Section III.A.6-7: Procedures for Promotion Reviews - College of Arts and Sciences

VI. PROCEDURES FOR PROMOTION REVIEWS

The president of the College is responsible for promotion decisions, and the decision is based on the recommendations of the dean of the college, the Committee on Promotion and Tenure, and the department of the promotion candidate. At each level, a recommendation is based on the candidate’s accomplishments in scholarship and/or creative activity, teaching, and service to the college and the profession. The sequence of steps in the evaluation is as follows.

1. In consultation with the dean of the College, the candidate determines his or her readiness to be reviewed for promotion, and informs the associate dean of this decision.
2. The associate dean, in consultation with the department chair (or surrogate) and the faculty member under review, solicits external reviews of the candidate’s scholarly and/or creative activity. The reviewers are recognized experts in the candidate’s discipline.
   
   1. The identities of the reviewers and the contents of their letters are confidential with respect to the candidate, unless the College is compelled by legal action to breach confidentiality.
   2. Normally, the promotion file will contain no fewer than four external reviews. For a candidate who engages in multi-disciplinary work, it may be appropriate to have more than four reviewers. When possible, there should be at least one external reviewer from peer or aspirant liberal arts colleges. Normally, external reviewers will be full professors at other institutions.
   3. In the letter of solicitation for external reviewers, the associate dean will provide guidance for the external reviewers by explaining in detail the College’s criteria for evaluating scholarship and/or creative work (see section 3.2.3.V.B above).
   4. The following individuals should not normally be chosen to serve as reviewers: (i) the candidate’s doctoral and postdoctoral mentors, (ii) individuals who have served as coauthors, collaborators, or co-investigators on research or artistic projects, and (iii) individuals with whom the candidate has had an intimate personal relationship.
3. The candidate prepares a file containing the following material. In all cases, materials to be included should date from the time tenure was awarded.
   
   1. current curriculum vitae,
   2. list of all courses taught since tenure, their enrollments, and student teaching evaluations for those courses (faculty may exclude evaluations for one course section from each triennial review period),
   3. materials that allow an evaluation of the candidate’s pedagogical approach, such as course. syllabi, assignments and exams,
   4. statement of teaching philosophy, which includes responses to any issues revealed in teaching evaluations, new strategies implemented as a result of attendance at teaching workshops and/or mini-courses, and future plans,
   5. description of advising activity,
   6. statement of scholarship and/or creative activity that provides an overview of the candidate’s past scholarly and/or creative work and future plans, and explains the place of the work in the candidate’s discipline. The statement should be accessible to non- specialists such as faculty members in other disciplines, the dean, and the president.
   7. statement of service contributions to the College and the candidate’s profession,
   8. copies of all publications, papers, abstracts, and performance and exhibit programs,
   9. other material that may be relevant to an assessment of teaching and scholarship and/or creative activity, such as (i) evaluations of teaching by peers, former students, or alumni, (ii) published reviews of the candidate’s work, (iii) research grants and research proposals that have been peer-reviewed, (iv) works in progress, and (v) letters from chairs of interdisciplinary programs in which the candidate has participated.
4. The department chair (or surrogate) convenes a meeting of the tenured members of the department (who are not on leave) to assess the candidate’s teaching, scholarship and/or creative activity, and service since the time of tenure. The assessment is based on the candidate’s review file and on the external review letters. The department chair or surrogate submits to the dean a letter that includes a summary of the departmental discussion and a specific recommendation about promotion.
   
   1. All tenured department members are asked to affirm, by their signature, that they have read the letter and that it accurately summarizes the departmental discussion. For this purpose, emeriti faculty are not considered to be tenured department members. If a tenured department member believes that the letter does not accurately summarize the department discussion, he or she must submit an individual letter. Any such letters become part of the candidate’s file and are seen by the candidate, who is entitled to submit a response.
   2. The candidate has an opportunity to read the department letter and within one week will acknowledge in writing the receipt of the letter. This acknowledgement is also an opportunity for the candidate to correct any factual errors contained in the letter. This response becomes a part of the review file.
5. The associate dean prepares a full promotion review file that includes only the following. No other material, such as unsolicited letters from interested individuals, may be added to the file at this point.
   
   1. The candidate’s review file
   2. The department recommendation letter and any response from the candidate
   3. The CPT’s tenure letter for the candidate
   4. The external review letters
   5. The dean’s tenure letter for the candidate
   6. The president’s tenure letter for the candidate
6. The Committee on Promotion and Tenure makes a promotion recommendation to the dean, based exclusively on the material in the promotion review file. The dean of the College is present, as a non-voting observer, for the deliberations of the CPT.
   
   1. The assessment of a candidate’s scholarly and/or creative activity is based on work that has been published, submitted for publication, displayed, and/or performed at the time the file is submitted to the dean. However, a candidate may add relevant material to the file that becomes available after this date, including letters of acceptance from publishers, published critical reviews of exhibitions or performances, reviews of submitted articles, books, or grant proposals, and notifications of honors and awards.
   2. At its discretion, the CPT may ask the department chair or surrogate to meet with the committee to answer clarifying questions.
   3. If the recommendation of the CPT differs from the recommendation of the department, the CPT letter will clearly explain the rationale for the differing recommendation, and a copy of this letter will be sent to the department chair or surrogate.
   4. The candidate will receive a copy of the CPT letter to the dean at the same time as the dean.
7. The dean of the College makes a promotion recommendation to the president, based on the full promotion review file and the recommendation of the CPT.
   1. If the recommendation of the dean differs from the recommendation of the CPT, the dean will discuss with the CPT the rationale for the differing recommendation, and this discussion will occur prior to submitting the letter to the president.
   2. The candidate and the members of the CPT will receive a copy of dean’s letter to the president.
   3. If the dean recommends against promotion, the candidate has 10 days from the receipt of the dean’s letter to submit a written request to the dean for a grievance procedure. Any grievance must be based on (a) discrimination, (b) specific violations of academic freedom, or (c) the failure of the review process to follow the stated procedures. The dean will refer the grievance to a committee composed of three recent past chairs of the CPT who are not directly involved in the case. The Grievance Committee will assess the merits of the grievance and submit a recommendation to the president and will provide copies of their report to the dean and to the members of the CPT.

VII. CPT ASSESSMENT OF PROMOTION FILES

In its assessment of a candidate’s case for promotion, the CPT considers the same three areas as it considers in tenure reviews: teaching, scholarship and/or creative work, and service. To receive a recommendation in favor of promotion, a candidate must demonstrate excellence in teaching, excellence in scholarly and/or creative activity, and a high level of service to the college and the professional community. Excellence in both teaching and scholarship and/or creative activity is necessary for a recommendation in favor of promotion; a superlative performance in one area cannot substitute for lack of excellence in the other area.

1. Excellence in Teaching: A candidate for promotion must demonstrate excellence in teaching during the post-tenure period. For details of how the CPT assesses excellence in teaching, refer to section 3.2.3.V.A.
2. Excellence in Scholarship and/or Creative Activity: A candidate for promotion must demonstrate continued scholarly and/or creative activity of recognized high quality. For details of how the CPT assesses excellence in scholarship and/or creative activity, refer to section 3.2.3.V.B.
3. Excellence in College and Professional Service: A candidate for promotion must demonstrate a more substantial contribution of service to the College and their professional community than that expected at the time of tenure. The CPT’s assessment of a candidate’s service activity is based on the candidate’s statement regarding their institutional and professional service and on an assessment of the quality and quantity of the candidate’s service contained in the departmental letter. The candidate lists his or her contributions, including service on College committees, leadership positions held on the committees or at the College and in their professional community, review assignments for scholarly outlets such as journals and books, and organizing efforts for professional conferences.

The CPT will use this material to answer the following questions about the candidate’s College and professional service:

1. What contributions has the candidate made to his or her profession?
2. Has the candidate served as a member of one or more of the College’s standing committees, task forces, steering committees or ad hoc committees?
3. Has the candidate demonstrated leadership in college and professional service?
4. Has the candidate led a department or interdisciplinary program?

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