Provost Policy for Faculty Affiliates

I.  Scope

This policy applies to all departments, schools, programs, institutes, and other units of William & Mary, including the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences/Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

II.  Purpose

Faculty affiliate status at William & Mary is a courtesy appointment that comes with no rights or privileges; it is purely honorific.

III. Policy

A. Internal Faculty Affiliations

Internal faculty affiliations with an academic unit outside one’s home unit signal a faculty member’s interdisciplinary interests, work, cross-institutional connections, and shared research interests. Internal faculty affiliate status may be granted to a current full-time faculty member who seeks a connection with another unit on campus. Those with affiliate status will have no voting rights in their host unit.

B. External Faculty Affiliate Status 

External faculty affiliate status be granted to a scholar not employed by William & Mary. Examples of non-William & Mary faculty affiliates may include a faculty member spending their sabbatical year working with a current William & Mary faculty member, program, or center or an external scholar who has a long-term commitment with a faculty member, program, or center on a research project.

IV. Procedure

A. Internal Faculty Affiliations

Individuals desiring designation as an internal faculty affiliate must work with the Dean of the prospective School/Arts & Sciences or with the administrator overseeing the center or auxiliary unit within which affiliate status is desired. Schools/Arts & Sciences should adopt their own policies for considering affiliate faculty requests. Affiliations with centers are required to follow a similar protocol for approval with a set policy and review process in place. Once the School/Center/Auxiliary Unit level review for faculty affiliate status is completed, the Dean or their designee approves the appointment of a William & Mary faculty member as a Faculty Affiliate of their school or of the university center for a term of no more than three years.

B. External Faculty Affiliate Status

Chairs, Program/Center Directors, or Deans may recommend an appointment as an external faculty affiliate for a non-William & Mary individual for a term of up to three years. Schools/Arts & Sciences should adopt their own policies for considering external affiliate faculty requests. The Provost has the final decision on whether to grant Faculty Affiliate status to an individual external to William & Mary.  Any renewal of Faculty Affiliate status shall require the same procedure as the initial appointment process. A person appointed as a William & Mary Faculty Affiliate may only use the designation “Faculty Affiliate, “School”” to indicate the appointment and may not employ any title associated with full-time faculty positions.

V. Approval and Amendment

This Policy was originally added to the Faculty Handbook in 1999.  The standalone policy was created October 1, 2024, reviewed by the PPC and presented to the Faculty Assembly on October 22, 2024. It was approved by the Provost on November 1, 2024.