Special Appointment Status
Special appointment status adds guest experts to graduate student supervisory committees.
Special appointment status allows qualified UF or non-UF personnel who do not have UF graduate faculty status to serve on graduate students’ supervisory committees as guest experts who contribute specialized knowledge or insight to the student’s research.
Special appointees can serve on supervisory committees only as members — not as chairs, co-chairs, or externals. Also, they do not count toward the minimum needed for a valid committee — only UF graduate faculty do.
Any access to UF research beyond what will be public in the student’s dissertation requires a courtesy appointment in line with UF policy:
Special appointees are not considered UF officials. However, they too must maintain confidentiality of student records in line with the provisions of FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) and federal, state, and UF regulations:
Special appointments are made individually — case by case, student by student. UF academic units can appoint them in one of two ways:
- Through a formal UF Graduate School appointment, which will appear on the student’s record in GIMS (Graduate Information Management System).
- Through an informal internal appointment, which will not appear on the student’s record in GIMS.
Learn more about each option here:
To request a formal UF Graduate School special appointment...
- Log on to GIMS (Graduate Information Management System).
- Enter the student’s UFID number in the UFID/Name field.
- Click the Find button to bring up the student’s GIMS screen.
- Click Actions on the light blue Degree Segment bar on that screen.
- Click Submit Special Appointment on the drop-down menu that appears.
- Follow the prompts and fill in the blanks on the pop-up screen that appears.
- Click the Submit to Grad School button.
For that process, you’ll need...
- A UFID number if the special appointee does not already have one. (Your payroll/personnel staffer can generate one in PeopleSoft.)
- The special appointee’s up-to-date curriculum vitae (CV).
- An evaluative statement from your unit’s chair or director, explaining what unique expertise the special appointee will bring to the student’s research.
After submission, the Graduate School will email a decision to the nominating unit.
Have questions? Contact us!
As an alternative to formal UF Graduate School special appointment, colleges and their academic units may develop internal processes for informal special appointment by invitation of a supervisory committee chair with the approval of the student.
With informal special appointment, the special appointee’s contribution may be acknowledged in the thesis or dissertation and in direct communication from the supervisory committee chair and the academic unit. However, the special appointee’s name will not appear on the student’s record in GIMS (Graduate Information Management System), and the special appointee will not have access to systems and resources that require a UFID number (like myUFL).
Colleges and their academic units may set guidelines and expectations for informal special appointment. However, the Graduate School does not track attendance or participation in exams or final defenses by invited guest experts who do not have UFID numbers.
Have questions? Contact us!
