An urban school of nursing and a 631-bed acute care teaching facility, two independent organizations, created a faculty-practice program in 1990 modeled after one at Cedar Crest College, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Currently there are two full-time faculty joint appointees on 12-month contracts: an Associate Director for Nursing Research/Clinical Nurse Researcher (CNR) and an Associate Director for Nursing Administration. The benefits and challenges of the faculty-practice appointments are explored from three viewpoints: those of the (1) Chief Nurse Executive of the medical center, (2) the Dean of the School of Nursing, and (3) the Joint Appointee, Associate Director for Nursing Research. The joint appointee also describes the roles and functions inherent in the joint appointee role, for example, researcher, teacher, consultant, collaborator, and grant writer. Position descriptions for each joint appointment are included.