A&S Guidance for Dossier Preparation

Preparing the Dossier

The department should typically appoint an internal advocate to help the candidate through the promotion and tenure process. The advocate should not typically be the department chair, except in very small departments. (If the department uses a mentor system, the candidate's mentor may serve in this role.)

The candidate should be responsible for preparing and arranging Sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with the help of the advocate. The candidate should write these sections in the first person. Any other authorship of these sections should be explicitly noted. The associate dean for faculty, graduate studies and research also is available for consultation.

The department chair should typically prepare and arrange Sections 1, and 3. However, the chairperson of the Promotion and Tenure committee may assist in preparing Section 1.

All participants in the process should have access to college policies concerning: Initial Hire at Associate Professor or Professor Ranks; Normative Minimal Criteria for Promotion and Tenure; Promotion and Tenure Advisory Committees; Early Tenure.

The promotion and tenure review timeline 

PLEASE NOTE: The department chair should check dossiers to ensure that all format and guideline criteria are met and the dossier is submitted on time. The chair will sign the dossier, attesting to its completeness.

External Letters of Review

External letters of review are required for all cases of promotion or promotion and tenure. Guidance on letter writer selection is provided here. Six external letters are sufficient for most cases. The reviewers should be highly qualified scholars able to assess the candidate's contribution to the field. The reviewer should be of the same rank as that to which the candidate aspires. Reviewers may also be of a higher rank. Reviewers should not be the faculty candidates' thesis/dissertation advisor(s); former teachers, co-authors, and collaborators; friends, relatives or other persons closely aligned with the faculty candidate. The candidate may suggest a list of possible reviewers. The department chair or committee may use a combination of suggested reviewers and other reviewers. The department chair has final approval of the list of reviewers.

The department chair or committee chair writes to the reviewers requesting an assessment of the quality of the candidate's scholarly work. The college strongly recommends using the template for such letters that is available from the dean's office. The dossier must contain a copy of this letter and an indication of how the final list was determined.

Reviewers should be provided with a copy of the candidate's CV, access to key publications, and the candidate's statement of future research plans. All reviewers should receive the same package of materials.

Make certain that all external letters are available for review by the department promotion and tenure committee.

Preceding each external letter, in the candidate's final dossier, provide a one-paragraph biographical summary of the reviewer's credentials (full CV not needed). Clearly indicate the reviewer's relationship to the candidate, if any. Include all letters solicited and received.

Departmental Processes

As per the Faculty Handbook, all awards of tenure and all promotions in rank must originate in a positive recommendation by the appropriate department committee.

Consideration for tenure and promotion from assistant to associate professor typically occurs in the penultimate year of the probationary period. As detailed in the Policy on Early Tenure , a department should recommend promotion and tenure before the penultimate year only for a candidate for whom a clear and compelling case can be made.

If a candidate was appointed with credit to tenure, the entire record, including teaching, research, and service done elsewhere, should be considered.

The award of tenure and promotion from assistant to associate professor will constitute a single recommendation. Therefore, the department committee should take a single vote for both tenure and promotion to associate professor.

In line with Faculty Senate recommendations, the college strongly recommends that only tenured faculty members vote on matters of promotion and tenure. In the case of promotion to full professor, only faculty with the rank of full professor vote.

Also following Faculty Senate guidelines, faculty with administrative appointments greater than 50 percent should not vote.

Department chairs may participate in the discussion but typically should not vote.