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Southern Polytechnic State University Policy and Procedure Manual P&P 803.09 |
Original Date: November 1987 Previous Revisions: April 7, 2000 July 23, 2004 Approved: March 26, 2007 |
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Faculty Promotion and Tenure |
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Overview |
This P&P includes the following:
Background Definitions Criteria common to all ranks Criteria for specific ranks Procedure for review |
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Background |
The promotion and tenure policies of the University System of Georgia are contained in the Policy Manual of the Board of Regents. Policies of Southern Polytechnic State University contain additional elements that reflect the history, structure, and identity of the university. The process for promotion or tenure at Southern Polytechnic State University culminates in the President's recommendation to the Board of Regents, which is the final authority on promotion and tenure decisions. |
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Definitions |
Described herein are the following terms: 1. Tenure 2. Year of Credit 3. Peer Committees |
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No. |
Term |
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1. |
Tenure q Credit toward tenure at Southern Polytechnic State University is normally gained through experience at the rank of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor. Up to three years of credit can be awarded for experience at other ranks or at other institutions in accordance with Board of Regents Policy 803.09, which requires that the credit for prior service be defined in writing by the President and approved by the Board of Regents at the time of the initial appointment to assistant professor or above. q Tenurable ranks are Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. q Promotion to the rank of Associate Professor or higher requires prior or simultaneous award of tenure. However, new tenure-track faculty may be initially appointed to the rank of Associate Professor or Professor without the award of tenure.
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2. |
Year of Credit q Full-time ranked faculty with an average teaching load of at least 1/3 time for the period of evaluation earn one year of credit toward promotion or tenure each year. q The year of submission and review is counted as a year of credit only for faculty hired prior to July 1, 2004. q Time spent on leaves-of-absence from SPSU employment will not normally be credited toward promotion or tenure. However, if the leave is for activities that would normally be considered professional development, scholarship, or service for full-time faculty members, credit up to a maximum of one year can be granted upon recommendation by the faculty in the department, the department chair, the dean of the school to which the faculty member is assigned, and by the VPAA. Any leave time credited toward promotion or tenure must be approved in writing by all parties prior to the beginning of the leave. q The granting of promotion or tenure will be based primarily on achievements and contributions during employment at Southern Polytechnic, and as documented in the promotion or tenure package, with emphasis on the period since the most recent promotion.
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3. |
Peer Committees
q All members of peer committees must hold tenure. q Members of peer committees are elected by tenure-track faculty. q Candidates for tenure or promotion are not eligible to serve on peer committees. q The 12-month term of a peer review committee begins at the start of each fall semester, at which time the committee elects a chairperson. q A majority of the members on any faculty peer committee must hold a rank at least as high as the highest rank being sought among the pool of candidates to be reviewed. q Peer committee recommendations for promotion or tenure will be determined by a simple majority of voting members. q In committee deliberations, any given committee member may discuss any case for promotion or tenure. However, individual members may not vote on candidates seeking a rank higher than their own. q Department chairs may not serve on faculty peer committees.
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Department Peer Committee
q The department peer committee is elected by the faculty of the department. q The department peer committee consists of three to five members. If there are fewer than three eligible members, the department will elect additional member(s) from other departments in the same school. In the absence of eligible faculty in the other departments of the school, representatives may be elected from professors emeriti or from other units in the USG in the appropriate discipline. A pool of potential committee members will be identified by the candidates and department chair, and the final member(s) will be elected by the faculty of the department. |
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School Peer Committee
q One full Professor is elected to the school peer committee from each department. q One additional full Professor is elected from each remaining school by the tenure-track faculty of the respective school. q In the absence of eligible full Professors, representatives may be elected from tenured Associate Professors as long as the majority of the committee members hold the rank of Professor. |
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Criteria Common to All Ranks |
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1. |
Time in Rank To be considered for promotion or tenure, faculty members must normally have completed at least the following number of years of credit at Southern Polytechnic State University: q Three years as an instructor to be eligible for assistant professor q Five years as assistant professor to be eligible for associate professor q Five years as associate professor to be eligible for professor q The maximum time that can be served by an untenured faculty member will be in accordance with Board of Regents policy. Early Actions: Consideration for promotion or tenure with less time in rank than specified above constitutes an early action which may be proposed only for exceptional circumstances that can be documented and supported by the faculty member’s package and strong letters of recommendation from department chairs, peer committees, and deans. |
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2. |
Noteworthy Teaching To receive promotion or tenure, a faculty member 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 promotion or tenure are required to provide Summaries of student evaluations for all courses taught during the previous four years or since initial hire (see P&P 803.0701: Student Evaluation of Faculty), Summaries of feedback from students, peer reviews, administrative reviews, alumni, and other meaningful sources, Evidence that feedback has been continuously and effectively used to improve teaching performance, where appropriate, and Evidence of noteworthy contributions to curriculum and course development.
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Performance To receive promotion or tenure, a faculty member must provide evidence of sustained performance in the following areas at a level appropriate to the academic rank: service, professional growth and development, and academic achievement. Activities appropriate for this requirement are described in P&P 803.075 (Faculty Activities).
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4. |
Credentials To be considered for promotion or tenure, a faculty member must q Have a degree appropriate to the discipline in which the teaching responsibilities have been assigned. q Meet criteria for academic credentials set by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools for the level of instruction to which the faculty member has been assigned, and q Meet criteria for academic credentials set by applicable discipline-specific accrediting agencies.
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Criteria for Specific Ranks |
This section lists specific requirements for:
q Promotion from lecturer to senior lecturer q Promotion from instructor to assistant professor q Tenure and promotion from assistant professor to associate professor q Promotion from associate professor to professor
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Lecturer to Senior Lecturer q Time in Rank: Board of Regents policy states that Lecturers should normally seek promotion to Senior Lecturer by the end of their sixth year of service. A faculty member must have at least three years of credit at the rank of lecturer at Southern Polytechnic State University. q Degree: Must have at least a master’s degree appropriate to the discipline. q Evidence of Noteworthy Achievement: Annual performance reviews and other credible evidence are required to substantiate:
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Instructor to Assistant Professor q Time in Rank: A faculty member must have at least three years of credit at the rank of instructor at Southern Polytechnic State University. q Degree: Must have at least a master's degree appropriate to the discipline q Evidence of Noteworthy Achievement: Annual performance reviews and other credible evidence are required to substantiate
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Tenure and Promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor q Time in Rank: A faculty member must have at least five years of credit at the rank of assistant professor at Southern Polytechnic State University. q Degree: Must have at least a master's degree appropriate to the discipline, and q Evidence of Noteworthy Achievement: Annual performance reviews and other credible evidence are required to substantiate
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3. |
Associate Professor to Professor q Time in rank: A faculty member must have at least five years of credit at the rank of associate professor at Southern Polytechnic. q Degree: Must have an earned doctorate or other terminal degree appropriate to the discipline or its equivalent in training, ability, and experience. Neither the possession of a doctorate nor longevity of service is a guarantee per se of promotion. The faculty member must provide evidence of equivalency to a doctorate. The subsequent reviewing bodies must comment on the merits of the evidence in their respective letters of evaluation and recommendation. q Evidence of Noteworthiness: Annual performance reviews and other credible evidence are required to substantiate
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Procedure for Review
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1. |
Each year by April 15, the Vice President for Academic Affairs (a) Notifies each faculty member who has accumulated the minimum number of years in rank to be considered for promotion or tenure during the next academic year. (b) Issues the schedule of deadlines relevant to the process. |
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Procedural Notes: q A request for candidacy for promotion or tenure can be initiated by any eligible faculty member. q The responsibility for assembling a promotion or tenure package rests with the candidate. q The candidate has the option to withdraw from consideration at any point in the promotion and tenure process. q If a package accumulates two negative recommendations from any combination of department peer committee, department chair, school peer committee, or dean, the package advances no further and is returned to the faculty member with a written explanation of areas needing improvement. q In the evaluation process for promotion or tenure, the candidate is notified of the recommendation by the department peer committee, the department chair, the school peer committee, the dean, and the vice president for academic affairs when each of those recommendations is forwarded to the next step of the process. |
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2. |
By the announced deadline, the eligible faculty member submits a promotion or tenure package to the department chair. The package must include the following sections and must be formatted according to the outline below: q Cover sheet q Pagination and a table of contents (appendix can have a separate pagination and table of contents) q Resume in official SPSU format as defined in P&P 803.075 (Faculty Activities) q List of all course sections taught at SPSU, term by term for the last four years q Self-Assessment and Reflection (8-page maximum, single-spaced) which includes the following: — Explanation of the candidate’s overall plan and goals for teaching, service, professional growth and development, and academic achievement — Self-analysis of the degree to which the overall plan and goals have been achieved, with emphasis on assessment methods, results, and the record of improvement — Candidate’s goals for the future and plan for achieving those goals — Clear demonstration of the noteworthiness of the candidate’s teaching effectiveness — Clear demonstration of the noteworthiness of the candidate’s contributions in all other areas required by criteria for the rank q Summaries of official Southern Polytechnic student evaluations for the last four academic years. This should include the fall semesters in all years prior to 2001, and should include both spring and fall semesters for 2001 and thereafter. q Two letters from appropriate experts who have no current or previous affiliation with Southern Polytechnic State University. These experts should be specialists in the candidate’s academic discipline, and they should provide an objective evaluation of some or all of the candidate’s work related to professional growth and development and to scholarship. The experts should be selected by mutual agreement of the candidate and department chair, and all communication with the experts should be by the department chair. q Appendix—a section (paged, with a table of contents) that includes additional material supporting the noteworthiness of the candidate’s achievements.
Note: In the review process, letters of evaluation will be added to the packet immediately behind the cover sheet and in the chronological order of review: department peer committee, department chair, school peer committee, school dean, vice president for academic affairs. |
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3. |
The department chair forwards the package to the chair of the department peer committee. |
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The department peer committee chair schedules meetings of the committee to review, vote, and write a letter of evaluation to the department chair regarding each promotion or tenure package. The department peer committee letter : q Summarizes the candidate’s overall case for promotion or tenure q Gives supporting details based on the stated criteria for promotion or tenure q Comments on the merits of the evidence q Provides the vote count of the committee. The committee chair will keep a list of vote results, in case it is needed as the result of an appeal.
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The department chair conducts a review of the packet, including the letter from the department peer committee, prepares a letter of evaluation, and forwards the package (with letters from the department peer committee and department chair) to the chair of the school peer committee. The department chair letter: q Summarizes the candidate’s overall case for promotion or tenure q Gives supporting details based on the stated criteria for promotion or tenure q Comments on the merits of the evidence
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The chair of the school peer committee schedules meetings of the committee to review, vote, and write a letter of evaluation to the dean regarding each promotion or tenure package. The committee chair forwards the package (with letters from the department peer committee, department chair, and school peer committee) to the dean. The school peer committee letter: q Summarizes the candidate’s overall case for promotion or tenure q Gives supporting details based on the stated criteria for promotion or tenure q Comments on the merits of the evidence q Provides the vote count of the committee. The committee chair will keep a list of vote results, in case it is needed as the result of an appeal. . |
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The school dean conducts a review, prepares a letter of evaluation, and forwards the package (with letters from the department peer committee, department chair, school peer committee, and dean) to the vice president for academic affairs. The dean’s letter: q Summarizes the candidate’s overall case for promotion or tenure q Gives supporting details based on the stated criteria for promotion or tenure q Comments on the merits of the evidence
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The Vice President for Academic Affairs conducts a review, prepares a letter of evaluation, and forwards the package (with letters from the department peer committee, department chair, school peer committee, dean, and vice president) to the president. The vice president’s letter: q Summarizes the candidate’s overall case for promotion or tenure q Gives supporting details based on the stated criteria for promotion or tenure q Comments on the merits of the evidence
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The president reviews all promotion or tenure packages forwarded by the vice president for academic affairs: q If a candidate’s name is to be forwarded to the Board of Regents for final action, the President signs the cover sheet and returns the package to the Vice President for Academic Affairs who will retain it (following the Board of Regents policy concerning Document Retention), and present it for review, should it be requested by the Board. q If a candidate’s name is not to be forwarded to the Board of Regents, the Vice President for Academic Affairs sends the candidate a letter that documents areas where the faculty member meets and does not meet criteria for promotion or tenure. q Candidates not recommended by the president have the right to appeal to the Board of Regents
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10. |
Candidates recommended for promotion or tenure by the president are considered by the Board of Regents, which makes the final decision on promotion or tenure.
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