Professor of Practice

Search Procedure for the Professor of Practice

1) Department must develop a job description, including qualifications consistent with the required credentials for the title and ongoing evaluation criteria as outlined in the P.o.P. document. This should include the anticipated term of the appointment, whether the position is a 9-month, academic year position or 12-months per year, and the percentage of full-time effort required. Appointments are typically three and no more than five-year appointments. 

2) The search process generally mirrors the search process for tenure-track faculty.  

a) The Director or Chair appoints a search committee consisting of tenure-track and existing Professor of Practice faculty and/or Senior Lecturer faculty from within the department, the majority of which must be tenure track. It is highly encouraged that this committee have at least one member from an  external department. 
b) The search committee provides to the Chair of the Strategic Oversight Committee (SOC) the general plan to reach a broad and diverse applicant pool for the position prior to the launch of the search.  
c) Utilizing standard open search protocols, including identification of the source of funding, the position must be posted on the Cornell website and advertised as appropriate to capture a broad and diverse applicant pool. A general application process requires a letter of interest in the position along with the C.V. and the names of at least 3 references provided by the applicant. This is followed by interviews of a subset of the applicants conducted by the search committee. 
d) The search committee makes a recommendation to the department or school based on their evaluation of the candidate’s likelihood for success in meeting the evaluation criteria for the job. 
e) The Director or Chair updates the Dean and Chair of the SOC on the status of the search and the top candidate(s) before a vote is taken within the department.
f) Faculty review the application materials for the recommended candidate(s). A vote is taken of tenured and tenure-track faculty and existing Professors of Practice on whether to recommend to the department director or chair that an offer is extended to the individual.  
g) The Director or Chair submits a recommendation to the Dean.  
h) Upon the Dean's approval Human Resources is informed.  
i) An Academic Search Summary document is completed with support from the Director/Chair’s assistant and submitted to the HRSC for Associate Dean review and approval. 
j) An offer letter is generated, with support from HR, to initiate the hiring process. 

3) Each Professor of Practice will be reviewed annually by the Director or Chair for department appointments or the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs for college appointments.  The evaluation is based on their performance relative to the specific job description for their appointment.  The annual evaluation will be used as input for the salary improvement program. 

4) Professor of Practice appointments are renewable. A reappointment committee consisting of tenure-track and Professor of Practice faculty is appointed by the a) Director or Chair, or b) Associate Dean to evaluate the performance of the individual and to make a recommendation for reappointment.  In the case the Director, Chair or Associate Dean does an evaluation, a recommendation is made to the Dean with the Dean making the final decision.  

Procedures for Considering Current Academic Employees for Appointment as Professor of Practice 
Current academic employees may be considered for appointment to the Professor of Practice title if their credentials are consistent with those established in the Professor of Practice – College of Engineering . The process required to consider a current employee for a Professor of Practice (appointed by one department) is defined below.  

1) The Director or Chair must discuss with the Dean the intention to consider the current academic employee as it relates to the intended use of the P.o.P. title.

2) Department must develop a job description, including qualifications consistent with the required credentials for the title, and ongoing evaluation criteria as outlined in the P.o.P. document. This should include the anticipated term of the appointment, whether the position is a 9-month, academic year position or 12-months per year, and the percentage of full-time effort required. Appointments are typically three and no more than five-year appointments. 

3) The review and appointment process is as follows: 

a) Internal candidate is invited to submit a letter of interest in the position along with their C.V. and the names of at least 3 references to the department director or chair. In addition, the department collects 3-5 references from 
Cornell students.

b) The Director or Chair appoints an ad hoc committee consisting of tenure-track and existing Professor of Practice faculty from within the department, the majority of which must be tenure track. It is highly encouraged that this committee have at least one member from an external department. 

c) The ad hoc committee makes a recommendation to the Director or Chair based on their evaluation of the candidate’s likelihood for success in meeting the evaluation criteria for the job. 

d) Faculty review the application materials for the individual and a vote to extend the Professor of Practice title to the individual is taken of tenured and tenure-track faculty, existing Professors of Practice, and/or Senior Lecturers.  

e) The Director or Chair submits a recommendation to the Dean.  

f) Upon Dean's approval Human Resources is informed.

  g) A new appointment letter must be generated, with support from HR, to implement the change in title. 

4) Appointments are renewable under the procedures outlined in the college proposal for the title.