PS # 1303
TITLE: Promotion of Faculty
AUTHOR: Chief Academic Officer in conjunction with Faculty Senate
APPROVAL DATE:  December 6, 2005
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 6, 2005
PURPOSE:  To establish a university policy concerning the promotion of faculty
REVIEWER AND  Chief Academic Officer and Faculty Senate
REVIEW DATE:  Fall 2010 and every five years thereafter
OPERATING DETAILS: 


1.                  To be promoted in any rank, a faculty member must give evidence of teaching effectiveness and competent advising, scholarly and professional activities, and service to the university and community.

2.                  To be admitted to the rank of instructor, one must have a master's degree appropriate to the academic discipline and show potential for teaching.

3.                  *To be admitted to the rank of assistant professor, one must have at least a master's degree plus 30 semester hours of graduate credit earned in the discipline after the completion of the master's degree and must give evidence of teaching effectiveness and competent advising, scholarly and professional activities, and service to the university and community.

4.                  *To be admitted to the rank of associate professor, one must have earned a terminal degree in the appropriate area and have a minimum of five years teaching experience at the college or university level with at least three years at the rank of assistant professor.   An associate professor has consistently given evidence of teaching effectiveness and competent advising, scholarly and professional activities, and service to the university and community.

5.                  *To be admitted to the rank of professor, one must have a terminal degree in the appropriate field and a minimum of six years teaching experience at the college or university level with at least three years experience at the rank of associate professor. A professor has demonstrated substantial achievement in teaching effectiveness and competent advising, scholarly and professional activities, and service to the university and community.

6.                  *No promotion in rank is automatic. Faculty may not be promoted until they have served three years in rank, unless they meet requirements established at the time of initial appointment (see Policy # 1302, section 7).

7.                  To be promoted in rank, one must meet the minimum criteria for employment in the rank as set forth in items 2-5.

8.                  To initiate the process of promotion and tenure each college will annually appoint or elect a College Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee, which will be limited to Professors and Associate Professors who have tenure.  The dean and department chairs will not be a part of this committee. The Committee will be chaired by a member elected by the Committee.  This Committee will have at least three members.  In cases where a college does not have three faculty members who meet these qualifications, the dean will work with the CAO to appoint faculty members from other colleges to form a three-member Committee.  In cases where all faculty members are appointed from outside of the college, the CAO and the dean will appoint an advisor from the college who will answer questions the committee may have about typical faculty roles and responsibilities within the college.     

9.                  The Dean in coordination with the CAO will determine eligibility of faculty members for promotion and/or tenure and will notify the individual faculty member of their findings.

10.             Applications for promotion will be prepared by the individual faculty member who is solely responsible for the content and organization.  The application will be submitted to the Department Chair.  As a courtesy, the dean or department chair may provide some general assistance.

11.              A faculty member's application for promotion and/or tenure:

a.      Must clearly address and document proof of accomplishments in each of the three areas described in Item 12 below (and on the standard request for promotion and/or tenure form available in the office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs).

b.      Must include at least three letters of recommendation, but no more than five, from colleagues and/or other professional peers (which may include those at other institutions) who can address the individual's performance in the areas of professional activity referred to in 12 a, b, and c.

c.      Must include annual evaluations  for each year under consideration for promotion and/or tenure.

d.      May include written student evaluations from students in classes taught during the years under consideration.

e.      Must include numerical student evaluations.  f. May include peer evaluations and other evidence of quality teaching, professional development, and service, if submitted by the faculty member.

12.             Criteria to be used in recommendations regarding promotion include the following, with the greatest weight being given to the first criterion:

a.      Excellence in teaching and advising as evidenced by demonstrated knowledge of the individual's area of academic appointment, ability to help students discover that knowledge in substantive and meaningful ways, updating knowledge and skills, designing new courses, regularly revising existing courses, and university-wide outreach to students including support for admissions and retention efforts

b.      Quality and extent of scholarly and professional activities, which may include research, writing, performing and other creative work, publications, presenting papers, professional and scholarly services, activity in professional organizations, and grant activity to funding sources outside the University.

c.      Quality and extent of service to the division and the entire University, which may include committee work; administrative duties, if assigned; involvement with student activities; and other means of maintaining and improving the ongoing life of the institution.  Working with other people is essential to the maintenance of a collegial environment; — therefore, professional ethics, cooperativeness, resourcefulness and responsibility will be considered, as will service to the community at large.

13.       A written recommendation evaluating the individual's application credentials and the candidate’s portfolio will be forwarded by the College’s Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee to the Dean for review.  At the same time, the Department Chair will conduct an independent review and prepare a written recommendation evaluating the candidate’s portfolio which will be forwarded to the Dean.  The Dean will review the candidate’s portfolio, make an independent recommendation, and forward all materials to the Chief Academic Officer.  The Chief Academic Officer will review all applications for completeness and forward all materials, regardless of recommendations, to the University Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee.

14.             A University Faculty Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee will be elected/selected each year.  Membership will be limited to tenured faculty who are full professors, except in units with no full professors.  If a unit has no full professors, the Dean and CAO will appoint a representative for the College.  Each Academic Unit will elect one individual to serve on the committee.  Department Chairs may be elected to serve on this Committee but they will be required to recuse themselves from any and all deliberations involving a faculty member from their department.  In such cases, the Dean and CAO will appoint a representative that is a tenured faculty member first from the college; if one is not available, a tenured faculty member will be appointed from outside the college.  For the purposes of this policy, the Academic Units are the four colleges, the Culinary Arts Institute and the Library.  The Committee will elect a chairperson from its membership.

15.             The University Faculty Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee will review and recommend approval or disapproval of each application for promotion submitted to it.  For the Committee to recommend approval, a majority of the committee members must approve.

16.             The recommendation of the University Faculty Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee will be forwarded to the Chief Academic Officer, who will recommend approval or disapproval to the President.  In the event of an unfavorable decision from the University Faculty Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee, the faculty member may elect to appeal to the Faculty Appeals Committee. The recommendation of the Faculty Appeals Committee, whether favorable or unfavorable, will be forwarded to the Chief Academic Officer, who will attach the recommendations of the Faculty Appeals Committee to those of the University Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review Committee and will recommend approval or disapproval to the President.

17.             If the application is approved by the President, the President will send a letter to the candidate stating it is approved, with a copy to the Chief Academic Officer and the appropriate Dean and Department Chair.  If the application is rejected by the President, the President will send a written report of the unfavorable decision and the reason(s) for it to the faculty member concerned, with a copy to the Chief Academic Officer and the appropriate Dean and Department Chair.

18.             At each stage in the process, the committee or administrator will report their decision in writing to the faculty member concerned and to the appropriate Dean and Department Chair.  The reasons for an unfavorable decision will be described in detail in this report.

19.             By September 30 of each academic year, the Chief Academic Officer will establish the date by which each stage of the process is to be accomplished and inform the faculty of those dates.

20.             For the purposes of this policy, the Culinary Arts Institute and the Library shall each be viewed as a college and the director of these units will fulfill the responsibilities assigned by this policy to the dean.

21.             *Exceptions to these standards may be allowed in accordance with State Board of Trustees Policy 402.02 for Faculty Ranking.

Revised:  7/23/02 , 12/6/05

Reviewed:  12/19/03, 09/04