AA/PPS 04.02.20 - Tenure-Line Faculty Tenure and Promotion Review

POLICY STATEMENT

Texas State University is committed to supporting the mission and goals of the institution through effective hiring, evaluating, and promoting practices for its promotion-eligible tenure-track and tenured faculty.

1. BACKGROUND

   1. Faculty candidates for tenure or promotion, as well as members of department or school personnel committees, college review groups, department chairs or school directors, deans, and the provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs (EVPAA) must understand that tenure and promotion decisions are based on informed evaluations of a candidate’s record and the documentation and evidence submitted in the candidate’s complete packet. While each department or school and college has its own discipline-specific criteria for promotion and tenure, these criteria must assure that tenure and promotion are granted based on clearly documented evidence of high-quality teaching, sustained and impactful peer-reviewed scholarly and creative activity, and effective leadership and service. In addition, for those disciplines where applicable, external and internal funding activities, patents or commercialization of research will be considered. This Academic Affairs policy and procedures statement (AA/PPS) and the related college and department or school documents are designed to inform those judgments. All faculty who undergo a promotion review are required to complete a background check prior to final approval of the action. No recommendations are final until approved by the President and the Board of Regents.

   2. A tenure-track or tenured faculty must be evaluated in the areas of teaching, scholarly and creative activity, and leadership and service including their collegial contributions to the university community. Collegial faculty members are expected to contribute to the positive functioning of the department or school and the university

      1. For faculty being reviewed for tenure and promotion to associate professor, the evaluation will consider all the candidate’s accomplishments but will emphasize the time period from the initial date of appointment on tenure-track at Texas State University to the present.

      2. For faculty being reviewed for promotion to professor, the evaluation will consider all the candidate’s accomplishments but will emphasize the time period from the last promotion to the present at Texas State.

      3. For faculty whose appointments include service credit from another institution, the evaluation for tenure and/or promotion will consider all the candidate’s accomplishments but should emphasize the time period from the initial appointment at Texas State to the present. This includes faculty hired at the associate professor or professor rank.

2. DEFINITIONS

   1. Faculty Qualifications – the software system used for capturing and sharing tenure and promotion materials as well as required forms and workflow.

   2. Schools and Programs Equivalent to Tenure-Granting Departments – programs that have all the rights and obligations noted for tenure-granting departments, and their directors have all the rights and obligations noted for department chairs or school directors.

   3. Voting Tenure and Promotion Personnel Committee Members, here after referred to as Personnel Committee Members, are tenured faculty members who:

      1. hold academic rank in a department or school at a rate of 50 percent or more and who do not hold an administrative appointment outside of their college;

      2. have at least one year of service at Texas State since the official start date of the faculty appointment; and

      3. have taught eight sections of courses at the college or university level.

      Tenured faculty who do not meet these provisions will serve as non-voting members of the personnel.

3. PROCEDURES FOR TENURE AND PROMOTION

   1. Eligibility for Tenure

      1. Typically, for a tenure-track assistant professor, the probationary period prior to the awarding of tenure is six years so that when tenure is granted it begins with the next year’s contract. In exceptional cases, faculty who have truly outstanding records may apply for tenure without prejudice before the end of the six-year probationary period. This decision will be made after consultation with the personnel committee, chair or director, and dean.

      2. At the end of the sixth year, the faculty member will either be awarded tenure or terminated with one year’s notice by the issuance of a terminal contract.

      3. Faculty members in tenure-track positions will not move to non-tenure track status and then back to tenure-track status unless this change in status resulted from independent searches for non-tenure and tenure-track positions.

      4. Neither leaves of absence nor part-time appointments count as part of the probationary period, based on The Texas State University System (TSUS) Rules and Regulations. A written agreement, mutually satisfactory to the candidate and to the university, must be made at the time of initial appointment to a tenure-track position whether to credit or to exclude previous years of full-time academic experience toward the six-year probationary period.

      5. Tenure-track faculty members whose rank is below associate professor must apply for promotion to associate professor at the same time as they apply for tenure.

      6. A faculty member may not be tenured by default or due to the failure to recognize that the time for tenure or termination has arrived.

      7. Tenure-track faculty may request suspension of the tenure clock, up to two years, in order to accommodate one or more of the following life events: childbirth or adoption; dependent care (including children, parents, spouses, or other dependents); the faculty member’s own illness or other personal emergency; and the inability of the institution to provide agreed upon facilities for the faculty member’s research. Other exceptional circumstances not mentioned above may be reviewed and may result in a suspension of the tenure clock if deemed appropriate by the provost and EVPAA to be in the university’s best interest.

         1. Timing of the Request – The faculty member has a duty to request, to the extent possible, the suspension of the tenure clock within one year of the event.

         2. Faculty Member’s Obligation – The faculty member must make a written request through their chair or director and dean to the provost and EVPAA to suspend up to a maximum of two years of service on the tenure clock, explaining the basis for the request and why it impedes the faculty member’s ability to make progress toward achieving tenure. The faculty member is required to state the suspension period requested and provide any supporting documentation the university may require. A memorandum should be routed from the faculty member, via the chair or director and dean, to the provost and EVPAA, in Dynamic Forms.

         3. Chief Academic Officer’s Obligation – The provost and EVPAA will notify the faculty member, chair or director, and dean of their decision and submit their recommendation to the system vice chancellor for Academic Affairs.

         4. No Property Right Created – The suspension of the tenure clock lies within the sole discretion of the university administration, subject to the vice chancellor for Academic Affairs’ approval, and creates no property right, contractual, or other legal entitlement in a member of the faculty.

         5. Tenure and Promotion Criteria Unaltered – Chair or directors, deans, and the provost and EVPAA ensure that criteria for tenure do not change for the faculty member while service has been excluded from a faculty member’s probationary period.

      8. Extraordinary circumstances such as a global pandemic, as declared by the World Health Organization, or other widespread state or federal disasters, allow suspension of the tenure clock for a third year if deemed appropriate by the provost and EVPAA.

      9. Exceptions to the eligibility criteria must be specifically justified during the tenure process.

   2. Eligibility for Promotion

      Certain broad principles of eligibility, noted below, are generally observed in the promotion process:

      1. It is expected that a faculty member who meets the criteria for tenure will also meet the criteria for promotion to associate professor. A tenure-track faculty member whose rank is below associate professor must apply for tenure at the same time they apply for promotion.

      2. Assistant, associate, and professors must hold the terminal degree or be adjudged by the personnel committee and the administration to possess exceptional proficiency and professional competency in their teaching discipline. If an individual does not have the recognized terminal degree, the maximum rank that will normally be attained will be assistant professor. Exceptions may be considered only for those individuals with exceptionally long service who have established a record of teaching, scholarly activities, and service that clearly exceeds the requirements for promotion.

      3. Typically, faculty spend more than five years in rank before being eligible for promotion to professor. The year in which the promotion is reviewed will count as one of the years in rank.

      4. Exceptions to the eligibility criteria should be specifically justified during the promotion process.

   3. Responsibilities of Candidates for Tenure and Promotion

      1. Candidates must use Faculty Qualifications to confirm candidacy for tenure and promotion and to submit required documents.

      2. Candidates must provide documentation that supports the quality of their teaching, scholarly and creative activity, and leadership and service as defined in department or school and college criteria. This documentation should be arranged and presented in the order of categories prescribed by the Texas State Vita or Texas State Vita (With Fine Arts Components), and the Faculty Qualifications System.

      3. Faculty Qualifications will document all achievements using the Texas State Vita format or Texas State Vita (With Fine Arts Components) format. Candidates must document all achievements and highlight those that apply to the probationary period or time period since the last promotion.

      4. Candidates must adhere to the timeline published each May for the tenure and promotion process and are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of the documentation submitted.

      5. As delineated in college policy (see Section 05.01 b.), all promotion to associate professor and tenure candidates will work with their chair or director to select a minimum of four appropriate reviewers from outside the institution. They must be at a minimum tenured associate professors at a Carnegie R1 or R2 institution. For candidates seeking promotion from tenured associate professor to professor, a minimum of four external review letters are required for the packet. They must be from tenured professors at comparable R1 or R2 institutions.

      6. Tenured candidates who are not approved for promotion to professor may request a meeting scheduled by the chair or director to develop a program of professional development to enhance the likelihood of future promotion.

      7. Candidates who are denied promotion are responsible for initiating any relevant appeal or grievance procedure and must wait a minimum of two years to reapply.

4. DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL RESPONSIBILITIES, REVIEW PROCESS, AND VOTING

   1. Responsibilities

      1. After consulting with the voting faculty, the department chair or school director and personnel committee will develop a policy for tenure and promotion. The policy should specify the level of performance expected and clarify the requirements for documenting performance in teaching, scholarly and creative activities, and leadership and service, including expectations for collegial contributions to the university community. The policy should identify the role of the personnel committee, including the use of subcommittees, in the review process, and detail how personnel committee membership is determined. High quality teaching is a necessary, but not sufficient, achievement upon which to base tenure and promotion. In addition, all candidates for tenure or promotion must provide a documented record of sustained peer-reviewed scholarly and creative activity. For those disciplines where applicable, external and internal funding activities, patents or commercialization of research will be considered. An outstanding record of leadership and service is normally expected for promotion to professor; a sustained level of effective service is necessary for promotion to associate professor.

      2. Each department or school will provide each faculty member a copy of the department or school and college criteria for tenure and promotion at the beginning of each academic year.

      3. The chair or director and members of the personnel committee will counsel the candidate about including all required and relevant materials and organizing supporting documents.

      4. The chair or director and personnel committee are responsible for a thorough evaluation of the candidate’s documentation. The chair or director and the personnel committee’s evaluations should describe the scholarly and creative work of each candidate in its totality and assess its impact on the expansion of knowledge in the discipline. This is particularly critical for promotion to professor.

      5. The personnel committee will state briefly and clearly the criteria for evaluation to be forwarded with each candidate’s application. The personnel committee’s comments and the chair or director’s comments on the evaluation form in Faculty Qualifications should leave no doubt as to the action desired by the department or school. For candidates whose applications have been approved by the department or school, the comments should fully develop a rationale for recommending the candidate, leaving no doubt about the candidate’s suitability and importance to the future development of the department or school.

      6. Because members of the college review group serve as evaluators of the candidate’s credentials they will not serve as advocates. Remarks should be restricted to answering specific questions from the other members.

      7. Department or school faculty and administrators should refrain from attempting to influence the decision-making process at higher levels.

      8. Tenured faculty members and those on tenure-track with one or more years of service at Texas State will elect a tenured representative and maximum of two tenured alternates to the college review group. Names of the representatives and alternates will be submitted to the dean on the Nominees for College Review Group form. Representatives will serve staggered three-year terms.

      9. Departmental faculty and administrators will refrain from trying to influence the decision-making process at the department or school level.

   2. Review Process

      1. The chair or director will ensure the candidate’s documentation is available in Faculty Qualifications for review by the personnel committee, and members of the committee will review the candidate’s documentation before the formal meeting.

      2. No additional items may be included in the documentation without the permission of the chair or director and the candidate. Additional items should be clearly identified as supplemental to the original documentation.

      3. At a meeting of the personnel committee, presided over by the chair or director in a non-voting capacity, the personnel committee will discuss and vote anonymously to recommend, not to recommend, or abstain only if there is a valid conflict of interest, for each of the candidates for tenure or promotion. The chair or director will remind the committee that all discussions and actions taken are confidential.

      4. Members of the personnel committee may not vote on a candidate for promotion to a rank higher than their own. In accordance with UPPS No. 04.04.07, Nepotism and Related Employment, faculty members will not vote and must leave tenure and promotion meetings when their spouses or family members are being discussed and votes taken.

      5. A tie vote is a vote not to recommend.

      6. If on first vote a candidate is not approved for tenure and promotion, any member of the department or school personnel committee may request a second vote to reconsider the decision. Such reconsideration will be given if approved by a two-thirds majority of the departmental personnel committee present and voting. The vote to reconsider must be conducted in the same meeting and not a subsequent meeting.

   3. Voting

      1. Professors who are members of the department’s or school’s personnel committee will vote to approve, disapprove, or abstain for candidates for professor.

      2. Professors and associate professors vote on candidates for tenure and promotion to associate professor. There is one vote to approve, disapprove, or abstain for each candidate eligible for tenure or candidates eligible for promotion to associate professor. If a candidate already holds the rank of associate professor, there is a vote for tenure only. If a candidate already holds tenure at a rank below that of associate professor, there is a vote for promotion to associate professor only.

      3. Voting for all candidates for professor are considered separately from the voting for all candidates for associate professor. Departmental or school policy determines whether the candidates for professor are considered first or follow the consideration for associate professors.

      4. Members must be present (in-person or virtual) for the discussion and vote. Meetings should not be recorded, and voting must occur in a manner that ensures anonymity and confidentiality.

      5. The chair or director and a member of the personnel committee selected by the other members of the committee should conduct an independent review of the vote before the results are announced. Any discrepancy between the two counts should be resolved before the results are announced to the personnel committee.

      6. A member of the personnel committee will enter the results of the voting on the evaluation form in Faculty Qualifications, along with evaluative remarks that include a statement showing how the candidate’s qualifications specifically met, exceeded, or did not meet the department or school criteria established for tenure or promotion from the personnel committee’s perspective. If the vote is to deny tenure or promotion, comments may be provided but are not required.

      7. The chair or director is responsible for ensuring that the comments accurately reflect the rationale for recommending the candidate for tenure or promotion.

      8. Following the verification and the official recording of the votes, the chair or director will destroy all ballots and tally sheets, if used.

      9. The chair or director will indicate their recommendation of each candidate on the evaluation form in Faculty Qualifications and add evaluative comments. These will include a statement showing how the candidate’s qualifications specifically met, exceeded, or did not meet the department or school criteria established for tenure or promotion from the chair’s or director’s perspective. If the vote is to deny tenure or promotion, comments may be provided but are not required. The chair or director will inform the department personnel committee of these recommendations, with explanations as appropriate, within three class days of the chair’s decision.

         The chair or director will verify that information forwarded about each candidate to the college review group is accurate in Faculty Qualifications.

      10. Within three class days of the decision by the chair or director, the chair or director will notify the candidate of the action. The following two decisions require written notification:

          1. if the candidate is denied by either the personnel committee or the chair or director but not both, the application will be forwarded to the college review group; and

          2. if the candidate is denied by both the personnel committee and the chair or director, the action is stopped and does not move forward for further consideration.

      11. At the candidate’s request and provided that the denial of promotion does not result in a terminal contract, the chair or director will schedule a meeting with the candidate to discuss the department’s evaluation. Reasons for denial of promotion will be explained. The candidate will be advised in creating a program of professional development to enhance the likelihood of future promotion.

5. COLLEGE RESPONSIBILITIES, REVIEW PROCESS, AND VOTING CANDIDATES

   1. Responsibilities

      1. Colleges must have detailed and explicit requirements for documentation incorporated into their tenure and promotion policies and procedures.

      2. Colleges must establish and implement a policy and procedure statement for the process of external review of all candidates.

      3. The review group must be composed of one tenured faculty member, preferably from the professor rank, elected by the tenure-track and tenured voting faculty in each department; the department chairs and/or school directors; one tenured faculty member at the rank of professor from another college; one outside academic dean, chair, or director at the rank of professor; and the dean of the college, who is a non-voting member. Elected representatives will serve staggered three-year terms.

      4. For colleges with four or fewer departments, college review group membership may be expanded at the discretion of the college dean by adding additional faculty members from departments within the college.

      5. Because members of the college review group serve as evaluators of the candidate’s credentials, they will not serve as advocates. Remarks should be restricted to answering specific questions from the other members.

      6. Departmental faculty and administrators should refrain from trying to influence the decision-making process at the college level.

      7. On the forms to be forwarded with each candidate’s application, the review group’s comments and the dean’s comments in Faculty Qualifications should clearly express the action desired by the college. For candidates whose applications will go forward to the provost and EVPAA, the comments of the review group and the dean should fully develop a statement in support of the candidate, addressing the suitability of their qualifications and importance to the future development of the college.

   2. Review Process and Voting

      1. The dean will provide access to the documentation for each candidate, and members of the college review group will review the candidate’s documentation in Faculty Qualifications before the formal meeting. Copies of each department’s criteria and the college criteria will be on file for use by members of the review group.

      2. No additional items may be added to the documentation for the college review without the chair’s or director’s, dean’s, and candidate’s permission. Additional items should be clearly identified as supplemental to the original documentation.

      3. At the meeting to formally consider the candidates, the college review group will discuss each candidate for tenure and promotion to associate professor and will vote recommend, not to recommend, or abstain for each of the candidates. Members must be present (in-person or virtual) for the discussion and vote. Meetings should not be recorded, and voting must occur to ensure anonymity and confidentiality. In accordance with UPPS No. 04.04.07, Nepotism and Related Employment, faculty members must leave tenure and promotion meetings when their spouses or family members are being discussed and votes taken. A member of the college review group who is also being considered for promotion must leave the meeting while their case is being discussed. The dean will remind the committee that all discussions and actions taken are confidential.

      4. The dean and a selected faculty representative will tally the votes. A tie vote is a vote not to recommend.

      5. After all candidates for tenure and promotion to associate professor have been voted on, any member of the review group may request a re-vote for a candidate. If two-thirds majority of the voting members agree, the re-hearing and re-vote will be held.

      6. A separate vote will be taken on candidates for promotion to professor. A re-vote may be requested as mentioned in Subsection e., above.

      7. A designated member of the review group will enter the results of the voting in Faculty Qualifications along with evaluative remarks, including a statement showing how the candidate’s qualifications specifically meet, exceed, or do not meet the departmental and college criteria established for tenure or promotion from the review group’s perspective. If the vote is to deny tenure or promotion, comments may be provided but are not required.

      8. The dean will indicate approval or disapproval of each candidate. The dean will add comments on the evaluation form in Faculty Qualifications, including a statement showing how the candidate’s qualifications specifically met, exceeded, or did not meet the department and college criteria established for tenure or promotion from the dean’s perspective. If the vote is to deny tenure or promotion, comments may be provided but are not required. Within seven class days, the dean will inform the review group of their recommendation, with explanations as appropriate.

      9. The dean will verify that information about each candidate forwarded to the provost and EVPAA is correct.

      10. The dean will use Faculty Qualifications to submit completed reviews from the college along with applications of the approved candidates to the provost and EVPAA.

      11. Within three class days of the completion of action by the review group and the dean, each candidate will be notified by the dean of the status of their application for tenure or promotion. The following two decisions require written notification.

          1. if the application is denied by either the review group or the dean but not both, the application will be forwarded to the provost and VPAA. Notification to the candidate must specify whether it was the review group or the dean who denied the application; and

          2. if the candidate is denied by both the review group and the dean, the action is stopped and does not move forward for further consideration.

      12. At the same time, the dean will direct the department chair or school director to inform the departmental personnel committee as to which applications have been forwarded.

      13. Provided that the denial of promotion does not result in the termination of contract, the chair or director, at the candidate’s request, will schedule a meeting with the dean and the candidate to discuss the college’s evaluation. Reasons for denial of promotion will be explained, and the candidate will be advised in creating a program of professional development to enhance the likelihood of future promotion.

6. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, PRESIDENT, CHANCELLOR, AND BOARD OF REGENTS

   1. The provost and EVPAA will forward the applications and the recommendations, along with their recommendation, on each candidate to the president.

   2. The president will make the final recommendations to the chancellor and TSUS Board of Regents.

   3. The provost and EVPAA will provide written notification to each candidate of the president’s recommendation.

   4. The provost and EVPAA will provide the list of the candidates approved by the chancellor and the TSUS Board of Regents to Media Relations.

   5. Within one month of the conclusion of the cycle, the provost and EVPAA will complete the Provost and President Tracking form for each faculty member eligible for consideration for tenure or promotion and return it to the dean’s office, where they will be retained for three years.

   6. The provost and EVPAA will prepare appropriate aggregated statistical summaries of the year’s outcomes and share appropriately.

   7. Neither promotion nor tenure is effective until approved by the chancellor and the TSUS Board of Regents.

   8. Provided that the denial of promotion does not result in the terminal contract, the chair or director, at the candidate’s request, will schedule a meeting with the dean, provost and EVPAA, and the candidate to discuss the provost and EVPAA’ s evaluation. These officials will explain reasons why the candidate was denied promotion and will advise the candidate on creating a program of professional development that will enhance the likelihood of future promotion.

7. TIMELINE FOR THE TENURE AND PROMOTION PROCESS

   1. The timeline will make allowances for weekends by moving due dates to the next business day when relevant. Exact dates for each year will be published in the annual Tenure and Promotion Calendar.

8. PROCEDURE FOR APPEAL

   1. Candidates who are denied promotion or tenure may grieve the decision by following the procedures outlined in AA/PPS No. 04.02.32, Faculty Grievance Policy.

9. PROCEDURES FOR INFORMING CANDIDATES OF DENIAL OF TENURE OR PROMOTION

   1. Each person in the review and evaluation process has a professional responsibility to treat information that evaluates another’s work as confidential. All discussions and votes in the process must be kept confidential.

   2. Faculty members who are denied tenure are not entitled to a statement of the reasons upon which the decision is based (see section 4.27 of Chapter V of the TSUS Rules and Regulations).

   3. Faculty members who are denied promotion at any level should be informed regarding the reasons for denial by the responsible administrator, the chair or director, the dean, or the provost and EVPAA provided that the denial of promotion does not result in a terminal contract. It is the responsibility of the candidate to request a meeting to determine the reasons for denial.

10. REVIEWERS OF THIS PPS

    1. Reviewer of this AA/PPS includes the following:

       Position	Date
       Vice Provost for Faculty Success	September 1 E5Y

11. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

    This PPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

    Vice Provost for Faculty Success

    Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs