Tenure Guidelines

XI. RECOMMENDING AND AWARDING TENURE: GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES

1. Tenure Guidelines
   
   

To be awarded tenure at Pittsburg State University, faculty members must be able to demonstrate professional competence and achievement in the areas of: 1) teaching, 2) discipline research, scholarly activity, and creative endeavor, and 3) community, professional, and University service which is reasonably judged to be of such recognizable merit as to justify the status and commitment of a continuing appointment. In considering tenure, the entire length of service that a faculty member has rendered at Pittsburg State University should be considered.

Beginning with the appointment to the rank of full-time instructor, recommendations for tenure shall be earned on the following schedule of probationary service at Pittsburg State University: Instructor, seven years; Assistant Professor, five years; Associate Professor, four years; and Professor, three years.

For initial appointments, any exceptions to the above probationary periods shall be stated in the letter of appointment. The University shall, at the time of appointment, determine, after consultation with the tenured faculty and the Department Chairperson, whether prior service shall reduce the probationary period at Pittsburg State; provided, however, that no person shall be considered for tenure until after a minimum of two years employment at Pittsburg State University.

When a probationary period is interrupted by a sabbatical leave, the period of absence will be counted toward eligibility for tenure.

Leaves without pay will not be regarded as a break in service. Scholarly leave without pay will count toward the tenure probationary period unless the employee and the institution agree, in writing, to the contrary at the time the leave is granted. All other leaves without pay will not count toward the tenure probationary period. A leave without pay will not count toward sabbatical leave. Those on a leave without pay are governed under provisions set forth in policies regarding resignation and release from employment obligation.

During a military leave without pay the faculty member's status is frozen until he/she returns to that position.

If a faculty member is not to be continued, notification in writing will be given by March 1 during the first year of service, by December 15 of the second year of service, and, thereafter, at least one year prior to termination.

During the probationary period a faculty member should have the academic freedom that all other members of the faculty have.

In addition to the information on promotion and tenure found in the Agreement and Appendix A from The Core of Academe, all parties should consult the department’s individual criteria. Said departmental criteria should be in harmony with the statements found in the Agreement. Departmental guidelines do not supersede the Agreement.



2. Tenure Procedures
   
   

1. Tenure Committee
   
   During the fall semester, the following tenure committee shall be formed from the PSU continuing faculty (all those possessing academic rank):
   1. Department Tenure Committee:
      
      Faculty may serve on departmental tenure committees as long as they are tenured faculty members or have been successfully reviewed for tenure.
      
      Departmental Tenure Committees will consist of departmental Unit faculty selected by any manner consistent with procedures acceptable to the departmental faculty acting as a group. The Chairperson of the Department Tenure Committee will be elected by the committee. If a Departmental Committee cannot be formed due to lack of tenured faculty, the review will be passed on to the next level.
      
      Learning Resources faculty will process tenure dossiers through tenure committees at the organizational unit level. The members of the unit committees will elect the Chairperson of the tenure committees. Dossiers will be forwarded directly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
      
      Academic administrators and faculty tenure committee chairpersons are responsible for assuring that candidates' dossiers are complete and in the recommended format. They are also responsible for assuring that the written justifications are relevant to the basis upon which the candidate is being considered for tenure. Dossiers and recommendation justifications should be returned to the prior level to be reconsidered if they have not followed these tenure guidelines.
      
      
2. Nominating Faculty for Tenure Consideration
   
   It is the responsibility of the individual faculty member to engage in those activities that will eventually result in the awarding of tenure. It is the responsibility of the Department Chairpersons to counsel and guide the faculty member into activities that will increase the probability of tenure being granted. Descriptions of the main areas of teaching, scholarly activity, and service, useful in tenure decisions, are contained in the Core of Academe. (Appendix)
   
   Professionally developed norm referenced student ratings are one of a variety of ways to measure competence and effectiveness in teaching. The submission of student ratings is required in the tenure process and, along with other evidence submitted in the process, they shall be used to measure competence and effectiveness in teaching. Examples of additional indicators that may be submitted as evidence of teaching competence and effectiveness in the tenure process can be found in XXVIII Appendix A, The Core of Academe. Further details regarding the procedures for the administration and processing of the student rating instrument are provided in XXIX Appendix B, Protocol for the Administration and Processing of Student Rating Instruments.
   
   The Department Chairperson will provide the faculty member with a written report assessing the faculty member's progress towards achieving tenure in the Department. This report shall be made at the end of the first year for ranks of associate professor and professor and at the end of the second year for ranks of instructor and assistant professor and once again at such time as requested by the faculty member. Each report shall be based upon detailed departmental tenure criteria reflecting professional standards developed by the departmental faculty in consultation with the Chairperson and reviewed by the Dean and by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The faculty member shall be given a copy of departmental criteria for tenure at the beginning of their employment. The first written tenure report shall be submitted to a departmental committee, composed of tenured faculty, for review and recommendation, prior to submission to the faculty member.
   
   The Office of Academic Affairs will notify tenure candidate members, in writing, of their eligibility for tenure the fall semester of the final year of their probationary period. The faculty members will then be responsible for preparing and submitting a tenure dossier. The tenure candidate will determine the content of the dossier material submitted by the candidate.
   
   
3. Recommending Faculty for Tenure
   
   The Department Tenure Committee will review the dossier and make a recommendation. This recommendation will be recorded in the place provided on the dossier cover sheet. The Department Tenure Committee will prepare, for inclusion in the dossier of each candidate, a statement supporting their recommendation. The tenure dossier shall be reviewed by the Department Chairperson, who will recommend or not recommend the candidate for tenure, in writing and provide justification for any recommendation that is made. All dossiers containing the Chairperson's and departmental recommendation will be sent forward to the Dean of the relevant College.
   
   The Dean will review the dossier and will recommend or not recommend the faculty member for tenure. The recommendation will be in writing and will include a justification of the decision made. Reasons must be given to support both a positive and negative recommendation.
   
   The Vice President for Academic Affairs will receive tenure recommendations from all College Committees, and the Division of Learning Resources, when appropriate. The Vice President will consider all candidates for tenure, and after the dossiers have been reviewed, the Vice President shall recommend or not recommend each candidate and provide a written rationale for that decision. Upon completion of this task, the dossiers will be forwarded to the President. The President will review the recommendations of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Any recommendations forwarded to the President shall become part of the candidate's official personnel file.
   
   All actions by the Tenure Committee, Department Chairperson, Dean, and/or the Vice President for Academic Affairs shall be communicated to the candidate prior to the next level of consideration. (Upon completion of the tenure process, the President will communicate his/her decision to the faculty member.)
   
   
4. Tenure Process
   
1. Faculty Member Notified of Tenure Candidate Status
2. Preparation of Tenure Dossier
3. Department Tenure Committee
4. Department Chairperson
5. College Dean
6. Vice President for Academic Affairs
7. President
8. Board of Regents
   
   
5. Tenure Deadlines
   
1. Third Friday in September – Faculty notified of tenure candidate status. Instructions for the preparation of tenure dossiers distributed
2. First Friday in October – Department Tenure Committees elected
3. Second Friday in October – Tenure dossiers to Department Tenure Committee
4. Fourth Friday in October – Tenure dossiers to Department Chairperson
5. Second Friday in November – Tenure dossiers to College Dean
6. Second Friday in December – Tenure dossiers to Vice President for Academic Affairs
7. First Monday in February – Tenure dossiers to the President