Departmental Responsibilities
(In colleges, schools, or divisions
without departments, all of the requirements for departmental action
devolve upon the college or division.)
The department bears the major burden of defining standards, specifying
the procedures to be followed in deciding whether the standards are met,
and judging the credentials submitted in support of each application for
promotion. Minimum requirements for the satisfactory discharge of these
departmental responsibilities include:
- After approval by the appropriate college committee, dean, the
University Committee on Promotions and Tenure, and the Provost (see
below), promotion criteria, policies, and practices must be published
and distributed to all members of the department, to the appropriate
committees and University officials, and to the University Faculty
Senate through its Committee on Promotions and Tenure.
- Changes in promotion and tenure statements, which should be made only
for the most compelling reasons, should first be sent to the
appropriate college committee and dean. They should then be
forwarded to the University Committee on Promotions and Tenure and to
the Provost, both of whom will review the proposals for compliance
with general University guidelines and suggest revisions if
necessary. Upon acceptance of the revised document, they will sign
and date it to signify its approval. Proposed changes to existing
statements must be submitted to the University Committee and Provost
by March 1 to become effective by September 1.
- The specific criteria upon which recommendations are based must be
clearly set forth in the formal statement of promotion policies and
procedures of the department. The qualities and achievements taken
into account by the department in making its decisions have to be
explicitly described. The kinds of evidence by which the attainment
of the stated criteria is to be judged must also be specified in the
published statement, as must the specific weight given the various
criteria and the kinds of evidence to be submitted in support of
their having been met.
- Departmental promotion and tenure procedures must be democratic.
Although the application of this principle will obviously vary from
department to department, certain ground rules have to be observed.
The department's promotion and tenure committee should be constituted
and operated in such a fashion that due respect is given to the
opinions and advice of all faculty who are at or above the rank to
which a candidate seeks promotion. (Departments lacking one or
several full professors should solicit participation by full
professors from kindred departments whenever a person seeks promotion
to that rank.) The committee should also consult with the department
chairperson, who should offer counsel but not participate in its
final deliberations nor vote on its recommendation. The committee
should meet formally and follow recognized procedures.
- The department's statement of recommendations and decisions, which
should indicate the numerical vote, describe the committee's
composition and explain the reasons for the decision, must be
transmitted in writing to the candidate and to other individuals and
committees reviewing the dossier. When they arise, signed minority
opinions may be forwarded as appendices to the committee's
recommendations.
- The recommendations of the department committee shall be forwarded to
the department chairperson, who will review the evidence submitted by
the candidate, the report of the committee, and the stated criteria,
and make a recommendation supporting or failing to support the
candidacy. The chairperson should explain, in writing, the decision
to the candidate and to the department committee.
- If the department committee and chairperson agree in recommending
promotion, or if either or both recommend against promotion but the
candidate chooses not to withdraw it, the application goes forward to
the college committee and the dean, together with the committee's and
the chairperson's recommendations.
March 23, 1995