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Policy on Faculty Membership

I. Membership Criteria

All new members must give a short (20-30 minute) seminar before their application is voted upon by the Faculty Status Committee and the full GPN faculty.

Senior Membership

Senior Members are entitled to serve as primary advisor for doctoral students, to serve on doctoral committees, including chair of such committees, to teach graduate courses in Neuroscience, and to participate in governance. Senior faculty appointments are based on two major criteria: (1) that the applicant's research program addresses issues of interest to neuroscientists and (2) that the applicant is an independent investigator.

With respect to criterion (1), each applicant for Senior Membership must demonstrate that students trained in his/her laboratory will be recognized as neuroscientists, that their research into the nervous system will be published in peer-reviewed journals and that presentations by laboratory researchers will be made at neuroscience meetings.

With respect to criterion (2), each applicant must demonstrate his/her independence and continuing productivity by (i) holding a full time faculty appointment at the University, (ii) having had an active research program within the past 5 years, i.e. serving as principal investigator (or project PI) on a project from nationally recognized granting agencies such as the NIH, NSF, and VA Merit Review, and (iii) having published peer-reviewed articles in nationally recognized scientific journals. The relative importance and application of each of the criteria above will be assessed by the Faculty Status Committee on an individual basis.

Tenure-track Assistant Professors who have published in neuroscience journals are automatically entitled to join as Senior Members.

Associate Membership (designated as Member/Advising Membership (M2) by the Graduate School)

Associate Members are entitled to all the privileges of Senior Members except they cannot be the primary advisor for a student and they cannot serve as chair of a thesis committee. Associate Membership will be offered to faculty who wish to take part in the scientific and scholarly activities of the Graduate Program but who have not met the criteria for Senior Membership. Non-tenure track Assistant Professors will be appointed initially as Associate Members. Associate Members may petition the Faculty Status Committee for reappointment as Senior Members.

Reappointment to the Faculty

The membership status of all neuroscience faculty members will be reviewed at seven-year intervals. The criteria for reappointment are the same as those for initial appointment. In addition, service to the Graduate Program such as student advisor, teacher, committee member, DGS, participation in recruitment activities, Brain Awareness Week, and BrainU, etc. (see GPN faculty handbook for more complete listing of opportunities for service) will be a major factor in the decision to reappoint at the Senior Membership level. It is unlikely that members who do not perform service to the GPN will be renewed as Senior Members. Finally, it is required for reappointment that all members give a talk in the Colloquium series during the seven years of their appointment.

II. Policy on Applications for Membership/Reappointment

A. Eligibility for Membership/Reappointment will be based on a short application. Pages 1-3 will be prepared by the applicant.

1. page 1: Summary of the applicant's educational and professional history, including specific information about tenure status, assigned laboratory space, Neuroscience doctoral student mentoring, and past and present service to the program.
2. page 2: Summary of the applicant's grant history, emphasizing nationally competitive grants awarded during the preceding seven years.
   
3. page 3: Listing of the applicant's publications in peer-reviewed journals during the previous seven years.
   
4. page 4: For purposes of reappointment, the GPN will provide a summary of each applicant's service during the previous period of appointment.

B. Faculty Status Committee (FSC) votes: a unanimous positive vote by the FSC will result in reappointment. Applications that receive a mixed or negative vote will be evaluated and voted upon by the full GPN faculty. Applicants for membership or reappointment who receive a mixed or negative vote by the FSC will receive a written summary of the reasons for the negative and positive votes before the application is distributed to the full GPN faculty for a vote.

C. The full faculty will receive the application, the results of the vote by the FSC, and the written summary of the reasons for the negative and positive votes. A simple majority of the voting faculty will determine the status of the appointment/reappointment.