From the FAQs

Membership in specific categories of the Graduate Faculty is predicated on how the faculty member will contribute to one or more graduate degree programs. If the nominee will contribute to a research degree program (Ph.D., M.A., or M.S.), they should be nominated to the R or the Q category, depending on the individual’s academic credentials. If the nominee will contribute to a professional doctorate or professional master’s degree program, they should be nominated to the P category. If the nominee will contribute to both a research and a professional degree program, they can be members of both categories.

If the graduate program only offers research degrees (Ph.D., M.A., or M.S.), faculty members can only be nominated to the R or the Q category. If the graduate program only offers professional degrees, faculty members can only be nominated to the P category. If the graduate program offers both research and professional degrees, the faculty member should be nominated to the R, Q, and/or P category depending on whether they are contributing to the research and/or professional degrees.

Members of the Graduate Faculty who are not sure which category of membership they were nominated for should contact the graduate program office.

The P Category is subdivided into a Professional Doctoral (P-D) Category and a Professional Master’s Degree Category (P-M).

Faculty members nominated to the P-D Category:

• Must contribute to a professional doctorate graduate degree program under the Fox Graduate School. Penn State offers the following professional doctorates at this time: D.Ed., D.M.A., D.N.P., and Dr.P.H.
• Must be either a Tenure-Line, Full-time FT (FTM or FT-1), or Standing faculty member.
• Must hold a doctorate (either a Ph.D. or a professional doctorate).
• Must have professional experience appropriate to the professional graduate program field.

To nominate a faculty member to the P-D Category, submit the Nomination for Membership in the Graduate Faculty – Category P.

Faculty nominated to the P-M Category:

• Must contribute to a professional master’s degree program offered by the Fox Graduate School. Penn State offers the following professional master’s degrees at this time: M.Acc., M.Arch., M.A.S., M.B.A., M.BIOT., M.Ed., M.E.M., M.Eng., M.E.P.C., M.F.A., M.Fin., M.G.I.S., M.H.A., M.H.S., M.I.A., M.L.A., M.L.D., M.M.M., M.Mus., M.M.E., M.P.A., M.P.Acc., M.P.H., M.P.M., M.P.S., M.S.E., and M.S.N.
• Must be either a Tenure-Line, Full-time FT (FT-1 or FTM), or Standing faculty member.
• Must hold a master’s degree (either a research master’s (M.A. or M.S.) or a professional master’s).
• Must have professional experience relevant to the professional master’s degree program field.

To nominate a faculty member to the P-M Category, submit the Nomination for Membership in the Graduate Faculty – Category P.

Faculty members nominated to the Q Category:

• Must contribute to a research doctorate (Ph.D.) or research master’s (M.A. or M.S.) degree program offered by the Fox Graduate School.
• Must be a Tenure-Line faculty member.
• Must hold either a terminal master’s degree with research training, or a terminal master’s degree and a record of research, in either case sufficient to contribute to research doctorate training
• Must have an active program of research appropriate to the graduate program field.

To nominate a faculty member to the Q Category, submit the Nomination for Membership in the Graduate Faculty – Category Q.

Faculty members nominated to the R Category:

• Must contribute to a research doctorate (Ph.D.) or research master’s (M.A. or M.S.) degree program offered by the Fox Graduate School.
• Must be either a Tenure-Line, Full-time FT (FT-1 or FTM), or Standing faculty member.
• Must hold a doctorate (either a Ph.D. or a professional doctorate) and have a record of scholarly achievement and an active program of research/scholarship appropriate to the graduate program field.

To nominate a faculty member to the R Category, submit the Nomination for Membership in the Graduate Faculty – Category R.