consistent with the terms of their contract.

Procedures

The department chair shall initiate nominations for graduate faculty status. The nomination packet shall consist of:

  • Completed Graduate Faculty Status Appointment Form (PDF, 133KB) 
  • Applicant's current vita
  • List of courses the applicant is qualified to teach
  • For adjunct faculty appointments or in other cases where the candidate does not hold a terminal degree, the chair should attach a brief description of the candidate's training, experience or scholarly activity. This description should provides evidence of the faculty member's special competence to teach the assigned course(s).
Graduate Faculty Nominations

Nominations shall be reviewed by the graduate faculty of the respective department, the department chair, and the faculty dean and then forwarded for review by the dean of Graduate Studies and Research and the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

Approval by the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs constitutes election to the graduate faculty. Approval of graduate faculty status must be secured before a faculty member can begin teaching a graduate class, serving as chair or member of the student's thesis or project, or serving as chair or member of a multidisciplinary studies program committee.