Section III.A.2:Types and Schedules of Review - College of Arts and Sciences
All faculty are reviewed for the purpose of determining their salary. There are three types of faculty review:
- developmental reviews,
- tenure reviews, and
- promotion reviews.
Whenever a chair undergoes a review, the appropriate associate dean appoints a tenured faculty member to fulfill the chair’s role in the review process. That person is hereafter referred to as the “surrogate.”
Developmental Reviews
Before tenure, assistant professors are normally reviewed twice, once in their second year, and again in their fourth year. The purpose of these developmental reviews is to provide candidates with advice about whether they are making satisfactory progress toward meeting the CAS’s standards for tenure. These reviews are conducted by a developmental review committee. At each developmental review, the committee also makes a recommendation to the dean about whether the faculty member’s 3-year appointment should be renewed.
Tenure Reviews
An assistant professor granted tenure will also be promoted to the rank of associate professor. Assistant professors normally undergo a tenure review in their sixth year at the College. However, at the time of their hire, individuals with experience as a faculty member or postdoctoral fellow at another institution may negotiate with the dean of the College for an earlier tenure review. This date is specified in their letter of appointment.
The probationary period specified in a faculty member’s letter of appointment can be extended only if the dean of the College, after consulting the department chair (or surrogate) and the associate deans, approves such a request by a faculty member. Such approval will be granted for a maximum of one year, and only when it is clearly in the interests both of the College and of the faculty member, for example, when a faculty member has taken a leave of absence for health or other personal reasons. The probationary period can be shortened only if the department chair (or surrogate) recommends that an earlier tenure review than that specified in the letter of appointment is clearly in the best interests of both the College and the faculty member, and such recommendation is endorsed by the dean of the College.
Faculty may be appointed at the rank of associate professor or professor without tenure. In such instances, the schedule for their tenure review and any developmental reviews will be specified in their letter of appointment, with the only exceptions being those noted above.
In rare instances, the College may appoint new faculty at the rank of associate professor or professor with tenure. In such cases, the authorization for the position must stipulate that an appointment may be made with tenure. Before being appointed with tenure, individuals must undergo a tenure review by the Committee on Promotion and Tenure (CPT). In consultation with the dean, the department, and the search committee, the candidate will submit a dossier for review by the CPT, which will recommend to the dean of the College whether the candidate meets the CAS’s criteria for the granting of tenure and the appropriateness of the proposed rank. This review will be conducted according to the procedures described in Procedures for Tenure Reviews.
Promotion Reviews
A promotion review is required for an associate professor to be promoted to the rank of professor. This review normally takes place in the sixth year of service at the rank of associate professor. However, the specific timing of this review is determined by negotiation with the dean of the College. The sequence of steps in this negotiation process is outlined below:
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No more than three years after receiving tenure, a faculty member submits the following documents to the dean of the College:
- A reflective statement containing a self-assessment of their performance as a teacher, scholar, and College citizen and a plan for their ongoing professional development in teaching, scholarship and/or creative activity, and service.
- (Optional) An assessment of the feasibility of the plan by a department chair, surrogate, or. colleague invited into the process by the faculty member.
- The faculty member meets with the dean of the College to discuss the faculty member’s proposed plan. The goal of the discussion is to help the faculty member to prepare a robust portfolio that will form the basis for a case for promotion to professor.
- The dean of the College writes a letter to the faculty member summarizing their discussion and offering specific advice about the plan that will prepare the faculty member to undergo a promotion review in their sixth year of service as an associate professor. The dean shall communicate with appropriate department chairs or program directors about issues in the plan that may affect the operation of a department or program.
- While a faculty member may apply for promotion to the rank of professor after as few as four years as an associate professor, qualifying for this earlier consideration requires not only meeting the standards for promotion to the rank of professor, but also demonstrating a clear record of extraordinary performance as a teacher, national prominence in scholarly and/or creative activity, and an unusually strong record of service.
- If the faculty member opts not to be reviewed for promotion to professor in their sixth year as an associate professor, the original plan should be updated periodically, preferably every five years after its first submission, using the same procedure as that described above.
Salary Reviews
Each faculty member undergoes a triennial salary review. In years when the faculty member undergoes a developmental review, a tenure review, or a promotion review, the materials prepared for that review will substitute for the materials called for in a salary review (see Faculty Salary Policy). No faculty member will be formally reviewed more than once each academic year.