At Tuesday’s faculty meeting, faculty members voted to change the titles of “lecturer,” “senior lecturer” and “distinguished senior lecturer” to “assistant teaching professor,” “associate teaching professor” and “teaching professor,” respectively.
Faculty also voted to include teaching professors on the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee to provide input when the promotion of teaching professors is being discussed.
Both recommendations were proposed at last month’s faculty meeting, The Herald previously reported.
“In following the practice of TPAC, those who would participate in such cases would be those who reached the highest rank in that track,” said Kristina Mendicino, professor of German studies and the chair of the Faculty Executive Committee.
She noted that the title changes follow the example of peer research institutions, like the University of Chicago and Emory University, that have adopted similar new titles.
Patricia Ybarra, professor of the humanities, noted that the name change could require international faculty members to reapply for their visa.
In response, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 recommended an amendment that the title change be adopted when the staff member wants.
But Leah VanWey, dean of the faculty and professor of environment and society and sociology, raised concerns about establishing a precedent of allowing individuals to choose their titles, arguing that it would lead to certain faculty being referred to as “lecturers” and others as “teaching professors.”
As a result, faculty approved an amendment to the motion that required any exceptions to the title change to be approved by the Dean of the Faculty.
Samah Hamid is a senior staff writer at the Herald. She is from Sharon, Massachusetts and plans to concentrate in Biology. In her free time, you can find her taking a nap, reading, or baking a sweet treat.
