Rotating faculty positions are for officers who will come to West Point to teach for three years before returning to their basic branch or functional area. These officers will also attend graduate school through the Advanced Civil Schooling process for two to three years before coming to teach. Thus, the entire tour ("round trip") as a rotating instructor is typically five years. These faculty members are selected through the TEACH online application discussed below. These FAQs mostly apply to those who are considering positions as a rotating faculty member.

Academy Professors are permanent professors at USMA that must earn a PhD and become a Functional Area 47 officer for the remainder of their career. This hiring process is handled by an external committee. 

Absolutely. We cannot guarantee a job for your spouse, but we will do what we can to help you and your spouse stay together.

Both slots typically include three years of ACS (for a PhD).  The major differences between the two are:  The FA 47 slot is tenured. This means that you can stay at USMA until 30 years of commissioned federal service as a COL, and 28 years as a LTC.  The FA47 positions are USMA advertised and selected positions.  They really belong to the Dean, and a special selection committee is established, usually chaired by a Professor, USMA, normally a Department Head or Vice Dean. It is very competitive with an average of 30-50 very qualified personnel competing for 1-2 positions in each advertisement (in the Army Times).  Rotating PhD positions are controlled by individual department heads, who establish internal procedures to conduct the selection process. Rotators have a three-year utilization (teaching) tour.

These titles reflect the officer’s academic rank. New rotating faculty with master’s degrees are typically instructors and advance to senior instructor during their utilization tour. Faculty with a PhD are eligible for the assistant professor title.

Instructors are evaluated based on their performance and potential, as in any other Army unit.  This involves an assessment of performance across West Point’s five domains, including teaching, cadet development, faculty development, service, and scholarship.  We expect each faculty member to contribute to our community through a combination of activities in the five domains, and program directors will work with instructors to develop an individual plan for their tour and for their placement beyond their time in the department. 

USMA offers robust opportunities for cadet development outside the classroom.  You can volunteer to escort cadets on an academic summer enrichment opportunity, mentor a cadet-run club, or partner with a cadet on research outside the classroom.  Many of our faculty take cadets on AIADs to countries across the world, mentor cadets on sports teams, or help with cadet summer training. 

Once you've formally accepted a position, congratulations! In the months following your acceptance offer, we will communicate with your branch for the by-name request (BNR) for you to attend graduate school and serve at USMA. 

You will be assigned a mentor, usually a senior faculty member within your discipline, to help guide you through the application process for graduate school. Most application deadlines for graduate programs of study are December-January; your focus after accepting an offer to teach should therefore be preliminary research into graduate programs and planning for the application process. 

After applying and being accepted to the graduate program of your choice, you will then apply for final ACS approval as the last step before your Permanent Change of Station (PCS) to graduate school in summer/fall.

Besides teaching, there are numerous opportunities to serve the department and become involved in mentoring cadets. Other duties, as assigned, could include academic engagement with other faculty and cadets, participation in cadet extra-curricular development, service to the department, or participation with one of the Department's clubs. Instructors are also encouraged to complete their own scholarly projects and research. 

USMA housing is managed by Balfour Beatty communities under the Residential Community Initiative. Most members of the community live on-post, while several opt to live in the local surrounding area. Tactical Officers are designated as "Key and Essential" personnel and receive priority for an on-post housing assignment if they desire. For more information on housing, see https://www.westpointfamilyhomes.com/.