Joint and Interdisciplinary Appointments - Best Practices

Columbia University recognizes the growing importance of interdisciplinary research and its potential to drive high-impact scholarship at the intersection of multiple disciplines, schools, departments, institutes, and centers. To facilitate and support joint and interdisciplinary appointments, this guide outlines best practices for potential appointments, whether they involve external candidates or internal transfers. The goal is to foster collaborative efforts without adding unnecessary regulatory burdens, ensuring mutual benefits for all parties involved.

Best Practices - Full Policy

⚞ Guiding Principles ⚟

The aim is not to introduce additional regulations but to outline best practices that encourage and facilitate interdisciplinary hires within schools, departments, institutes, and centers.

✔ CONSULTATION WITH RELEVANT DEANS

All potential joint hires and appointments should involve prior consultation with deans of schools with relevant disciplinary expertise.
Ensure responsiveness and adherence to due process during the hiring process.

Coordination and Suitability

✔ COORDINATION AND SUITABILITY

Consult with relevant deans to ensure coordination and appropriateness of a joint hiring process.
For internal transfers, consult with the dean of the faculty member's home school/department.

Recognition and Publicity

✔ RECOGNITION AND PUBLICITY

Once appointments are finalized, recognize joint and interdisciplinary appointments on the web pages and in publicity materials of both units involved.

Acknowledging Prior Investment

✔ ACKNOWLEDGING PRIOR INVESTMENT

Recognize the investment made by the home school/department/institute in recruiting and developing the faculty member or area of research.

MOA/MOU Specifications

✔ MOA/MOU SPECIFICATIONS

Clearly describe the shared contribution to salary, space, and revenue in MOA and MOU.
Delineate the individual's contribution to leadership, programming, fundraising, executive education, and industry collaboration.

Agreement Continuity and Revisions

✔ AGREEMENT CONTINUITY AND REVISIONS

Typically, agreements remain in force with unanimous agreement but consider provisions for future revisions.

Three different types of joint and interdisciplinary appointments:

➀ External Hires

1.: Strategic Planning: Schools/departments initiating joint appointment searches should collaborate strategically and consult relevant deans from both units. This approach ensures that joint hires align with the interests and priorities of all involved units.
2.: Timely Communication: Adequate lead time should be given to the other unit when planning joint appointment searches. This allows for sufficient consideration and acknowledgment of the host unit's search process timeline.
3.: Courtesy Notifications: Even for candidates not initially planned for joint appointment, but whose research is interdisciplinary or relevant to other units, consider providing courtesy notifications to those units.
4.: Administrative Home: Joint appointments require a single administrative home even with a 50/50 appointment, which handles responsibilities such as tenure track dossiers, reviews, HR transactions, and more.
5.: Promotion and Tenure: Both units involved in the joint appointment should follow the Principles and Customs Governing University-Wide Tenure Reviews and their respective tenure processes.

➁ Internal Transfers/New Joint Appointments of Current Faculty

1.: Alignment of Interests: Joint appointments involving internal transfers should be beneficial to both schools/departments, amplifying the priorities of both units.
2.: Administrative Home: Joint appointments of internal transfers must have an administrative home ("home department") responsible for managing tenure track dossiers, reviews, appointments, salary adjustments, leaves, etc.
3.: Promotion and Tenure: Both units involved in the joint appointment should follow the Principles and Customs Governing University-Wide Tenure Reviews and their respective tenure processes.
4.: Nomination Preparation: To ensure an efficient tenure and promotion process across both units, the home school/department should prepare the nomination in consultation with the partnering unit (host school), including the list of referees.

➂ Interdisciplinary Appointments

1.: Memorandum of Agreement (MOA): Interdisciplinary appointments between schools/departments or with institutes/centers require a formal MOA, outlining the terms and expectations of the appointment.
2.: Academic Credentials: Faculty with professorial ranks qualified for appointment in one school/department but working in another without formal credentials or in an institute/center may hold interdisciplinary appointments.
3.: Promotion and Tenure: Interdisciplinary faculty must follow the promotional process of their academic department, as only academic departments can promote faculty for tenure.
4.: Examples of Interdisciplinary Appointments:
: Example 1: Interdisciplinary appointment between departments. The title could be Professor of Psychology (in Psychiatry). The individual has a degree in psychology but does not have a medical degree in psychiatry.
: Example 2: The Comprehensive Cancer Center pays for 80% (or a portion) of the salary of an individual appointed in the Department of Medicine, with an expectation of involvement in a variety of ways by that individual at the Center. That person’s title would be Professor of Medicine (in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center).
: Example 3: The home School covers salary and appointment/tenure line and the host Institute provides space and research funds. The title could be Professor of Electrical Engineering (in the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute).
5.: Affiliated faculty: designations do not require MOAs or MOUs and do not change appointment titles, officially recognized by the Office of the Provost.

Joint or Interdisciplinary Appointment

Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)

To facilitate joint or interdisciplinary appointments, a template for an MOA is provided. Although a list of issues and guidelines is provided, not all issues may apply to each appointment, and the terms are flexible and may be customized for each faculty member. An MOA:

is signed by the faculty member and Chairs, in addition to Deans/Directors of Institute or Center/EVP
is submitted to Office of the Provost

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

To facilitate joint or interdisciplinary appointments, a template for an MOU is provided. Although a list of issues and guidelines is provided, not all issues may apply to each appointment, and the terms are flexible and may be customized for each faculty member. An MOU:

is signed by the Deans/Directors of Institute or Center/EVP (and sometimes Chairs)
is NOT submitted to Office of the Provost
contains additional financial details, such as sources and uses of funds for costs, and calculations for sharing of income such as ICR
is NOT required when there are no additional financial terms or details beyond what is outlined in an MOA