Lunch & Learn:Tenure and Promotion

Marie Armstrong, Associate University Secretary March 22, 2012

Agenda

• Welcome and introductions• Deadlines in Policy 77• Tenure and promotion committees• Timing (when to apply)• Tenure and promotion procedures• Tenure and promotion appeals

DEADLINES IN POLICY 77May 1 • chair reports DTPC membership to the dean and to the department’s tenured and

probationary faculty• chair invites those who wish to be considered for tenure or promotion to apply by June 1 June 1 • candidate applies to the department chair in writing• then meets with the chair to discuss the procedures to be followed July 1 • candidate shall submit:- a brief supporting the application for tenure or promotion- the names of at least three arms-length external referees who can assess her/his published work Fall term - applications considered by the DTPC and FTPC

TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEES

Department Tenure and Promotion Committee (DTPC)

• Chaired by the department chair• Includes four to six tenured faculty members• Elected by the tenured and probationary faculty of the

department• Normally a majority should be full professors• Desirable that it includes men and women• Dean may appoint a non-voting advisor

TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEES (DTPC cont.)

• In small departments or where there are too few full professors to constitute a majority on the committee, the dean, after consultation with the department and with the written approval of the Vice-President, Academic & Provost (VPA&P), may make other arrangements respecting the size and composition of the DTPC.

TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEES

Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee (FTPC) • Chaired by the dean • Includes at least five tenured faculty members broadly

representative of faculty program areas • Elected by the tenured and probationary members of the faculty• FTPC members may not serve simultaneously on a DTPC in

the same faculty• A majority of the FTPC’s elected members shall be full

professors• Desirable that it includes men and women

TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEES (FTPC cont.)

• VPA&P appoints an additional voting member from outside the faculty

• University Tenure and Promotion Advisory Committee (UTPAC) appoints a non-voting advisor

• Dean reports the membership of the FTPC to the VPA&P and to the faculty’s tenured and probationary faculty

TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEES

University Tenure and Promotion Advisory Committee (UTPAC)

• Is advisory to Senate through the VPA&P concerning tenure and promotion standards, policies and procedures, and may recommend changes to the VPA&P

• Reports to Senate annually on its activities• Consists of the chair plus six additional tenured faculty

members jointly appointed by the VPA&P and the FAUW president for three-year terms

• At least five full professors

TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEES (UTPAC cont.)

• Includes men and women • UTPAC chair appoints a member to each

FTPC, with no member serving on the FTPC in her/his own faculty

• Members of UTPAC may not serve on any DTPC or FTPC

TENURE AND PROMOTION COMMITTEES

University Tenure and Promotion Committee (UTPC)• Is advisory to the president – meets last Wednesday of

February• Chaired by the VPA&P • Includes the deans, the associate provost, graduate

studies and the vice-president, university research • Two non-voting student members, one undergraduate

and one graduate, appointed by the VPA&P in consultation with the presidents of the student groups

TIMING (when to apply)

• Tenure - normally occurs during the second year of the second probationary term

• Candidate may choose to postpone consideration until the third year.

Tenure Clock July 1, 2008

(beginning of first probationary term)

July 1, 2013

July 1, 2009

July 1, 2012 July 1, 2010

July 1, 2011 (beginning of second probationary term)

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd Year

End of

4th Year

5th Year

6th Year

Faculty member applies to chair by June 1, 2013 if chose to wait until third year of second probationary term.

Must submit material by July 1, 2013.

Faculty member applies to chair by June 1, 2012 if wants to proceed in fifth year. Must submit material by July 1, 2012.

TIMING (when to apply)• In exceptional circumstances, may be considered for

tenure earlier than the second year of the second probationary appointment. Such early consideration requires the agreement in advance of the candidate and the DTPC plus the written agreement of the dean. If either the DTPC or the FTPC recommends against tenure, early tenure consideration ends and the candidate must wait for tenure consideration until the final year of the second probationary-term appointment.

TIMING (when to apply)

• Promotion - a tenured associate professor may apply in any year for promotion; unusual for promotion to occur prior to five years of full-time service in the rank of associate professor.

• If an application for promotion is unsuccessful, the candidate becomes eligible to reapply two years thereafter.

Reapply?

Only two situations when can reapply: • early tenure application ends; wait until final

year of appointment• promotion application unsuccessful; can

reapply two years later

TENURE AND PROMOTION PROCEDURES

 Application - The candidate informs the department chair in writing by June 1; meets with the chair to discuss the procedures to be followed

Candidate’s brief - By July 1, the candidate submits a brief supporting the application. Brief must include a curriculum vitae, copies of relevant scholarly work, a summary of the candidate’s contributions in scholarship, teaching and service, and any other relevant information the candidate feels may be useful

Annual Performance Reviews • The chair provides the DTPC with copies of all written

assessments made of the candidate within the department.

External referees • External opinions of a candidate’s scholarly contributions

are sought in all tenure and promotion cases; normally at least three external reviews are obtained.

• External referees are to be external to UW and at arm’s-length from the candidate.

• Candidate must submit, by July 1, the names of at least three arms-length external referees who can assess her/his published work.

• DTPC considers the candidate’s list of referees and normally will suggest additional names

• Chair consults with the dean• Chair informs candidate of the pool of potential

referees

• Candidate may challenge, in writing to the DTPC, a potential referee for bias, apprehension of bias, perceived conflict of interest or unsuitability.

• If the DTPC and the candidate do not agree on the pool of potential referees, at least half of the referees contacted must be from those approved by the candidate.

• Letters soliciting comments from referees shall be sent by the dean. [template letters and guidelines May 29, 2009]

• Referees are sent copies of Policy 77 and scholarly work

• Informal contacts with potential external referees by the department chair, DTPC or FTPC members, or the candidate are inappropriate – fine to contact to see whether will be a referee before sending material

 • Note also: If a candidate’s work intersects significantly with work in

another academic unit, the chair will normally ask an appropriate member or members of that unit for comment and gives those to the DTPC.

Tenure or promotion file • all evidence considered by the DTPC, the FTPC or the

president • the DTPC assessment of the candidate’s performance in

teaching, scholarship and service• the outcome of deliberations by the DTPC, the FTPC and the

president• the numerical record of votes taken, plus any written

statements, including reasons, by DTPC or FTPC members who do not agree with the majority recommendation

• If the file is provided to the candidate, it shall include all internal or external letters of assessment with the names of the authors and other identifying references deleted, unless the authors have expressly consented to being identified.

• Be careful to remove anything that could identify the referee, his/her institution or location (even reference such as “other European institutions”)

Conflict of interest • Committee member who has a conflict of interest

in a particular case is to declare the conflict • E.g. share a grant, co-author within past 5 years• Must be absent from the portion of committee

meetings dealing with that case, not just the voting • If the chair has a conflict of interest, the

committee elects a member to serve as chair pro tem during the absence of the chair

Challenges • A candidate may challenge in writing any member of a DTPC or

FTPC for bias, apprehension of bias or perceived conflict of interest.

• The committee, excluding the member challenged, shall decide whether the challenge is well-founded.

• If so, the challenged member shall not attend those portions of committee meetings dealing with the specific case.

• If the committee decides that a challenge is not well-founded, the challenged member shall participate, but the challenge becomes part of the record for any subsequent consideration or appeal.

Procedures at the Department Level DTPC is to:• meet to consider all applications from the department• prepare an assessment of each candidate’s

performance in teaching, scholarship and service• decide whether to recommend tenure or promotion

[Note: recommend, not decide to grant]This is what is to be completed by the end of the

process.

• The assessment should set out the evidence considered, the criteria applied to the evidence, the evaluation of the candidate in each of the three areas and the emphasis placed on each area. The assessment that is provided to the FTPC should explain the discussion by the DTPC – how the success of the candidate in each area was viewed, any differing opinions offered, what matters were viewed as significant, the impact of the referees’ letters.

“If members of the DTPC express significant reservations that could result in a negative recommendation, the Chair shall provide the candidate with a complete copy of the tenure or promotion file, together with a written explanation of the nature of the reservations in sufficient detail to allow the candidate to respond.”

• The key phrase is “that could result in a negative recommendation”. There has not yet been a recommendation, so there should not have been an official vote.

• How does the chair find out if there might be a negative recommendation? A straw poll to get an indication of the opinion on the candidate certainly is appropriate. It is not a vote and the numerical results are not to be communicated to the candidate.

• If there are significant reservations, the candidate should be given an explanation of the concerns of the DTPC so that s/he can try to address them.

• The candidate has ten working days to provide her/his written response (including any relevant new evidence) to the chair for distribution to the DTPC. The candidate may also choose to appear before the DTPC and may choose to be accompanied by a UW academic colleague.

• The DTPC does not finalize its recommendation until the candidate has been given the opportunity to respond.

• It is after the candidate has been given the chance to submit a written response to the concerns expressed and to appear that the DTPC votes and finalizes its recommendation.

• When the DTPC has completed its deliberations the chair does a letter to the candidate to advise of the outcome, but not the numerical record of the votes.

If the outcome is negative:• the letter should include a brief explanation of the reasons. • the chair gives the candidate an opportunity to withdraw the file

(and should let the candidate know that the result of withdrawal is that the candidate will not be pursuing tenure at UW [cannot apply again].

• The file is forwarded to the dean for consideration by the FTPC unless the candidate withdraws.

DTPC Memo (Deans’ Council, Nov. 25/09)

• Committee chair provides a copy to members. To acknowledge that s/he has received a copy, each member signs one master copy or emails the committee chair within two working days of distribution of the memo.

 • Any committee member who does not agree with the

majority recommendation may submit a signed statement setting out the reasons s/he disagrees to the committee chair within five working days of distribution of the memo. The committee chair will append any statement received to the memo.

• Any committee member who wishes to do so may submit a signed clarifying statement to the committee chair within five working days of distribution of the memo. The committee chair will append any statement received to the memo.

• Statement on the memo/in the email: “I acknowledge that I received a copy of the memo setting out the discussion and recommendation of the committee. I am aware that, in the event I disagree with the majority recommendation, I have the opportunity to submit a signed statement with reasons for my disagreement. I am also aware that should I see the need, I have the opportunity to submit a signed clarification. Disagreements and clarifications must be submitted to the chair within 5 working days of distribution of the memo.”

Procedures at the Faculty Level • The FTPC considers all positive recommendations to

ensure that the DTPC has acted carefully and appropriately in its deliberations, that its recommendations are sound and that comparable standards are being applied from department to department.

• Negative DTPC recommendations are reviewed unless the candidate has chosen to withdraw her/his case.

• DTPC chair (or delegate) normally will present the DTPC recommendations to the FTPC and will be available to answer questions, but shall not otherwise participate in the proceedings

• In exceptional circumstances, the FTPC may decide to contact additional arms-length, external referees; if such additional referees were not in the original pool of potential referees developed by the DTPC, the candidate has a right to challenge as at the DTPC level.

• If there are significant reservations, the candidate should be given an explanation of the concerns of the FTPC so that s/he can try to address them. It is likely that a summary of these concerns would be included in the memo to the president no matter what the recommendation.

• The candidate has ten working days to provide her/his written response (including any relevant new evidence) to the chair for distribution to the FTPC.

• The candidate may also choose to appear before the FTPC and may choose to be accompanied by a UW academic colleague. The FTPC shall not finalize its recommendation until the candidate has been given the opportunity to respond.

• It is after the candidate has been given the chance to submit a written response to the concerns expressed and to appear that the FTPC votes and finalizes its recommendation.

• When the FTPC has completed its deliberations the dean does a letter to the candidate to advise of the outcome, but not the numerical record of the votes.

If the outcome is negative:• the letter should include a brief explanation of the

reasons. • the dean gives the candidate an opportunity to

withdraw the file (and should let the candidate know that the result of withdrawal is that the candidate will not be pursuing tenure at UW [cannot apply again].

• The file is forwarded to the president for consideration unless the candidate withdraws.

 • Note: Negative promotion recommendations

by both the DTPC and FTPC result in the file being closed for that particular year; can reapply in two years.

The President • The president considers all tenure or promotion

recommendations forwarded by the FTPC, together with the advice of the UTPC.

 • If the president decides in favour of promotion,

he/she informs the candidate and reports the promotion to Senate (September) and the Board of Governors (October) for information.

• If the president supports the granting of tenure, he/she informs the candidate, recommends approval to the Board of Governors (April, letter from secretary of the university) and subsequently reports the granting of tenure to Senate for information. (Sept.)

 • If the president decides against tenure or promotion, he/she

informs the candidate in writing with reasons. In the event of a negative tenure decision, the candidate’s appointment is extended as necessary to provide 12 months’ notice from the date the candidate is informed.

TENURE AND PROMOTION APPEALS

• A negative tenure or promotion decision by the president may be appealed. Within ten working days of being informed of the negative decision, the candidate must submit written notice of intent to appeal to the UTPAC Chair (through the Secretariat).

Managing DTPC Records

Official records: – T&P files forwarded to the FTPC: the forwarded

file (paper) is the official record. – T&P files not forwarded (i.e. the candidate

withdraws): the official file is the DTPC file (paper) – retain as part of the candidate’s official employment file in the department (should be stored separately – must be redacted if the faculty member wants to see it)

Managing FTPC Records

Official records: – T&P files forwarded to the president: the

forwarded file (paper) is the official record. – T&P files not forwarded (i.e. the candidate

withdraws): the official file is the FTPC file (paper) – retain as part of the candidate’s official employment file in the department (should be stored separately – must be redacted if the faculty member wants to see it)

List of Potential Referees

Policy 75, Official Employment Files of Regular Faculty Members provides: the list of names from which referees were selected shall be included in the file- dean’s office should ensure the list is put in the candidate’s file

Copies:– the copy of the forwarded file retained by the DTPC/FTPC

chair/secretary – confidentially destroy once the final decision (including any appeal) has been rendered

– copies distributed to DTPC/FTPC members – confidentially destroy once the committee decision has been rendered – includes both paper and electronic copies. Best practice is to collect paper copies at the end of the final committee meeting. If using electronic copies of files, use a secure site such as SharePoint rather than distributing by email and delete once the committee’s decisions have been made. Ensure that any copies printed from the SharePoint site are also destroyed.

Upcoming L&L Sessions

May 24, 2012UARC ProcessEllsworth LeDrew and Marie Armstrong

presenting

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