joint appointment, 1. a faculty appointment to two institutions within a university or system, as to the schools of health sciences and medicine of the same university. 2. (in academic nursing) the appointment of a member of the faculty of a university to a clinical service of an associated service institution. A psychiatric nurse might hold appointment in a university as an assistant professor and might also be a clinical nurse specialist in a service institution. The practice of joint appointments began at Case Western Reserve University, University Hospital, Cleveland. See also unification model.
