Promotion and Tenure Policies - March 1, 2002

The Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Committee shall be the Personnel and Budget Committee. All members of the P&T Committee, regardless of rank, shall participate in the evaluation of all candidates for promotion unless there is a conflict of interest.

The term "appropriate faculty" refers to all tenured faculty members at or above the rank to which the candidate desires to be promoted. When a candidate is considered for tenure and/or for promotion to associate professor, "appropriate faculty" refers to all tenured associate and full professors. The "appropriate faculty" for a candidate considered for promotion to full professor consists of all tenured full professors. When a candidate is considered for tenure and promotion to full professor, the consideration is done in two stages: The appropriate faculty for the tenure part consists of the tenured faculty while the appropriate faculty for the promotion part consists of the tenured full professors. For academic professionals, "appropriate faculty" includes all tenure-track faculty, and academic professionals at or above the rank for which the candidate is applying. The "appropriate faculty" for a lecturer applying for promotion to senior lecturer includes all tenure-track faculty and senior lecturers.

To be recommended for tenure in the Department of Mathematics, a faculty member must demonstrate effectiveness in teaching, must establish a record of excellence and creativity in scholarly research, and must participate in service to the University and the profession. In assessing the merits of a candidate's record, teaching and research are weighted more heavily than service. An excellent record in teaching or research can compensate for a positive but not outstanding record in the other; however, an outstanding record in one area can not offset a poor record in the other.

1. Teaching

2. Research

3. Service

1. Promotion to associate professor (with tenure) from assistant professor. The criteria are the same as those for the granting of tenure in Section B.

2. Promotion to full professor from associate professor. A successful candidate for promotion to full professor is expected to have become a leading researcher in his or her discipline; to have demonstrated excellence in teaching; and to have made contributions in service to the University, the community, and the profession at a level higher than that expected of candidates for promotion to associate professor.

The candidate is expected to satisfy the criteria in section B. In addition, the candidate is expected to have a substantial body of high quality research indicating that the candidate is a leading researcher in the discipline. Supervision of publishable Master's theses or Ph.D. dissertations is considered to be a contribution to research.

1. Application for promotion or tenure. At least one week before the beginning of the spring break of each academic year, the Department Chair writes to each faculty member eligible for promotion/tenure to determine whether he or she wishes to apply for consideration during the following academic year. Persons wishing to be considered for promotion/tenure shall inform the Chair of that wish by April 1. A decision to decline consideration does not prejudice future consideration except in the case of a non-tenured faculty member in the last year of a probationary appointment. Similarly, a candidate who is not in the last year of a probationary appointment may withdraw at any stage in the consideration process and such a decision will not prejudice future considerations. If a faculty member applies for promotion or tenure, then the consideration process continues through each stage and is halted only in the case that the applicant withdraws from consideration.

2. Materials supplied by candidate. Each candidate submits appropriate material to the Department Chair on or before April 15. This material shall include

3. Soliciting Letters from Referees. A 3-member ad hoc review committee for each candidate considered for promotion will be appointed by the P&T committtee for the coming academic year, the new P&T committee, by May 1. The main charge of each ad hoc committee is to document and to summarize the evidence about the candidate's case. It shall consist of faculty at or above the rank to which the candidate aspires, shall be chaired by a member of the new P&T Committee, and shall contain at least one faculty member in the candidate's research area (if possible) and at least one faculty member in another area of the mathematical sciences.

By May 15, after consultation with the ad hoc review committee, the new P&T Committee provides the Department Chair with a ranked list of recommendations for external evaluators. For candidates for promotion to Associate Professor, six evaluations shall be solicited, and exactly three of the external referees shall be selected from the candidate's list. For candidates for promotion to Full Professor, eight evaluations shall be solicited and exactly four of the referees chosen shall come from the candidate's list. All referees should have sufficient experience in the discipline to judge the candidate's research: for example, an assistant professor should not be asked to review the work of a candidate for Associate Professor. Normally, the candidate's Ph.D. advisor should not be one of the reviewers.

The Department Chair may contact the referees starting May 15 in order to determine that the referees will be able and willing to write letters of recommendations. If a referee indicates that he/she will not write such a letter, the Department Chair shall approach the next referee from the same ranked list. By the last work day on or before June 30, the Department Chair shall send uniform letters to the referees on the Committee's list soliciting letters of evaluation. The letters shall be accompanied by the candidate's vita, personal statement, and research publications selected by the candidate. The external referees are given until the first working day of the fall semester to review the material (ACD 506-07, 10.e). A staff member shall verify that each referee received the letter. At an appropriate time, the Department Chair shall send reminders to referees who have not responded. If a referee is unable or unwilling to finish the review, the chair shall ask the next referee from the same ranked list.

4. Discussion by appropriate faculty. Later in the Fall semester, with precise dates governed by the College's calendar for promotion and tenure decisions, but no later than three weeks before the College deadline, however, the Chair of the P&T Committee calls a meeting of the appropriate faculty and the Department Chair for a discussion of the candidate's record relative to the Department's standards for promotion and tenure. The discussion of the candidate's record at the meeting shall include a careful analysis of the reports of the external evaluators and the conclusions to be drawn from these reports. Each candidate shall be discussed and evaluated based on his or her individual qualifications; candidates shall not be ranked. Following discussion of each aspect of each candidate's application a vote is taken by secret ballot with space for comments; only appropriate faculty who are present at the meeting may vote. Faculty unable to attend the meeting may submit written comments to the Chair of the P&T Committee; comments that have been submitted in a timely manner shall be read at the meeting. Faculty and academic professionals who attend the meeting are required to sign a statement that they were present at the meeting; this statement shall be kept confidential except in the event of an appeal by the candidate.

5. Summary statements. Taking into consideration all available evidence of the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate's record, the assessments of the merits of the candidate's performance by the appropriate faculty and the reports of the external evaluators, the P&T Committee decides whether to recommend the candidate for promotion and/or tenure. The P&T Committee prepares for the appropriate faculty a summary statement providing the rationale for its decision; the summary statement shall include the outcome from the voting. Should there be strong disagreement among the members of the P&T Committee or the appropriate faculty, this statement can include majority and minority views. The P&T summary statement shall be made available to the appropriate faculty for comments in a timely manner before it is sent to the College. Independently, the Department Chair decides whether to recommend the candidate for promotion/tenure and prepares a separate summary statement providing the rationale for this decision. The two summary statements should not include the names or affiliations of the external reviewers.

6. Notification. In cases of promotion the Chair shall provide a general oral statement regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the application as the review is completed at each level. In tenure cases the Chair will orally inform the candidate of the recommendation. This notification, after the conclusion of the P&T and Chair's reviews, shall take place at least one working day before the materials are to be forwarded to the College, so that the candidate may withdraw his/her case from consideration, unless this conflicts with original terms of his/her offer letter in which dates are specified by which time a tenure case needs to be considered.

7. To the College. The Department Chair forwards to the Dean the folders of all remaining candidates. A candidate's folder shall contain (a) the summary statement of the P & T Committee, (b) the summary statement of the Department Chair, (c) supporting materials provided by the candidate, (d) all letters received from external evaluators, and (e) pertinent College and University forms.

8. Last year of a probationary appointment. In the case of a non-tenured faculty member in the last year of a probationary appointment, the consideration shall be initiated automatically and shall continue through all stages of the consideration process, unless the faculty member requests in writing that the consideration process be halted. Candidates in the last year of a probationary appointment must submit a letter of resignation in order to avoid the tenure process.

9. Confidentiality. In order to allow for full and frank discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate, it is essential that the deliberations of the appropriate faculty and the P & T Committee be kept confidential. In particular, the detailed comments of external evaluators as well as the identity and affiliation of these persons must be kept confidential. Violations of the principal of confidentiality as it applies to personnel concerns constitute a serious breach of professional ethics, and seriously jeopardize the ability of the Department to conduct its affairs in an effective and professional manner.

10. The policies of this document are effective for all candidates that are considered for promotion/tenure after March 1, 2002. Candidates that are considered for promotion/tenure before that date can choose to have their applications processed either according to the promotion and tenure policies approved April 27, 1999, or to the policies of this document.

The procedures for promotion and continuing status decisions for academic professionals are the same as those for faculty members, except that some or all of the letters for academic professionals may be requested from persons within the University. Six letters shall be requested for academic professionals.

The criteria used for evaluation of academic professionals are:

1. Criteria for promotion. To be recommended for promotion to senior lecturer, a lecturer shall normally have a doctorate in the mathematical sciences or closely related area, and at least five years of experience in teaching mathematics at the college level. The Department of Mathematics expects that this teaching has been full-time: applicants for promotion to senior lecturer should normally have been lecturers for four or more years.

The candidate must be an outstanding teacher in First-Year Mathematics, as evidenced in student evaluations and written evaluations by faculty members, and shall have substantially contributed to other instructional activities and demonstrated leadership in the Department's educational mission in First-Year Mathematics. The candidate must also have a record of exemplary service The candidate must also have a record of exemplary service in the Department, College, or University, and in the overall First Year Mathematics program or outreach. Service activities included in the evaluation are discussed in Section B.3.

2. Procedure. Requests for promotion to senior lecturer should occur at the time of the normal contract review, as specified by University and College policies. The Chair will inform all candidates being considered for renewal of their lecturer contract of

i) the procedures for consideration for promotion to the rank of senior lecturer,

ii) a date, no sooner than two weeks after the initial notification of the procedures, by which they must notify the Chair of their desire to be considered for promotion to senior lecturer, and

iii) of the date by which all materials must be submitted for the contract renewal and promotion consideration.

a. By that date, a lecturer desiring promotion to senior lecturer shall supply the Department Chair with:

(1) Academic training.

(2) Chronological list of employment.

(3) Courses taught and additional instructional activities.

(4) Honors, awards, and other special recognition of teaching excellence.

• A list of three department members at or above the rank of senior lecturer willing to write letters of recommendation for the candidate. It is the candidate's responsibility to ask those department members to provide these letters of recommendation to the Department Chair by the same specified date.

• A self assessment including a personal statement describing the candidate's teaching philosophy, experience, and goals.

• Optional additional materials to support the case, including, but not limited to, written testimonials from former students, copies of lecture notes or other classroom materials, or evidence of attendance at conferences, workshops, etc., devoted to improvement of teaching.

b. Discussion by Appropriate Faculty. No later than three weeks before the College deadline for the submission of the candidate's materials a faculty meeting will be called for all faculty at the rank of senior lecturer and above. The discussion at the meeting shall include a careful analysis of the candidate's record in teaching and service. Each candidate will be evaluated on the based on his or her individual qualifications; candidates shall not be ranked. Following the discussion of each candidate for promotion a vote will be taken by secret ballot, with space for comments. Only the faculty present at the meeting may vote. Faculty unable to attend the meeting may submit written comments to the Chair of the P&T Committee; comments that have been submitted in a timely manner shall be read at the meeting. All faculty present at the meeting will be required to sign a statement that they were present at the meeting; this statement will be kept confidential in the event of an appeal by the candidate.

c. Summary Statements. Taking into consideration all available evidence of the strengths and weaknesses of the cancidate's record, the assessments of the merits of the candidate's performance by the appropriate faculty, the P&T committee decides whether to recommend the candidate for promotion, and prepares a summary statement for the College. Should there be strong disagreement among the members of the P&T committee, or the appropriate faculty, this statement can include majority and minority views. Independently, the Department Chair decides whether to recommend the candidate for promotion and prepares a summary statement providing the rationale for this decision.

d. The Department Chair then forwards each candidate's folder to the Dean. The folder shall contain (1) the summary statements of the Chair and the P&T Committee, (2) the candidate's vitae and self assessment, (3) student and peer teaching evaluations, (4) letters of recommendation, (5) a job description approved by the candidate's supervisor, and (6) pertinent College and University Forms.