EC #4 Senate #31 Approved 4/27/87 Senate Document #31 Executive Committee Document #4 1986-87 The Executive Committee recommends the following change to the document "Guidelines for Making Recommendations for Tenure and Promotion" passed by the Senate 1985-86: Replace the third paragraph ("The decision for granting...") and the first sentence of the fourth paragraph with: The decision for granting tenure may be separated from the decision to promote, although it is assumed that tenure will be awarded only to faculty who demonstrate the potential for promotion. On those occasions when tenure is considered separately from promotion, the candidate for tenure must demonstrate a strong commitment to, and a record of, highly effective teaching, along with evidence of scholarship and service. Normally, beginning professors should emphasize teaching and scholarship during their early years. In cases when the University must expect unusual amounts of service from an untenured faculty member, the University will take this into account in making decisions about tenure and promotion. For promotion, it [continue with the second sentence of the paragraph]. The remainder of the document is unaltered. Rationale: The Chancellor had concerns about the original document which suggested that tenure was a "minimal" accomplishment. He was also concerned that the original document allowed faculty to be tenured who had no real chance of eventual promotion. This revised language removes the word "minimal" and suggested that faculty who are tenured should in the judgment of their colleagues be promotable at some future date. This is less stringent than an "up or out" policy which would require denying tenure to a faculty member who was not promotable at the time of the tenure decision. However, it would raise serious question about the wisdom of granting tenure to someone who had not demonstrated potential for promotion. 4-24-86 Senate Document #42 Executive Committee Document #3 1985 - 1986 The Executive Committee of the UNCA Faculty Senate recommends the adoption of the following statement regarding standards for tenure and promotion: The UNCA Faculty Senate recommends that the "Guidelines for Making Recommendation for Tenure and Promotion" prepared by the Committee of Tenured Faculty for 1985-86 be adopted as a continuing document to guide the Committee of Tenured Faculty and the Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs in making decisions regarding tenure and promotion at UNCA. GUIDELINES FOR MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TENURE AND PROMOTION: This document has been prepared by the Committee of Tenured Faculty for 1985-1986, with the intention of assisting the faculty in understanding the considerations involved in the tenure and promotion process. It is to everyone's advantage that criteria for tenure and promotion be identified as clearly as possible without, however, being made overly rigid. The candidate for tenure or promotion is expected to present his or her chairman with a well documented report on his accomplishments in the catagories described below. The department chairman must review and evaluate each faculty member's level of accomplishment, and may make recommendations for tenure and/or promotion at any time during the faculty member's career. Such recommendations are carefully reviewed and scrutinized by the Committee of the Tenured Faculty and by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The decision for granting tenure may be separated from the decision to promote. On these occasions the candidate for tenure should demonstrate a strong commitment to, and a record of, highly effective teaching, and, at least, a minimum level of scholarship. A minimum level of service is also expected; however, the university recognizes the need for beginning professors to emphasize teaching and scholarship during their early years. Promotion to Associate Professor requires accomplishments beyond that minimum expected for tenure. It is not expected that an individual will be outstanding in all three categories (i.e., teaching, scholarship, and service). It is normally expected that candidates for promotion to Associate Professor will have achieved excellence in one of the three areas, with some significant contributions in the other two categories. In all cases, there must be clear evidence of highly effective teaching. In judging scholarship and service, the quality of accomplishment is the most important consideration. Service in this context is defined as academic program development or off campus service activities recognized at the regional, national or international level. It is normally expected that promotion to full Professor requires an outstanding level of achievement in either teaching or scholarship, with, at least, a significant level of contribution in the other area as well as in the service category. While the evaluation will focus on accomplishments since the last promotion, the candidate's whole career will be taken into consideration. Because promotion is based largely on accomplishment while in rank at UNCA, time spent in rank will vary according to the rate of achievement. However, longevity per se is not considered grounds for promotion. In the interests of fairness it is desirable that fairly even standards prevail across the university. However, differences among departments and disciplines, as well as differing responsibilites among individual faculty members, require that these guidelines be implemented with some flexibility.