Members of the faculty are expected to meet their professional and institutional commitments at the University on a regular basis throughout the academic year. These commitments include time spent on teaching, research, student advising, clinical activities and various kinds of University or outside professional service on committees and in administrative or advisory roles.

Members of the faculty are expected to handle their teaching assignments with professional skill. They should familiarize themselves with the overall organization of the University, and especially with the operations of the school or college in which they serve, and with its requirements and regulations, with which they will scrupulously comply. They should strive to be good citizens of the academic community, cooperative and efficient in meeting deadlines, submitting grades, and returning students’ work with appropriate comments. They should be active participants as committee members, student advisers, or in whatever other capacity they can render the best service in the affairs of the department and the school. Ideally, they should also maintain interest in the current activities and problems of the larger community and in how the community and the University can benefit each other.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty should aim at the steady enlargement of knowledge in their fields—by enlarging their own knowledge through continuing study and by enlarging the knowledge of others through scholarly contributions. Faculty should keep abreast of publications about new developments in their subject area, and attend and actively participate in the meetings of appropriate learned societies. (Financial assistance in attending professional meetings may be available, according to the rules of the several schools and colleges.)

As noted in the Introduction to the Faculty Handbook (Ethical Commitment), all faculty are expected to carry out their institutional responsibilities in accordance with applicable legal and ethical principles, including those principles found in the NYU Code of Ethical Conduct and in this Handbook.

Teaching and Research Assignments for Full-Time Faculty

As regards full-time faculty members, long-standing University policy normally limits regular teaching assignments to the usual fall and spring terms (approximately early September to mid-May) or equivalent.  In the Robert I. Grossman School of Medicine, the Long Island School of Medicine, the College of Dentistry, and the Rory Meyers College of Nursing, regular teaching and research assignments are September through August.

Full-time faculty may accept teaching, research or other employment either during the summer month(s) when they do not have regular teaching assignments, either at NYU or at another academic institution or another employer, and/or in NYU’s January Term Session, provided such additional undertakings do not unduly interfere with the faculty member’s efficiency and serviceability to the department and that they comply with the University’s Policy on Academic Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment. In addition, with permission of the dean or chair, full-time faculty may be released from some teaching responsibilities during the academic year in order to conduct research or carry out administrative assignments. Assignments at NYU outside of the regular teaching obligations normally are made only as the result of a specific agreement with an individual faculty member.

Full-time teaching loads are determined administratively under guidelines approved by the Provost and the dean of the academic unit in consultation. No additional compensation by reason of teaching overload may be paid to a full-time faculty member during the period of a regular teaching assignment, except in emergency circumstances duly approved in advance by the dean of the school and the Office of the Provost. As an exception, teaching in the School of Professional Studies by a faculty member based outside of that school for additional compensation to the extent of one course per semester (in addition to a faculty member’s regular assignment) will be permitted with the approval of the dean of the school in which the faculty member’s principal services are rendered, but such arrangements are subject to review and renewed approval from year to year. Exceptions for additional compensation by reason of teaching overload also may be made for teaching and advising in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study by a faculty member based outside of that school, and, in experimental programs. Exceptions for additional compensation also may be made for teaching at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai by a faculty member based outside the applicable campus.

Meeting Classes

The regulations of the University require all members of the faculty to be present for teaching duty and ancillary activities (e.g., committee work and student advisement) during the academic sessions to which they have been assigned. In addition, unless special arrangements have been made through the department or school, all members of the faculty are duty-bound to meet all their assigned classes at the place and hour scheduled. The length of the various academic sessions and the number of class meetings per session are set conformably to the requirements of the regulatory agencies for the different programs offered by the University, and may not be varied arbitrarily by individual faculty members.

In case of illness necessitating absence from class, the faculty member should communicate with the proper departmental officer or, if the latter is not available, with the dean. The department head or dean will determine what arrangements, if any, should be made to provide a substitute instructor or to make up the work of the class at a later date.

Calendar

The fiscal year for the University extends from September 1 through August 31. In most schools or colleges (except certain professional schools, where slightly different schedules obtain) the regular teaching year consists of two terms, beginning in early September and mid-January, respectively. The summer sessions conducted by the various schools or colleges occur for the most part during the period from May through August. The University also offers a January Term Session. The calendars published in the University-wide and individual school bulletins will cite specific dates for each academic year conforming to local variations. This information is also available online. The annual Commencement exercises are normally held in May.

Bulletins and Published (Including Online) Materials

Each school and college of the University, under the direction of its dean, issues its own bulletin or bulletins or other published (including online) materials describing entrance and degree requirements, programs of study, and the like. All official publications of a school’s or college’s requirements and programs must be as accurate and up-to-date as possible.

It is incumbent upon the individual faculty member whose particular courses are described therein to inform the departmental executive officer of all essential changes that may necessitate a revision of the course description in the published materials.

Restriction on Outside Employment

All faculty members compensated on a full-time basis are expected to devote their major energies to teaching, research, service, student counseling, and related activities at the University. This implies a limit on outside activities, particularly those that involve the rendering of service for extra compensation.

No one appointed to a tenured, tenure-track, or continuing contract faculty position at NYU may simultaneously hold a tenured, tenure-track, contract or similar position elsewhere. Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty and Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty may not accept a concurrent academic appointment at other institutions, except for in limited instances, as outlined in the Policy on Academic Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment. For Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty and Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty, extramural activities that are consistent with the individual’s overriding obligation to the University, including consulting and other business activities or external professional or academic endeavors, must be consistent with the principles outlined above and comply with the University’s Policy on Academic Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment. Extramural activities may not involve on the average more than one day per seven-day week in any academic semester or in any summer month in which the faculty member is receiving compensation from the University.

Circumstances thought to merit exceptional treatment should be referred in writing to the appropriate dean and the Office of the Provost.

All full-time faculty and other faculty if requested by a school dean or the Office of the Provost must complete annually and submit to their school dean the faculty disclosure form then in effect, certifying their compliance with applicable University and school conflict of interest and conflict of commitment policies and disclosing the information requested about the faculty member’s (and immediate family member’s) outside activities and other interests related to the policies. Faculty members also may be required to complete disclosure forms at other times, such as when planning to participate in certain research projects. All faculty have an obligation to assure that they do not engage in activities that are prohibited by applicable University and school conflict of interest and conflict of commitment policies and to seek guidance in advance from their department chair, school dean, or the Office of the Provost if there is any reasonable doubt as to whether an activity may constitute a conflict of interest or a conflict of commitment.

It is the responsibility of departmental chairpersons and heads and of the deans of the various schools to protect the interest of the University in the full-time service of its full-time faculty, as well as its professional research and library staffs, and administration.

Limitation on Degree Candidacy

Section 81(c) of the University Bylaws provides: “No Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty member or Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty member, other than librarians, will be permitted to enroll as a candidate for a degree or be recommended for a degree in course, unless specifically excepted by the Board. A degree candidate, other than a librarian, who accepts appointment as a Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty member or a Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty member must thereupon relinquish such candidacy, unless specifically excepted by the Board.”

While the rule does not prohibit a Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty member, Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty member, or Other Faculty member from taking courses at this institution for credit to be applied elsewhere toward a degree, it does prohibit such an appointee from pursuing a course to be credited toward a degree at New York University. In applying the rule, the prohibition has been extended to administrators of policy-making rank.

New York State Oath Requirement

Section 3002 of the Education Law of the State of New York, as amended, requires in part that any United States citizen employed within the state as a teacher in a tax-supported or tax-exempt institution sign an oath or affirmation to support the Constitutions of the United States and of the State of New York.

This oath or affirmation must be executed by every newly appointed faculty member before the first class session and returned for filing with the records of the institution.

The requisite form for complying with the law is available from the Office of Academic Appointments and in the offices of the deans of the schools and colleges. Foreign nationals are not subject to this requirement.

Contingencies of Faculty Employment

Newly appointed full-time faculty members are expected to comply with all University requirements for employment. Employment of candidates to the Tenured/ Tenure Track Faculty and the Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty is contingent upon the successful verification of the candidate’s educational credentials. Verification is conducted through the University’s employment verification process, and information on candidates who become NYU faculty members is retained in accordance with NYU’s Employment Records and Verification Policy or other applicable policy. 1 Additional University requirements for employment include, but are not necessarily limited to, I-9 verification of eligibility to work in the United States.

1 The University’s Employment Records and Verification Policy can be found online. 

Back to Top