Promotion and Tenure Policy (Legacy Policy) (AA 5)

OWNER: Office of the Provost
Email: provost@nevadastate.edu
Phone: 702-992-2634
CATEGORY: Academic Affairs/Faculty
POLICY ID#: AA 5
EFFECTIVE DATE: 06/12/2018
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This is a legacy policy; only tenure-track faculty with a start date before January 1, 2021, may use it to apply for tenure. All other faculty, including faculty applying for lecturer promotions or promotions to the rank of Professor, should refer to policy AA 5.1.

POLICY STATEMENT

The major objectives of tenure are to provide a faculty committed to excellence and to provide a substantial degree of security to those persons who have exhibited excellent abilities, sufficient to convince the Nevada community that their expected services and performances in the future justify the privileges afforded by tenure (NSHE Code, Title 2, Section 7.1.2).

PROCEDURES

I. Overview of Promotion and Tenure Policy

A. Guiding Philosophy of Promotion and Tenure: Promotion and tenure decisions at Nevada State College shall be based on the procedures and criteria outlined in this document and explained in detail in the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) Handbook (Code), Title 2, Chapter 7, “Tenure for State College Faculty.”

B. Conditions of Tenure: The major objectives of tenure are to provide a faculty committed to excellence and to provide a substantial degree of security to those persons who have exhibited excellent abilities, sufficient to convince the Nevada community that their expected services and performances in the future justify the privileges afforded by tenure (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.1.2).

C. Eligibility for Tenure at NSC: Full-time and part-time academic faculty in Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor positions at Nevada State College shall be eligible for tenure. Part-time academic faculty shall be equal to at least 0.5 FTE. Administrators may be included in this condition of eligibility, but only in the capacity of academic faculty. Full-time academic faculty in these institutions in Rank 0 or Rank I positions are not eligible for appointment with, nor shall have, tenure under any circumstances (NSHE Code, Title 2, Sections 7.2.1, 7.2.2, 7.2.3).

At the expiration of a probationary period or at any time during a probationary period, academic faculty eligible for appointment with tenure may be recommended to the President for such appointment through regular personnel procedures. Recommendations for appointment with tenure shall be made by the President to the Board of Regents. The Board has final authority in making an appointment with tenure and such appointment shall not be granted to any member of the academic faculty without an affirmative majority vote of the Board of Regents at a meeting of the Board, a quorum being present (NSHE Handbook Title 2, Section 7.4.1).

Any faculty member may apply for promotion and tenure during their probation period. It is strongly recommended that faculty complete the third-year review process, especially those who do not bring in years toward tenure at the time of hire.

II. Procedure for Third-Year Review

All eligible untenured faculty must complete the third-year review process at the end of their third year at NSC.

A. Process

There are six steps to the third-year review process:

1. The candidate will complete a comprehensive third-year review.
2. The candidate will complete a portfolio in an electronic format that includes four sections: application, teaching, scholarship, and service (see Documentation, below).
3. The Dean/Library Director will review the application and meet with the faculty member to discuss their progress toward tenure. If the Dean/Library Director deems the progress toward tenure as not satisfactory, the Dean/Library Director may recommend remediation or recommend non-reappointment. When the likelihood of meeting tenure standards is negative, the candidate shall be notified in writing.
4. The Dean’s or Library Director’s recommendation must be in writing and given to the candidate.
5. The Dean/Library Director submits the third-year review file and written recommendation to the Provost.
6. The Provost notifies the faculty member in writing of progress being made toward promotion and tenure.

B. Timeline for Third-Year Review

The Provost will annually post the current year’s timeline for the P&T process.

- - 2nd Friday in August (after candidate’s 3rd year): Candidate submits complete P&T electronic portfolio to Dean/Library Director; see Section II.C)
  - 2 months from submission: Dean/Library Director returns completed review to candidate and submits file to Provost

C. Documentation for Third-Year Review

It is the responsibility of the individual faculty member to provide the Dean/Library Director with all necessary documentation for evaluation no later than the second Friday in August after completion of the third year. It is the responsibility of the individual faculty member to provide evidence of the extent and quality of performance in each of the areas of evaluation. The documentation listed below shall be the sole documentation considered in this process. The application is to be completed electronically and submitted on a CD, flash drive, or through cloud storage. Faculty members must establish bookmarks or a table of contents for the information included in all four sections. Contact the IT helpdesk if assistance is needed with creating bookmarks.

The faculty member’s electronic third-year review file should include the following sections:

1. Application for Promotion and Tenure
2. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
3. Annual evaluations
4. Numerical summary of student evaluations, in relation to the School mean for the discipline.
5. Teaching evidence: Supporting documentation for teaching effectiveness (e.g. syllabi, course materials, all course evaluations, student artifacts, peer evaluations, evidence of effective teaching, letters of support).
6. Scholarship evidence: Supporting documentation for scholarship effectiveness (e.g. publications, creative work, conference presentations).
7. Service evidence: Supporting documentation for service effectiveness (e.g. involvement in community and professional activities, membership and/or leadership on committees).

The application, instructions for completing the application, and guidelines for the third-year review process may be downloaded from the NSC Faculty Senate website.

D. Annual Review, Third-Year Review, and Tenure Review Alignment

Annual and third-year reviews should be aligned with criteria established for promotion and tenure in this document and should reflect the overall progress toward attainment of these criteria (NSHE Code, Title 2, 5.12).

III. Procedure for Promotion and Tenure

A. Probationary Period

The total probationary period for all academic faculty eligible for tenure shall not exceed seven years of uninterrupted full-time employment in Ranks I-IV (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.3.1a, 7.3.1c, 7.3.1d, 7.3.2, 7.3.4). All full-time tenure-track faculty must apply for tenure no later than the beginning of their sixth academic year.

At the discretion of the Board of Regents, an academic faculty member may be exempt from the requirement of serving a probationary period and tenure shall be awarded on a case-by-case basis in negotiation with the President or the President’s designee (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.3.1[b1]).

The President of the institution, without seeking Board of Regents approval, may grant tenure upon hire to an academic faculty member who at the time of hire holds tenure at another institution (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.3.1[b2]). Prior to making such an appointment, the President shall seek a recommendation from the appropriate faculty on whether appointment with tenure shall be made.

Upon request of the academic faculty member and the approval of the President, up to three years of full-time employment at other accredited institutions of postsecondary education, including such institutions in NSHE, in positions equivalent to positions providing eligibility for appointment with tenure, may be included in the probationary period. Such decisions must be made at the time of initial employment (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.3.3).

Authorized periods of leave, paid or unpaid, may be excluded from service toward the seven year probationary period upon written request of the faculty member and approval of the President (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.3.1[c]).

The period of probation may exceed seven years upon written request of the faculty member and approval of the President. The decision of whether to grant the faculty member’s request to exceed the seven-year probationary period shall be based upon the sole discretion of the President (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.3.1[d]).

While faculty are typically required to complete the full probationary period before application, exceptions can be made. Upon the request of the academic faculty member and the approval of the President, academic faculty eligible for appointment with tenure may be considered for such appointment during the probationary period, i.e., applications may be submitted prior to August after the candidate’s 5th year (NSHE Code, Title 2, 7.3.2). The President must approve requests to apply for promotion and tenure during the probationary period (though this should in no way be construed to imply that this individual will, in fact, be granted tenure). Applicants requesting to be evaluated for promotion and tenure during their probationary period can expect a response of “No,” “Yes,” or “Yes with conditions” from the President. If the President approves a request for application during probation, the applicant will follow the same timeline and procedures, with the same evaluation process, as those at the end of their probation. Lastly, those who obtain approval and apply for promotion and tenure during probation will not have any additional opportunity to go up for promotion and tenure at the end of their probationary period.

B. The Process

There are eight steps to the promotion and tenure process:

1. Applicants for promotion and tenure must file a statement of interest to the Dean/Library Director no later than the first Monday in May (typically in the candidate’s 5th academic year). Upon receipt, the Dean/Library Director will formally acknowledge the request in writing and open a promotion file for the individual faculty member.
2. The college P&T committee is formed during the fall semester, consisting of tenured college faculty with equal distribution across Schools, not to exceed committee membership of two members per School. After a democratic faculty vote, Schools will forward the names of the representatives for the college P&T committee to the Provost by the fall sememster deadline. One faculty member per School will coordinate the voting process. Members of the college P&T committee will select a Chair once the committee is constituted.
3. The P&T file is provided to the Dean/Library Director by the second Friday in August.
4. The Dean/Library Director will send out requests to external reviewers by the first Friday in September.
5. The Dean/Library Director reviews the applicant’s P&T file in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service, and forwards a written recommendation along with the applicant’s file, the external reviewers’ letters and curriculum vitae, and NSC Standards of Academe for the candidate’s school to the college P&T committee.
6. The college P&T committee reviews the application materials provided by the Dean/Library Director and forwards an individual letter of recommendation for each candidate, along with the file, to the Provost. The letter will address the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service.
7. The Provost reviews the applicant’s P&T file and forwards a written recommendation, along with the file, to the President.
8. Recommendations for appointment with tenure shall be made by the President to the Board of Regents (NSHE Code, Title 2, Sections 5.2.2, 7.4.1, 7.4.2). The faculty member will be notified by the President, in writing, of the final outcome.

C. Timeline

The Provost will annually post the current year’s timeline for the P&T process.

- 1st Monday of May (after candidate’s 5th academic year): Candidate submits statement of interest to Dean/Library Director
- 2nd Friday in August: Candidate submits complete P&T electronic portfolio to Dean/Library Director (see III.D)
- 1st Friday in September: Dean/Library Director solicits external reviewers for P&T portfolios
- Fall semester:
  - Schools forward names of representatives for College P&T Committee; Committee is formed
  - Dean/Library Director submits P&T portfolio, recommendation, and external reviews to Provost
- Fall and Spring semesters: College P&T committee receives materials; reviews portfolios; forwards portfolios and recommendations to Provost
- Spring semester (of 6th academic year):
  - Provost reviews materials; forwards materials and recommendation to President
  - President makes tenure decision; forwards recommendations for tenure to Board of Regents
  - President notifies candidate of final decision in writing

D. Documentation for Promotion and Tenure

It is the responsibility of the individual faculty member to provide the Dean/Library Director with all necessary documentation for evaluation no later than the second Friday in August (after the candidate’s 5^th academic year). This documentation includes evidence of the extent and quality of performance in each of the areas of evaluation: teaching, scholarship, and service.

The documentation listed below shall be the sole documentation considered in this process:

1. Application for Promotion and Tenure
2. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
3. Annual and third-year review evaluations
4. Numerical summary of student evaluations, in relation to the School mean for the discipline.
5. Teaching: Supporting documentation for teaching effectiveness (e.g. syllabi, course materials, all course evaluations, student artifacts, peer evaluations, evidence of effective teaching, letters of support; see IV.A).
6. Scholarship: Supporting documentation for scholarship effectiveness (e.g. publications, creative works, conference presentations; see IV.B).
7. Service: Supporting documentation for service effectiveness (e.g. involvement in community and professional activities, membership and/or leadership on committees; see IV.C).

All documents are to be submitted on a CD or flash drive. With permission of the Dean/Library Director, tenure documentation may also be submitted through a password-protected website, cloud storage, or Nevada State College’s LMS. The applicant must establish bookmarks or a table of contents for the portfolio. Contact the IT helpdesk if assistance is needed with creating bookmarks. All files should be in PDF format. The application, instructions for completing the application, and guidelines for the promotion and tenure process may be downloaded from the NSC Faculty Senate website. In addition, Documents 1-4 above must be submitted as a hard copy (paper format) to the Dean/Library Director. Documents that are not part of the promotion and tenure review period should NOT be included in the packet.

In addition to the information supplied by the candidate, the Dean/Library Director will submit the following documents to the college Promotion and Tenure Committee:

1. Dean or Library Director’s letter
2. External reviewers’ letters
3. External reviewers’ CVs
4. Standards of Academe for the candidate’s school.

E. External Reviews (Not applicable to Third-Year Review)

The Dean/Library Director will compile a list of six external reviewers. The choice of external reviewers should be a collaborative process in which both the faculty member and Dean/Library Director agree upon a list of people. Applicants should have a minimum of three external letters in their file. External reviewers should hold a higher professorial rank than the faculty member they are evaluating. Reviewers must be experts in the faculty member’s area of teaching and should not be closely associated with the candidate. In certain cases, it may be desirable to solicit reviews from individuals who are not affiliated with an academic institution.

It is the Dean/Library Director’s responsibility to send letters to external reviewers asking for full review of the candidate’s file. A sample letter to external reviewers is provided at the end of this document. The reviewers will each receive the faculty member’s electronic portfolio, as well as the NSC Promotion and Tenure Policy and the Standards of Academe for the candidate’s school. Reviewers should be asked to comment on the applicant’s teaching, scholarship, and service. Additionally, the Dean/Library Director should ask each reviewer to submit a Curriculum Vitae.

The external peer review letters will become part of the candidate’s application file and will be held in confidence. However, a candidate may, upon request, be provided access to such letters in redacted form after the review process is completed. Redaction is defined as the removal of identifying information (including name, title, institutional affiliation, and relationship to the candidate) contained either at the top of the letterhead or within and below the signature block of the letter of evaluation. The full text of the body of the letter will be provided to the candidate if so requested.

IV. Criteria for Promotion to Rank of Associate Professor

As outlined in this document and in the NSC Standards of Academe for the candidate’s school, the sole criteria for promotion and tenure decisions shall be based upon teaching, scholarship, and service. These criteria require a rating of “excellent” in the area of teaching and a minimum rating of “satisfactory” in the areas of scholarship and service to receive tenure. The criteria below apply to tenure and promotion to associate professor rank. The standards for recommending appointment with tenure can be found in the NSHE Code, Title 7, Section 4.2.

A. Teaching

The applicant must have a record of effectiveness as a teacher including, but not limited to, demonstrated teaching competence and efficiency in a classroom, laboratory, and/or clinical setting; the ability to communicate effectively with students; and demonstrated skill in handling classroom and other duties related to teaching, mentoring, and student advisement (NSHE Code, Title 2, and Section 7.4.2).