The RTE Working Group

“RTE” is an acronym for “Research Teaching Extension” and during 2018-19 steps were taken to enhance the shared governance role for RTE faculty. Here is a synopsis of that work which culminated in the passage of Resolution 131.

As a natural follow-up, in Fall 2019 an ad hoc committee was convened and charged by the Faculty Senate to examine the totality of the academic environment that relates to the RTE faculty and to propose improvements.

The work of the committee was essentially put on hold during the S20, F20, S21, and F21 semesters because of the pandemic although its work on emeritus status for certain retiring RTE titleholders was approved by the Senate (Resolution 141) and is now implemented, as seen in 5.5 of the Faculty Handbook.


Members of the RTE Working Group

Member Home Unit College Title
John Callister, co-chair Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Cornell Engineering Senior Lecturer
Kim Kopko, co-chair Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research Human Ec0logy Senior Extension Associate
Linda Barrington SC Johnson College of Business SC Johnson Senior Extension Associate
Anne M. LaPointe Chemistry & Chemical Biology Arts and Sciences Research Associate Sr.
Lindsay Goodale Animal Science Cornell CALS Lecturer
Tobi Hines Mann Library Library Associate Librarian
Robert Karpman Applied & Econ Management Cornell CALS Professor-of-the-Practice
Estelle McKee Law School Cornell LAW Clinical Professor of Law
Mitch Glass Landscape Architecture Cornell CALS Lecturer
Patricia Campos-Medina Worker Institute ILR School Senior Extension Associate
Michael Clarkson Computer Science Cornell Bowers CIS Senior Lecturer
Gilly Leshed Information Science Cornell Bowers CIS Senior Lecturer
William P. Katt Molecular Medicine Veterinary College Senior Research Associate
George R. Frantz City & Regional Planning Cornell AAP Associate Professor of the Practice
Eve De Rosa Psychology Human Ec0logy Dean of Faculty

Formation of the RTE Working Group

Was convened at the end of F21 to resume unfinished business of the ad hoc committee’s work.

“Title Clarity” Across Existing Policies

Across all policies we have to make sure that every reference that is made to “faculty” is intended and precise. “University Faculty”, “tenure track faculty”, “faculty with tenure”, “professorial faculty”, “RTE faculty”, and “visiting faculty” identify different subsets of “the faculty”. This Faculty Terminology Guide outlines the different ways we use the word. Ambiguity in a policy or guideline document typically creates time-wasting misunderstandings and angst.

The Faculty Handbook, the Cornell Policy Library, the Campus Code of Conduct, the Senate Bylaws, the University Assembly Charter, the Code of Legislation for the Graduate  School, as well as numerous policies that are maintained by the Center for Teaching Innovation, the Research Office and the Office of Human Resources need to be reviewed with this consideration in mind.

Enhanced RTE Title Write-Ups

Webpages are currently maintained in the Faculty Handbook for each RTE title. They include the actual title description and various notes that relate to its administration, e.g., renewal, promotion, etc.

The Lecturer, Research Associate, and Extension Associate Tracks

The lecturer trackresearch associate track, and extension associate track pages offer side-by-side comparisons between the prose that is in the current title write-up and the prose that would be in the proposed “enhanced” write-up. We spent most of our time thinking about these titles which involve about 900 colleagues.

The RTE Professorial Titles

The colleges follow “enabling legislation” guidelines and implement their own Senate-approved version of clinical professorprofessor of the practice, and research professor. Modifications to these university-level title write-ups are minimal; we have basically just added links to the college implementations which is where you should go for detail.

Other RTE Titles

Only minor modifications have been made to the research scientistprincipal research scientistsenior scholar, and senior scientist title descriptions, e.g., substituting “RTE” for “nontenure track”, mentioning “University Voting Rights”, etc. These titles have been replaced by the research professor title.

Similarly, very minor modifications have been made to the instructorteaching associatevisiting criticvisiting fellowvisiting scholar , visiting scientistlibrarian, and archivist title write-ups. The committee has only indirect knowledge of these positions and would much prefer to be guided in their editing by individuals who have first hand experience with these important titles.

Matters that Have Long-Term Importance

Some specific topics that require attention:


Documents and Resources

The Faculty Handbook defines both titles and title modifiers. Modifiers include “visiting”, “adjunct”, “courtesy”, “acting”, and “emeritus/a”.

The 2004 Report on the Status of Nontenure Track Faculty

An ad hoc committee of the Senate looked into NTT (RTE) matters back in 2004 and they produced this report. To permit direct access to specific parts of the report, we created an online version with internal links.

Senate Resolution 44 (on professional development opportunities) and Senate Resolution 45 (on Emeritus/a status for NTT (RTE) faculty) were the only Senate outcomes associated with the report.

Professorial Title Legislation

The titles of Professor-of-the-Practice, Research Professor, and Clinical Professor were established by the colleges under the umbrella of enabling legislation passed by the Faculty Senate. We provide a complete legislative history  of these titles.

Cornell Docs

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