Create and Define Ranks
Ranks in Lifecycle Management (LM) represent an institution’s standard faculty ranks, including information such as workload, rank type, and allowable salary ranges. This feature enables institutions to configure LM to align with their formal professional titles and structures. Common ranks such as Lecturer, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor, may differ in meaning across institutions and can be further specified with modifiers like Adjunct, Emeritus, or Senior. Faculty appointments are classified into ranks and groups by title, each with their own specific benefits, rights, and responsibilities that are customized by the institution. Once a series is created in LM, the corresponding ranks must be defined within that series, as outlined below.
Each rank is independent of others.
Best Practices
- Each rank should start with an Appointment event.
- When putting events in for a rank, all the events should mark the time in that particular rank.
Create and Define Ranks
- Navigate to the Series page and click the Add Rank button
- Complete the Create Rank Form by first selecting a ‘Rank Type’ from the predefined list. Then using the free-text fields to customize the ‘Rank Name’ and ‘Qualifications,’ distinguishing ranks of the same type, but different benefits, responsibilities, or qualifications.
Rank Types are hardcoded in the system to ensure consistency in search and reporting, so they cannot be customized. If your institution's rank type is not listed, select 'Other' and enter the specific rank in the 'Rank Name' field.
Once selected, changing the rank type is not recommended. Modifications to the rank type within a series will not update individual faculty members' records.
- Administrative users can use the Workload Model dropdown to select the associated workload model.
Workload serves as a categorization tool for grouping faculty. However, each faculty member's workload remains unique. You can adjust workloads at the faculty profile level as needed.
- When finished, click Save. Repeat the steps above until all ranks have been added to the series.
FAQs: Use Cases
How should faculty of the same rank but with different contract lengths be handled? For example, Assistant Professors on 3-year vs. 4-year contracts?
Create two series, one for 3-year and one for 4-year Assistant Professors.
How should someone with multiple appointments, such as a Chair who is also an Associate Professor, be treated?
In this case, consider the Chair and Associate Professor roles as separate appointments, each within its own series. You can create a series, such as "Administrative and Leadership Roles," to house administrative roles. This series can include rank names, events, and other elements, though it can also be kept simple with a single rank of "Administration" and a single event like "Appointment." Loading each as separate records will prevent any conflict with the title and start date.
When should I select “Year 0” vs “Year 1” for the first event of a rank?
When should I select “Year 0” vs “Year 1” for the first event of a rank?
When creating an appointment, the system determines the faculty member’s current year in rank by comparing the appointment’s start year with the current calendar year (e.g. If the appointment started this year, events begin at year 0; if it started last year, events begin at year 1, and so on). It then applies professional journey events for the main rank starting from that year onward. Year 0 events will only appear if the faculty member's hire year falls within the same year as the year 0 event.
This approach ensures that timeline events reflect the faculty member’s current progression rather than simply starting at year 0 every time.
| When to select | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 0 |
Most clients do not apply the professional journey, so using Year 0 is typically recommended. |
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| Year 1 |
This method should be used because it supports mid-year rank changes and accommodates faculty hired into advanced ranks starting in July without altering the professional journey. |
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