Adjunct Appointments Policy and Procedures
All adjunct appointments must comply with the Academic Hiring Manual University Approved Academic Positions/Ranks. Per the manual, "Adjunct" is added in front of the position/rank of Faculty/Academic Staff appointed on a no-pay basis (except when "clinical" is appropriate).
Adjunct appointments in the College of Natural Science are an honor and responsibility and thus should be reserved for individuals at the professorial level who represent the quality of scholarly work and research equal to that of regular faculty. Appointment requests for Adjunct instructor, assistant, associate, and full Professor should be submitted only for individuals with similar ranks, or equivalent at other institutes or organizations. Such appointments should help develop important relationships with other academics, professionals or institutions. Adjunct / no pay appointments are not appropriate for the position/rank of Research Associates (post-doc) or Fellows. Additionally, courtesy appointments or appointments resulting from offers of voluntary work will not be made.
Procedure: Before committing to or requesting approval for an adjunct appointment, please ensure the proposed appointment aligns with university policy.
To initiate review and approval by the Dean’s Office, complete the request form linked below and obtain the required unit signatures. Once finalized, please submit the signed form to the NatSci HR team at NatSci.DO.HR@msu.edu. If approved, the fully executed document will be returned to the unit.
Following approval, it is recommended that the unit provide the adjunct candidate with an offer letter. An optional template is included below to assist with extending the offer and obtaining consent for the background check process.
After all commitments are finalized, the unit should attach the fully executed documents to the EBS transaction for the appointment. Whenever possible, appointments should include an established end date to minimize the need for future termination transactions.