Research Active

This definition applies to the designation of release time for research in regard to workload and teaching considerations. It is not related to criteria for Tenure/Promotion and would not meet the standards for either.

Revised by FAC March 9, 2023

Approved by LC April 20, 2023

While recognizing disciplinary differences within the university, faculty are eligible to receive 3 hours of reassigned time for research contingent upon demonstrating an ongoing research agenda through annual reviews and successful publication of a KPI-recognized research product within a rolling 3-year period.

If a KPI-recognized research product is not published or completed within 2 years, the faculty member will receive formal notification indicating that reassigned research time will be discontinued if no KPI-recognized product is produced in the subsequent year.

Tenure-track faculty designated as non-research active will be required to teach 12 credit hours per semester, while non-tenure-track faculty would be required to teach 15 credit hours per semester.

For the purposes of reassigned time for research, an ongoing research agenda would be demonstrated through

  1. Annual evidence of research agenda, and
  2. One KPI-recognized product within the the preceding 3-year period.

Annual Evidence of Research Agenda

Annual evidence of a research agenda will be presented at the time of annual review, via documentation posted on the Faculty Success system. Examples of annual evidence would include, but not be limited to:

  1. Presenting research at 1 national/international disciplinary conference in a 12-month period;
  2. Mentoring and co-presentation of a minimum of 2 student research-based peer-reviewed presentations at national/international conference(s) within a 12-month period;
  3. Documentation of publications in-progress or submitted for review within a 12-month period, including but not limited to:
    • Letters indicating journal articles have been submitted and are currently under review,
    • Drafts of books/book chapters with new content developed during the 12-month period under review,
    • Notices of accepted/conducted research presentation(s) at national/international conference(s) within the 12-month period under review;
    • Documentation of submitted grant application as principal investigator or co-principal investigator of a competitive research grant or competitive grant that leads to research, of $30,000 or more;
  4. Publication of one KPI-recognized product within the 12-month period under review.

KPI-Recognized Research Product

In addition to annual documentation of an active research agenda, faculty members must provide documentation of a completed KPI-recognized research project/product within a 3-year period. Examples of documentation of a completed KPI-recognized research project/product would include, but not be limited to:

  1. Publication of 1 peer-reviewed journal article involving dissemination of research conducted by the faculty member;
  2. Publication of 1 peer-reviewed book;
  3. Publication of 1 peer-reviewed book chapter;
  4. Principal investigator or co-principal investigator of a competitive research grant or competitive grant that leads to research of $30,000 or more, approved for funding;
  5. Juried exhibits or performances.

Approval/Denial of Research-Active Status

Faculty research active status will be reviewed annually. Members will retain “research-active status” and appropriate 3-hour release time from teaching if:

  1. Annual evidence of research active status is provided, and
  2. One KPI-recognized product within the preceding 3-year period.

If a faculty member does not provide annual evidence of active research (as described above), he or she will not receive three hours of reassigned time for research.  Further, if a faculty member has not published a KPI-recognized product (or completed, in the case of certain projects) within two consecutive years, they will receive a formal warning. If a KPI-recognized research product is still not published or completed within the following year, the faculty member will lose eligibility for reassigned research time. At that point, tenure-track faculty will be assigned a teaching load of 12 credit hours per semester, and non-tenure-track faculty will be assigned 15 credit hours per semester.