"A basic format for tenure and/or promotion dossiers will be given
to the collegiate deans for distribution through department chairs
and directors to faculty members eligible through department chairs
and directors to faculty members eligible to be considered for tenure
and/or promotion. A common format for representing the supporting
information will help assure fairness in the decision-making process."
Tomorrow's Professor Msg.#557 POLICY ON PROMOTION AND TENURE
Folks:
The posting below gives an inside look at polices on promotion
and tenure at a major comprehensive university. It should provide
a baseline for you to compare with your university. It is from Chapter
1: Mirror Mirror on the Wall, in COMPLEXITIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION
ADMINISTRATION: Case Studies & Issues, by Mary Lou Higgerson
and Susan S. Rehwaldt, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
Anker Publishing Company, Inc. Bolton, MA. Copyright © 1993
by Anker Publishing Company, Inc. http://www.ankerpub.com/
Reprinted with permission.
Regards,
Rick reis
reis@stanford.edu
UP NEXT: Talkers and Listeners
Tomorrow's Academic Careers
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POLICY ON PROMOTION AND TENURE
ATTACHMENT A
Anchor University
Policy on Promotion and Tenure
Anchor University is a comprehensive university. Therefore, it
is essential that its faculty be dedicated to achieving excellence
in teaching, research/creative activity, and professional contributions
to preserve and strengthen the vitality of the university. Tenure
and
academic promotion is awarded to those faculty making contributions
in these areas. The preservation of quality requires that all persons
recommended for promotion clearly satisfy the general criteria presented
herein. Fairness requires that these criteria be applied as uniformly
as
possible.
A basic format for tenure and/or promotion dossiers will be given
to the collegiate deans for distribution through department chairs
and directors to faculty members eligible through department chairs
and directors to faculty members eligible to be considered for tenure
and/or promotion. A common format for representing the supporting
information will help assure fairness in the decision-making process.
As tenure and promotion require that a person's entire professional
contribution be reviewed, the format calls for information on professional
background, previous academic and professional experience, teaching
and advising activities, scholarly contributions, and service activities.
Some academic units may wish to add special categories.
A faculty member will be evaluated for promotion in any year at
her or his request. A tenured faculty member below the rank of professor
must have her or his dossier submitted for review by the basic academic
unit at least every five years unless the faculty member requests
in writing that
it is not be reviewed. A more frequent review of faculty performance
for purposes of promotion is strongly encouraged. A faculty member
will be reviewed for tenure at the end of a two-year probationary
period if hired at the rank of professor; at the end of a four-year
probationary period if hired as an associate professor; and at the
end of a six-year probationary period if hired as an assistant professor.
The decision emanating from such a request shall be considered as
final. If the decision is negative, the faculty member will be notified
in writing that the following contract
year will be terminal.
The faculty member should assist in the preparation of his or her
dossier. The faculty member should be allowed to submit whatever
he or she considers relevant to promotion or tenure review in addition
to any information or material required by the university, collegiate
or departmental policies.
I. General Criteria
A. Teaching: The first step in promotion is an evaluation of teaching
effectiveness. Only after an affirmative judgment as to teaching
effectiveness has been made can serious consideration be given to
an evaluation of scholarship and professional service. Unless a
determination is made that the candidate is an effective teacher,
whether at the departmental or interdisciplinary level, promotion
will not be granted. Teaching includes an up-to-date knowledge of
one's discipline. In some instances, teaching may be indirect, primarily
in support of student learning activities. Faculty members also
influence teaching by designing courses and curricula. Textbooks
and innovative instructional material may be considered contributions
to teaching. In addition, faculty members influence teaching in
less tangible but no less decisive ways through such activities
as counseling students, through conversations with colleagues, etc.
Detailed and specific evidence of effective teaching should be
included in the dossiers of faculty members being recommended for
promotion. Evidence should include peer evaluations and student
evaluations conducted over a reasonable period of time. Faculty
colleagues should be asked to evaluate the objectives, methods,
and materials of courses designed and/or taught by the individual.
Evaluations of teaching effectiveness should also be drawn from
faculty who have taught with the individual or have frequently observed
classes taught by the individual. Wherever possible, evaluations
should also include evidence concerning the continuing performance
of students taught by the candidate.
B. Research/Creative Activity: Research and creative activity are
those activities which serve to advance the discipline or the state
of the art. Evidence of research and creative activity, essential
for promotion includes written publications, non-print performances,
funded grant applications, exhibits, artistic performances, and
the like. Textbooks and innovative instructional materials having
significant value beyond this campus may be considered contributions
to research/creative
activity. The dossier of an individual should provide substantiating
evidence submitted by qualified observers within or outside the
university (e.g., reviews of the candidate's books, artistic performances,
etc.). If the candidate’s field is one in which no colleague
has expertise, it is
essential that outside review of the candidate’s scholarly
activities be sought.
C. Professional Contributions: Faculty members are expected to
make professional contributions through service to the department,
the college, the university, and the discipline at large. The last
item includes discipline-related community service. Professional
services may include paid or unpaid consulting work. Administrative
and professional work on behalf of the department or the university,
for which there is no specific compensation or assignment, may be
regarded as service. It is desirable that evaluations by qualified
individuals indicating the quality and
extent of the service rendered be submitted with the promotion dossier.
II. Minimum Standards for Academic Ranks
Each basic academic unit and collegial unity may have defined requirements
which exceed those of the university. The minimum university requirements
for each academic rank are given below:
A. Assistant Professor: Promotion from the rank of Instructor to
Assistant Professor requires an ability to teach effectively and
the academic degree defined by the academic unit for the position
held by the candidate. Those tenured in the rank of Instructor may
meet the minimum university
criteria for promotion to Assistant Professor by: (1) demonstration
of effective teaching; (2) successful completion of scholarly/creative
activity which contributes to the discipline or field of study and
offers promise for future achievement (e.g., completion of the required
academic degree), or peer-reviewed publications, or peer-reviewed
artistic/creative performances; and (3) demonstrated participation
in service activities appropriate to the discipline and the academic
unit.
B. Associate Professor: Promotion from the rank of Assistant Professor
to the rank of Associate Professor requires: (1) a demonstrated
record of effectiveness as teacher; (2) a record of peer-reviewed
publication and/or peer-reviewed creative activity which has contributed
to the discipline or field of study, to the candidate’s intellectual/artistic
development, and to the quality of the academic unit; (3) a record
of professional service appropriate to the discipline, the academic
unit, and where possible, the college and/or the university; and
(4) promise of growth in teaching and research or artistic/creative
activity.
C. Professor: For promotion to the highest academic rank, the candidate’s
academic achievement and professional reputation should be superior.
This rank can be earned only by the faculty member who has demonstrated
continued growth in, and has a cumulative record of, teaching effectiveness,
substantial peer-reviewed publications and/or peer-reviewed creative
activity, and professional contributions and service.
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TOMORROW'S PROFESSOR MAILING LIST
is a shared mission partnership with the
American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) http://www.aahe.org/
The National Teaching and Learning Forum (NT&LF) http://www.ntlf.com/
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