Term Faculty Information
The Term Faculty Committee Community Forum scheduled for April 14 has been cancelled. More details will be forthcoming soon. Please contact Faculty Affairs with any questions.
Mason would be unable to thrive without our term faculty. We must recognize term faculty contributions in a systematic and inclusive way.
With term faculty making up a significant portion of full-time instructional and full-time research faculty, it is critical to create and maintain an environment that values term faculty members’ work and contributions to Mason’s teaching and scholarly communities and its national reputation. Mason strives to be an institution where term faculty are supported in reaching their professional and career goals. Term faculty contribute to campus life and institutional success in a wide variety of ways, such as teaching, advising students, providing administrative leadership, university service, and more.
New to Campus?
- Learn more about New Faculty Orientation.
Read about Important Policies for Faculty.
Term Faculty Committee
The Term Faculty Committee was convened in fall 2019 to oversee and facilitate the implementation of the recommendations put forward by the Term Faculty Task Force. The Task Force worked from spring 2017 through fall 2018 to explore the opportunities for career development for term faculty at Mason and to address their concerns and challenges. The Task Force presented its final report and recommendations to the Provost in December 2018.
Mission and Core Values
The Term Faculty Committee seeks to improve the status and quality of term faculty experiences through informing inclusive and sustainable policies and practices that promote the contributions and livelihood of the term faculty. We will pursue meaningful pathways for career progression and recognize the varied contributions that term faculty make to our institutional mission. We aim to foster an institutional culture in which term faculty positions are viewed as productive and rewarding career opportunities.
- Our work is driven by a sense of urgency in order to make meaningful progress
- We believe that all faculty have the right to participate in governance decisions that affect them
- We will operate with openness and transparency
- Our actions are designed to support term faculty wellbeing
- We embrace the “spirit of possibility”
Term Faculty Evaluation Process
The work of the Term Faculty Task Force has resulted in a rich process for multi-year contracts and faculty promotion. It enables term faculty to be recognized for their dedication to teaching and learning and their long-term commitment to Mason. The guidelines provided underscore the possibility for promotion, but the adherence to these guidelines does not guarantee automatic multi-year commitments and promotion. The following factors will also be taken into consideration with the evaluation process:
- Departmental resource needs and commitments
- Enrollment trajectory for the unit
- Dean’s office commitment to the local academic unit
- Provost’s support for the renewal and promotion