Professors of Teaching

Professors of Teaching emphasize excellence in teaching and instructional design. This emphasis is consistent with OSU’s student-centered mission and our responsibility to the people of Oregon.

This fixed-term professorial rank requires a doctoral-level degree, emphasizes excellence in teaching beyond instruction, and includes a percentage of FTE devoted to research and scholarship. It couples dominant duties in for-credit instruction with duties related to curricular design and development and/or pedagogical strategies and practices. Consistent with the emphasis of this rank, assigned research and scholarship are likely to relate to pedagogy but may also be basic or applied, depending on the needs of the unit and college. Distinctions between each type of academic appointment are described in the Professor of Teaching Academic Appointment Guidelines on this webpage.

The available ranks are Assistant Professor (Teaching), Associate Professor (Teaching), and Professor (Teaching).

Professors of Teaching are fixed-term academic positions that are not eligible for tenure.

Yes, UAOSU represents these titles. Please note, though, that if an individual holding one of these appointments supervises another academic faculty member, then that individual is not represented by UAOSU.

A doctoral-level degree is required for this fixed-term professorial position, similar to Senior Research Professors and Clinical Professors. A defining characteristic of the Professor of Teaching position, relative to other instruction-dominant positions, is that it requires research and scholarship typically reflected in the training and experience of candidates who have achieved a doctoral-level degree. Besides for-credit instruction, Professors of Teaching will hold responsibilities related to curricular design and development and/or pedagogical strategies.

In rare case-specific situations, it may be possible to consider this fixed-term professional rank for an individual who holds a terminal degree such as an MFA.

Professors of Teaching at any rank perform 70-75% teaching and advising, 15-20% research and scholarship, and the remainder (typically 10%) for service to the unit, college, university, or profession as assigned or approved by the unit leader. Within these limits, effort should be distributed per the unit’s needs and may vary with each annual work plan.

No.

Promotional criteria will be established during the 2023-24 academic year. Professor of Practice promotional criteria apply for FY23-24.

The current definition allows for all academic faculty to serve as PIs, provided the individual is sufficiently qualified to conduct and oversee the research. Some colleges have limited the types of positions eligible to serve as PI, and some grantor agencies create their own restrictions. The Office of Research Integrity maintains PI eligibility standards for human research.

At the time of writing, an Assistant Professor (Teaching) is eligible for one-year appointments that end on June 15 (for 9-month appointees) or June 30 (for 12-month appointees). An Associate Professor (Teaching) and Professor (Teaching) will receive at least two-year appointments.

Consistent with standards for Clinical, Practice, Research, Fixed-Term Extension and Practice professional faculty, the required time is six years.

University HR instead recommends launching a fresh search. You are welcome to encourage applicants for the original vacancy to instead apply for the Professor of Teaching position. The criteria are likely to be quite different from anything already posted. In particular, because the Professor of Teaching position requires research and scholarship, units should explicitly indicate the areas of expertise for which they are searching, as they would with any other professorial-level appointment. 

The Instructor profile has a dominant focus on the delivery of courses. The Professor of Teaching profile deepens instructional duties with duties related to curricular design and development and/or pedagogical strategies and practices. It also requires 15-20% research and scholarship, which is not part of the Instructor profile. 

All candidates for Professor of Teaching must have an assigned dedicated research agenda and the appropriate training and skills to conduct research; the research must also be needed to meet the goals and needs of the unit. 

The Instructor profile holds a minimum qualification of a Master’s degree, whereas the Professor of Teaching rank requires a doctoral-level degree. If your credentials and position description or work plan match these expectations, your unit must decide whether there is ongoing need for that work to continue. For a limited period of time (October 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024), a unit may consider an existing employee for transition to the Professors of Teaching category.

If you hold a doctoral-level degree and would like your position evaluated for possible transition into a Professor of Teaching (at a rank to be determined), complete the online petition between October 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024. The petition link will be added here once it is available.

University HR will contact your supervisor to confirm your description of the work you are performing and to affirm that the work is an ongoing need for your unit. Classification & Compensation will assess whether the work is commensurate with a Professor of Teaching appointment and communicate the outcome with you and your supervisor. Petitions will be evaluated in the order they are received. The response time is dependent on volume, completeness and accuracy of the information received, etc. Any changes will be effective the first of the month after your request was originally received, even if it takes longer to arrive at an outcome.

November 1, 2023. See question 16 for additional detail.

Active academic faculty who transition to a Professor of Teaching appointment may not receive a contract that is shorter than that for which they would be eligible in their current appointment. 

Example 1: A 9-month Senior Instructor I is beginning the first year of a two-year appointment. Their appointment runs from 09/16/23 – 06/15/25, with the traditional 3-month summer break. If transitioned to a Professor of Teaching appointment, the individual must still be appointed until 06/15/25, no matter what Professor of Teaching rank is assigned.

Example 2: A 9-month Senior Instructor I is in the second year of a two-year appointment. Their appointment runs 09/16/22-06/15/24. If transitioned to a Professor of Teaching appointment, the individual must still be appointed until 06/15/24. If appointed as an Assistant Professor (Teaching), the individual is then eligible for a one-year appointment (e.g., 09/16/24-06/15/25). However, if appointed as an Associate Professor (Teaching), the individual must at minimum receive a two-year appointment (e.g., 09/16/24-06/15/26, with the traditional summer break). 

You’ll be asked to verify that the petitioner is assigned work in the percentages that reflect a Professor of Teaching appointment. Consider whether the assignment is reflected in the person’s position description, work plan, recent appraisals, or took place in a discussion with the person. The key distinction is that the work was assigned at those percentages.

Please see the academic leadership materials elsewhere on this webpage.

Each unit’s process will be different. In general, unit leaders should evaluate whether they have an ongoing need for the Professor of Teaching duties.

It depends on how the workload guidelines were written. If the guidelines did not differentiate based on academic title, there may be no impact. If the guidelines differentiated by role, a limited update specific to the Professors of Teaching may be needed. Units should not reconsider their workload guidelines more broadly.

The research/scholarship must already be assigned at the 15-20% required, and be needed on an ongoing basis, for you to meet that portion of the requirements. Examples of where the assignment took place include a position description, work plan, assignment discussion with your supervisor, or appraisal.

No. If the supervisor, department and college believe a PoT is needed, we ask that they open a search rather than assign the duties now.

At the time of writing, the salary minimum for Professors of Teaching is the same as that for Professors of Practice. If an existing position transitions the incumbent’s salary may not be lower than their previous salary. If the individual achieves the new position through a competitive search, then they may negotiate a new salary that meets or exceeds the minimum.

The existing OPE approach will remain in place.