Faculty Appointments: Faculty Promotion Guidelines -
Checklist for Faculty Promotion Casebooks

Please submit by March 1 to:

1. Summary Cover Memorandum from Chancellor

• The Chancellor should include a summary cover memorandum indicating the names of all individuals recommended and the promotion action recommended.
• For faculty holding joint appointments, please include recommendations from the tenure as well as the courtesy home(s). Please provide an explanation when only part of a faculty member's appointment is being evaluated for promotion.

2. Unit Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching, Research/Scholarship, and Service

• Please address how your schools and the various promoting departments define and evaluate teaching, research, and service in their areas. If there are material differences in the criteria used by different schools to evaluate candidates for promotion, please describe these (e.g., in some disciplines external funding is an important criterion; in others, it is irrelevant).

3. Documentation for each Candidate:

1. Promotion Recommendation (See Attachment E)
   • This document should present a brief assessment of the overall performance and achievements of the individual being recommended.
   • Include information about the individual's contribution in the context of the unit's mission
2. Summary Letter from the Dean
   • This assessment should be written from an evaluative, not an advocacy, perspective and should present a balanced summary of the case.
   • Please highlight and discuss in detail any special circumstances concerning this individual, e.g., early promotion requests.
   • It is important that non-traditional forms of scholarly production are given as much scrutiny as the more traditional/disciplinary work. Moreover, we want to ensure that individuals receive full credit for their contributions to interdisciplinary and/or collaborative scholarly projects.
   • Describe the outcome of the promotion review at each stage of evaluation in the unit. For cases in which a favorable decision was made only after careful consideration of strengths and weaknesses, please summarize the evaluative comments of the unit's promotion review committee and/or executive committee.
   • Explain your reasons for recommending promotion, and tenure (if appropriate).
3. Curriculum Vitae
   • Please be sure to check the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of the information in the curriculum vitae, e.g., that publications listed as "in press" are really in press and that the degrees indicated have been awarded.
4. Documentation of Teaching Effectiveness
   • While we recognize that different cultures prevail in different units with respect to the nature and the evaluation of teaching, the University places a high value on providing students with an outstanding educational experience. We therefore strongly encourage units to develop and utilize teaching portfolios (Attachment F ).
5. Documentation of Service (optional)
6. Sample of Letter Sent to External Reviewers to Solicit Recommendations
   • Please include a copy of the solicitation letter. See the enclosed sample (Attachment G) which we strongly encourage you to use, for legal reasons
7. Brief Description of the Credentials of External Reviewers and their Relationship to the Candidate (Attachment H)
8. Evaluation Letters by all External Reviewers (at least five are required)
   • All of the external review letters must be included. These should be from reviewers above the rank of the candidate being considered. If the circumstances necessitate letters from out-of-rank reviewers, those should be explained.
   • We urge you to stress with your deans that the external letters should be truly evaluative. While letters from persons who have served as a candidate's thesis adviser or major collaborator can be especially helpful (because they can be presumed to have a good sense of both the person and the work), it is also true that their own reputations are involved in the work being evaluated. If such letters are included, they must be in addition to the minimum requirement of five. Letters from persons who may be unknown to the candidate but who may have a clear sense of the significance of the research are of greater value
9. Internal Review Letters
   • Internal review letters are not required, although they may be helpful if they are from faculty in other units who can attest to the value of a faculty member's work, particularly interdisciplinary and non-standard work and scholarship that may be difficult to assess using traditional assessment tools.
10. Evaluative Comments of the Unit's Executive Committee (optional)

4. Original Promotion Recommendations

• The original signed Promotion Recommendations for instructional faculty should accompany the binders in a separate envelope or folder. If you have questions, please contact Diane Vasquez (763-6789) for clarification.
• The promotion recommendation is a summary document. Please note that all supporting documentation should be retained in each candidate's departmental personnel file for six years beyond the current fiscal year.

5. Non-Discrimination Review of Promotion and Tenure Decisions

• The University is committed to ensuring that all individuals are treated fairly and that persons of color and women are not disadvantaged because of their race or gender. In reviewing faculty for promotions, schools and colleges are reminded of these responsibilities, and are encouraged to consider such promotions carefully to assure that neither rank nor tenure relationships are affected negatively by considerations of gender or race.
• Use the attached form, "Record of Review for Faculty Promotion and Tenure Actions Effective Academic Year 2000-2001" (Attachment B) for each individual formally reviewed at the department level or above (see memo). (Use either names or social security numbers; these documents will be accorded complete confidentiality.) Indicate the results of the school/college reviews.
• These forms for all individuals should accompany the binders in a separate envelope or folder.
• Your timely cooperation in gathering the requested promotion and tenure information is necessary to meet our non-discrimination commitments. If you have any questions regarding these procedures, please contact Diane Vasquez at 734-763-6789.