Graduate Council

How to Participate as a Non-Graduate Faculty Member

The Graduate Faculty includes Penn State faculty members who work regularly with graduate students and contribute to graduate education in an ongoing manner. However, the Graduate Council recognizes the enhanced value that experts both inside and outside Penn State can bring to the educational experiences of graduate students. Pathways have been created to allow individuals to share their expertise through teaching and/or involvement in culminating experiences on a more limited basis than expected of a Graduate Faculty member.

Approval to Teach 500- and 800-Level Courses

Individuals who are not members of the Graduate Faculty may be approved to teach graduate courses at the 500- and/or 800-levels. Graduate Faculty members who are non-tenure-line and contribute only to professional degree programs may also use this process to be approved to teach specific 500-level research-oriented courses. Generally, teaching of 600-level courses is a responsibility reserved to Graduate Faculty members.

An individual who meets the qualifications defined in GCAC-101 can be approved to teach for one year by the Graduate Program Head and does not require any paperwork to be submitted to the Graduate School. A form for continuing approval to teach should be submitted after the initial first year of teaching a specific course and subsequently every four years after to maintain approval.

More information - P2 - Approval to Teach 500- and 800-Level Courses

Special Membership on Student Committees

Individuals who are not members of the Graduate Faculty can bring unique perspectives and expertise to a student's work as a special member on their doctoral or master's committee. Special members do not have to be affiliated with Penn State. They may be faculty from other universities, experts in the professional field, non-faculty representatives of the Penn State community, and others. Special members serve in addition to the the minimum number of regular members required by policy. They otherwise function with the same purpose and expectations as other members.

Special Signatories for Student Culminating Experiences

The role of special signatory is another opportunity for non-Graduate Faculty members to contribute expertise to a student's culminating work such as a dissertation, thesis, scholarly paper, or other project. Unlike special members, special signatories are not full members on a student's committee and are generally not involved in the developing stages of a student's culminating work. They instead are asked to review and approve a student's culminating work in its later stages.