6.3. Research Faculty

The majority of research appointments are in CAS (32 professorial scattered around the sciences), with the balance distributed among academic institutes and centers (5), SAR (5), ENG (4), and SMG (2) (Appendices C7, 20, 11, 15, and 10, respectively). Research appointments show consistency in that the primary responsibility is research, funding is external, and teaching is optional and at the discretion of the department. The Faculty Handbook states that “research appointments are for the stated term of the appointment with no guarantee or expectation of renewal” (Boston University Faculty Handbook) and that the timetables for notice of non-reappointment for other faculty positions do not apply.

We believe that, beyond these basic responsibilities, research faculty have the potential to contribute more significantly to their department and the University. Such faculty typically raise their own salary in extramural grants, advise (or are willing to advise) graduate students, in many cases support postdoctoral associates and PhD students, and sustain an independently funded research program. The present structure of research appointments, however, is not conducive to long-term planning and, in some cases, may undermine faculty efforts to build a satisfying career at BU. The primary reasons are as follows:

• Since research faculty are supported entirely (with some rare exceptions) on extramural funds, it is difficult for them to take a long-term career view. As research faculty advance in seniority, they need to have more successful grants to cover their salary. To broaden and develop their work, they feel the need to build a research group consisting of students and postdocs. Supporting these personnel also increases their operating budget and funding needs. Hence there can be a disincentive for growth.
• When research faculty do not teach in the department, it is difficult for them to maintain contact with students or attract students for research, limiting their sense of inclusion in the department.

Recommendations:

• Academic departments should identify ways of increasing the involvement of research faculty in the educational and research agenda of the department, e.g., through regular presentations of their work to students and faculty, seminars and guest lectures, and especially interdisciplinary initiatives.
• The University should explore models for creating incentives for research faculty with proven research records to grow their external funding. Eligibility criteria for this incentive may include seniority in rank and research achievements, among others. For instance, some institutions offer various forms of support to research faculty, such as 3–6 months of hard salary support (Oregon State University, UT Austin, Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory), a month of salary support per year for advising PhD students, and a week of salary support for every proposal submitted (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).

While the implementation of the latter recommendation requires additional funding in the initial phase, in the long term the University would gain from such a program, as the modest support would provide an incentive for the broadening of research programs and the expansion of operating budgets.

Guidelines for promotion of research faculty are also lacking; we address this issue in Section 7 of this report.