How does a faculty member get to work at two universities or more?

Question

This question is a follow-up on a comment at a recent question, where Dave Clarke mentioned that an acquaintance of his has "3 professorships and 2 doctorates".

• How does a faculty member get to be appointed simultaneously by two or more universities? Are all except one honorary posts?
• Could any faculty member work with a second university, given the consent of his present employer? What are the conflicts of interests that come into play usually?

Answer 1

The situation I've seen most often is that a professor will hold a primary appointment at school A, where they have a lab and complete their research. Often for reasons related to collaboration, school B will then give the professor an appointment in a related if not identical department. If the professor also teaches a few courses at school C, they will likely be granted an adjunct position there as well.

This was my setup when I was in graduate school; I was a grad student in bioengineering at U Pitt, and I had a secondary appointment at CMU due to both lab collaborations and my being registered in a certificate program there.

Answer 2

Another common scenario happens when a professor leaves university X for university Y, but still has grants and PhD students at university X. In that situation, it's fairly common for university X to keep the faculty member on the books without pay, possibly with the word "adjunct" added to their title, so that the students and the grants that pay them don't have to move from X to Y. (And to simplify the paperwork if the professor changes their mind and moves back to X.)

Answer 3

Here in the Netherlands it is relatively common to appoint somebody as a professor for one day a week. For instance, one of the colleagues is 4 days a week at our university and 1 day a week at a different university. Another colleague is 4 days a week working for a company, and works at the university only on Mondays.

Answer 4

In addition to the excellent answers given above, here are some reasons I've seen for professors to get an appointment at a different university (or to retain an appointment when they moved):

• They're a major part of a center at University A, and University A really doesn't want 'Co-Director of the A Center for Really Important Research' to be listed as a faculty member elsewhere.
• Weird university tradition. For example, my university automatically gives all outside readers on a dissertation committee an appointment at the school. It's utterly meaningless, but technically its a thing.
• Collaboration, grants, etc. are sometimes easier if everyone is technically faculty at the same school, and schools will sometimes bring in a professor from another nearby university to "shore up" a program, allow for easier mentorship if a professor keeps appearing on grad student committees, etc.

Answer 5

A common scenario I've observed is where University A offers a job to a professor at University B, a far less prestigious and well-connected institution, but the professor and his/her family wish to remain in the location of University B for personal reasons. If the professor is good enough, University A may agree to a half-time or similar arrangement, where the professor is only on-campus for one semester per year (usually 4 months).