Part III. College Policies and Procedures

The College Tenure and Promotion Committee shall review the written standards from the candidate's department and make a judgment regarding the candidate's achievement of those standards. The College Committee also shall examine the candidate's credentials relative to the College guidelines and the Faculty Handbook to ensure that the professional expectations of the College and University have been achieved. Finally, this Committee shall review the candidate's potential for future growth and development based on the evidence presented in the candidate's materials as well as the evaluative comments of the Department Tenure and Promotion Committee and Department Chair.

CAS Promotion Committee Selection Process 

One representative from each tenure-granting unit in CAS serves on the CAS promotion and tenure committee for a two-year term starting in an odd or even year according to the table below.  A unit with 10 or fewer full-time faculty may opt to partner with another unit to have one joint representative.  A joint representative is expected to serve as an expert on the expectations for promotion and tenure in both units.   

Tenure-granting units are broken into three groups (A, B, C) in the table below for the purpose of determining tenured and non-tenure-track representatives on the CAS promotion committee.  Group A units will start terms for non-tenure-track faculty representatives in Fall 2024 and every third year thereafter.  Group B units will start terms for non-tenure-track faculty representatives in Fall 2025 and every third year thereafter.  Group C units will start terms for non-tenure-track faculty representatives in Fall 2026 and every third year thereafter.  Tenured faculty terms will start in any other years.  At least half of the tenured representatives and at least half of the non-tenure-track representatives should be at the rank of professor with remaining representatives holding the rank of associate professor (once promotions result in a sufficient number of non-tenure-track professors to achieve this goal). 

The Dean will make appointments for one tenure-granting unit from each group (A, B, C) annually to be selected at their discretion, with the intent to rotate appointments among units and appointment types.  After the expiration of the two-year term of any dean’s appointee, the next representative of that unit must be elected.   

The College Tenure and Promotion Committee shall be self-governing within the following expectations:

1. The dean’s office shall schedule meetings. The Dean shall assemble the Committee for its initial meeting in late September or early October of each year to provide the committee with its charge.
   
   
2. The Committee must have a quorum of two-thirds (2/3) members eligible to vote on a dossier present to review and vote on the dossier.
   
   
3. Candidate materials, including the recommendation documents of both the Departmental Tenure & Promotion Committee and the Department Chair, shall be made available to the committee electronically by the dean’s office.
   
   
4. Each Committee member shall be expected to review the files of all applicants the committee member is eligible to discuss and vote on.
   
   
   • • Promotion of non-tenure-track assistant professor candidates: Tenured representatives and non-tenure-track representatives who contribute to the aspects of the university mission in a non-tenure track candidate’s workload will make recommendations (for example, an associate professor of teaching with no research workload will not participate in promotion of a research assistant professor). 
     • Promotion of non-tenure-track associate professor candidates:  Tenured representatives with the rank of professor and non-tenure-track representatives with the rank of professor who contribute to the aspects of the university mission in a non-tenure track candidate’s workload will make recommendations. 
     • Promotion and/or tenure of tenure-track assistant professor candidates:  Tenured representatives will make recommendations. 
     • Promotion of tenured associate professor candidates:  Tenured representatives with the rank of professor will make recommendations. 
     • Note:  In 2024, representatives of units in odd year columns will serve a one-year term to produce staggered of terms going forward. 
5. All candidates shall be considered individually, without comparison to other candidates. The vote on all candidates shall be reported to the Dean after all voting is completed. The ballots must be retained by the dean’s office for three years.
   
   
6. Committee members must excuse themselves when candidates from their departments are discussed and voted upon.
   
   
7. All members eligible to vote as noted in the description of the committee composition above shall vote by secret ballot. Each member shall vote yes, no, or abstain. Abstentions shall not be considered in determining the majority. Tie votes shall be reported simply as such, not as positive or negative recommendations.
   
   
8. In all decisions on tenure and/or promotion, the Committee shall include a written rationale for its vote that accurately reflects both strengths and weaknesses of the candidate’s performance and how those were balanced into the committee recommendation.
   
   
9. Committee members shall maintain complete confidentiality regarding deliberations of the Committee.
   
   
10. The Committee Chair shall complete and sign the recommendation reports and forward them to the Dean.
    
    
11. The Dean shall prepare a recommendation and report based on available material. Subsequently, the Dean shall forward all appropriate forms and his/her report/recommendation as well as those of the Department Chair and both the College and Department Tenure and Promotion Committee to the Office of the Provost.
    
    
12. When a senior faculty member is hired with the expectation of tenure, the Committee shall convene a special meeting to examine the faculty member's credentials. The Committee's recommendation shall then be sent forward through the Dean, Provost, and President for consideration at the earliest possible Board of Trustees meeting.

Part I. The Dossier for Tenure and Promotion
Part II. Department Policies and Procedures
Part III. College-Level Policy and Procedures for Tenure and Promotion
Part IV. Approvals
Tenure and Promotion Calendar