VCU Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos announced in a blog post on Jan. 24 that VCU’s faculty lacking a terminal degree will be unable to receive promotions from instructor to higher-level positions, including professor, under a new policy.

A terminal degree is the highest available in a particular field, typically a doctorate.

The policy drew criticism from longtime professors who do not hold those degrees and would find themselves ineligible for promotions going forward.

About a week after the initial post, and following a contentious Faculty Senate meeting, Sotiropoulous posted an update.

He apologized for publishing the guidelines before giving more consideration to the impact of the timing. He also said faculty applying for promotions in the current cycle will be reviewed under the existing policy.

Mark Wood, a tenured associate professor in the School of World Studies, said the promotion process mainly involves faculty submitting candidates, the dean making a recommendation and then the provost making a final decision.

Wood said some current faculty believe the intent of the change is to boost VCU’s national rankings by increasing the number of faculty with terminal degrees.

“I don’t know any faculty who were like, ‘Gosh, this process is really broken, we need to fix it right now,’” Wood said. “So it just seems like the motivation behind it is unclear.” 

He added: “We’ve had applicants who had years of experience teaching university-level courses with great success who did not have a terminal degree.”

Michael Porter, associate vice president for public relations at VCU, said in an emailed statement that many universities similar to VCU have a similar policy, creating two tracks — one for faculty with terminal degrees, and one for those without.

“It is incredibly common for public R1 research universities to have different career paths for professors/instructors who hold and do not hold terminal degrees,” Porter wrote.

Other public R1 research universities, like Penn State and UNC Chapel Hill, offer career paths with different position names and requirements to their instructors, according to Porter. 

The new guidelines are still being created and more will be announced once they are complete, Porter said.

Sotiropoulos wrote that during the current cycle, promotions will be reviewed under the existing process.

“I hear loud and clear that we need to articulate soon the alternative pathway model for promotions that can appropriately accommodate the career needs of faculty members who do not hold a terminal degree,” he wrote. “This needs to be done quickly – ideally for the next cycle that begins in April.”

Wood believes that students’ experience at the university matters more than professor rankings or degree requirements.

“The thing that would be most valuable to students is one, tuition being lowered,” Wood said. “And two, having there be more faculty so that we can have smaller classes and more individual attention.” 

Wood complimented the quality of teaching at VCU and stressed supporting students. 

“I think it’s a genuine concern for the success of the university,” Wood said. “But I also think it’s essential that the faculty and students be the ones that we pay very close attention to.”

(VCU is a sponsor of The Richmonder, but did not influence or review this story.)