General Principles

The procedures for research-track promotion decision making (hereafter “procedures”) establish a uniform system of procedures for evaluating the progress of research-track faculty in the College of Education. These are procedures only. For University policies regarding criteria for promotion of research-track faculty members, refer to section III-10.6(2) of the Policy Manual. In the College of Education, these criteria are outlined under the Research-track Faculty Appointment and Review policy document. The substantive standards contained therein must be satisfied and are not affected by these procedures.

These procedures rely upon several principles: 

(1) Decisions granting or denying promotion should be based on a written record of achievement. 

(2) The content of the record that will be relied upon should be known by the candidate and the decision makers, except as otherwise provided for in these procedures. 

(3) Except for variation related to the nature of the candidate’s academic activity, the content of the record should be the same for all candidates in the same academic unit. 

(4) The governing procedures should be the same for all candidates across the University, except where conditions or academic cultures justify variation among colleges or among departments within a college. 

(5) University and collegiate procedures should be applied consistently to all candidates. 

(6) Each faculty member participating in the promotion decision-making process may do so at only one level of the process: departmental, collegiate, or provostial. Faculty members with collegiate or provostial administrative appointments of 50% or greater shall participate in their administrative office, except in rare and special circumstances at the discretion of the Provost.

1. Definitions

A “candidate” is any research-track faculty member who has indicated his or her interest in being reviewed for promotion in accordance with the college’s written procedures governing promotion decision making.

The “dossier” is the set of primary materials assembled by the candidate as described in section I.B. (3) of this document. The dossier contains appendices all or part of which may be transmitted with the dossier to successive participants in the process as described in section I.B. (4).

The term “scholarship” refers to creative work as well as traditional research and publication section I.B. (3) (c) of this document.

The rank qualification listed as “responsibilities in the research enterprise” is defined in these promotion procedures as service.

The “Promotion Record” is the dossier plus all of the materials that are added to it and transmitted to successive participants in the evaluation process.

The “Departmental Consulting Group” (DCG) consists of all tenured, tenure-track, clinical-track, and research-track faculty at or above the rank being sought by the candidate, excluding the collegiate Dean and Provost, faculty with collegiate or provostial administrative appointments of 50% or greater, and any faculty member with a disqualifying conflict of interest.  If there are fewer than four eligible faculty and/or if there are no eligible research-track faculty to serve as members of the DCG, the Dean, in consultation with the eligible faculty, will identify additional faculty outside the department so that the DCG consists of a minimum of four faculty and has research-track faculty representation. The Dean may elect to add additional research-track faculty from outside the department.

The “Collegiate Consulting Group” (CCG) consists of faculty appointed by the Dean in consultation with the Departmental Executive Officers (DEOs). The Collegiate Consulting Group will consist of four or five tenured full professors in the College appointed to the Group for a three-year term.  Each DEO will forward the name of a departmental representative to the Dean, who may appoint one full professor at large for the purpose of creating additional perspectives and diversity in the Group’s deliberations. The Dean will appoint a chair of the Group from among its members.  When the CCG is to consider a promotion request from a research-track faculty member, the Dean will appoint a research-track professor, if available in the college, to fully participate in the Group discussion, vote, and recommendation.  The full membership is to be established no later than October 15.

The term "Departmental Executive Officer" or DEO, as used throughout the procedures, refers to the person or entity who has been expressly designated by the college to perform one or more of the functions assigned by these procedures to the DEO.

The term “Center Director,” as used throughout the procedures, refers to the director of the primary center or entity where the research-track faculty member is affiliated. If there are center co-directors or the faculty member is affiliated with more than one center, the college will expressly designate one person to perform the functions assigned by these procedures to the Center Director.

“Participate” means to have input into a promotion decision, including but not limited to such activities as preparing a written report or review of the candidate’s work, participating in a formal discussion of the candidate’s qualifications, voting on a recommendation for or against promotion, or providing consultation except as provided for elsewhere in these procedures.

2. Basis for Evaluation:  The Promotion Record

The qualifications of a candidate for promotion will be determined on the basis of the Promotion Record, which, when it reaches the Office of the Provost, will consist of the following material preferably in the order listed:

1. the “Recommendation for Faculty Promotion” cover sheet
2. the collegiate Dean’s letter making a recommendation to the Provost;
3. the recommendation and vote (and report, if any) of the CCG;
4. the DEO’s letter making a recommendation to the Dean;
5. the recommendation, vote and report of the DCG;
6. any letters or written response submitted by the candidate at specified stages of the process to correct errors in the internal peer evaluations of the candidate’s scholarship and service, or to respond to a letter or report of the DEO, DCG, Dean, or CCG;
7. the candidate’s Curriculum Vitae (CV) in the college’s standard format which documents the candidate’s educational and professional history;
8. a section on the candidate’s scholarship, including
   1. the candidate’s personal statement on scholarship,
   2. documentation of internal and external peer evaluation of the candidate’s scholarship, and
   3. all other materials related to the candidate’s scholarship, including those specified in I.B.(3)(c) and (e) of this document;
9. a section on the candidate’s service, including
   1. the candidate’s personal statement on service,
   2. documentation of internal and external peer evaluation of the candidate’s service, and 
   3. all other materials related to the candidate’s service, including those specified in I.B.(3)(d) and (e) of this document.
10. supplementary material to be added to the Promotion Record as expressly provided in these or Collegiate procedures, entered in the appropriate section of the Record. Materials added to the original dossier or materials in the original dossier that are amended, should be labeled as such, including the date when added or amended and with amendments clearly marked.

3. Other Considerations

Any candidate who wants to be considered for promotion must inform the Departmental Executive Officer (DEO) in writing no later than May 31 of the intent to submit a dossier for the next academic year. The DEO will then inform the Dean and the Center Director no later than June 1.

A candidate has the right to withdraw his or her dossier from further consideration at any point before the Provost has made his/her final decision regarding promotion. If a candidate withdraws his or her dossier from further consideration, the original dossier, including appendices and any supplemental materials added by the candidate, shall be returned to the candidate. All other materials in the Promotion Record at the time of withdrawal shall be returned to the candidate’s department, which shall retain them following the normal departmental or collegiate schedule for retention of promotion materials. The candidate shall not have access to these materials.

In the case of a joint-appointment candidacy for promotion, the departments involved will follow the procedures described in Appendix A of this document. 

These procedures apply to research-track faculty members only.

Overview of Research Track Promotion Decision-making Procedures

Sequential Development of Promotion Record through Decision-Makers:

1. Candidate and DEO^* compile dossier
2. Internal peer evaluation of scholarship
3. Internal peer evaluation of service
4. Candidate’s opportunity to respond
5. External peer evaluation of scholarship
6. External peer evaluation of service
7. Departmental Consulting Group’s vote and report
8. Candidate’s opportunity to respond
9. DEO’s letter to Dean
10. Candidate’s opportunity to respond, if DEO’s recommendation is negative
11. Collegiate Consulting Group’s vote and summary report, if any**
12. Candidate’s opportunity to respond**
13. Dean’s letter to Provost
14. Candidate’s opportunity to respond, if Dean’s recommendation is negative
15. Provost’s recommendation to the Board of Regents

*DEO will consult with the Center Director as appropriate.

**If recommendation is negative and contrary to DEO or DCG recommendation

Promotion Decision Making Procedures

1. Department Level Procedures
   1. It is the DEO’s responsibility to inform the candidate in writing in the year of appointment to a research track position and in the year of any contract renewal of the material that is required to be included in the promotion dossier, and of the candidate's responsibility to compile and submit the dossier by the specified date in the academic year of the promotion decision. The DEO may consult with the Center Director as needed throughout the department level procedures.
   2. The Dossier
      1. It is the candidate’s responsibility, with the advice of the DEO, to compile and submit substantive material for inclusion in the promotion dossier (the core of the Promotion Record) on or before September 1 of the academic year in which the promotion decision is to be made. To assist candidates, after receiving notification that the candidate is seeking promotion, the Dean’s Office will provide an electronic document library and instructions to be used in preparing the dossier.
      2. It is the responsibility of the DEO to advise the candidate in compiling material for the dossier, to complete the compilation of the dossier (and subsequently to complete compilation of the Promotion Record by adding materials to it throughout the decision-making process), and to ensure to the greatest extent possible that the Promotion Record serves as a fair and accurate evaluation of the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, and is not purely a record of advocacy for the candidate. The responsibility to advise the candidate in compiling the dossier material is not limited to the immediate period of the promotion review, but rather is an ongoing responsibility that begins when the faculty member is appointed to the department.
      3. The dossier will contain the following, in the order listed unless otherwise noted. A current CV in the college’s standard format may be used in place of the individual items listed below, provided that either all the listed elements are contained in the CV or any missing elements are supplied separately.
         1. the “Recommendation for Faculty Promotion” cover sheet, with the section that is to be filled out by the candidate completed;
         2. a record of the candidate’s educational and professional history (C.V.), including at least the following sections, preferably in the order listed:
            1. a list of institutions of higher education attended, preferably from most to least recent, indicating for each one the name of the institution, dates attended, field of study, degree obtained, and date the degree was awarded; 
            2. a list of professional and academic positions held, preferably from most to least recent, indicating for each one the title of the position, the dates of service, and the location or institution at which the position was held; and
            3. a list of honors, awards, recognitions, and outstanding achievements, preferably from most to least recent.
         3. a record of the candidate’s scholarship, including:
            1. the candidate’s personal statement on scholarship consisting of a summary and explanation—normally not to exceed three pages—of the candidate’s accomplishments and future plans concerning scholarship, and comments on these accomplishments and plans and on other items included in the dossier related to scholarship
            2. a list, preferably from most to least recent, of the candidate’s publications or creative works with, for each multi-authored work or coherent series of multi-authored works, a brief statement of the candidate’s contribution to the work or series of works;
            3. a list of all published reviews of scholarship of which the candidate has knowledge; 
            4. a list of any externally funded grants and contracts received by the candidate;
            5. a list of invited lectures and conference presentations;
            6. a list of pending decisions regarding the candidate’s scholarship that might affect the promotion deliberations, including grant proposals, book contracts, and other publishing decisions anticipated in the near future;
            7. a list of all inventions and patents;
            8. and, as an appendix to the dossier, copies of materials documenting the candidate’s scholarship, including copies of the candidate’s published work (and work that is in print or has been accepted for publication), indicating where each work has been or will be published.
         4. a record of the candidate’s service to the department, college, university, profession, and community, including:
            1. the candidate’s personal statement on service (consisting of a summary and explanation—normally not to exceed three pages—of the candidate’s accomplishments and future plans concerning service, and comments on these accomplishments and plans and on other items included in the dossier related to service);
            2. a list, preferably from most to least recent, of departmental, collegiate, or university service positions;
            3. a list, preferably from most to least recent, of offices held in professional organizations;
            4. a list, preferably from most to least recent, of memberships on editorial boards or editorships of journals or other scholarly publications;
            5. a list, preferably from most to least recent, of service on review panels; and
            6. a list, preferably from most to least recent, of relevant community involvement; 
            7. a list, preferably from most to least recent, of any service contributions not listed elsewhere.
         5. within the appropriate section(s) of the dossier as listed above, other information relevant to the candidate’s record in scholarship or service that is deemed to be important in the candidate’s judgment.

1. Where the volume of material of a particular kind which is required to be included in the dossier is large and potentially unmanageable, a candidate, in consultation with the DEO, may select and identify representative portions of the required material for special attention.  Only the material selected as representative will become part of the Promotion Record and will be transmitted to successive participants in the promotion decision-making process.  Required materials segregated from the representative material will be available for review and will be located in a readily accessible location under the DEO’s custody.  If any participant in the promotion decision-making process relies upon initially segregated material in preparing a written evaluation of the candidate’s qualifications, that material should be added to the Promotion Record, the fact of that addition should be noted in the written evaluation, and the candidate should be notified in writing of the addition at the time it is made.

2. The candidate’s work in progress that is not completed by the specified date but that is anticipated to be completed in the fall—early enough for full and deliberate evaluation, as determined by the DEO—may be identified at the same time the dossier is submitted and added to the dossier if and when it is completed.

3. Other materials (including updated CVs and personal statements) that could not have been available by the specified date but which are completed early enough for full and deliberate evaluation may be added to the promotion dossier by the candidate through the DEO. Examples of “materials that could not have been available by the specified date” include decisions on submitted manuscripts or grant proposals after the specified date, or published book reviews of which the candidate had no previous knowledge. Materials added to the original dossier or materials in the original dossier that are amended, should be labeled as such, including the date when added or amended and with any amendments early marked.

1. It is the candidate’s responsibility to cooperate in obtaining peer evaluations of the candidate’s scholarship and service as described in the following sections, D - G.

2. It is the candidate’s responsibility to cooperate in obtaining internal peer evaluation of the candidate’s scholarship by participating in the following process:
   1. An internal peer evaluation of the candidate’s scholarship will be carried out by the Departmental Review Committee whose members will analyze the relevant materials in the Promotion Record.
      1. The faculty members who perform the internal peer evaluation of the candidate’s scholarship will enter their report into the section of the Promotion Record that is dedicated to the history and evaluation of the candidate’s scholarship.  The report will contain the following elements:
         1. a statement concerning the norms for scholarship in the relevant field,
         2. a brief description of the quality of conferences, institutions, journals, or other forum in which the candidate’s work has appeared or been presented, and
         3. statements concerning any other activities representing scholarship that would be helpful in understanding the nature and quality of these activities.

3. It is the candidate’s responsibility to cooperate in obtaining internal peer evaluation of the candidate’s service by participating in the following process:
   1. An internal peer evaluation of the candidate’s service will be carried out by the Departmental Review Committee whose members will analyze the relevant materials in the Promotion Record.  In circumstances when the review cannot be made entirely by faculty peers, the candidate must receive written approval from the Provost for the use of non-faculty peer reviewers.  The request for approval must be justified by and contained in a written request from the Dean.
      1. The peer evaluation of the candidate’s service will be contained in a report that analyzes and evaluates the relevant materials in the Promotion Record, and it will include a comparative analysis of the quality of the candidate’s service in the context of the expected service contributions in the department and the profession.
      2. The individuals who perform the peer evaluation of the candidate’s service will enter their report into the section of the Promotion Record that is dedicated to the history and evaluation of the candidate’s service.

4. It is the candidate’s responsibility to cooperate in obtaining internal evaluation of the candidate’s overall record (scholarship and service) by the Center Director by participating in the following process:

   1. An internal evaluation of the candidate’s scholarship and service will be carried out by the Center Director who will analyze the relevant materials in the Promotion Record. 
      1. The Center Director will enter their report into the Promotion Record in a designated section. The report will contain the following elements:
         1. a statement concerning the expectations for scholarship and service for the candidate based on their job description;
         2. a brief description of the quality of their scholarship and service;
         3. statements concerning any other activities representing scholarship or service that would be helpful in understanding the nature and quality of these activities.
   2. It is the candidate’s responsibility to cooperate in obtaining external peer evaluations of the candidate’s scholarship by participating in the following process. Note that the DEO may consult with the Center Director as needed throughout this process, but all communication with external reviewers must be through the DEO or Dean’s Office only:
      1. The DEO will solicit from the candidate a list of appropriate reviewers external to the department, college and/or university who by virtue of their professional expertise can evaluate the scholarship of the candidate.  External reviewers may come from peer institutions (e.g. AAU, CIC or Big Ten, major public, Carnegie Research 1) or institutions, organizations or professional bodies in which the corresponding department or individual evaluator is of peer quality (see Item 4).  Selection of external reviewers will begin in the late spring or early summer immediately preceding the academic year in which the promotion decision will be made.  At least five external evaluators will be identified. The candidate and DEO will select a representative sample of the candidate’s work to be sent to each reviewer. A minimum of four completed reviews must be included in the dossier.
      2. The DEO will add suggestions to the list and give the list to the Departmental Review Committee who may add other potential external reviewers and return the completed list to the DEO.
      3. The DEO will share the completed list of potential external reviewers with the candidate. The candidate shall identify any potential external reviewers with whom s/he has worked in any capacity and describe the nature of the relationship. If the candidate feels that any potential external reviewer on the list might be unfairly biased, the candidate may prepare a written objection and give it to the DEO, who will take the objection into consideration when selecting external reviewers.
      4. In identifying potential external reviewers, all participants in the selection process will take into account the standing of the prospective reviewer, the likely knowledge and expertise of the reviewer, the apparent impartiality of the reviewer, and the contribution of the reviewer to achieving an overall “balanced” review among the reviewers on any criterion for which there might be a range of perspectives. It is critical to avoid any situation in which a personal and/or professional relationship (including advising, mentoring, co-authoring, etc.) between the candidate and a prospective reviewer could undermine the reviewer’s apparent impartiality.
      5. The DEO will determine, in accordance with the above procedures and in consultation with the Dean, which of the potential external reviewers will be asked to provide a letter of review.
      6. The DEO or Dean, using a form letter that substantially conforms to the sample letter contained in Appendix B, will ask the reviewers to provide an assessment of the quality and quantity of the candidate’s scholarship.
      7. After or in anticipation of an invitation to an external reviewer to evaluate the candidate’s scholarship, neither the candidate nor any other faculty other than the DEO or Dean will communicate with the reviewer concerning the subject of the review or the review process.
      8. The DEO will keep a record (separate from the promotion record; see comment in Appendix C) of:
         1. the list of suggested reviewers,
         2. the names of persons invited to review
         3. the names of actual reviewers,
         4. comments submitted by the candidate, the Center Director or DEO, and the internal faculty reviewers,
         5. correspondence and other communications between the DEO or Dean and invited reviewers and actual reviewers.
      9. All letters received from external reviewers will be entered by the DEO into the dossier in the section dedicated to the history and evaluation of the candidate’s scholarship, along with
         1. a list of all invited reviewers—indicating whether the reviewer was suggested by the candidate, DEO, or the Departmental Review Committee—and a brief explanation of why any invited reviewer declined;
         2. the candidate’s written objection to any potential external reviewer on the basis of unfair bias, if a letter was solicited from the reviewer over the candidate’s written objection;
         3. a copy of the letter or letters of solicitation sent by the DEO to external reviewers;
         4. a brief description prepared by the DEO of each external reviewer’s qualifications;
         5. a statement by the DEO of how the reviewer knew the candidate’s work, if it is not obvious from the reviewer’s letter; and 

         6. an explanation of why the choice of a reviewer was made, if the reviewer is not from a peer institution (e.g. AAU, CIC or Big Ten, major public, Carnegie Research 1) but from an institution, organization or professional body where the corresponding department of individual evaluator is of peer quality.

             

   3. The candidate will be given an opportunity to respond to the internal peer evaluations as follows:
      1. The DEO will send the candidate a copy of the internal peer evaluations of the candidate’s scholarship and service that have been entered into the appropriate sections of the Promotion Record. These evaluations include the DRC reports on scholarship and service, and the Center Director report.
      2. The candidate will be allowed six working days to access the internal peer evaluations, and six working days to submit in writing any corrections to factual errors in the internal peer evaluations of the candidate’s scholarship and/or service.
      3. If the candidate submits a letter correcting factual errors in the internal peer evaluations of scholarship or service, the DEO will enter it into the Promotion Record.

    

5. The Departmental Consulting Group (DCG) will participate in the promotion decision-making process as follows (see also comment in Appendix C):
   1. Following the principle that each individual participating in the promotion decision-making process may vote for or against the granting of promotion to a candidate only once, DCG members who are also members of the Collegiate Consulting Group (CCG) will participate in the promotion decision making for a candidate from their department at the department level and may not participate in the CCG’s deliberations or voting in regard to that candidate.
      1. The DEO may attend the meetings of the DCG, but may not vote, participate in the discussion other than to provide factual information, or contribute to the written report summarizing its discussion. 
      2. If the Center Director would not normally be a member of the DCG, they may attend the DCG meeting adopting the same the role as the DEO. That is, they can be present to provide factual information, but they may not vote, participate in discussion, or contribute to the written report summarizing the discussion. In the event that the Center Director would normally be a member of the DCG, they may participate as they would for any other candidate.
      3. The Promotion Record available to the DCG will consist of the candidate’s dossier with appendices; the internal (including DRC and Center Director reports) and external peer evaluations of scholarship and service, entered into the appropriate sections of the Record; and the candidate’s letter correcting factual errors in the internal peer evaluations, if any. The location of the Promotion Record is under joint management and custody of the DCG and DEO (section I.B.(4)) until it is transmitted to the Dean’s Office. 
      4. The DCG will meet to discuss the candidate’s qualifications, to vote by secret ballot for or against the granting of promotion, and to assign one or more of its members to prepare a summary report of the discussion, document the final vote, and enter that information into the Promotion Record.  The summary report will contain recommendation for or against the granting of promotion based on a simple majority vote that defines a positive recommendation for promotion.  This report shall not reiterate the details of the internal and external peer reviewers or restate other material already in the dossier; rather, it shall identify those specific aspects of the dossier that formed the basis of the DCG recommendation.
      5. The results of the DCG’s vote and the summary report of its discussion and its recommendation for or against the promotion will be transmitted to the DEO as part of the candidate’s Promotion Record and also provided to the candidate, redacted as needed by those who prepared the summary report to protect the confidentiality of any individual contributions, whether from students, external reviewers, or University of Iowa faculty members. See also comment in Appendix C.
      6. The candidate will be allowed six working days to access the DCG summary report and six working days to submit to the DEO a letter correcting factual errors about the candidate’s record in the DCG summary report of its discussion.
      7. If the candidate submits a letter correcting factual errors about the candidate’s record in the DCG’s summary report, the DEO will enter it into the Promotion Record before making a recommendation to the Dean.

6. The DEO will participate in the promotion decision-making process as follows:
   1. Based on the Promotion Record, the DEO will recommend that promotion be granted or denied in a separate letter to the collegiate Dean for each candidate.
      1. As with the DCG report, the DEO’s letter to the Dean should not reiterate the details of material that already is in the dossier.  Rather, it will explain their reasons for recommending for or against promotion, stating how the candidate has or has not met the relevant criteria for promotion, and, when the recommendation of the DCG is not followed, will explain why a contrary recommendation is being made and will address any disagreement between the DEO’s evaluation and the evaluation of the DCG as reflected in the summary report of the DCG’s discussion. See also comment in Appendix C.
      2. Even if the DEO recommends that the candidate be promoted, the DEO’s letter to the Dean will address any negative aspects of the Promotion Record.
      3. The DEO’s letter will be transmitted to the Dean as part of the candidate’s Promotion Record.

7. The candidate will be given the opportunity to respond to a recommendation against promotion by the DEO as follows:
   1. At the same time that the Promotion Record is submitted to the Dean, if the DEO’s recommendation is negative, the DEO will provide the candidate with a copy of the DEO’s letter of recommendation to the Dean.
      1. The candidate then, upon request, will have six days to access to the Promotion Record, with the following provisions:
         1. the external reviews of the candidate’s scholarship must be redacted as appropriate to protect the confidentiality of the reviewers;
         2. any comments in the Promotion Record referring to external reviews of the candidate’s scholarship must be redacted as appropriate to protect the confidentiality of reviewers
      2. The candidate will have six working days to submit to the Dean:
         1. a written response to the DEO’s negative recommendation, and
         2. additional information to be included in the Promotion Record
      3. If the candidate submits a written response to the Dean for inclusion in the Promotion Record, the candidate also shall give the DEO a copy of the response.

2.   College Level Procedures

    

   1. If the candidate submits a written response to the DEO’s letter to the Dean, the Dean will place the response in the Promotion Record.

8. The CCG shall participate in the promotion decision-making process as follows:

4. The membership of the Collegiate Consulting Group is defined in the opening section of these procedures.  Members of a CCG who have participated in a promotion decision for a particular candidate at the departmental level may not participate in the CCG’s deliberations or voting in regard to that candidate.  The CCG must contain tenured faculty and, if available, faculty from the research track.

5. The Dean and the Associate Deans may attend the meetings of the CCG, but may not vote or contribute to any written report summarizing its discussion.  The Dean shall decide how the Associate Deans will participate in the promotion decision making process at the collegiate level.

6. The Promotion Record available to the CCG will consist of the Promotion Record available to the DEO, the DEO’s letter, and the candidate’s letter of response (if any) following receipt of the DCG’s recorded vote and summary report with recommendation and the letter of recommendation of the DEO to the Dean. The appendices to the Promotion Record are part of the Promotion Record, and are physically moved to the Dean’s custody when the Promotion Record is forwarded to the Dean by the DEO.

7. If the CCG finds it necessary for clarification or supplementation of the Promotion Record, the CCG may submit to the DCG and/or the DEO a written request for additional information.  The CCG will enter any information thus obtained into the Promotion Record.

8. The CCG will meet:

1. to discuss the candidate’s qualifications,

2. to vote and make a recommendation for or against the granting of promotion, based on the criterion that a simple majority defines a positive recommendation for promotion, and

3. to assign one or more of its members

1. to prepare a summary report of the discussion, 

2. to document the final vote, and

3. to enter that information into the Promotion Record.

9. The CCG’s vote and recommendation and the summary report of its discussion will be transmitted to the Dean as part of the candidate’s Promotion Record.

9. The candidate will be given the opportunity to respond to the CCG’s recommendation under the following conditions:

10. If the CCG’s recommendation to the Dean is negative and contrary to that of the DCG or DEO, the candidate will be provided with a copy of the CCG’s vote and summary report and will have access to the Promotion Record, with the following provisions:

4. the external reviews of the candidate’s scholarship must be redacted as appropriate to protect the confidentiality of reviewers;

5. any comments in the Promotion Record referring to external reviews of the candidate’s scholarship and/or service must be redacted as appropriate to protect the confidentiality of reviewers

11. The candidate has six working days to access the CCG’s negative recommendation and six working days to submit a written response.

10. The Dean shall participate in the promotion decision-making process as follows:

12. If the candidate submits a written response to the CCG’s negative recommendation, the Dean will place the response in the Promotion Record.

13. When any materials that were not available at the time of the departmental action are forwarded by the DEO to the Dean, the Dean will make a determination whether it is likely that the new material would have substantially altered the departmental evaluation of the candidate’s record by the DCG and/or the DEO.  If, in the Dean’s judgment, a substantial change in the departmental evaluation is likely, the Dean will return the case to the DEO for any appropriate supplementary action so that the Dean will be able to act in light of an accurate indication of departmental judgments.

14. Based on the Promotion Record, including the response of the candidate, if any, to the CCG’s report, the collegiate Dean will recommend that promotion be granted or denied in a separate letter to the Provost for each candidate.

15. The Dean’s letter to the Provost will explain the Dean’s reasons for recommending for or against promotion stating how the candidate has or has not met the relevant criteria for promotion.  As with previous steps in this process, the Dean’s letter to the Provost shall not reiterate the details of material that already is in the dossier; rather, it shall identify those aspects of the dossier that formed that basis of the Dean’s recommendation.

16. When the Dean’s recommendation is contrary to the recommendation of the DCG, the recommendation of the DEO, and/or the recommendation of the CCG, the Dean’s letter will explain why the contrary recommendation is being made.

17. The Dean’s letter will be transmitted to the Provost as part of the candidate’s Promotion Record.

18. At the same time that the Dean’s letter is submitted to the Provost, the Dean will inform the DEO of the recommendation that has been forwarded to the Provost. The DEO, in turn, will inform the members of the DCG and the Center Director of the Dean’s recommendation and also will inform the candidate if the Dean’s recommendation is positive.

19. The Dean will transmit to the Provost one copy of the Promotion Record for each candidate in the college, and a single copy of the college’s written Procedures governing promotion decision making. 

11. The candidate will be given the opportunity to respond to a negative recommendation by the Dean as follows:

20. At the same time that the Promotion Record is submitted to the Provost, if the Dean’s recommendation is against promotion, the Dean will provide the candidate with a copy of the Dean’s letter to the Provost.

21. The candidate then, upon request, will have access to the Promotion Record, with the following provisions:

6. the external reviews of the candidate’s scholarship must be redacted as appropriate to protect the confidentiality of reviewers;

7. any comments in the Promotion Record referring to external reviews of the candidate’s scholarship must be redacted as appropriate to protect the confidentiality of reviewers;

8. any comments in the Promotion Record referring to external reviews or any other identifiable individual must be redacted as appropriate to protect confidentiality.

22. The candidate will have six working days to access the Dean’s recommendation, and six working days to submit a written response to the Dean’s recommendation against promotion and any additional information to be included in the Promotion Record.

23. If the candidate submits a written response to the Provost for inclusion in the Promotion Record, the candidate also shall give the DEO a copy of the response.

3. University Level Procedures

12. The Provost shall participate in the promotion decision-making process as follows:

24. The Promotion Record available to the Provost will consist of the Promotion Record available to the Dean, the Dean’s letter, and the candidate’s letter of response (if any) to the negative recommendation of the Dean.  Although the appendices to the Promotion Record are part of the Promotion Record, they normally will not be moved physically to the Provost’s custody unless the Provost requests them.

25. When any materials that were not available at the time of the departmental or collegiate action are forwarded to the Provost, the Provost will make a determination whether it is likely that the new material would have altered substantially the evaluation of the candidate’s record.  If, in the Provost’s judgment, a substantial change in the departmental or collegiate evaluation is likely, the Provost will return the case to the DEO or Dean for any appropriate supplementary action, including additional review by the Dean if appropriate, so that the Provost will be able to act in the light of an accurate indication of departmental and collegiate judgment.

26. On the basis of the Promotion Record available to the Provost, the Provost will make a decision that promotion should be granted or denied, and will recommend that the Board of Regents grant promotion to those candidates determined to be deserving.

27. In making the promotion decision, the Provost may, at the Provost’s discretion, consult with others, including but not limited to the associate provosts and the collegiate deans.

13. The candidate shall be informed of the Provost’s decision as follows:

28. The Provost will inform the Dean in writing of the Provost’s recommendation to the Board of Regents.

29. The Dean will inform the candidate in writing of the Provost’s recommendation to the Board of Regents and, in the case of a recommendation against promotion, will inform the candidate of the availability of the official Faculty Dispute Procedures of the University Operations Manual (section III.29.1, III.29.2, III.29.8, III.29.9) and will enclose a copy via certified mail.

30. The collegiate Dean will inform the DEO of the Provost’s recommendation who, in turn, will inform the departmental faculty and the Center Director.

Appendix A – Review Procedures for Research-Track Faculty Members with Joint Appointments

1. In the case of a non-0% joint-appointment candidacy for promotion, the departments shall form (a) joint internal review committee(s) (see Section C. below), roughly proportional in its (their) makeup to the percentage of faculty effort in each department and with at least one committee member from each department. The DEO(s) or the candidate may seek approval of the dean(s) for an alternative structure in exceptional circumstances, including cases of marked discrepancy between percentage effort and percentage salary support across the two units, or in the case of a joint but non-interdisciplinary appointment, such that joint review is inappropriate. When standard review procedures differ between units (e.g., delegation of review of research and service to separate subcommittees vs. using a single internal review committee for both areas), a joint decision shall be made establishing procedures that are mutually acceptable to the faculty member and the units in advance of deliberations of the review committee[s]. The joint internal review committee shall report, both in writing and at (a) meeting(s) with at least one internal review committee member from each department present, to each DCG.

    

   1. The departments involved must determine, together with the affected faculty member, whether the DCGs will meet jointly or separately and, if jointly, whether the DCGs will have joint or separate votes and reports. If separately, (a) if a faculty member holds a 50-50 joint appointment, each DCG will make an independent and primary decision using its college’s written policy governing promotion decision making; (b) if a faculty member holds a 1% to 49% joint appointment in a department, the departments involved must determine, together with the affected faculty member, whether each DCG will make an independent decision or whether the DCG in which the faculty member holds the smaller percentage appointment will be limited as described in section C below. These determinations should be made by mutual agreement of the faculty member, both DEOs, and the Dean(s) early in the joint appointment and set forth in a letter of agreement, copied to the Provost.
   2. If a faculty member holds a 1% to 49% appointment in a department, and a determination is made that that department shall not make an independent decision, then that department shall participate in the following manner.
      1. The DCG shall:
         1. receive the candidate’s dossier including the letters of the external reviewers;
         2. review and discuss the candidate’s qualifications;
         3. make a recommendation for or against the granting of promotion based on a secret-ballot vote;
         4. write a brief report of its discussion, including its vote and recommendation for or against the granting of promotion. If a majority of the DCG requests, it may delegate writing this report to the DEO.
      2. The DEO shall:
         1. write a letter
            1. reporting the DCG discussion, including its vote and recommendation for or against the granting of promotion, if requested by a majority of the DCG to do so, and
            2. making an independent recommendation that promotion be granted or denied;
         2. add the DCG report, if any, and this letter to the Promotion Record, and
         3. submit the Promotion Record to the primary department in time for consideration by the DCG of that department.
      3. Similarly, the Collegiate Consulting Group of the college in which a faculty member has a 1% to 49% appointment shall:
         1. receive the candidate’s Promotion Record from the DEO of the primary department;
         2. review and discuss the candidate’s qualifications, and
         3. make a recommendation for or against the granting of promotion based on a secret-ballot vote, with a brief report of its discussion if the recommendation is negative. If a majority of the CCG requests, it may delegate writing this report to the Dean.
      4. The Dean shall:
         1. write a letter
            1. reporting the CCG discussion, including its vote and recommendation for or against the granting of promotion, if requested by a majority of the CCG to do so, and
            2. making an independent recommendation that promotion be granted or denied;
         2. add the CCG report, if any, and this letter to the Promotion Record;
         3. submit the Promotion Record to the primary college in time for consideration by its CCG.

    

   D.          If a faculty member holds a 0% joint appointment in a department, that department may be limited to a subordinate consultative role in the tenure and promotion process and the affected departments may decide how this role shall be carried out. These determinations should be made by mutual agreement of the faculty member, both DEOs, and the Dean(s) at the beginning of the joint appointment and set forth in a letter of agreement, copied to the Provost.

Appendix B—Sample Letter from Departmental Executive Officer (DEO) to External Reviewer of a Research-Track Faculty Promotion

A DEO’s letter to solicit an external evaluation must:

• Be neutral in tone;
• Indicate the rank for which the candidate is being considered and that the promotion does not include the awarding of tenure;
• Explicitly state what portion of the candidate’s work the reviewer is being asked to assess;
• Request that the reviewer not communicate with the candidate or with the faculty member other than the DEO;
• State that the reviewer’s response will be protected as confidential, available only to those participating in the decision-making process, and to the candidate only under certain circumstances and after review was redacted to protect confidentiality; and
• Request a brief biographical sketch if one has not been obtained through another source.

The following is a sample letter:

Dear ____________:

As I mentioned to you [on the telephone / by e-mail] on [date], ___________ will be considered for promotion to [proposed rank] in the Department of ___________________ during this academic year. This promotion does not involve the granting of tenure. I am grateful to you for agreeing to serve as an external evaluator.

Enclosed with this letter are Professor _____________’s curriculum vitae and copies of the material you have agreed to review: [list]

Please begin with a statement of how you know the candidate and his or her work and activities. In this context, please address any circumstances that might raise issues of impartiality as they relate to your assessment of the candidate. We would like you to critique the quality of Professor _____________’s contributions and, if possible, to assess its quantity and quality in comparison to the work and activities of others in this discipline at comparable stages in their careers. We would particularly appreciate your evaluation of the contribution that the candidate’s work and activities have made to the field. We would be interested in your judgment of the quality of any published materials and the importance of the venues through which Professor _______________ has communicated his/her work. We also would be interested, of course, in any other insights you might have about Professor ______________’s accomplishments.

If you have any questions about Professor _________________’s materials or experience, please contact me directly. In accordance with our governing procedures, we must ask you not to communicate with either the candidate whose work you are reviewing or other members of the department or college concerning your evaluation or the review process.

Your letter will be available to the tenured faculty in this department, the research-track faculty members above the proposed rank of promotion as well as to the Dean, the Collegiate Consulting Group (Promotion Advisory Group), and the Provost’s Office. Beyond that, we will regard your letter as a confidential document. Your evaluation will be made available to the candidate only upon his/her explicit request following a negative recommendation at various stages of the review process, and then only after your name and other identifying information have been removed.

[Only if it is not possible otherwise to obtain a short statement of the reviewer’s qualifications, add the following paragraph:] Would you please send me a brief biographical statement when you send your letter? Although our departmental faculty know you and your work well, the Dean and the Collegiate Consulting Group would find your biographical sketch helpful when considering your letter.

Again, thank you for your willingness to help us with this important review process.

Signature of DEO