Department of Statistics and Probability
Guidelines for Consideration of UNTF Faculty
for “Designation B” Status
According to the terms of the contract between MSU and the Union of Nontenure-track
Faculty (UNTF), fixed term faculty members who are members of the UNTF may apply
to be considered for “Designation B” status during “the first month of the tenth
or subsequent semester of teaching employment within six years of the first of these
semesters in a given employing unit.”
Designation B appointment is predicated on exemplary instructional performance in
UNTF bargaining unit assigned teaching duties. If Designation B approval is granted,
subsequent UNTF appointments would have a duration of at least three years. Details
can be found in the UNTF contract (http://www.hr.msu.edu/documents/contracts/UNTFContract.pdf)
and the relevant MSU policies and procedures can be found here: (http://www.hr.msu.edu/hiring/facultyhiring/designationB.htm)
The College of Natural Science guidelines for consideration of UNTF faculty members
for Designation B status can be found at (http://ns.msu.edu/dean/CNS-Designation-B-Fall2013.pdf)
This document specifies the criteria and procedures used by the Department of Statistics
and Probability in reviewing applications for Designation B status.
Since UNTF appointments are exclusively associated with teaching, the focus of the
review is on teaching excellence.
1. The criteria for teaching excellence used by the Department
of Statistics and Probability are the same as those used in evaluating the classroom
teaching performance of tenure-stream faculty as described in the “Guidelines for
Faculty Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure in the College of Natural Science at
Michigan State University”: (http://ns.msu.edu/dean/RPTGuidelines.pdf)
2. The procedures that the Department of Statistics and Probability will use for
Designation B reviews are as follows.
- As per MSU policy for all faculty, candidates must use unit-approved student instructional
ratings forms (or online equivalent) in all classes (every course, every section,
every semester), and make these forms available to the unit for collection and analysis.
- Candidates are expected to maintain a “Teaching Portfolio”, as described in the
“Guidelines for Implementation of Teaching Evaluation in CNS”: ( http://ns.msu.edu/dean/TeachingEvaluationGuidelines.pdf)
- The candidate should submit Form B (http://www.hr.msu.edu/hiring/hiring_docs/UNTFDesignationBForm.pdf),
a curriculum vitae, a 5-page reflective essay, a teaching portfolio and its analysis
to the Chair by the designated semester (Sept. 30th or Jan. 31st) deadline.
- The Chair may appoint a review committee for advice in making a recommendation.
In this case, the review committee will assess the teaching record of the candidate
(including analyzing the student evaluations, the teaching portfolio and making
classroom observations of the candidate). The candidate will be provided the opportunity
to meet with the review committee and/or the Chair of the department prior to it
making a recommendation. Recommendations of the review committee are forwarded to
the Chair.
