V. FACULTY APPOINTMENTS

Rice has over 1,000 members faculty holding a variety of appointments. Appointments are of two general types: tenured/tenure-track faculty and non-tenure-track faculty. The two types of appointments are described briefly below. Please see Policy 201: Faculty Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure for more information on both tenure/tenure-track and non-tenure-track appointments.

Appointments in the tenure-track faculty ranks usually involve responsibilities in three areas: (1) research, scholarship, and/or creative work; (2) teaching and mentoring; and (3) university service (through committee service, advising, or other duties). These ranks include: Assistant professor, Associate professor, and (Full) professor.

Appointments in the non-tenure-track faculty ranks may involve responsibilities in (1) research, scholarship, or creative work; (2) teaching and mentoring; and (3) university service (through committee service, advising, or other duties); however, non-tenure-track faculty appointments typically do not include responsibilities in all three areas. Also, in certain specialized circumstances, some of these appointments may also involve other types of responsibilities.

Non-tenure-track promotable faculty ranks

  • Assistant research professor,
  • Associate research professor,
  • (Full) research professor,
  • Assistant teaching professor,
  • Associate teaching professor,
  • (Full) teaching professor,
  • Lecturer,
  • Senior lecturer.

Other non-tenure-track faculty ranks

  • Professor in the practice rank,
  • Instructor rank,
  • Special faculty ranks,
  • Visiting appointments,
  • Adjunct appointments.

Faculty in the research professor track should review the Provost's procedure document for appointments and promotions of research professors ("Procedures for Appointments, Reappointments and Promotions of Faculty in the Research Professor Ranks"). Faculty in the teaching professor track should review the Provost's procedure document for appointments and promotions of teaching professors ("Procedures for Appointments to Teaching Professor Ranks)."

Honorary Faculty Titles

Faculty may on occasion be awarded additional honorary titles based on past performance and with the expectation of future performance. These honorary titles are awarded, maintained, and withdrawn in accordance with University Policy 202, Additionally, the policy contains information related to the requirements and benefits (e.g., funding, additional access, etc.) associated with each honorary title.

The list of current university-recognized honorary titles includes: Endowed Professorships (also called "endowed chairs"), Distinguished Professorships, and University Professorships. Periodically, new honorary titles may be created and awarded at the recommendation of the Provost, President, and/or the Board of Trustees.

These titles are typically awarded based on the intitial nomination of a faculty member's dean and their schools Honorary Title Committee. However, some titles can be awarded directly based on the recommendation of the Provost, President, and/or the Board of Trustees.

 

Updated 7/14/2025