March 7, 2011
To:
Joe Gow, Chancellor
From: Becky LeDocq, Chair
Faculty Senate
Re:
Promotion for Faculty with Part-time or Reassigned-time Appointments
At its meeting 3-3-11, the faculty senate approved the following recommendations from the
Promotion Tenure & Salary Committee:
RELATING TO PART-TIME APPOINTMENTS:
Recommendation: The existing JPC guidelines should remain unchanged, regarding the number
of calendar years to be completed in rank to qualify for promotion or the general description of
the activities under Teaching, Scholarship, or Service. However, the following statement should
be added to the promotion guidelines: “A part-time faculty member is responsible for uploading
a document in their promotion report that describes the details of their appointment including
expectations for Teaching, Scholarship, and Service as approved by their department and
consistent with their departmental bylaws”. With regard to the productivity of the candidate, we
recommend that the percentage of the appointment should not affect the expected quality or total
quantity of the work in each of the three areas of Teaching, Scholarship, and Service.
Justification: There were two factors that the PTS Committee considered strongly. The first
had to do with the number of years to be completed in rank to be able to qualify for promotion.
Individuals with a part-time appointment do not have to apply for promotion when the minimal
number of years in rank is achieved, however, we did not want to prevent any individual from
applying at this time if they met the other criteria for promotion. Therefore, we were not in favor
of changing the wording to reflect a time period that was equivalent to 100% appointment for the
current number of years required in rank (e.g. three (3) years completed in rank at 100%
appointment or six (6) years in rank at 50% appointment). In reality, it might take a part-time
faculty member additional time to clearly demonstrate “excellence in teaching”, or an
involvement in “improving the level of instruction” within the department, or an “established
scholarly program”. However, that should be determined by the candidate in consultation with
the department chair and/or other mentors. Second, we discussed how the productivity level of a
part-time faculty member should be evaluated when considering a promotion application. The
committee agreed that a promotion is recognition of past accomplishments and the expectations
should be the same for all faculty members. Therefore, we do not recommend a change in the
total quality or quantity of work needed to achieve promotion to associate or full professor.
RELATING TO FULL-TIME FACULTY WITH REASSIGNED TIME:
Recommendation: There should not be a fourth category (beyond teaching, scholarship, and
service) added for any faculty members with reassigned time. However, the following statement
should be added to the promotion guidelines: “A full-time faculty member with reassigned time
to fulfill a position outside the expectations of a standard faculty member (e.g. department chair,
director of a center or program, etc.) must provide two related documents in their promotion
report – (1) a letter(s) from their supervisor(s) (e.g. department chair, Dean, etc.) that outlines
their job description with respect to their reassigned time appointment and (2) documentation
that illustrates their success in the role fulfilled by the appointment, such as performance reviews
or other data that show how the aims of the appointment are being met. The candidate is
responsible for uploading these documents in their promotion report.”
Justification: The PTS Committee recognized that there are always a number of full-time
faculty members with reassigned time to focus on officially recognized duties that are outside the
expectations for a standard faculty member. Furthermore, these activities are highly diverse in
nature, making it impossible to institute a policy regarding promotion that would be easily
applicable to all situations. In general, the committee agreed that although the “other” duties that
are completed with reassigned time appointments are important, they should not redefine the
expectations for promotion to associate or full professor. Therefore, the PTS Committee does
not recommend that a fourth category be added to represent duties beyond Teaching,
Scholarship, or Service. Rather, the PTS Committee concluded that activities completed with
reassigned time can and should be listed as activity under one or more of the three standing
categories.
saw
cc:
Jennifer Wilson, Executive Director Human Resources
Kathleen Enz-Finken, Provost/Vice-Chancellor