Number 5 in my series on tenure.
After my previous posts The Path and Timeline of Your Tenure File, and The Role of Your Tenure Committee and Department Head, a reader sent in a timeline document of the Department Head’s duties in the tenure process that circulates at her Public R1 social sciences department. I share it here (slightly anonymized) as more data for you to consider. Note that it stops at the departmental level and doesn’t include processes at the college and campus level. Note also that unlike the process I described, this one includes places for the candidate to respond in writing to the reports. I’d appreciate knowing from readers how common that practice is.
And remember, all tenure processes are local, and general advice such as that I provide in my blog post series on tenure cannot substitute for careful research of written and unwritten practices in your own field, department, and institution.
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Timeline for Promotion Packages for Assistant Professors
NOVEMBER
- Meet with Assistant Professor, discuss general expectations for process
(a) personal statement, provide examples by previous Asst Profs
(b) timeline
(c) potential internal review committee members
- Name review committee.
JANUARY
- Meet with Assistant Professor, begin formal process
(a) Ask for first draft of personal statement from candidate by February 10
(b) Ask to think about potential external reviewers
FEBRUARY
- Assistant Professor, Department Chair, and Review Committee Chair discuss potential external reviewers
MARCH
- Assistant Professor finalizes personal statement by March 25
APRIL
- Candidate supplies 1 photocopy of all research materials (articles, chapters, books) on April 1
- Dept staff keeps master copy, makes one copy for dept review committee
- Dept staff make copies for external reviewers.
- Dept buys any needed book copies for external reviews
- Candidate supplies 1 photocopy of all teaching materials (classes taught, peer and student evaluations, syllabi).
- Dept staff keeps master copy, makes one copy for dept review committee
- Dept staff make copies for external reviewers.
- Candidate supplies 1 photocopy of additional materials: personal statement, CV, YARS [KK: I assume this means yearly annual research statements].
- All materials go to the internal review committee, with deadline of initial response to chair May 10
- Contact possible external reviewers by email (contact 5; need 3)
- Packets to them by May 15 and would need to hear back by September 1
- This is query letter, not formal letter dictated by the College
- If all 5 don’t say yes, then take next names from lists
MAY
- On May 15, send out official letters of review request, research materials, candidate’s personal statement, and candidate’s CV to external reviewers. Request letters by September 1.
AUGUST
- On August 10, send email checking in, remind external reviewers of letter return by September 1.
- When letters arrive, keep original in dept materials, give copies to the review committee chair.
SEPTEMBER
- On September 15, final report received from review committee (with references to external reviews)
- Provide review report to candidate (with references to external reviewers redacted).
- Candidate has one week to respond. Some response is required — anything from got it, read it, thank you, to offering corrections, responses, clarifications.
- Candidate’s response included in package for full faculty and College Council
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER
- Faculty have 10 days to review full package.
- Faculty meet, discuss, vote.
- Synopsis of this discussion provided to candidate.
- Candidate has one week to respond. Some response is required — same as earlier
- Candidate’s response included in package for College Council
- Chair writes letter: includes faculty discussion and vote, and own assessment
OCTOBER
- All materials assembled, copies made, delivered to the College (usually by October 15).
- Master copy retained in dept.
This timeline looks almost exactly like what we’re told to expect at my R1 public institution, but with more (very helpful) detail. One difference: “Dept buys any needed book copies for external reviews.” Lucky them! We have to buy all the books ourselves. Obviously the security of tenure outweighs this expense, but it does strain the month-to-month budget.
The process is similar but timeline is different at my R1: it all occurs within a single academic year, September-June.
September: meet with chair, provide them list of possible external reviewers, draft of tenure statements. Department elects internal committee members.
October: file is compiled, edited and polished. Internal committee begins teaching observations.
November: file goes out to external reviewers, but candidate can continue to add to it for review by internal committee. Teaching observations continue.
December: File closes, no further additions except in exceptional circumstances. Meeting with department head for early annual evaluation so it can be included in the file. External letters are due.
January: Internal committee meets and votes, writes a letter summarizing their findings/decision. Department chair writes a cover letter. Candidate has 3 business days to respond to each. File is sent on to the Dean’s office and College committee.
March: Dean and College committee submit letters for the file. Candidate has 3 business days to respond.
April: University Committee votes. Provost’s office signs off on successful cases.
June: Regents board vote on tenure and promotion cases.
Thanks. Always good to have a sense of the variation in practices.