• instructor
• assistant professor
• associate professor
• professor
• professor emeritus/emerita

There are two key terms that apply to faculty appointments: Rank and Status.

Rank indicates academic level. At Pratt the ranks are: instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, professor. An upgrade in rank is referred to as a promotion.

Status indicates employment level. At Pratt, full-time status titles include: non-tenured, tenure track; tenured; and half-time.

The following descriptions of ranks are general, and are subject to the terms of the CBA.

Instructor
Those with no prior teaching experience or rank are most often initially appointed as instructors. Those with substantial professional attainment may be appointed at higher rank.

Assistant Professor
Assistant professors will hold earned terminal degrees appropriate to their discipline, or equivalent professional distinction appropriate to their disciplines. Final determination of what constitutes substantial equivalence to a given degree or appropriate to a given rank is made by the provost upon the recommendation of the chair of the department or dean of the school and the appropriate dean. Written copies of such determination will be provided to the chair of the department or dean of the school for inclusion in the personnel file.

Faculty members at the rank of assistant professor should demonstrate professional competence in the areas of teaching, creative and scholarly work, professional activity, and service to the Institute.

Associate Professor
Associate professors will hold the terminal degree or equiva-lent professional distinction appropriate to their disciplines.

The rank of associate professor is normally reserved for those members of the faculty who, in addition to a consistent level of professional competence, have demonstrated noteworthy performance in the areas of teaching, creative and scholarly work, professional activity, and service to the Institute. Regional recognition by peers is a demonstration of noteworthy achievement in creative or scholarly work. Noteworthy service at the associate professor level implies not only active involvement in the Institute, school, department and community, but also leadership and innovative contributions.

Professor
Professors will hold the terminal degree or equivalent professional distinction appropriate to their disciplines.

Appointment at the rank of professor is made on the evidence of cumulative and ongoing achievements in the following areas of criteria: teaching effectiveness; creative and scholarly work and/or professional activity; and service to the Institute. The professorial rank is reserved for those faculty whose excellence is recognized by peers within the Institute and peers external to the Institute.

The rank of professor is a mark of recognition and honor reserved for the mature and seasoned teacher whose scholarship or professional attainments reflect credit upon the Institute. The rank will not be conferred solely as a result of seniority, administrative service, or institutional service, and is not a mandatory promotion.

Professor Emeritus/Emerita
Retired members of the Pratt faculty who held tenure at the time of their retirement are eligible for nomination to emeritus/emerita faculty status. Tenure for the purposes of this emeritus/emerita policy includes both full-time tenure and the certificate of contin-uous employment. This is an honorary title intended to recognize meritorious faculty service to the Institute. Normally nominations to emeritus/emerita status will be considered in the year following the faculty member’s retirement or in any year thereafter.

Emeritus/emerita nominations may be offered by any member of the current tenured faculty or by a department chair or dean. In addition, the provost will routinely review all recent retirements of tenured faculty and nominate those he/she deems qualified for emeritus/emerita status.

Once a nomination is made, it will be presented for review and recommendation by the appropriate departmental peer committee, chair and dean, and forwarded to the provost. With the provost’s approval, the nomination will be fowarded to the president for presentation to the academic affairs committee of the board, and then to the board of trustees. Conferral of emeritus/emerita status may be made only by the board of trustees.

Emeritus/emerita status is intended to recognize those members of the tenured faculty who have served Pratt Institute with distinction. The criteria for conferral may include: excellence in teaching; distinguished professional achievement; outstanding service to the Institute and/or to society; and special contributions to the advancement of Pratt Institute, its students and/or alumni.