How do departments request special or adjoint membership for a faculty member?

  1. An application for Special Membership or an application for Adjoint Membership must be filled out and current Vita must be attached.
  2. The completed application must be submitted by department in which the applicant would like to be a Special or Adjoint member.

Approval Process

  1. The application must be approved by the Graduate Program Chair, the Department Chair, and the Associate Dean of the college.
  2. After all the signatures have been gathered at the department and college level, the form must be routed to the Graduate School.
  3. The Graduate Faculty Committee will vote on the application. If the Graduate Faculty Committee approves the application at their monthly meeting, the List of Approved Special and Adjoint Members is updated with the new membership.

You can view application deadlines for Special and Adjoint Memberships here.

FAQs on Special Members of the Graduate Faculty

University of Texas at San Antonio faculty members who do not hold a full-time tenured or tenure-track appointment (including visiting, adjunct or part-time faculty members or individuals outside the university) are eligible for appointment as Special Members of the Graduate Faculty.

UT San Antonio Faculty Titles
Does not need a special membership

Tenure/Tenure-Track (TT) Academic Titles

  • Professor
  • Associate Professor
  • Assistant Professor
Needs a special membership

Fixed-Term Track (FTT) Academic Titles

  • Professor of Instruction
  • Professor for Research
  • Professor of Practice
  • Lecturer
  • Clinical Professor
  • Full list of Fixed-Term Track Titles

People outside UT San Antonio or retired UT San Antonio faculty

With a special membership appointment you may teach graduate courses or serve on graduate committees.

Upon recommendation by (1) the Graduate Faculty of the department where they serve and/or the appropriate Graduate Program Committee, (2) recommendation by the Chair of the appropriate Graduate Program Committee, (3) recommendation by the appropriate Department Chair, (4) recommendation by the appropriate College Dean, and (5) approval by the Graduate Faculty Committee.

Appointments will be for three years.

A special member may only co-chair a thesis and/or dissertation committees.

Yes, however special membership does not transfer between departments. Separate applications must be submitted for each requesting department.

Yes, the requesting department and the Graduate Faculty Committee may delimit the term of service to a period of less than three years and/or may delimit duties of special members in regards to teaching and service on thesis and dissertation committees to correspond to extraordinary department or program need or to special circumstances (for example, if the applicant for Special Membership does not possess the terminal degree in a discipline or field of inquiry directly associated with the requesting department).

FAQs on Adjoint Members of the Graduate Faculty

Joint programs and programs with Memorandum of Understanding with faculty from another institution are eligible to be Members of the Graduate Faculty. Adjoint faculty members are eligible for appointments as Members of the Graduate Faculty upon recommendation by the Graduate Faculty of the department where they serve and/or the appropriate Graduate Program Committee and approval by the Graduate Faculty Committee.

With an adjoint membership appointment you may teach graduate courses, serve on graduate committees, and chair thesis and dissertation committees.

Adjoint Members of the Graduate Faculty are appointed for five year terms.

For more information about this process, please email gradschooladmin@utsa.edu.