Glossary of Relevant Terms

Adjunct: Faculty who hold a primary appointment at another institution or organization and remain based at that institution or organization.

Associate: Discontinued rank for new appointments, similar to Instructor. Associates hired prior to 1988 have been allowed to keep this rank until they are proposed for promotion.

Bi-Level: Tenure-eligible faculty with an initial appointment start date between January 1st and August 31st are considered “bi-level” by the Provost. The initial appointment will be at the rank of non-tenure-eligible Senior Lecturer through August 31st’; as of September 1st the appointment will change to tenure-eligible + proposed rank (Assistant or Associate Professor). This ensures the tenure clock begins September 1st for all tenure-eligible faculty members.

Clinical: Modifier added to the rank of part-time or contributed service faculty (e.g. Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology). Note: a few part-time or contributed service faculty who joined FSM prior to 1985 may not have clinical in their title.

Clinical Associate: Newer category of Regular Faculty appointment for health professionals whose total compensation is provided by an approved medical school source, but who are geographically based outside the McGaw Medical Center. Typically Clinical Associates have no teaching, research or academic administrative responsibilities; their appointments are entirely clinical.

Contributed Service (CS): Clinical faculty members who participate in FSM academic activities without compensation from an approved medical school source, such as NMH, NMFF, ENH, RIC, CMH, VA. Usually these faculty receive their compensation from private practice. The “clinical” modifier is added to their faculty title (e.g. Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics).

Coterminous: A courtesy faculty appointment, requested by a Department Chair and usually at the rank of instructor, for an individual who holds a training position as a Fellow or Chief Resident in the McGaw Medical GME Programs or holds a limited term professional staff appointment in the VA or selected clinics outside the McGaw Medical Center. When the controlling position (Fellowship, Chief Residency) ends, the faculty appointment automatically ends.

Emeritus: A senior faculty who retires after reaching age 55 and who has a minimum of 10 years continuous service to Northwestern University may be eligible for emeritus status, subject to Department Chair request and approval by Faculty Affairs, the Provost and the University Board of Trustees. Significant service to the Institution must be demonstrated.

Emeritus-In-Service: Emeritus faculty returning to work part-time and paid an NU salary may be granted an additional limited-term appointment at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor Emeritus in Service. Their emeritus title and indefinite end date will remain unchanged.

Full-Time (FT): Individuals who receive 100 percent of their professional compensation for all professional and academic service from the University or any combination of entities approved by the medical school and University and who work a minimum of thirty-five hours per week are considered full-time faculty. These approved entities include Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Children’s Memorial Hospital and its related faculty practice plans, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare and its practice plan, Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, and the VA. Full-time appointments also require that an authorized University faculty search process identifies the appointee or that the University approves a waiver of search.

Non-tenure-eligible (NTE): Faculty on the Clinician, Clinician-Investigator and Research career track are considered NTE and will be given term-limited appointments dependent on rank. All faculty appointed as Instructors and Lecturers are automatically NTE.

Tenure-track: Refers to tenure-eligible (TE) faculty and tenured faculty. TE status begins at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor, and are given a tenure probationary period (often referred to as tenure clock) by the Provost to be approved for the award of tenure. This clock is generally 6-9 years (9 years if initial appointment is at the rank of Assistant Professor; 6 years if initial appointment at rank of Associate Professor) Tenured faculty have been awarded tenure and have an indefinite appointment.

Part-time (PT-G, PT-L): Faculty appointments for individuals who receive a portion of their total professional compensation from the University or an entity approved by the University and medical school are classified as part-time appointments. Individuals who receive all their professional compensation from the University or approved entities and who work less than 35 hours per week also are classified as part time. The “clinical” modifier is added to their faculty title (e.g. Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine.

Phased Retirement: Available to faculty 60 years of age or over who have at least 15 years of service and wish to retire at an age agreeable both to the faculty member and to the administration. Faculty who select this option are assigned 50 percent of their normal academic responsibilities and receive 60 percent of their normal academic year salary. University contributions to benefits treat the faculty member as full-time but are based on the reduced salary.

Visiting: Faculty who hold a primary appointment at another institution or organization, but are based at Northwestern for a limited period of time. The Provost limits these appointments to a total of 2 years.