Tenure-Track Faculty

A. Tenure

Tenure is awarded to those individuals whose performance indicates that they are likely to continue to make significant positive contributions to the academic life of the University throughout their professional careers. Eligibility for tenure shall be determined by the unit and is reserved for those who are engaged in academic activities, including research and/or scholarship and/or creative activity (of which any may include activities leading to entrepreneurship), teaching, and service. Tenure is only granted to individuals who meet expectations in teaching, scholarly endeavors, and service activities, including professionally related services. A tenure decision is a statement that an individual’s accomplishments will continue to add value to the unit, college, and university. While respecting the values of academic freedom, University citizenship and collegiality are also factors to consider in a tenure decision.

Faculty members appointed as Assistant Professors are expected to achieve both promotion and tenure to Associate Professor by the end of the probationary period noted in their appointment letter.
 

B. Early Promotion with Tenure

A recommendation for early promotion and tenure is possible but requires that a case be made for the candidate’s exceptionality in accordance with unit guidelines. Candidates are advised to conduct preliminary discussions with their chair prior to submission for early promotion and tenure by the last day of the spring semester prior to review. The candidate must explicitly address the case for exceptionality in the dossier under each section of Teaching, Research, and Service. Faculty members who apply for early promotion and tenure and are not successful may reapply in the penultimate year of the probationary period.

C. Review of Tenure-Track Faculty

Annually in the fall term, the unit’s PTC will evaluate each probationary faculty member’s accomplishments relative to the unit’s criteria for promotion and tenure. A summary letter of the committee’s evaluation will be sent to the faculty member by February 1st. Annual review letters are a component of Section 1 in the dossier and must be provided in reverse chronological order. Annual reappointment letters should not be included in the dossier.

1. Mid-Probationary Review

In addition to the annual review, each pre-tenured faculty member will undergo a mid-probationary review to evaluate his/her progress toward promotion and tenure. In the fall of his/her fourth year, the faculty member will submit a promotion and tenure dossier and a teaching portfolio to the Chair of his/her unit’s PTC by the second Monday of September. Faculty with different terms of hire should be reviewed at the mid-point of their pre-tenure period in consultation with their unit Director/Chair. The dossier submitted for pre-tenure review will follow the guidelines provided below.

The unit PTC and unit Director/Chair will review the materials by the end of the first week of spring term. The unit PTC chair and unit Director/Chair will meet with the Dean who will provide an overview of the candidate’s progress toward promotion and/or tenure. This meeting will occur by the end of the third week of the spring term. The candidate will receive a letter from the unit Director/Chair that integrates all feedback about his/her progress toward promotion and/or tenure. The letter will include suggestions regarding area(s) in which the candidate may need to strengthen and improve. The unit Director/Chair will issue the mid-probationary review letter no later than February 15.
 

2. Assistant Professor to Associate Professor

Promotion from the rank of Assistant Professor to Associate Professor requires:

a. Teaching

Consistent with the candidate’s documented workload: a record of effectiveness as a teacher as demonstrated by peer evaluations, student evaluations, and a self-reflective narrative in the dossier. Evidence of effectiveness also will be presented in the candidate’s teaching portfolio that accompanies the dossier at the unit level.

b. Scholarship

Consistent with the candidate’s documented workload: Excellence in research and scholarship which is supported by evidence of development and active engagement in research with 1) demonstration of effort to secure external funding; 2) a record of sustained publication in peer- reviewed journals; and 3) presentations at professional forums on national and/or international levels. Interdisciplinary activities are highly valued. These activities and dissemination are evidence of expertise and contribution to the science or practice of the given area of focus.

c. Service

Consistent with the candidate’s documented workload: A record of service to the unit, college, and the profession at large is required. University service is highly valued.

3. Associate Professor to Professor

Promotion to the highest rank requires academic achievements and a professional reputation that is recognized as outstanding. In many instances, these achievements will have resulted in national and international recognition across various aspects of the candidate’s scholarly, teaching, and service activities.

The following attributes will be considered when deciding if a faculty member will earn the rank of Professor:

a. Teaching

Consistent with the candidate’s documented workload: Sustained effectiveness and growth in teaching as demonstrated by peer evaluations, student evaluations, and a self-reflective narrative. The teaching portfolio should clearly describe the faculty member’s expertise in their content area, integration of pedagogical practices, and curriculum development. A record of advising, coaching, and/or mentoring students is also required and mentoring of other faculty members is highly encouraged.

b. Scholarship

Consistent with the candidate’s documented workload: Sustained record of excellence in a focused area of research and scholarship with national and/or international recognition of expertise. Demonstration of active and ongoing external funding activity cited publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations in professional forums on national and/or international levels. Interdisciplinary activities are highly valued. In most cases, these scholarly products will be published in peer-reviewed journal articles with the candidate as the first or senior author.

c. Service

Consistent with the candidate’s documented workload: A record of service leadership to the unit, college, university, and the profession at large is required.

National or international recognition of the candidate’s work in teaching, research, and/or service is an expectation for promotion to Professor.

Continued growth is expected from the time of appointment to Associate Professor in the areas of teaching, scholarly activity, and service/leadership. If significant but unrecognized administrative duties prohibit continued growth in any of the areas, the PTC may consider the circumstances.

D. Documentation

The PTAC will only review materials going forward to the Provost but can request supplemental materials such as the teaching portfolio if needed. Documentation consists of the items listed, in the order shown below, for review by the Dean and PTAC committee.

Section One -- Introductory documents

1. Signed review form for promotion and tenure
2. College dean letter
3. Unit Chair/Director letter
4. Unit PTC letter
5. Regional campus dean non-decision, input letter (if applicable)
6. Annual evaluation letters and any promotion progress letters
7. Appointment letter

Section Two – Promotion Summary Document (Narrative Dossier)

1. Table of Contents
2. Academic preparation
3. Professional experience
4. Instruction and advising
   1. Teaching load
   2. Teaching effectiveness
      1. Evidence of course organization, presentation, and requirements, including 2 course syllabi
      2. Student course evaluation results
      3. List of teaching awards and recognition
      4. Selection for teaching in special programs
      5. Participation, as a student, in the teaching enhancement program
      6. Other evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g. instructor self-assessments, sample course materials, measures of student learning, peer reviews, academic leader reviews, and/or stakeholder feedback).
   3. Interdisciplinary teaching
   4. Advising and supervision
5. Research and Scholarly Accomplishments (if applicable) such as:
   1. Articles in professional journals
   2. Other publications and presentations
   3. Books or book chapters
   4. Sponsored research and grants
   5. Proposals
   6. Other evidence
6. Committees and service
   1. Division, unit, college, university committee service
   2. State and national professional services, such as:
      1. Member of professional association committees, task forces, workgroups, etc.
      2. Elected office, board of directors, etc.
      3. Contributor to the improvement of clinical practice standards
      4. Consultant to clinical practice or clinical product development
      5. Editorial consultant/reviewer
      6. Member of an accreditation organization
7. Interdisciplinary contributions
8. Other factors

Section Three – External Review

1. External review process
   1. Describe the process used
   2. Describe how the reviewers were contacted
   3. Provide a list of information sent to the reviewers
2. External review letters
   1. Include a sufficient number, normally 4-6
   2. External reviewers must use the template provided by the college (see Attachment B)
3. Short biography of each reviewer
   1. Describe why these particular reviewers were chosen

Note: Regional campus Deans’ letters should be solicited and used in the same way as external reviewer letters according to unit promotion and tenure processes.

Section Four-- Curriculum Vitae and Promotion Guidelines

1. Comprehensive, current CV
2. Unit promotion guidelines applicable to the case
3. College/RHE guidelines applicable to the case

Candidates must submit digital versions of their materials and follow instructions for digital submission at the time of review.  It is the responsibility of the candidate to adhere to the required formatting, complete all sections, and provide all required documents.  The college external review process is described in Attachment A., a unit external review may be more stringent than the college policy.