Professional Track Faculty

Since 2012, the University of Maryland has been actively engaged in improving the work environment and career opportunities for faculty who are not eligible for tenure. In February 2012, the University Senate and the Provost jointly appointed the Task Force on Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF) and charged members to investigate institutional policies and practices, and to survey the campus community, in order to make recommendations on how UMD could better engage faculty off the tenure track.

In February 2012, the University Senate and the Provost jointly appointed the Task Force on Non-Tenure Track Faculty (NTTF) and charged members to investigate institutional policies and practices. In AY 2022-23, the Provost convened a working group of PTK Faculty to make recommendations about PTK titles, promotion procedures, and instructional workload policy.

While many opportunities for professional development are applicable to both tenure-tenure track faculty and professional track faculty, other professional development is tailored specifically for professional track faculty.

The PTK Excellence Awards were established by the Provost to recognize professional track faculty members for consistently excellent contributions in core academic areas: teaching, research, and service. The award includes a $1,000 stipend and recognition from the Provost. The nomination window for each academic year is September 10-October 15, with nomination materials due by November 15. Contact Faculty Affairs at 301-405-6803 for more information.

Based on several recommendations in the NTTF Task Force report, the Senate’s Executive Committee charged the Faculty Affairs Committee with reviewing the system of titles used for NTTF appointments and to create a unified system to provide promotional ladders for all roles of NTTF appointments. The Senate approved the proposed changes to the policy that establishes faculty titles in April of 2014. The revised policy not only created promotional ladders where there had been none, but also regularized details related to appointment criteria and contract length across the set of NTTF titles.