AHSS Promotion and Tenure Procedural Guidelines
April 2002

These guidelines are to supplement the University of Denver Faculty Personnel Guidelines Relating to Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure, revised in 2001 and approved by the Board of Trustees on June 8, 2001.
 

Department level:

1. Participants:

A. departmental tenure and promotion committee - rank and number of participants to be determined by departmental by-laws
B. department chair

2. Timing:

A. Spring: produce list of external reviewers with input from candidate (see 3.,B.,7. below)
B. July: contact external reviewers and receive their agreement to serve - ten contacts is a good number with which to start; AHSS strongly recommends at least five external reviews; the Faculty Personnel Guidelines require at least three
C. September: send candidate's materials to external reviewers with November 1 as the deadline for receiving external reviewers' reports
D. November/December: read reports from external reviewers and begin to prepare:  1) the departmental tenure and promotion committee recommendation, and 2) the department chair recommendation
E. January: finalize the departmental recommendation and the chair recommendation
F. February 1: submit the departmental recommendation and the chair recommendation to the Dean's Office

3. Candidate's Material (compiled by department):

A. collected in a binder (ten copies) with tabs, which should read:

1. department chair's statement
2. departmental tenure and promotion committee's statement
3. candidate's statement
4. candidate's curriculum vitae
5. committee service
6. sample letter sent to external reviewers
7. external reviews
8. courses taught
9. teaching evaluations
10. annual performance reports and chair's evaluations
11. mid-tenure departmental review report
12. supporting materials - contents

B. description of material:

1. department chair's statement:

a. addresses the candidate's teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, and University service as a separate recommendation from that of the departmental tenure and promotion committee; addresses the candidate's level of distinction and promise for continued professional growth
b. explains how the candidate's teaching and research/scholarship/creative activity fit into the department's program and into the candidate's field of study
c. describes the stature and nature of the candidate's publication outlets and/or sites of public creative activity
d. compares the qualifications of the candidate for tenure and/or promotion with the qualifications of other individuals who might be available to the department
e. summarizes the rationale for the recommendation

2. departmental tenure and promotion committee's statement:

a. addresses the candidate's teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, and University service as a separate recommendation from that of the department chair; addresses the candidate's level of distinction and promise for continued professional growth
b. explains how the candidate's teaching and research/scholarship/creative activity fit into the department's program and into the candidate's field of study
c. describes the stature and nature of the candidate's publication outlets and/or sites of public creative activity
d. compares the qualifications of the candidate for tenure and/or promotion with the qualifications of other individuals who might be available to the department
e. summarizes the rationale for the recommendation

3. candidate's statement:

a. addresses the candidate's general views and philosophy of teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, and University service
b. explains how the candidate's teaching and research/scholarship/creative activity fit into the department's program and into the candidate's field of study
c. projects how the candidate's teaching and research/scholarship/creative activity will develop in the next few years

4. candidate's curriculum vitae:

a. personal information: full name; home address; University address
b. education and training, with degrees and dates
c. professional employment, with most recent position listed first
d. professional association/society memberships
e. publications: books, monographs, refereed professional journal articles, refereed book chapters, non-refereed professional journal articles, non-refereed book chapters, and book reviews listed in a standard bibliographic format; all references should distinguish among materials that are "published," "accepted for publication" (include projected date of publication), and "submitted for publication"; all jointly-published material should distinguish between primary and secondary authorship
f. performing arts and art contributions: exhibitions, productions, recitals, performances, etc.; all references should distinguish among invited, competitive, juried and non-juried, single-artist and multi-artist contributions
g. professional conference participation and lectures: papers presented, panel participation (chairing, commenting, organizing), roundtable participation, poster sessions, lectures, etc.
h. professional contributions: editorial board membership, manuscript reviewing, jury participation, grant reviewing, etc.
i. research grants: external funding and University of Denver funding
j. miscellaneous: service, awards, honors

5.   committee service: departmental, divisional, and University committee and other service, listing types and dates
6. sample letter sent to external reviewers: relevant questions include "how would you compare the candidate's work and professional reputation to those of others in the field at a similar stage in their careers?"; "where on the scale of mediocre to outstanding do you place the candidate's work?"; "what is your view of the recognition achieved by the candidate thus far, and what is your view of the candidate's future potential?"; external reviewers should be made aware of the nature of the department in which the candidate resides (e.g., doctoral program or not; graduate program or not); please ask the external reviewers to state their relationship to the candidate (e.g., professional colleague, but does not know personally; dissertation advisor; co-author, etc.)
7. external reviewers: ten contacts is a good number with which to start; AHSS strongly recommends that at least five external reviews be included in the tenure and promotion or promotion material presented to the divisional committee and the Dean; the University of Denver Faculty Personnel Guidelines require at least three; guidelines for selecting external reviewers:

a. both the candidate and the committee (and department chair) should submit in writing the names of possible external reviewers
b. the committee has the right, but not the obligation, to limit the candidate's suggestions to no more than one-half of the final list of possible reviewers
c. the committee shall share with the candidate the final list of possible reviewers; each reviewer should be identified as selected by the candidate, by the department committee (or department  chair), or both
d. the committee should ensure an adequate representation of external reviewers not personally closely associated with the candidate, e.g., dissertation advisors, co-authors
e. the committee or the department chair -- not the candidate -- should request the letters from the possible external reviewers
f. material sent to the external reviewers may include published and unpublished material submitted by the candidate; not all such material, however, must be sent to every external reviewer
g. faxed and e-mailed external reviews should ultimately be accompanied by a personally signed and dated letter if at all possible
h. telephoned evaluations are not acceptable
i. candidates may or may not be personally acquainted with the external reviewers; the dissertation advisor of the candidate is an acceptable reviewer but must be identified as such
j. an external reviewer must be recognized as a significant figure in the candidate's field and one whose appraisal would be of value in the University's deliberations
k. the committee or the department chair must provide a brief biographical statement of each external reviewer, including a judgment of stature in the field and a partial list of publications         

8. courses taught: complete listing of courses taught each year, with course numbers, titles, and quarter in which taught; for candidates for promotion to full professor, only courses taught since attaining the rank of associate professor are necessary
9. teaching evaluations: (please see suggested organizational template)

a. summaries of student evaluations should be presented for each class taught by the candidate; these summaries should identify the course by number and title, with student  enrollment included; the typical summary would list the average numerical scores for each of the student evaluation criteria (e.g. "preparation," "knowledge," etc., using the current evaluation form); those summaries should be set alongside, for comparison purposes, departmental courses and Core courses taught by other faculty members
b. other evaluations of teaching are also appropriate (and especially necessary, if, for some reason, the student evaluation forms are missing for some courses); these include reports of class visits by other department members, and letters from students and alumni addressing the candidate's teaching, among other evaluations

10. annual performance reports and chair's evaluations: the candidate's annual performance (self-) reports and the chair's annual written evaluations
11. mid-tenure departmental review report
12. supporting materials: list of contents of the supporting materials sent to the Dean's office and available for the perusal of the divisional tenure and promotion committee and the Dean; there should be only one such collection of material, sent to the Dean's office, that would include, for instance, published and unpublished research, course syllabi, slides of art work, music scores, concert or gallery programs, writtten reviews of the candidate's work, etc.

4. Procedure:

A. all committee votes must be taken by secret ballot
B. all committee deliberations must remain confidential in all respects (with exceptions granted only by the Provost)
C. the departmental recommendation shall be communicated to the candidate in writing
D. if the departmental and/or chair recommendation is negative, and if the candidate requests it, the candidate will be provided with a written memo stating the specific reasons for the negative recommendation

Divisional Level:

1. Participants:

A. Arts and Humanities: one member from each department, including, if possible, one untenured, tenure-track person;
B. Social Sciences: one member from each department including, if possible, one untenured, tenure-track person;
C. Dean: organizes and attends divisional committee meetings

2. Timing:

 A. early February:  receive recommendations and candidates' supporting material from departmental committees and department chairs
 B. March 15:  submit divisional committee recommendations to the Dean's Office

3. Procedure:

 A. select a chair from the committee members
 B. initial discussion of the candidate

1. each committee member indicates his or her relationship (professional and personal) to the candidate
2. the committee member from the candidate's department is requested to remain silent during this discussion unless asked for information
3. the committee member from the candidate's department may be requested to leave the room for a brief period of time during this discussion

C. straw vote - all committee members participate in the straw vote, including department committee member; taken after initial discussion to determine the need for further discussion
D. further discussion of the candidate - all committee members participate; the Dean may also participate in this discussion but may not attempt to influence the committee's recommendation
E. final vote - all committee members vote, using a secret and written ballot; the Dean does not vote but tabulates and announces outcome to the committee
F. assignment of responsibility to draft the committee's report to be sent to Provost, including minority report, if that is desired
G. marking and signing the final committee recommendation by each committee member (at this point, the votes by the committee members are no longer secret from the other divisional committee members, from the Dean, from the Provost, from the Chancellor, or from the Board of Trustees)
H. marking and signing the Dean's recommendation
I. forwarding the recommendations to the Provost
J. committee members may take notes prior to and during the deliberations; after recommendations have been made, all notes are submitted to the Dean for filing
K. all committee discussion is completely confidential; only the Dean may interpret--at his or her discretion--the substantive evaluation of the candidate by the committee
L. once the final document is signed, the Dean will contact the candidate and the candidate's chair with news of the committee's and the Dean's decisions