Graduate Center Faculty

The Central Faculty Steering Committee meets periodically to discuss issues of concern to faculty whose appointments are at The Graduate School. Contact the Provost's Office for further information.

See the Recruitment of GC Faculty page for details.

After the program has completed the search process and filled out the "Affirmative Action Documentation" form, the proposed candidate's credentials must be reviewed by the Graduate Center's Academic Review Committee, which makes recommendations to the President. Please consult with the Office of the Provost regarding preparation of materials. After approval at the Graduate Center, nominations for new appointments are forwarded to CUNY's Office of Academic Affairs for review by the Board's Committee on Faculty, Staff and Administration before final consideration by the CUNY Board of Trustees.

Personnel actions for Graduate Center faculty are considered first at the program level and then by the Graduate Center's Academic Review Committee, which has the responsibility of making recommendations to the President on requests for appointment, reappointment, promotion, tenure, fellowship leaves of absence, and nominations for Distinguished Professor. Materials in support of these actions (except leaves) require an Academic Review Committee Evaluation Form [PDF], available in the Office of the Provost and on the Provost's web site. Separate forms for leaves of absence are available from the Office of Human Resources, as well as on the Provost's web site.

Letters of Evaluation: The letters of evaluation should be from scholars (or, where appropriate, other experts such as creative artists) outside The City University to New York (a minimum of three in cases of appointment of an assistant professor without tenure; five in all other cases of appointment, promotion or tenure) and should be from specialists in the candidate’s field. None of the reviewers should be collaborators or co-authors with the candidate. Preferably, none should have been the candidate’s dissertation advisor except in cases of appointment of an assistant professor without tenure.

The Executive Officer will select the evaluators in consultation with the Executive Committee of the program. The candidate may submit names of potential evaluators and the names of up to two potential reviewers whom he or she would wish to exclude along with the reason for the exclusion. If a reviewer is taken from that list, the candidate’s reason for concern shall be provided with the reviewer’s letter. The Executive Officer will submit the list of evaluators with brief bios to the relevant dean for final approval. The relevant dean may request additional letters.

Evaluators should be at a rank appropriate to the action requested. For example, in a promotion to Associate Professor, evaluators should be a the rank of Associate or full Professor. The evaluators should be identified briefly on a separate sheet, with t notices as to which evaluators were selected independently (i.e. other than recommended by the candidate). No more than two evaluators should be selected from those recommended by the candidate. Additional evaluation letters beyond the minimum number may be included All letters should contain a statement describing how the candidate is know to the evaluator; which of the candidate’s writings have been read by the evaluator; and how the candidate’s work is judged relative to the most important work currently being done in the field. See the Provost’s Office website for additional information.

The position of Distinguished Professor is the highest academic honor that CUNY can offer its faculty. According to the Bylaws of the CUNY Board of Trustees, a Distinguished Professor "must be a person of outstanding merit and accomplishment in his/her field." Additional criteria were specified by the CUNY Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in a 1985 memorandum to the CUNY presidents as follows.

Whether from CUNY or elsewhere, each candidate should have a national reputation as a scholar, an acknowledged status as one of the leaders in his or her field of specialization, and a record of innovative, sustained, and influential research; or, in the case of the creative and performing arts, major contributions of works to the visual arts, music, theater, film, dance, or literature.

A program's Executive Committee presents nominations for Distinguished Professor to the Academic Review Committee. A minimum of ten letters of recommendation (preferably more) from scholars outside The City University of New York should be from specialists in the candidate's field; at least four evaluators must be selected independently. These letters should include a statement indicating how the candidate may be known to the evaluator; which of the candidate's scholarly works have been read by the evaluator; and how the candidate's work is judged relative to the most important work being done in the field.

Detailed nomination guidelines and answers to frequently asked questions about Distinguished Professors can be found on the City University of New York website.

At all CUNY colleges, including The Graduate Center, the title of Professor Emeritus is automatically conferred on full professors who honorably retire after more than 10 years of service. In exceptional cases the title may be conferred on associate or assistant professors or on full professors with fewer than 10 years of service (CUNY Manual of General Policy, p. 229). When a faculty member with a Graduate Center appointment is anticipating retirement, please notify the Office of the Provost with the name, address, and effective date of retirement. The Provost's Office will write to the professor conferring the emeritus title if the criteria are met.

Emeritus status in a doctoral program is distinct from emeritus status at a college. The Faculty Membership Committee of a doctoral program may request the designation of Professor Emeritus for a retiring member of the doctoral faculty whose appointment is at another CUNY college. When notified of an anticipated retirement (and the committee makes an emeritus recommendation), please send the request to the Provost's Office.

The PSC-CUNY agreement (Article 25) discusses the requirements for fellowship leaves of absence (sabbaticals) (six years of continuous full-time service and tenured status are necessary for eligibility for a fellowship leave), professional reassignments in the library, and scholar incentive awards. Application forms are available in the Office of Human Resources and on the Provost's web site. The program's Executive Committee reviews applications for fellowship leaves of absence before the Academic Review Committee reviews and approves them.

In accordance with Article 18.2(b)1 of the PSC-CUNY agreement, at least once every semester, each non tenured member of the teaching staff must be observed for a full scheduled classroom period during the first ten weeks of the semester, with at least 24 hours' prior notice. Executive Officers receive evaluation forms each semester from the Office of Human Resources and return them when completed. The employee should receive a copy of the completed evaluation form when initialing the original prior to its being returned to the Office of Human Resources for placement in the employee's personnel file.

In accordance with Article 18.3 of the PSC-CUNY agreement, each member of the teaching faculty other than tenured full professors must have an evaluation conference with the department chair at least once a year. An employee's total academic performance and professional progress for that year are reviewed at the conference. A written record of the evaluation conference should be prepared within 10 working days after the conference. A copy of the conference memorandum should be shared with the employee. The original should be signed, initialed, dated, and returned to the Office of Human Resources for inclusion in the employee record. Executive Officers receive evaluation forms from the Office of Human Resources.

Full-time instructional staff are entitled to enroll in several choices of health plans, a choice of two pension systems, and a variety of other benefits. Please check with the Benefits Coordinator, Ms. Lenore Mitchell, in the Office of Human Resources if you have questions prior to enrolling or changing benefits. No changes are possible once a pension system is elected. Health insurance options may only be changed once a year, unless there is a special qualifying event.

In accordance with Article 19 of the PSC-CUNY Agreement, each non tenured and non certificated full-time faculty member should examine and initial his/her personnel file prior to the end of each academic year. S/he should promptly report and furnish any documents that s/he wishes to have included in the file. Each year, each tenured and certificated full-time member of the instructional staff should examine and initial his/her file prior to the end of the Fall semester. The employee should promptly report and furnish any document s/he wishes to have included in the file. Please contact Human Resources for further information.

CUNY requires each campus to keep monthly records on time worked and on temporary disability (sick) leave accumulated and used. Faculty members absent because of a temporary disability should promptly inform the Executive Officer, who should notify the Provost and the Assistant Vice President for Human Resources of the probable duration of the absence. Faculty should submit a "Teaching Instructional Temporary Disability (Sick) Leave Record" to the Executive Officer, who sends a monthly report for all members of that program's faculty to the Office of Human Resources. An "Application for Temporary Disability Leave" is required for absences of six days or more. Leaves due to personal illness or the illness of a family member fall under CUNY's Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy and must be discussed with the Personnel Director. Leaves of longer than five days fall under the FMLA. For absences other than temporary disability, such as the death of an immediate family member, an "Application for a Leave of Absence with Pay for Special Purposes" is required. Further explanations and copies of leave applications and monthly time reports are available in the Office of Human Resources.

See the list of closings on the Human Resources web site.

See the Workload page for details of faculty workload reporting.

All full-time instructional staff must participate in the semiannual reporting of supplementary employment for extra compensation or unpaid activities beyond any served at CUNY (see the "Statement of Policy on Multiple Positions" on the Human Resources site). The President, through the Office of Human Resources, sends Multiple Position Report forms each semester to faculty for completion under the requirements of the New York State Ethics Commission. The NYS Ethics Commission requires a list of names of faculty who fail to submit reports by November 1 and April 1 each year. The MPP provides CUNY's policy for external employment including employment over the summer. It also specifies the limits on additional employment during the fall and spring semesters. Outside employment is reviewed by the program Executive Committee and ultimately by the President. Please consult Yosette Jones Johnson, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, with any questions.