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Procedures: Assembly of Tenure File

In the sixth year counted toward tenure or the year designated for tenure review in a shorter probationary period, information about the candidate’s performance and promise is assembled from the sources described below. The Dean of Faculty requests and receives the materials for a file (the Tenure Review File) which will be used by the Faculty Status Council to guide its deliberations. For the purposes of these procedures, including appeals, any reference to the term “class days” shall mean all days upon which the offices of the College are open, excluding intervening weekends, academic calendar holidays, and the entire summer break. The Tenure Review File, which is made available to the candidate and the candidate’s Division Chair, includes the following items collected in this order:

ONE: Material from various offices to be received in the Office of the Dean of Faculty not less than thirty (30) class days prior to the closure date of a candidate’s Tenure Review File.

  1. From the Provost, data from the candidate’s advising evaluations.
  2. Summary analyses from the Instructor Evaluation Questionnaires are received from the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. See Appendix C  for the policies regarding the collection, processing, and use of the Instructor Evaluation Questionnaire. These materials are placed in the Tenure Review File and copied to the Division Chair.
  3. Any other documents determined by the Dean of Faculty to be relevant to the stated criteria for tenure are included. These materials shall include, when available, summaries of confidential interviews with students conducted by the Dean of Faculty or the Dean of Faculty’s designate, and must include survey data collected by the Dean of Faculty from graduates. The letter summarizing the conclusions of the probationary review (see below) and any related correspondence are also part of the Tenure Review File. These materials are placed in the Tenure Review File and copied to the Division Chair.

TWO: Material from the candidate:

The Dean of Faculty shall request, in writing, that the candidate submit a portfolio of materials for the Tenure Review File. An essential element is the candidate’s portfolio narrative reflecting on progress and plans for growth toward the four tenure review standards: teaching excellence, scholarly and/or creative work, advising and mentoring of students, and professional, community, and on-campus service activities. Narratives should be accompanied by evidence contained in appendices, including course syllabi, examples of student work, samples of completed manuscripts (e.g., articles in their entirety or selected book chapters) or creative work, and similar items.

While faculty have latitude as they draft their portfolios, these should contain:

  1. A Table of Contents, with internal hyperlinks to each section, including all appendices
  2. A current Curriculum Vitae (CV)
  3. A portfolio narrative (recommended length not more than 30 double-spaced pages or 8,000 words) that reflects on one's successes and areas for growth related to the four tenure review standards.
  4. Appendices containing any evidence specifically referenced in the narrative. This evidence should be judiciously curated, containing hyperlinks to and from the narrative. (For examples of relevant evidence, please refer to the Tenure Review Standards page.)

For a period of ten (10) class days prior to submitting one's materials, the candidate is free to review all of the previously collected materials contained in the Tenure Review File. In a written statement the candidate may address the content and recommendations already collected in the Tenure Review File. The candidate is responsible for the submission of the candidate’s materials to the Office of Academic Affairs not later than ten (10) class days after the deadline for the material in part ONE, above. The Dean of Faculty will inform the candidate of this deadline at least by the start of the term in which the Tenure Review will occur.

THREE: Evaluative Letter from the Division Chair:

Upon the written request of the Dean of Faculty, the candidate’s Division Chair submits an evaluative letter describing the candidate’s contributions and performance as described and ordered by the tenure criteria published in the Faculty Manual. Although the letter is informed by contributions of the Peer-Review Team and the Department Chair, where applicable, the letter presents the Division Chair’s own judgment, with a clear recommendation that tenure be granted or denied. In arriving at one's conclusions, the Division Chair:

  • confers with the candidate’s designated Peer-Review Team, the Department Chair, and the Associate Provost
  • visits a variety of classes conducted by the candidate, including General Studies classes, where applicable
  • interviews students familiar with the candidate’s teaching and advising (Note: interviews are conducted every fall and spring term during the two [2] years immediately prior to tenure consideration)
  • reviews the candidate’s advising materials
  • reviews all material in the candidate’s file (see Section One)

The Division Chair may request that tenured faculty in the division assist in the evaluation of the tenure candidate. Such assistance may include, but not be limited to: consultation, review of scholarship and other materials related to the College’s Tenure Review Standards, classroom observations, student interviews, and review of student evaluations (IEQ) and/or alumni surveys. Names of students interviewed are made known to the tenure candidate upon request, but the students’ responses are held in confidence from the candidate.

The Division Chair is responsible for this letter and its timely submission, due five (5) class days after the deadline established above for the candidate’s materials. Once the Division Chair has drafted the letter, each member of the Peer-Review Team and the Department Chair, where applicable, receive an electronic copy. If the Department Chair or any member of the Peer-Review Team wishes to submit an additional letter, that letter is due to the Dean of Faculty within five (5) class days of the deadline for the Division Chair’s letter, addressing the stated criteria for tenure. These written submissions, if any, from any Peer-Review Team members or the Department Chair are intended to be arguments developed from experience with the candidate. The candidate’s file is not available to members of the candidate’s Peer-Review Team or the Department Chair in preparing such a letter. If the candidate wishes, the candidate has ten (10) class days from deadline established for letters from Peer-Review Team members or the Department Chair to write a letter of reply to the Division Chair’s letter and to any letter added to the file from a member of the candidate’s Peer-Review Team or the Department Chair. The candidate’s letter of reply will be added to the Tenure Review File. After this ten (10) class day period no new materials may be added to the Tenure Review File. The Dean of Faculty shall send a letter to the candidate and the Chair of the Faculty Status Council confirming that the Tenure Review File has been closed. This date of closure is thirty (30) class days from the submission deadline established for the Tenure Review File materials described in Part ONE, above.