Man with arms crossed

Graduate Faculty Status

Graduate Faculty Status is a prestigious position reserved for those who are highly engaged in creative, academic, and research activity as assessed by their department/school, College Dean, and Graduate Dean. It affords qualified individuals the privilege to teach, mentor, and advise graduate students as a member of the UNLV Graduate Faculty. You must obtain Graduate Faculty Status to be eligible to teach graduate courses, mentor/advise students, and serve on Graduate Advisory Committees (GACs).

As a member of the Graduate Faculty, you will receive periodic emails and a monthly newsletter from the Graduate College to keep you abreast of new policies/processes, best practices, upcoming events, and other important information. Graduate faculty members are responsible for reading these messages to stay in the loop on issues impacting the graduate community.

Graduate Faculty Status (GFS) Guidelines

  • New tenure-track and tenured faculty in UNLV departments/schools with graduate programs should apply for Graduate Faculty Status as soon as possible after hiring. All others who wish to hold UNLV Graduate Faculty Status, including faculty from the NSHE Desert Research Institute, are welcome to submit an application to do so at any time.
  • GFS is requested in, and approved by, the department/school. Graduate Faculty members typically hold this status in their “home” department/school, but may apply to hold GFS in other disciplines if their academic training, professional experiences, and research/scholarship/creative activities qualify them as an expert in another field.
  • The Graduate Faculty Status application allows us to determine which levels of graduate students applicants may teach and which Graduate Advisory Committee roles s/he is eligible to hold. Please note that Graduate Faculty status is not related to professorial rank (i.e. Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor).
  • Department/School Chairs review GFS annually as part of the faculty annual review process. At that time, GFS privileges are continued or modified, as appropriate. Changes to GFS are recommended by the Department/School Chair, recommended by the College Dean, and forwarded to the Graduate Dean for final review, determination, and implementation.
  • Non-tenured, non-tenure track UNLV academic and administrative faculty members, FIRS, Professors-in-Residence, Lecturers, PTIs, qualified community members, and faculty members at other universities may also apply for GFS. Their application must be fully reviewed and GFS granted before engaging in any graduate level teaching, mentorship, or service on Graduate Advisory Committees.
  • Non-UNLV employees who apply for GFS are also required to submit a UNLV Volunteer packet and Personal Data Form. See below for additional information and required forms.
  • Upon approval, GFS applicants will be assigned privileges in accordance with their status, degrees, and engagement with research/scholarship/creative activities as determined by their department colleagues and per their academic college and Graduate College guidelines.
  • Please see the complete Graduate Faculty Status guidelines for additional information.
  • Members of the Graduate Faculty should be aware of and regularly utilize the UNLV Graduate Faculty Calendar to stay abreast of important events and deadlines.
  • Graduate Faculty Status is closely related to UNLV guidelines regarding who can serve in which roles on student Graduate Advisory Committees (GACs). Please review our GAC guidelines.
  • GFS privileges will be organized as follows (note that GAC is Graduate Advisory Committee):
    1. Doctoral GAC Chair All Levels - Holds all privileges
    2. GAC Member All Levels - And all privileges below
    3. GAC Chair Master’s Only - And all privileges below
    4. GAC Member Master’s Only - And all privileges below
    5. Graduate Instructor 1 - Teaching all levels and may be an extra GAC member
    6. Graduate Instructor 2 - Teaching Master’s students only and may be an extra GAC member
    7. Extra GAC Member only (Non-voting member)
  • Tenured and tenure-track faculty, as well as professors-in-residence, in departments with graduate programs may qualify to serve as Graduate College Representatives as an additive privilege to the Graduate Faculty statuses above. UNLV faculty/lecturers/instructors with short-term contracts, non-UNLV community members, and faculty at other universities may not serve as Graduate College Representatives, though they may serve as an Extra Member on a GAC.

We Welcome You to Apply for Graduate Faculty Status

  • Submit an application and curriculum vitae for review and approval by your academic department and then your College Dean. The Graduate College will receive applications for final review and approval by the Graduate Dean.
  • Applicants not employed by NSHE who do not have an NSHE ID and wish to have an UNLV ACE account must complete the UNLV Volunteer packet with their department and forward it to the Graduate College in order to be assigned an NSHE ID. ACE accounts are not mandatory, and not required for holding Graduate Faculty Status.
  • If an ACE is not of interest, no further action needs to be taken except for the completing of the application form (forms found on this webpage).

If you choose to fill a volunteer form, please note:

  • Volunteer Agreement Form: Section II: Disregard account information, it is not necessary for Graduate Faculty Status accounts. All other parts of Section II must be completed.
  • Personal Data Form: Employee Type: select ‘Volunteer/Adjunct’

After department and college approval, the application and vitae are routed electronically to the Graduate College for final approval and implementation. 

We post updated GFS lists on the final section of this website every month for easy reference.

Graduate Faculty Leaving the University

Please note that upon leaving the university, all Graduate Faculty members are required to complete a Leaving Form. This form allows Graduate Faculty to retain some Graduate Faculty responsibilities after their departure from UNLV if their request to do so is supported by their department/school, College Dean, and Graduate Dean. This process also helps ensure that all current Graduate Advisory Committee, research, and mentoring commitments are fulfilled or appropriate replacements are assigned. Faculty must inform graduate students they are advising of their departure and of on alternate mentorship options and plans.

Invitation to The Graduate Faculty

Female professor lectures her students at the lecture hall
Male professor smirks against the cityscape

Join us! At the end of each academic year, the Graduate Dean hosts the Graduate Faculty Club Awards Reception to honor this prestigious group of faculty. We invite our graduate faculty to join us at this annual event to relax with campus friends, network with colleagues from other parts of campus, and mingle with your Graduate College team. For more information about this and other events, check the UNLV Graduate Faculty Calendar.

February 2023 Faculty Status List

The Graduate Faculty are the foundation of our thriving graduate community at UNLV. As engaged researchers, scholars, artists, and leaders, the graduate faculty design graduate programs to train and inspire the next generation of experts in their fields, teach and mentor our graduate students to success, and encourage innovation. Our prestigious Graduate Faculty consists of more than 1,000 experts in their respective fields, and together they do the life-changing and impactful work of delivering outstanding experiences to more than 5,000 students working on advanced certificates and degrees. It is truly a privilege to lead the Graduate Faculty and to work with this distinguished and collaborative community of scholars.

Kate Korgan, Graduate College Dean