This P&P includes the following main sections:

• Background
• Definitions
• General guidelines
• Main criteria for tenure
• Procedure for review

The tenure policy of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia is contained in the policy manual of the Board of Regents. SPSU's policy follows the Board policy, while also adding elements that reflect the history, structure, and identity of the university.

Described here are the following terms:

Year of Service

• A year of service toward tenure is considered to be a regular full-time appointment for an academic year. The year of submission and review is counted as a year of service.

• Time spent on leaves-of-absence interrupts one's service and will not normally be counted for credit toward tenure.

Program Peer Committee

• Each program peer committee consists of all tenured faculty in the program who are not current candidates for promotion.

• At the start of each fall semester, the committee begins a 12-month term and selects its own chairperson.

• In tenure cases, all faculty on the committee may discuss and vote on all candidates.

• In promotion cases, a committee member may discuss and vote on only those candidates seeking a rank equal to or lower than the rank of the committee member.

School Peer Committee

• Each school peer committee consists of one tenured full professor from each program in the school, elected by the tenure-track faculty of the respective program. If there is no tenured professor available, the program faculty may elect a tenured associate professor.

• At the start of each fall semester, the committee begins a 12-month term and selects its own chairperson.

• A faculty member may not serve simultaneously on the SPSU campus peer committee and any SPSU school peer committee.

• All members may discuss all cases for tenure and promotion. However, a member may not vote on (1) cases from his or her own program and (2) cases for rank higher than his or her own rank.

Campus Peer Committee

• The campus peer committee consists of one tenured full professor from each school, elected by the tenure-track faculty in each school. If there is no tenured professor available, the school faculty may elect a tenured associate professor.

• At the start of each fall semester, the committee begins a 12-month term and selects its own chairperson.

• A faculty member may not serve simultaneously on the SPSU campus peer committee and any SPSU school peer committee.

• All members may discuss all cases for tenure and promotion. However, a member may not vote on (1) cases from his or her own school and (2) cases for rank higher than his or her own rank.

The following points serve to describe the term "academic tenure" at Southern Polytechnic State University and the process by which it is granted:

• The tenure process at Southern Polytechnic culminates with the president's recommendations to the Board of Regents. The Board either approves or disapproves these recommendations and thus is the final authority in the tenure decision.

• No candidate shall be discriminated against on the basis of race, creed, national origin, ethnic background, age, gender, sexual orientation, or physical handicap (assuming duties of the position can be fulfilled) in the tenure process.

• Academic tenure constitutes one of the important protections that support the academic freedom of the members of the teaching profession, and provides a means of making that profession more attractive to worthy individuals.

• The granting of tenure is the university's recognition that particular faculty members, through teaching, service, professional growth and development, and academic achievement, are a valued asset to the university.

• Tenure is a recognition of excellence, and nothing in this policy should be construed as a guarantee of tenure to any person.

• In granting tenure to a faculty member, the university considers the past performance and future potential of that individual.

• Tenure may be awarded independently from promotion.

Time in Rank

To receive tenure at SPSU, normally faculty members should have completed at least five years of service in a tenure-track position of assistant professor or higher (plus any service granted as probationary credit-see P&P 803.0901). The year the candidate is being reviewed is counted.

Noteworthy Teaching

To receive tenure at SPSU, faculty must provide evidence of noteworthy teaching. Activities that fulfill this requirement are described in P&P 803.075 (Faculty Activities. As part of the documentation, candidates for tenure are required to submit (a) results of student evaluations for courses taught in each of the three previous years (see P&P 803.0701: Student Evaluation of Faculty) and (b) evidence that student evaluations have been used to improve teaching performance. Other evidence may include peer reviews, administrative reviews, alumni evaluations, student comments, and noteworthy contributions such as examples of curriculum and course development.

Service

To receive tenure at SPSU, faculty must provide evidence of outstanding service to SPSU and, optionally, to the profession and/or community. Activities that fulfill this requirement are presented in P&P 803.075 (Faculty Activities).

Professional Growth and Development

To receive tenure at SPSU, faculty must provide evidence of active professional growth and development over time. Activities that fulfill this requirement are presented in P&P 803.075 (Faculty Activities).

Academic Achievement

To receive tenure at SPSU, faculty must provide evidence of solid academic achievement (also referred to as scholarship). Activities that fulfill the requirement for academic achievement are presented in P&P 803.075 (Faculty Activities). Note that the Faculty Activities P&P incorporates the Boyer/Glassick model with its four types of scholarship-i.e., the scholarship of teaching, application, integration, and discovery.

Each year by April 15, the vice president for academic affairs (a) notifies each faculty member who is completing, or has completed, the minimum number of years to be considered for tenure and (b) issues the various deadlines that relate to the procedure.

Note:

Any eligible faculty member may initiate his or her own candidacy for tenure. It is the responsibility of the faculty member to assemble his or her own tenure package. He or she has the option to continue or discontinue candidacy at any point in the tenure process.

The eligible faculty member submits the tenure package to the school dean by the announced deadline. The package must include the following parts when it is submitted to the dean:

• Cover sheet

• Resume in official SPSU format

• List of all course sections taught at SPSU, term by term

• Narrative-a maximum 8-page, single-spaced section in which the faculty member does the following:
  • shows how the details of teaching, service, professional growth and development, and academic achievement fit into an overall plan-emphasizing goals, preparation, methods, results, and self-reflection
  • provides clear support for the noteworthiness of one's teaching
  • provides clear support for the noteworthiness of one's contributions in either service, professional growth and development, or academic achievement (Note: graduate faculty must choose academic achievement)

• Summaries of official SPSU student evaluations for all courses taught at SPSU for the last four academic years (note that spring term evaluations only became required as of 2001 and thus may not be available for some years)

• Two letters from appropriate experts outside the university-providing an objective evaluation of some or all of the candidate's work related to professional growth and development and/or to one or more of the four types of scholarship

• Appendix-a maximum 50-page section (paged, with a table of contents) that includes any additional supporting material the candidate wants to have considered

The dean forwards the package to the chairperson of the faculty member's program peer committee. The chairperson schedules meetings of the committee to review and vote on program tenure packages.

Note:

By a 2/3 vote of a school's tenured faculty and by agreement of the dean and VPAA, a school may elect to bypass review by the program peer committee and move directly to review by the school peer committee.

The program peer committee conducts its review and submits a letter to the school dean that does the following:

The dean forwards the package--with the letter of the program peer committee--to the chairperson of the school peer committee. The chairperson schedules meetings of the committee to review and vote on school tenure packages.

The school peer committee conducts its review and submits a letter to the school dean that does the following:

The school dean conducts his or her review and then submits a letter concerning the case to the vice president for academic affairs - with the package and letters from the program and school committees. The dean's letter does the following:

The VPAA forward the packages-with all supporting letters from the program peer committee, school peer committee, and dean-to the chairperson of the campus peer committee. The chairperson schedules meetings of the committee to review and vote on university tenure packages.

The campus peer committee conducts its review and then submits a letter concerning the case to the vice president for academic affairs. The letter does the following:

The VPAA reviews all tenure packages--whether or not they have received positive or negative reviews at the previous levels of review:

The president reviews all tenure packages forwarded to his or her office by the vice president for academic affairs: