The process for preparing tenure and promotion cases is straightforward. It begins with a conversation between the chair and the candidate to discuss the process. Then the chair will:
- Confer with members of your department (at a rank equal to or above the candidate’s) before the end of the spring semester to make a frank assessment of whether the candidate is ready to be put forward for promotion or tenure.
- Meet with the candidate soon thereafter to discuss materials to be prepared. The chair must solicit copies of the faculty member’s full curriculum vitae, a Statement of Future Plans (which describes plans for future professional contributions and development in light of earlier accomplishments), and a list of no more than 6 external referees and 4 internal referees (outside of your department) that the candidate recommends to write on his or her behalf. The external referees should be major figures in your field, preferable affiliated with top universities or performing ensembles. At least three of these letters must come from people who have little or no personal association with the candidate.
- Make the c.v. and Statement available to members of the department’s faculty with rank equal to or higher than the candidate, who must write to review the candidate. In addition, these faculty will add another 6-7 names of external referees, so that a total of about a dozen external supporting letters will be assembled in the completed file. The chair must note in supporting documentation which names were suggested by the candidate, which by the department and which have no personal association with the candidate.
- Solicit letters from both internal and external referees over the summer months. You may wish to include a statement in the letter such as “It would be particularly helpful if you would compare the candidate with other named individuals of comparable standing in the field.” Letters from the external referees should reach your desk by September 15 at the latest.
- Ask the candidate to prepare additional documentation of teaching and research excellence. Again, this preparation may take place during the summer months. The candidate must supply multiple copies of this documentation, as outlined in the UR Faculty Handbook and in instructions distributed to the chair. Documentation should include off prints of articles or books, recordings or CDs, lists of former students and their current employment, and teaching evaluations. If the faculty member is coming from another university as a candidate for a tenured position at Eastman, evaluations from the previous institution should be submitted. The department chair may also wish to solicit letters from current or past students, as well as from teaching assistants whom the candidate supervised. (As before, ask the candidate for some names and supply others yourself in consultation with colleagues.) This documentation should reach the chair by September 15, along with the letters of support.
- Once the case is complete (vita, statement of future plans, letters from external referees, letters from internal referees, documentation of teaching and research excellence), it is the department chair’s responsibility to assemble the case according to the guidelines distributed by the Office of Academic Affairs and to write a thorough cover letter that evaluates the case as a whole and places the letters from referees in context. The chair must also submit a copy of the letter used to solicit letters from external referees and biographical sketches for each of these referees (standard reference works may be used, or ask the candidate or referee to supply this information).
- Submit the completed case to the Executive Associate Dean by December 15.
Reviews for promotion take place the year before the candidate’s contract expires as the chart on the next page shows. If the case is not successful, the candidate will have a year to seek new employment. It should indefinitely be noted that promotion to full professor is not on a “clock” and that some faculty may remain as tenured associate professors.
Reappointment as Assistant Professor is an Eastman internal review only. All documentation except external letters of reference must be gathered. Promotion to Associate Professor without tenure is reviewed by a University Standing Committee (Humanities). The department chair must be present at the meeting of this committee to “make the case” for promotion. Tenure cases are judged by an ad hoc committee of ESM and River campus faculty.
