Appendix F.3 | Procedures for Tenure and Promotion Appeals Hearings

The Faculty Appeals Committee will use the following procedures when hearing tenure and promotion appeals in accordance with Appendix B.2.

F.3.A Hearing Schedule

The chair of Faculty Appeals Committee will contact the Faculty Senate Office to make all arrangements for the hearing. The hearing shall be scheduled no later than 30 days after receiving the request for the appeal from the faculty member. The chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee is responsible for ensuring that the grounds of the appeal are clearly defined in writing, and that both parties, the faculty member (“appellant”), the provost or a representative appointed by the provost (“appellee”), and the Faculty Appeals Committee fully understand the matter(s) to be resolved. The Faculty Appeals Committee will consider only the issues on the grounds described in Appendix B.2.

F.3.B Hearing Panel Composition

The chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee appoints a panel of six (6) members of the committee to hear the tenure and promotion appeal. Three (3) members must be selected from the president’s list, and three (3) members must be selected from the Faculty Senate’s list. The chair designates one of the six members to lead the panel hearing.  The panel lead must hold the rank of full professor. The chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee may appoint himself or herself as one of the six members of the hearing panel and/or may serve as the panel lead. It is the responsibility of the panel lead to moderate the hearing and maintain order.  The panel lead has the right to stop the hearing at any time if he or she determines that order cannot be maintained. If a hearing is stopped by the panel lead, the hearing panel will proceed to deliberate in executive session and shall decide to either a) reschedule the hearing for a later date or b) vote and make a final recommendation based on the information presented up to point that the hearing was stopped.

F.3.C Discovery

Documentary evidence pertinent to the tenure and promotion appeal may be submitted by the appellant and the appellee. If the ground for appeal is substantive procedural errors, as described in Appendix B.2A, the appellant shall provide a copy of the criteria and/or guidelines to the hearing panel. Character evidence, either documentary or by witnesses, may not be presented. All submitted evidence will be available to both parties. Documentary evidence should be submitted to the panel lead at least 72 hours before the formal hearing begins. The panel lead will distribute all such materials to both parties at least 48 hours before the formal hearing begins. Submission of such materials after that deadline requires the approval of the panel lead. The panel lead may request such materials from either party. Persons knowledgeable about the case may be called by either party, or by the panel lead. It can be difficult for a hearing panel to properly assess the quality of the appellant’s teaching and/or research in her or his discipline. Therefore, if the appellant intends to use the improper evaluation of teaching and/or research as a basis for appeal, it is recommended that he or she identify members of her or his field as expert witnesses to speak to the quality of the appellant’s accomplishments. Each party may question any person who appears before the panel. A list of witnesses should be submitted to the panel lead at least 5 days before the formal hearing begins. The panel lead may consult with the appellant or the appellee on their respective witness list and may reject a witness from either list if she or he believes the witness will not provide substantial and relevant information. The panel lead will inform each party of all persons to be called and will schedule the appearance of such persons.

F.3.D Advisors

Each party may make use of one advisor at the hearing. The appellant has the right to enlist a Faculty Appeals Advocate, as described in Appendix B.2, as his or her advisor. Advisors must be a member of the faculty, non-legal staff, or administration. Advisors may not address the hearing panel or witnesses during the hearing.

F.3.E Confidentiality

The hearing is confidential. Attendance at the hearing will be limited to the hearing panel, the faculty member and an advisor, and the administration’s representative and an advisor. Each of the above persons is permitted to be present for the entire hearing. Witnesses must wait outside the hearing room until called and must leave upon completion of their testimony. The hearing is recorded. The hearing panel and both parties will have access to the recordings. After the panel makes its recommendation(s), the recordings will be destroyed.

F.3.F Hearing Order

The order of presentation in the hearing will be:

1. The appellant will make her or his opening statement citing the ground(s) upon which the appeal is based and how she or he intends to prove the case. The opening statement should only be an overview of the appeal and shall be limited to ten minutes.
   
   
2. The appellee will make an opening statement to the panel to explain the process for reaching her or his decision on tenure and/or promotion and shall be limited to ten minutes.
   
   
3. The hearing panel will call for the appellant as a witness and appellant will state the details of her or his case, specifying each ground for appeal and substantiating each one in turn with proof. The appellant can only present the documentary evidence submitted during discovery as proof.
   
   
4. Once the appellant has concluded their statement of details of his or her case, the appellee may cross-examine the appellant.
   
   
5. Once the appellee has concluded his or her cross-examination of the appellant, the hearing panelists may question the appellant.
   
   
6. The hearing panel will call for the appellee as a witness and the appellee will state the details of her or his case, rebutting each ground for appeal made by the appellant. The appellee can only present the documentary evidence submitted during discovery to support their rebuttal.
   
   
7. Once the appellee has concluded their statement of details of his or her case, the appellant may cross-examine the appellee.
   
   
8. Once the appellant has concluded his or her cross-examination of the appellee, the hearing panelists may question the appellee.
   
   
9. The appellant calls her or his witnesses in the order he or she deems best and will question each witness first. Each witness for the appellant will be informed by the panel lead that they may respond to questions as they see fit. A witness has the right to refuse to answer, to ask for clarification, to answer portions of compound questions and to omit portions. Witness testimony should not be repetitive and should focus on providing information regarding the ground(s) for appeal.
   
   
10. Once the appellant has concluded their questions for a witness, the appellee may cross-examine the appellant’s witness.
    
    
11. Once the appellee has concluded his or her cross-examination of the witness, the hearing panel may question the appellant’s witness.
    
    
12. Once all the appellant’s witnesses have been called and questioned by the appellant, cross-examined by the appellee, and questioned by the hearing panel, the appellee may call his or her witnesses in the order he or she deems best. Each witness for the appellee will be informed by the panel lead that they may respond to questions as they see fit. A witness has the right to refuse to answer, to ask for clarification, to answer portions of compound questions and to omit portions. Witness testimony should not be repetitive and should focus on providing information regarding the points for rebuttal presented by the appellee.
    
    
13. Once the appellee has concluded their questions for a witness, the appellant may cross-examine the appellee’s witness.
    
    
14. Once the appellant has concluded his or her cross-examination of the witness, the hearing panel may question the appellee’s witness.
    
    
15. Once all the appellee’s witnesses have been called and questioned by the appellee, cross-examined by the appellant, and questioned by the hearing panel, the hearing panel will have the final opportunity to ask questions of the appellant, the appellee, and the hearing panel may recall a witness for further questioning.
    
    
16. The appellee will make a closing statement which shall be limited to ten minutes.
    
    
17. The appellant will make a closing statement which shall be limited to ten minutes.
    
    
18. All participants in the hearing are dismissed, and the panel will meet in executive session to reach its conclusions. The panel may move to immediate executive session or postpone to another time.

F.3.G Review and Vote of the Hearing Panel

During an executive session, the hearing panel will review the case and will take an anonymous vote on whether to recommend one of the following: (1) that one or more of the grounds were found to be valid by the weight of the evidence, and the committee believes that this adversely affected the ultimate recommendation; (2) that one or more of the grounds were found to be valid by the weight of the evidence, but the committee believes that this did not adversely affect the ultimate recommendation; or 3) that no grounds were found to exist. If the decision of the hearing panel is not unanimous, each panelist may submit an individual report with the rationale for her or his differing opinion. Within 15 days of the end of the hearing, the panel lead will prepare a written report summarizing the panel’s findings and recommendation(s) to the chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee. The summary shall anonymously include any written reports submitted by a hearing panelist which presents a dissenting opinion.

F.3.H Review by the Chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee

The chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee will review the findings and recommendation(s) of the hearing panel to ensure the language in the summary is consistent with similar reports prepared by the Faculty Appeals Committee, complies with university policy, and complies with applicable law. During his or her review, the chair may consult with the Office of Legal Counsel, Human Resources, and/or the members of the hearing panel. The chair will make every effort to resolve any concerns that he or she has regarding the written summary with the hearing panel. If the chair is unable to resolve his or her concerns with the hearing panel, the chair may prepare a separate written report documenting his or her concerns.

F.3.I Dissemination

The chair of the Faculty Appeals Committee will share the written recommendations of the hearing panel, the vote of the hearing panel, and the report of the chair, if applicable, with the faculty member, department chair, dean, provost, and president.