Williams College Employee Handbook
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Faculty Titles and Ranks
For the employee benefits attached to the ranks defined below see the Faculty Benefits and Services section of this handbook and, for those on part-time appointments, see Policies Governing Part-time Faculty and Part-time Faculty Benefits.
Emeritus
The honorary title of Emeritus is normally bestowed upon retirement. It requires an affirmative vote by the Board of Trustees.
The Professorial Ranks in Academic Departments and Programs
Assistant Professor
Full-time tenure eligible members of the faculty are initially appointed to the rank of Assistant Professor via a national search process. The first appointment is normally for a term of three years, with the possibility of reappointment for a second term of up to four years. While the reappointment and promotion schedules may vary according to an individual’s prior experience, the reappointment decision is normally made in the third year in rank, and the tenure decision in the sixth year in rank. Following a positive tenure decision, therefore, promotion to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure normally occurs at the completion of the individual’s sixth year as Assistant Professor. An individual who is not granted tenure may serve out the remainder of his or her second term contract as Assistant Professor.
Associate Professor
Members of the faculty at the Associate Professor level hold tenure. There is no fixed term of service at this rank. An associate professor review process is carried out during the fourth year in rank, with a formal department report following in the fifth year. The CAP ordinarily considers promoting associate professors to full professor status after five to seven years in rank. (See Evaluation of Associate Professor and Promotion to Full Professor)
Professor
The rank of full Professor is granted to tenured members of the faculty with significant experience and a strong record of achievement in teaching, scholarship, and service to the College. There is no fixed term of service at the rank of Professor.
Endowed Visiting Professors
Sterling A. Brown ’22 Professorship
Sterling Brown was an African-American graduate of Williams who went on to a distinguished career as a poet, scholar, teacher, and public figure. The professorship in his name was established by members of the Williams Black Alumni Network in 1997, to bring distinguished visitors to campus to teach one undergraduate course, to deliver a series of public lectures, and to play an active part in campus life. This is a rotating appointment normally made for a single semester each year. It is not restricted to any particular field.
Bennett Boskey ‘35 Professorship
Established by Bennett Boskey ’35 in 1999, this position supports visiting professors with a preference for appointments in history, political science, and economics.
Robert Sterling Clark Professorship in Art
The Trustees of the Clark Foundation established this professorship in 1960 to honor Mr. Clark. The endowment is intended to bring to Williams scholars of outstanding international reputation in the field of fine arts. The Clark professors typically spend one semester on campus as visitors in the Department of Art.
Croghan Bicentennial Professorship in Biblical and Early Christian Studies.
Established in 1992 by John and Rosemary Croghan, this professorship is interdisciplinary and is typically filled by a biblical scholar. Distinguished visitors teach at least one course designed to attract students from all majors. They also give public lectures. This is a rotating appointment normally made for a single semester each year.
Stanley Kaplan Professorship in American Foreign Policy
This position was established in 2005 by a gift from a philanthropic foundation of a family with close ties to the College, to strengthen and enrich the study of American Foreign Policy at Williams. The distinguished professorship is a key part of a leadership initiative which also includes a postdoctoral fellowship, a junior fellow program, and a lecture series. This initiative is located within the Leadership Studies Program. The professorship is a rotating appointment normally made for a single year.
W. Ford Schumann ’50 Professorship in Democratic Studies
This position was established with a gift from the Florence and John Schumann Foundation in 2000, to bring to Williams major figures in democratic scholarship or leadership and to encourage students and faculty to explore democracy in different contexts. This position is filled on a rotating basis each year either by visiting distinguished professors or by a series of visitors on short term residencies.
Margaret Bundy Scott Professorship of English
The Scott Professorship was established in 1966. Its purpose is to subsidize the appointment of distinguished visitors to the Department of English and to encourage and sustain the highest standards of teaching. This appointment is to be in addition to the regular teaching staff of the College and will normally be a rotating appointment made for a single semester each year.
Non-Professorial Academic Ranks
a. Instructor
This title is held by those who are responsible for the laboratories or discussion sections of large courses, or the drill sections of language courses, but have not yet completed six years of satisfactory service in that capacity. These appointments are normally for up to one year and carry the possibility of renewal but no eligibility for tenure. Instructors whose contracts are renewed after six years of service are reappointed at the rank of Lecturer.
b. Lecturer
This title is held mainly by those who teach courses of their own, but whose appointment has taken place through means other than a national search, or by those who handle the laboratories or discussion sections of large courses or the drill sections of language courses and have completed six years of satisfactory service as an Instructor. The position carries the possibility of renewal but no eligibility for tenure. The title of Lecturer is also held by administrative officers and professional staff who carry out some teaching duties. Their teaching appointments are for stated periods of time with the possibility of renewal but no possibility for tenure.
c. Senior Lecturer
The promotion of Lecturers to the rank of Senior Lecturer is infrequent. Departments may recommend for such promotions only those who are exceptionally distinguished teachers, or those who are effective teachers and who also bring to the College significant accomplishment in their fields. Eligibility for this position normally requires having completed two three-year contracts as a Lecturer. Senior Lecturers carry an annual teaching load that ranges between .5 and .9 FTE. They are appointed for a period of five years, with the possibility of renewal but no possibility for tenure.
d. Fellow
Gaius Charles Bolin Dissertation Fellowship
In 1985, Williams College established the Gaius Charles Bolin Fellowships to promote diversity on college faculties by encouraging able minority students to complete the doctoral degree and to pursue careers in college teaching. The Bolin Fellows spend one year in residence at Williams as members of a department or program. They devote the bulk of their time to the completion of dissertation work while teaching just one course during the academic year. Named in honor of its first black graduate, who was admitted to Williams in 1885, the Bolin Fellowships are awarded to graduate students from underrepresented groups who are working toward the Ph.D. These positions are not restricted to any particular field.
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences
This program is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation which started in 1998-99. One new fellow is appointed each year. The disciplinary focus varies and each fellow serves for two years, such that there are typically two Mellon postdoctoral fellows on the faculty at any given time. They teach one course each semester. The goals of this program are to enrich the curriculum, to complement faculty expertise in a long-lasting way, and to provide the fellows with guidance in their development as teachers and scholars.
Appointments in Physical Education
a. Lecturer
Lecturers are appointed for one- to three-year terms with the possibility of renewal but no eligibility for promotion to assistant professor unless by means of a national search. This title is held mainly by those who hold head coaching positions, or by those with significant assistant coaching responsibility or other athletic programming roles, including the teaching of PE classes. For those holding three-year contracts, reappointment decisions are made in the fall of the third contract year. Lecturers in the Department of Physical Education must serve for at least three years at an average FTE of 0.5 or more before becoming voting members of the faculty.
b. Assistant Professor
Faculty in the Department of Physical Education are appointed to the rank of Assistant Professor either as an initial appointment or as a promotion from the rank of Lecturer following a national search. In the fall of a faculty member’s third year as an Assistant Professor, a decision will be made whether to reappoint him or her to a second three-year term. If the decision is positive, the assistant professor will, in the fall of his or her sixth year in rank, become eligible for reappointment to a five-year term. A Master’s degree is normally required for promotion to a 5-year term. Once promoted, Assistant Professors on five-year terms hold the most senior rank in the Department of Physical Education, and though these are not tenured positions, further reappointments for terms of five years may take place thereafter. All assistant professors in PE are voting members of the faculty.
Part-time Appointments
(See discussion in Policies Governing Part-time Faculty)
Visiting Appointments
Titles are preceded by the term “Visiting” when the holder of the title is on leave from another institution or has completed his or her graduate course work and is not affiliated with another institution. Visitors may be appointed for terms ranging from one semester to three years.
Adjunct Appointments
Titles are preceded by the term “adjunct” when the holder does not teach on the Williams campus but maintains a close association with the College, as, for example, by serving in a consulting or advisory capacity or teaching in the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program or in the Williams in New York Program.
Other Appointments
Artist-in-Residence
The title of Artist-in-Residence is held by writers and professionals in the performing and visual arts who are appointed to meet curricular and co-curricular needs in literature and the arts for a stated period of time. These appointments sometimes carry the possibility of renewal but do not carry eligibility for tenure. Benefits, if any, are negotiated with the department chair or appropriate administrator in consultation with the Dean of the Faculty
Research Associate or Research Scientist
From time to time, and in response to a departmental recommendation, the Dean of the Faculty will appoint a local or visiting scholar or scientist to the position of Research Associate or Research Scientist. These short term (one semester to one year) appointments carry with them no compensation, and it is understood that arrangements for the use of office or laboratory space, instrumentation, equipment, administrative services and the like will be made through the chair of the department concerned and continued thereafter at the convenience of department and College. Though these appointments are renewable, there is a strong presumption against extending them for more than five years. The College will defray no legal costs and accept no liability for damages in connection with any legal action arising from the individual’s research, publications, or other professional activities.
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