Faculty eligibility

All tenure-line and research-track faculty at the college and professional schools may supervise undergraduates in research. Research-track faculty include research assistant professors, research associate professors, and research professors (but not Research Scientists). Geisel School of Medicine faculty with the titles of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor may supervise undergraduates in research.

Faculty with other types of appointments may be eligible to supervise undergraduates in some programs with approval from the relevant department or program chair. Note that only those who are currently employed by Dartmouth are eligible to supervise undergraduates in research. Those whose primary employment is elsewhere but have adjunct or courtesy appointments at Dartmouth are not eligible to supervise undergraduates in research. 

To initiate the approval process for contingent faculty, department/program chairs should submit the online approval form.

IMPORTANT NOTES

• Presidential Scholars program: this program is intended to prepare students for honors thesis research so faculty mentors must be eligible to be primary advisors for student honors theses in their academic department or program. In most cases, this includes only faculty with the following appointment types: tenure-line, research track or lecturer/senior lecturer.
• Emeritus faculty: faculty with emeritus status are no longer employees of the College so are considered to be volunteers. Department/program chairs may grant approval for emeritus faculty to mentor undergraduate researchers for some programs, but the chairs would be taking on responsibility for oversight of the emeritus faculty. There is also an additional level of approval required from the Dean of Faculty office of Arts & Sciences or the relevant professional school. Note that emeritus faculty are not eligible to mentor Presidential Scholars.
• Postdoctoral Fellows: for those working under the supervision or mentorship of a tenure-line faculty member, that faculty member should be designated as the primary mentor for undergraduate students (the postdoctoral fellow can supervise the student). Postdoctoral fellows who do not have a designated tenure-line faculty member as a mentor and/or collaborator should contact UGAR to determine potential eligibility to mentor undergraduates in research.

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ON-CAMPUS RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS

• Research assistantship programs (URAD and Presidential Scholars): students must be on campus, and it is expected that faculty mentors also be on campus during the term(s) of the research. If there is a compelling reason to waive the on-campus requirement for faculty, this request must be made in advance and there must be an on-campus supervisor who is involved in the project and agrees to work directly with the student (e.g. graduate student, post-doctoral fellow).
• Honors thesis grants: there is no on-campus requirement for students or faculty.
• Leave term grants: students may engage in the research on or off campus but there must be a rationale for the location of the research. The on-campus requirement for faculty is based on the location of the student's research and the rationale for that location.
  • Student off campus: there is no on-campus requirement for faculty, but there must be a clear plan for regular communication and mentoring.
  • Student on campus: in most cases, the rationale for the student to be on campus during leave term research is to able to work with their faculty mentor in person. In that case, faculty mentors must be on campus during the term of the research.