Policies of Doctoral Research Faculty

Policies of Doctoral Research Faculty in the Ph.D. Program

College of Design, Construction and Planning
University of Florida

February 7, 2013
Revised on March 15, 2013
Ratified on April 26, 2013
Revised and Ratified on October 13, 2016

1. Definition of Doctoral Research Faculty in the College of Design, Construction and Planning

Graduate Faculty (GF) membership in the College of Design, Construction and Planning (DCP) allows a faculty member to supervise Master students as a thesis committee chair. The process for granting GF status within each academic unit is governed by the UF Graduate School policy and procedures (see https://gradcatalog.ufl.edu/graduate/faculty/). GF membership is voted on in each academic unit.

The DCP’s Ph.D. program is considered a separate academic program unit. In order to chair dissertation committees, the faculty must first obtain the GF status in each unit, and then attain the Doctoral Research Faculty (hereafter DRF) status at the Ph.D. program. The following procedure governs the process of becoming and changing DRF at the DCP Ph.D. program.

1. Requirements and Procedures for Becoming Doctoral Research Faculty at the DCP Ph.D. Program

 Requirements:

1. DCP faculty members in full-time, tenured or tenure-accruing positions at the rank of assistant professor or above with a Doctorate degree must meet the following requirements:
   1. The faculty shall have achieved GF status in an academic unit within DCP;
   2. The Department Chair or School Director, in consultation with the unit’s faculty, shall provide a letter of request to the Director of the PhD Program, indicating their support for DRF status for the faculty member in the Ph.D. Program. The faculty member will be appointed to the DRF in a process that is effectively automatic without requiring a DCP DRF vote.
2. DCP faculty members without a Ph.D. degree or faculty members with a Ph.D. degree but not in tenured or tenured-accruing positions must meet the following requirements:
   1. The faculty shall have achieved GF status in an academic unit within DCP;
   2. The faculty shall demonstrate a strong record of research, refereed publications and/or creative accomplishments and scholarship;
   3. The faculty shall have significant experience as chair of Master Degree committees at the University of Florida or at other graduate degree granting institutions;
   4. The faculty shall serve on two doctoral committees for at least four semesters each. One of the two students needs to have completed the oral defense of their dissertation. The second student needs to have attained doctoral student candidacy.
   5. Once the above criteria are met, the Department Chair or School Director may nominate the faculty for DRF status in the Ph.D. Program via a letter submitted to the Director of the Ph.D. Program. A vita and faculty’s personal statement showing how the faculty meets the DRF requirements and future research and advising plans shall accompany the letter of nomination.

Voting Procedure for faculty members without a Ph.D. degree or faculty members with a Ph.D. degree but not in tenured or tenured-accruing positions:

1. Upon receiving the nomination materials, the Director of the Ph.D. program will present nominations to the Dean for review. If the Dean approves a nomination, the letter of nomination and faculty’s vita and personal statement will be provided to the Doctoral Research Faculty in the Ph.D. Program for review and vote.
2. A candidate must receive a positive vote of at least two-thirds of all eligible Doctoral Research Faculty in the DCP Ph.D. Program. 

• Responsibility of DRF in the DCP Ph.D. Program

A Doctoral Research Faculty member in the DCP Ph.D. Program is responsible for becoming a mentor and role model for our Ph.D. students by actively conducting research, producing scholarly work, advising doctoral students, and participating in DRF services such as voting for new fellow DRF. Specifically, the DRF in the DCP Ph.D. Program are expected to meet at least three of the following five criteria:

1. Continuously chair or co-chair at least one doctoral dissertation committee every year, except for new DRF members who are expected to chair or co-chair a Ph.D. dissertation committee no later than their third year of attaining DRF status in the DCP Ph.D. Program;
2. Serve on at least two Ph.D. dissertation committees as a member, Chair or co-Chair every year on a 5-year rolling average;
3. Graduate at least one Ph.D. student as Chair or co-Chair every five years, except for new DRF members who are expected to graduate one Ph.D. student as Chair or co-Chair in their first seven years;
4. Teach or co-teach DCP doctoral courses at least once every five years;
5. Co-publish at least one refereed academic journal article with Ph.D. students every two years on a five-year rolling average.

1. Procedures for Changing DRF Status:

A faculty member’s DRF status can be deactivated if requested by the faculty member or if the DRF member fails to meet the above criteria.

1. By Request

A DRF may request deactivation of their status for a fixed period of time. Acceptable reasons include health or a change in assigned duties. The request for deactivation shall be made in writing to the Director of the Ph.D. Program, who then forwards it to the Dean for approval.

2. Through Review of Performance

The Director of the Ph.D. program shall review the performance of DRF members every three years based on the information reported from the Graduate Information Management System (GIMS) for criteria 1-4 listed in Article III. If a DRF member meets with three of the first four criteria, the faculty would be congratulated to be an active DRF member. If a DRF member meets with two of the first four criteria, the Director of the Ph.D. program would request for information from the DRF member for the fifth criterion. If a faculty member does not meet with three of the five criteria, the faculty member will be notified by the Director of the Ph.D. Program and given one year to comply.  If performance criteria still are not met, the faculty’s DRF status will be deactivated. The faculty may appeal the decision to the Dean of the College who can assign a special committee to review the faculty’s performance. The special committee will report the assessment results to the Dean who then decides to maintain or deactivate the faculty’s DRF status in the DCP Ph.D. Program.

A deactivated DRF faculty member can reapply for DRF with a letter of request sent to the Department Chair/School Director explaining why DRF status should be reinstated along with a current vita.  If the Chair/Director supports the request for reinstatement, he/she will provide a cover letter to the Director of the PhD Program, who then forwards it to the Dean for approval.