Faculty Roles and Responsibilities 

Located in Appendix B of the Bylaws for Columbia Mailman School of Public Health

A faculty title in the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (MSPH) confers certain rights and responsibilities consistent with the School’s mission and faculty members’ own professional goals and expectations.  This document clarifies those rights and responsibilities.

The Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health has a strong research, service and educational mission that is joined by a shared responsibility to translate new knowledge into innovative public health policy and practice.  The Faculty of Public Health are expected to contribute to the School’s mission by outstanding and transformative accomplishments in these areas and by academic leadership in their respective fields.

Faculty Rights/Columbia Mailman School and Department Responsibilities

1. A fundamental faculty right is academic freedom.  The free exchange of ideas without fear of reprisal is critical to research and to promote teaching and learning among individual faculty, faculty as a group, officers of research, students and staff.  It is the School’s responsibility to ensure an environment which promotes academic and intellectual exchanges and which supports faculty in the face of pressure from inside and outside the School.
2. Junior faculty have the right to be supported in their pursuit of academic advancement through high quality mentorship from more senior colleagues knowledgeable in their area of expertise.  All tenure track and non-tenure track junior faculty, lecturers and associate research scientists/scholars should be assigned a mentor to regularly consult with them on career development and to provide feedback and guidance on their faculty development.  It is the responsibility of individual departments and centers to provide mentors for junior faculty.
3. Faculty have the right to participate in a stimulating intellectual community and to pursue opportunities for professional development.  This includes, but is not limited to, a stimulating intellectual environment and support for access to specific resources including targeted grants, awards, conferences and training.  It is the responsibility of the School, individual departments and the Faculty of Public Health to maintain a thriving intellectual environment and provide opportunities for faculty to develop, enrich and expand their academic expertise.
4. It is the responsibility of the School, individual departments and centers to provide guidance, develop and share information on professional development opportunities and, to the degree possible and in good faith, to provide the organizational, financial and administrative support required to permit faculty to take advantage of such opportunities.
5. All faculty have the right to annual reviews provided by their department chair or center director. It is the chair’s or center director’s responsibility to provide faculty with realistic assessments of future prospects for continued employment at the School. Furthermore, junior faculty have the right to a formal fourth year review in which a committee of senior faculty, convened by the chair or center director, shall conduct a comprehensive and thoughtful evaluation of their scholarly development and provide specific and pragmatic advice to optimize the junior faculty member’s potential for promotion, tenure or shift to non-tenure status.
6. Consistent with the right to receive realistic assessments of future employment prospects to prevent termination, all faculty have the right to early, transparent and ongoing inclusion in long-term planning efforts by the School, departments and centers to help ensure long-term job security.  Good faith efforts shall be made by the School to ensure that non-tenured and tenure track faculty receive non-renewal periods reflective of their years of employment and that these periods be consistent with the policy approved by the Columbia University Faculty Senate.
7. Faculty have the right to have their work recognized through authorship appropriate to their individual roles and effort.  Senior faculty, mentors, program leaders, departments and centers are responsible for ensuring fairness, as described in Appendix A: Authorship of Scholarly Publications.
8. All rights discussed here as well as any others outlined in the Columbia University Faculty Handbook or the Stated Rules of the Mailman School of Public Health shall apply to all Faculty of Public Health throughout their employment at MSPH.  Moreover, as members of the Columbia University academic community, all MSPH faculty shall enjoy all the rights and responsibilities pertaining to faculty in other Schools, including those that apply to retired faculty members.
   
   

School and Departmental Expectations/Faculty Responsibilities

1. It is the School’s and each department’s or center’s expectation that every faculty member shall strive for the highest quality in their professional endeavors, thereby contributing to and enriching the School's instructional, research and service mission.
2. The School and each department expect faculty to teach in their area(s) of expertise.  Each faculty member is expected to teach or co-teach and be fairly compensated for at least one course per academic year, with variations based on class size, newness of the course and teaching load. Specific expectations for teaching are outlined within and may vary among each department. In some cases, faculty may assume departmental administrative roles in lieu of teaching.
3. Faculty must striving for excellence in teaching, including using state-of-the-art materials and methods, to enhance students’ learning experiences.
4. Faculty are expected to provide students with advice and guidance for academic and future professional achievement. Departments should assign a reasonable number of advisees to each faculty member and, where appropriate, allocate appropriate compensation for advising.
5. Senior faculty are expected to provide junior faculty with high quality mentoring to facilitate future career success.  Mentors should make good-faith efforts to promote career advancement of junior faculty consistent with agreed-upon goals and tenure potential, where relevant.
6. Faculty are expected to participate in and always seek excellence in public health research, community service and educational efforts and to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the highest professional standards of ethics, accountability and scientific rigor.  Senior faculty are expected to provide leadership and work to support success of junior faculty, while junior faculty are expected to consistently progress toward future leadership roles.  Faculty should always strive for research significance and innovation that will advance their fields with distinction.
7. Faculty are expected to serve on departmental, school and/or university committees. Faculty are expected to participate in other departmental and school-wide activities, such as recruitment efforts, reviewing MPH and/or doctoral degree applications, or other appropriate activities.
8. Faculty must adhere to university and MSPH policies relating to the university’s and school’s  name and insignias in print or electronic media.  Neither faculty nor their staff should use the official title of the university, or any of its parts, except in connection with legitimate university purposes.  Faculty may use their Columbia University title for identification purposes in accordance with the Faculty Handbook and are expected to always maintain standards of professionalism and accuracy.
9. The school builds brand equity through consistent execution of a visual and editorial style in all print, digital, promotional, and educational materials.  Faculty are expected to use MSPH Office of Strategic Communications guidelines in design and production of any communications and marketing materials, including external presentations.
10. Faculty are expected to be in compliance with all university and MSPH required training and certification related to teaching, the conduct of research, data security, effort reporting, conflict of interest and any other applicable policies as adopted by the school.
11. Columbia University expects faculty to hold themselves to the highest level of ethical behavior and personal accountability in teaching, research and community outreach, assuring integrity in business operations, reporting, regulatory compliance and confidentiality.  In carrying out their commitments, faculty are required to meet the obligations and responsibilities as described in the Columbia University Faculty Handbook.
    
    

Financial Obligations of the School, Departments and Faculty

1. Faculty have the right to compensation that is fair and equitable regardless of gender, race, national origin and/or other protected categories and with peers across the school, centers and departments.  Departments, centers and the school are responsible for ensuring that any compensation provided for teaching, mentoring, advising, committee service or other duties is fair and equitable.
2. All Faculty of Public Health have a responsibility to contribute to the financial health of the school.  Successful execution of the school’s mission is financially dependent on income derived from tuition, grant indirect costs, philanthropy and endowment income.  All faculty, independent of tenure, tenure track or non-tenured, must support their salaries through grants, administration and teaching.  In addition, faculty must continually strive to generate income in excess of their salary to cover their research and service work, relevant staff salaries, fringe benefits, allocated departmental and/or center expenses, and other school, center and departmental expenses, as appropriate.  Good-faith efforts to generate revenue from sources that cover these items, including indirect costs, at appropriate levels, is expected of all faculty.
3. Departments are obligated to maintain a financial plan that includes realistic projections for supporting the number of tenure track and tenured faculty in the Department.  Only the number of faculty that can realistically be supported in the prevailing and projected funding environment should be offered such positions.
4. Existing and prospective faculty have the right to know the current and projected financial status of departments and the criteria for the use of department and school resources to support non-tenured, tenure track and tenured faculty who have inadequate financial support from other sources.
5. Administrative support for grant submission and management shall be provided to faculty.
6. Faculty members are responsible for the financial management of their grants, contracts and other academic accounts in accordance with all university and funders’ regulations and requirements as outlined in the guidelines provided by Columbia University’s Office of Research Compliance and Training.

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