Office of the Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Faculty with Joint Appointments

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Types of Joint Appointments

All faculty members at Lehigh have a home department. Some tenured/tenure-track faculty members also have a joint appointment with one or more additional departments or programs.

There are two types of joint appointments at Lehigh, based on how much of the faculty member’s effort is assigned to a unit outside their home department:

  • Type 1: At least 40% effort is outside the home department
  • Type 2: Less than 40% effort is outside the home department

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

For either type of joint appointment, the faculty member has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that indicates:

  1. The faculty member’s field(s) of research and scholarship
  2. Expectations regarding teaching and service contributions in the units with which the faculty member is affiliated
  3. Voting rights and responsibilities in those units

The MOU is drafted by the faculty member in conjunction with representatives of the participating units. The MOU must be approved by the Dean for the home department. 

MOUs should be revisited periodically and modified to reflect changes in expectations. The faculty member may request such a review, or the units may request it. The Dean must agree to the proposed changes.

A faculty member’s current MOU is included in their dossier for reappointment, tenure, promotion, and other reviews. If the MOU has changed substantially during the period under review, the faculty member, in consultation with the Department Chair and/or special committee, may decide whether to include previous MOU(s) as well.

Special Committee

All faculty members with type-1 joint appointments, and some with type-2 joint appointments, have a special committee that provides input during faculty reviews from the perspective of the secondary unit(s). A special committee typically consists of 3–5 members of the appropriate rank from the secondary unit(s). 

A new faculty member’s special committee is formed by the beginning of their second semester at Lehigh. The Dean for the home department, in conjunction with the Chairs/Directors of the participating units, as well as with the new faculty member, chooses the members of the special committee. A faculty member’s special committee should remain as constant as possible over time; it is not intended to change with each review.

Faculty members with type-1 joint appointments must have a special committee. Special committees are optional for faculty members with type-2 joint appointments, and the MOU should indicate whether or not a special committee will be used. If no special committee will be used, the Chair or Director of the secondary unit will be responsible for evaluation of activities outside the home department.

Faculty Reviews

For details of how the MOU and/or special committee figure into faculty reviews, see the pages for the individual review types (annual review, reappointment, etc.).

Relevant Sections of R&P

  • 2.2.3.1 Faculty Appointments Involving More Than One Academic Unit

Additional Documents

Notes

  • This overview is intended to supplement the information contained in Lehigh’s Rules and Procedures of the Faculty (R&P). If there is a discrepancy between the guidance on this page and R&P, the provisions of R&P govern.
  • Feel free to contact your Department Chair, Associate Dean for Faculty, the Deputy Provost for Faculty Affairs, or the Director of Faculty Affairs with any questions or concerns.