Overview of faculty reappointment, tenure, and promotion procedures

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Overview of faculty reappointment, tenure, and
promotion procedures

• Myron Allen, Associate VP
• Office of Academic Affairs

• Basic Principles
• Standards and Criteria
• Faculty Career Path
• Portfolios
• Review Processes

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I. BASIC PRINCIPLES

• Philosophic view tenure and academic freedom
• Academic freedom and tenure do not exist
  because of a peculiar solicitude for the human
  beings who staff our academic institutions. They
  exist, instead, in order that society may have
  the benefit of honest judgment and independent
  criticism which otherwise might be withheld
  because of fear of offending a dominant social
  group or transient social attitude.
• Clark Byse and Louis Joughin, Tenure in American
  Higher Education Plans, Practices, and the Law
  (Ithaca Cornell University Press, 1959), p. 4.

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• Legal view tenure as an employment contract
• An appointment with tenure
• has no specified end date.
• can be ended only for reasons (cause, financial
  exigency).

• Principles recognized in case law
• There is no guarantee of tenure.
• Tenure necessarily involves subjective
  decisions.
• The review takes many factors into account.
• There are many levels of review and
  recommendation.
• Only the Board of Trustees can confer tenure.

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C. UW Trustees Regulation V Faculty members
on tenure may be dismissed only for cause or
because of bona fide financial exigencies of the
University. "Cause" is defined to include any
conduct which seriously impairs the ability of
the University of Wyoming to carry out its
functions, including physical or mental
incapacity, incompetence, neglect of duty,
dishonesty, immorality or conviction of a felony.
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D. Post-tenure review UniReg 808 defines
corrective measures available when a tenured
faculty members performance falls below
expectations. Dismissal is possible in
persistent cases.
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II. STANDARDS AND CRITERIA
A. From UW Trustees Regulation V The main
criteria for reappointment, tenure and promotion
decisions are creative development, advancement
of knowledge, and dissemination of knowledge.
These criteria may be demonstrated in the
University's functions of teaching, research,
creative contributions, extension, service to the
state of Wyoming, professional service, and other
University related activities and services.
many factors
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B. Expectations by rank
Assistant professors shall normally have the
doctor's degree in course, and shall have
demonstrated ability, through appropriate
experience, to perform the functions of the
position they are to hold.
Associate professors shall normally have the
doctor's degree in course, shall have established
a reputation in scholarship, teaching, artistic
creation, or other productive activity in the
field in which they are to serve.
Professors, in addition to having the
qualifications of associate professors, shall
have demonstrated superior capacity for direction
of graduate work and research where appropriate,
have attained wide recognition in their
professional fields for scholarship or other
creative work, and shall have gained recognition
as teachers and as consistent contributors to the
fields in which they are to render University
service. It is not anticipated that each faculty
member will attain the rank of full professor.
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• Key points
• 1. For faculty members, tenure and promotion
  require review of scholarly work by nationally or
  internationally recognized peers, as well as by
  UW students and faculty.
• Neither time in rank nor local or regional
  recognition is sufficient.
• Strong teaching is essential. And the capacity
  for strong scholarship is critical for teachers
  to remain effective throughout their careers.
• 3. Ability to work constructively with others
  does count.

subjective decisions
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III. FACULTY CAREER PATH

• Probationary period
• Normally start as Assistant Professor
• Normally 6 years in length
• Annual reviews for reappointment
• Evaluation of teaching, research, and service
• Reappointment contingent upon performance

• Tenure decision
• Normally in 6th year
• Involves in-depth scrutiny of performance
  (discussed later)
• Normally involves promotion to Associate Professor

• Promotion to Professor
• Optional not everyone earns it
• Normally after at least 5 years as Associate
  Professor
• Requires national or international recognition

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Annual probationary reappointment or dismissal
0 6 ?12
Years
Hired as Assistant Professor
Tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, or
dismissal
Promotion to Professor (optional)
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IV. PORTFOLIO

• Documentation of performance
• Teaching evaluations (students, peers,
  administrators)
• Research record (publications, grants, creative
  work)
• Service (UW committees, statewide service,
• professional organizations)

• Evidence of progress
• Job description and expectations
• Record of previous decisions at all levels
• Written evaluations by candidate, peers, and
  administrators

• External evaluations
• Letters from outside experts (TP cases)
• Letters from former students

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V. REVIEW PROCESSES
External peer review
A
Department faculty review
Department heads recommendation
College-level faculty review
B
College deans recommendation
University-level faculty review
Review by Academic Affairs
C
Review by President (on appeal)
Trustees action
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• Department-level review
• Solicitation of external letters (TP cases)
• Review and vote by faculty peers
• Recommendation by department head

Example peer remark (reappointment) For
someone with a 60 teaching split, who has taught
for two years in another institution before
coming to the University of Wyoming, her progress
in teaching is unsatisfactory. _____ is much
more suited to clinical settings or pure
research.
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• Example (tenure case) external letters from
• Texas AM University
• Oklahoma State University
• University of Washington
• Drexel University

Excerpt While teaching and service seem to
be adequate for this stage of the academic
career, I do not see the depth of work, either in
research/publications/ presentations or in
professional practice to merit the granting of
tenure. The tenure package lacks direction and
focus.
UniReg 803 requires a minimum of 4 letters from
arms-length reviewers. Letters from co-workers
and former students are okay, but they must be in
addition to the required letters.
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• Helpful hint for newly minted assistant
  professors
• Make a list of important scholars in your field.
• Make sure it has wide representation and heft.
• Send them copies of your work as you complete it.

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• B. College-level review
• Review and vote by faculty-elected college
  committee
• Recommendation by dean

Example remark from college committee (promotion
to professor) It is clear from _____s packet,
especially the comments made by the external
reviewers, that he has achieved a regional,
national, and international reputation for his
work . His record of securing external funding
and publishing his work are exceptional. Student
evaluations of his teaching have consistently
been positive and his graduate students have been
very successful in terms of their ability to
produce peer-reviewed products.
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• C. University-level review
• Initial screening in Academic Affairs
• Review by faculty-elected university committee,
  if required
• Recommendation by VP for Academic Affairs

Example comment from UTP committee (early
promotion) _____ has a strong international
reputation for research in an emerging and
interdisciplinary field. His 7 letters from
outside evaluators indicated strong support. He
has generated strong grant support. He has a
record of professional and university service.
He also carries a heavy teaching load and is an
excellent teacher as indicated by student
evaluations and department heads comments. I
support promotion to professor at this time.
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Example UTP comment (tenure) This case
presents an all-too-familiar pattern fine
teacher, great citizen who is succeeding at
tasks necessary for the department, college, and
university, but doing so at the expense of
research development.
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• Trustees action
• Only positive cases forwarded
• March for first-year cases May for all others
• There is no tenure until the Trustees confer it.
• UW does not recognize de facto tenure (and
  neither do courts)

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Summary of Faculty Reappointment, Tenure, and
Promotion Decisions, AY 2002-2003  
But attrition is hard to analyze.
 
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Average Tenure-Stream Flow
48
50
41
36
33
34
40
38.4
30
18
16
18
15
20
15.6
11
10
0
1998-
1999-
2000-
2001-
2002-
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
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• Summary
• Tenure and promotion are critical steps in
  faculty careers. We take them seriously.
• Our standards require strong teaching and
  sustained, internationally significant
  scholarship and research.
• The faculty career path allows for a lengthy
  probationary period as well as an opportunity to
  develop wide recognition for teaching and
  research.
• A substantial portfolio, documenting teaching and
  scholarship, forms the basis for all reviews of
  faculty.
• Our processes ensure rigorous review by UW
  faculty peers, by outside experts in the field,
  and by academic administrators at all levels.

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• But it shouldnt be scary.
• UW doesnt hire tenure-track faculty without
  strong evidence that they can succeed.
• The critical ingredients are
• sustained commitment to scholarship,
• professional dedication to good teaching,
• willingness to advance these goals with your
  colleagues.