Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

IU policies for research, clinical, and teaching ranks at IU Bloomington

Faculty in non-tenure-track (NTT) roles are vital to the campus’s research, teaching, and service missions.

NTT faculty primarily devote their expertise to one or two of those missions:

  • Lecturers, senior lecturers, and teaching professors focus on excellent teaching.
  • Professors of practice enhance the teaching mission by devoting their expertise to instruction, student development, and placement.
  • Faculty in the clinical ranks combine teaching and service in clinical and professional settings.
  • Research scientists/scholars and research associates focus on research and creative activity.
  • Academic specialists spearhead administrative services for academic programs.

Your resource for career development and advancement

We provide guidance and oversight for appointment, reappointment, and promotion processes, including various workshops devoted to the specific needs of NTT faculty.

We also are eager to meet individually with NTT faculty to ensure your career experiences are positive and expectations are clear, as well as to address your unique questions or needs.

The procedures for consideration for promotion are described in the Guidelines document for research, clinical, and teaching ranks. Please click below to access this comprehensive document.

Guidelines for promotion reviews for research, clinical, and teaching ranks

Non-tenure-track faculty appointment, reappointment, and promotion

Reappointment and promotion reviews are guided by campus, school, and (where applicable) department policies and guidelines. Policies affecting initial appointments and timelines for reappointment and promotion (if applicable) vary with each NTT faculty classification.

Campus and/or university policies and guidelines include:

Policies by appointment category

See a summary of policies for each category of non-tenure-track faculty.

Probationary period

7 years (eligible for early promotion and long-term contract)

Promotion timeframe

“Up or out” review for senior lecturer no later than 6th year

Length of contract

Initial: 3 years, then renewable annually through 7th year or early long-term contract decision

Long-term contract: 3 or 5 year rolling or renewable term

Performance review

Annual review by unit; campus review of promotions to Senior Lecturer or Teaching Professor; VPFAA review of all non-reappointments.

Probationary period

7 years (eligible for early promotion and long-term contract)

Promotion timeframe

“Up or out” review for assistant-to-associate no later than 6th year (long-term contract consideration must accompany promotion decision)

Length of contract

Initial: 3 years, then renewable annually through 7th year or early long-term contract decision (regardless of incoming rank)

Long-term contract: 3 or 5 year rolling or renewable term

Performance review

Annual review by unit; campus review of promotions to associate/full; VPFAA review of all nonreappointments

Probationary period

None

Promotion timeframe

No fixed schedule for promotion to associate/full (based on performance and discussion with chair/director); no “up or out” decision

Length of contract

One-year contract (unless funding permits longer term)

Performance review

Annual review by unit; initial appointment as assistant reviewed by VPFAA; campus review of promotion to associate/senior)

Probationary period

None

Promotion timeframe

None

Length of contract

Typically a one-year contract

Performance review

Annual review by PI/supervisor

Probationary period

7 years (eligible for early long-term contract)

Promotion timeframe

None

Length of contract

Initial: 3 years, then renewable annually through 7th year or early long-term contract decision)

Long-term contract: 3 or 5 year rolling or renewable term

Performance review

Annual review by unit; VPFAA review of nonappointments

Probationary period

7 years

Promotion timeframe

None

Length of contract

Initial: 3 years, then renewable annually through 7th year

Long-term contract: 3 or 5 year rolling or renewable term

Performance review

Campus review during recruitment; approval for offer from provost or designate; major review before end of 7-year probationary period; VPFAA review of nonreappointments

School and department policies

School and department policies for non-tenure-track faculty—including reappointment and promotion review criteria and processes—are maintained on their individual websites.

Find links to school and department policies

Promotion process for non-tenure-track faculty

Lecturers, research scientists/scholars, and clinical faculty who are candidates for promotion use the eDossier system to collect and route their materials and evidence for promotion consideration.

Candidates for promotion typically get access to eDossier late in the spring semester of the calendar year in which their dossier must be submitted for review.

Campus review

In addition to department/center and school review, all research, lecturer, and clinical rank promotions are reviewed at the campus level by the Promotion Advisory Committee and VPFAA.

Workshops

See more events

Alternative accessible formats of the PDF documents on this page can be obtained by contacting VPFAA at vpfaa@indiana.edu.