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.

Tenure 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.)

General criteria for promotion and tenure for tenure and tenure-track faculty are cited in Title I, Section V of the Statement in Regard to Academic Freedom and Tenure. Some schools and colleges also have written statements on faculty appointment policies and procedures, particularly those concerned with promotion and tenure.

Section XI of the Tenure Statement cites important information regarding yearly notification of nontenured faculty concerning tenure prospects, including a formalized early review for certain junior faculty during their third year of service and, in the School of Medicine and the Stern School, also in their sixth year of service.

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 School of Medicine and the College of Dentistry, including the College of Nursing, regular teaching and research assignments are September through August.

Full-time faculty may accept teaching, research or other employment during the summer month(s) when they do not have regular teaching assignments, either at NYU or at another academic institution, or from another employer, or in NYU’s January Term Session, provided such additional undertakings do not unduly interfere with the teacher’s efficiency and serviceability to the department. 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. 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 Office of the Provost for a particular school or department. 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 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 teacher’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 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 the portal campuses of 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 teachers.

In case of illness necessitating absence from class, the teacher 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 years for the University extend from September 1 through August 31. In most divisions (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 divisions occur for the most part during the period from May to 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 on-line) Materials

Each school and college of the University, under the direction of its dean, issues its own bulletin or bulletins or other published (including on-line) 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 tenure or tenure-track faculty position at NYU may simultaneously hold a tenure or tenure-track position elsewhere. Teaching service by Tenured/Tenure Track Faculty and Full-Time Continuing Contract Faculty at other institutions during the academic year must be approved in advance by the Dean. 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 gainful employment, must be consistent with the principles outlined above and may not require on the average more than one day per week in any academic semester or in any summer month in which the faculty member is receiving compensation for full-time employment at the University. For additional information, please refer to the University’s Policy on Academic Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment.  

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 (the Executive Vice President for Health in the case of the Schools of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing) 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, 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 teacher 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 (see the NYU Public Directory for contact information). Foreign nationals, of course, are not subject to this requirement.

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