Part II. Department Policies and Procedures

Participation in the Department Tenure and Promotion Committee is an important duty of every tenured faculty member. It is expected that all eligible Department Tenure and Promotion Committee members will carefully review candidate files and participate in departmental deliberations and votes.

It is further expected that all faculty members who have attained the rank of either associate or full professor will participate in the mentoring of faculty who have not yet attained that rank.

1. The tenured associate and full professors of the Department, in consultation with the faculty, shall be responsible for establishing departmental policies and procedures for tenure and promotion. The policies and procedures must be approved by a simple majority of all tenured associate and full professors.
2. The Department shall develop specific criteria and guidelines which it expects a candidate to meet for tenure and promotion purposes. The Department, College, and University guidelines shall be given to the candidate in writing upon initial employment. The Department Chair shall provide updated departmental guidelines as they become available to tenure and promotion candidates. It is, however, the responsibility of the candidate to keep current on changes in the guidelines.
3. The Chair shall consult with tenure-track non-tenured faculty members each spring to evaluate performance during the current academic year, to plan for the following year, and to review the requirements for and progress towards tenure and promotion. The Chair's comments and recommendations shall be recorded in the faculty member's planning document, which shall be provided to the faculty member and filed in the office of the Chair.
4. A mid-term evaluation during either the spring term of the third academic year or the beginning of the fall term of the fourth academic year for each tenure-track faculty member with a six-year tenure probation period will be made by the Department's Tenure and Promotion Committee and the Department Chair. For faculty members with a five-year tenure probation period, the mid-term evaluation should be conducted during either the spring term of the third academic year or the beginning of the fall term of the fourth academic year. For faculty members with a four-year tenure probation period, the mid-term evaluation should be conducted during either the spring term of the second academic year or the beginning of the fall term of the third academic year. This evaluation, based on requirements for tenure and promotion, should provide information to the candidate on his/her progress. This evaluation should mirror the process used by Department and College Tenure Committees, including use of material as described in Section I-A of this document. A written report of the evaluation shall be provided to the candidate and include any concerns, and what must be done to address those concerns. The Committee's report, as well as one by the Department Chair, shall be forwarded to the Dean, who shall offer the candidate, if he/she so chooses, the opportunity to provide any additional information, either in writing and/or in a personal meeting. Faculty with tenure probation periods of three years or less will not undergo a mid-tenure review. Annual evaluations by the department chair should contain statements regarding progress toward tenure and promotion.
5. A selection procedure for the department representative to the College Tenure & Promotion Committee, within the College guidelines, should be adopted and filed in the Office of the Dean.
6. For tenure and promotion to Associate Professors, the Department Tenure and Promotion Committee shall consist of all tenured associate and full professors. For promotion to full professor, the Committee shall consist of only tenured full professors. Spouses and other relatives of a candidate may not participate in deliberations or voting on that candidate. Only eligible Committee members who have reviewed a candidate's files and are present for deliberations may vote.
7. Each department shall set a minimum number for committee membership and procedures for expanding the committee with faculty from other departments if the number of eligible members within the department is insufficient.
8. Each department shall devise specific criteria for solicitation of a minimum of four external peer reviewers of candidates for tenure and promotion. Every effort should be made to minimize biases for or against the candidate when selecting qualified peers. The reviewers are to be chosen in accordance with departmental guidelines. No more than one of the reviewers may have been a major advisor of or a collaborator with the candidate. A summary of the reviewers’ credentials will be included in the dossier. Candidates will not have access to the external review letters at the departmental level.
9. The recommendation and supporting statement of the Departmental Tenure and Promotion Committee shall be forwarded to the Department Chair along with the vote count. The supporting statements should accurately reflect the deliberations of the Committee, including a discussion of concerns expressed by those who did not support the candidate's application.
10. The Department Chair shall have the responsibility for providing in the dossier a written discussion of the quality of the candidate's productivity, including the nature and scope of the outlets where the candidate's productions have appeared (refereed or non-refereed; invited or submitted for review, local, regional, national, international; disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and/or public, etc.). The Department Chair's recommendation is completely separate from the Committee’s recommendation. The Department Chair may not be present during the Committee's deliberations or votes.
11. The Chair shall forward the Committee's report as well as his/her own recommendation and supporting statement to the Office of the Dean.
12. Requests for a tenure probation reduction are due to the Dean no later than March 1st of calendar year in which the tenure application will be made unless negotiated at the time of hire. Requests not agreed to at the time of hire require an approval letter to be included in the candidate's dossier with signatures of the Chair, Dean, Provost, and President.
13. Early promotion to associate professor requires a memo from the Department Chair in the dossier, unless an early promotion application was stipulated in the offer letter.