October 1983
Rev./Apprvd. August, 1990
Rev.1993/Apprvd. November, 1997
Rev. September, 2004
Rev. October, 2007
Rev. March 2012
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY GUIDELINES FOR RETENTION, TENURE AND PROMOTION
Faculty Participation
The guidelines are drawn up and/or revised by the Departmental Advisory
Committee and, when completed, submitted to the faculty of the department either at one of its regular
meetings for discussion, criticism, and final approval or by e-mail. The guidelines come into
force as soon as they have been approved by a two-thirds majority of all faculty members present at the
meeting or who respond to the e-mail poll. (Student representatives have no vote.) The faculty may make
minor alterations in text or procedure, but in case of major changes the guidelines will have to be remanded
to the Departmental Advisory Committee for reconsideration.
The guidelines are to be reviewed every four years (at least) by the Departmental Advisory
Committee in the light of their procedural effectiveness, the changing circumstances and needs of the
department and the discipline of historical studies, and the overall university policy.
Every current member of the department's faculty and every newly hired member thereafter must
be provided with a copy of the up-to-date approved guidelines, together with the appended constitution of the
Departmental Advisory Committee. The individual faculty member will then be presumed to be acquainted
with their provisions and procedure.
The Role of the Departmental Advisory Committee
According to university statutes, the chair makes recommendations to the dean for tenure,
promotion, and retention of faculty members within the department. The chair is advised in the process by
the Departmental Advisory Committee. In cases of tenure decisions the whole tenured faculty shares in the
consultative process with the Committee, which is responsible for polling the tenured faculty. For promotion
to full professor, the Committee is responsible for polling all full professors.
The Departmental Advisory Committee should in all its deliberations and discussions consider
primarily the interests and the long-term welfare of the Department of History and the University.
Since the Committee has no competence outside the department, general university policies or
specific issues can only be acted upon if and when it has received official notification, either addressed
directly to the chair of the Departmental Advisory Committee or by way of the department chair.
Tenure
Preparation for the Tenure Decision Process
The applicant in consultation with the department chair will initiate tenure and promotion
proceedings at the end of the fifth academic year of full time employment. The chair should inform the
applicant of the process and request a list of external reviewers in the candidates field who can attest to the
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applicant’s national reputation. The persons chosen to supply these recommendations should be contacted
by the department chair, not the faculty member applying for tenure. An additional three to four names
should be supplied by the Departmental Advisory Committee.
By that date, each applicant should provide the department chair with a complete and up-to-date
curriculum vitae (This should include, but is not restricted to, a list of publications in standard
bibliographical form, as well as lists of awards, fellowships and leaves; courses taught, conference and invited
papers and talks, public and media appearances, committee work and other service to the profession, college
and department; and graduate supervision), copies of significant publications (page proofs if necessary),
papers delivered at professional conferences, and evidence of good teaching.
Evidence of good teaching will be supplied via a teaching portfolio. The portfolio will include a
statement of teaching philosophy and provide evidence of teaching effectiveness. This evidence shall include,
but is not limited to:
* examples of peer evaluations of teaching;
* complete student course evaluations from a representative number of classes;
* representative samples of course materials: copies of recent syllabi and course assignments, course
outlines, web pages, handouts, examinations, and graded paper comments;
* examples of new courses that the faculty member has developed and their relationship to the
curriculum;
* evidence of student learning: representative samples of student work;
* evidence of graduate supervision, including letters from graduate students regarding the faculty
member’s contribution to their learning and professional development;
* description of the achievements of students for whom the faculty member has been the primary
mentor: external fellowships, presentations, publications;
* teaching awards and other peer acknowledgments;
* work as an external faculty member on dissertations or thesis committees;
* work (including but not limited to publications in refereed or respected journals or presses, papers
delivered and workshops led) as an expert faculty member at national, regional and university
forums on teaching.
*work intended to improve the applicant’s teaching, including attendance at national, regional and
university forums on teaching.
The applicant will also summarize annual teaching responsibilities and provide explanations of
leaves or course reductions, and descriptions of the supervision or coordination of multiple course sections, or
internships. The applicant will also calculate the number of students for whom he or she is a primary mentor
or advisor. The applicant will describe his or her activities in this area: for example, the formulation of
research proposals, supervised scholarship outside scheduled classes, writing letters of recommendation, etc.
Finally, the data submitted in support of tenure will include at least three letters of recommendations
from external reviewers attesting to the applicant’s national reputation. Referees will be selected by the chair
after consultation with the applicant and the Departmental Advisory Committee. The persons chosen to
supply these recommendations should be contacted by the department chair, not the faculty member
applying for tenure. The external reviewers will be experts in the candidate’s field and normally will not
include the candidate’s dissertation director or members of his/her dissertation committee. External
reviewers will be sent copies, as needed, of the applicant’s publications and other research.
The department chair should make available to the chair of the Departmental Advisory Committee
all evidence submitted by the applicant. The chair of the Departmental Advisory Committee is then required
to make these materials available to each tenured member of the Departmental Advisory Committee for
individual examination and perusal. (It is the responsibility of the chair of the Departmental Advisory
Committee to set limits to the amount of time that any individual member of the committee may retain these
documents in his or her possession so as not to inconvenience the other members of the committee or the
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department as a whole.) After the members of the Departmental Advisory Committee have completed their
individual scrutiny, the materials, minus any confidential information supplied by the department chair from
the applicant’s file, should be made available for a more cursory examination to the other tenured members
of the department. (This material should normally be deposited in the office of the department
administrative secretary until the time of balloting by the tenured faculty).
.
Tenure Decision Procedure
After the preparatory process is completed, the tenure decision procedure within the department is
divided into three parts:
1) A confidential ballot for which every tenured member of the department is eligible.
a) The balloting is conducted under the supervision of the Departmental Advisory
Committee.
2) Space is provided on the ballot form to allow the individual voter to make some comments
about the applicant, if he or she so wishes. A summary of these comments will then be
passed along to the department chair by the Departmental Advisory Committee. All
comments considered must be signed by the individual faculty member.
3) The department vote is advisory to the Departmental Advisory Committee.
2) A vote, after due and thorough deliberation, in an executive session of the tenured members of the
Departmental Advisory Committee, in which the department chair may, if he or she chooses,
participate as a non-voting member. In the same session, following the vote by the Departmental
Advisory Committee, the Committee will proceed to open and count the secret ballots cast by the
tenured faculty.
3) The chair of the Departmental Advisory Committee submits a written report to the department
chair. The Committee report is advisory to chair. It includes:
(a) the results of both ballots;
(b) general comments regarding the teaching, research and service performance of the
applicant;
(c) the Advisory Committee recommendations.
(d) A minority report, if any, is to be submitted at this time. There are no provisions for
breaking a tie vote in tenure cases.
4) The department chair submits a written report to the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. It
includes:
(a) the results of both ballots;
(b) general comments regarding the teaching, research and service performance of the
applicant;
(c) the Advisory Committee recommendations.
(d) the department chair’s recommendations.
(e) A minority report, if any, is to be submitted at this time. There are no provisions for
breaking a tie vote in tenure cases.
5) The departmental recommendation[s] are transmitted to the candidate only once, and by the chair
when the departmental process is complete.
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Criteria for Approving Tenure
The overriding concern in making decisions on tenure is the long-term interest of the department in
particular and the university in general. In a department which teaches nearly all incoming freshmen in its
core courses and also grants Ph.D. degrees, both teaching and scholarship are of paramount importance.
1. The two most important criteria are scholarly publication and teaching, both carrying equal weight, and
achievement in both are essential prerequisites for a favorable tenure decision.
To meet the publication requirement, an applicant normally must have, at least, the manuscript of a scholarly
work contractually accepted (not a mere written understanding) by a reputable press. Usually the tenured
faculty or members of the faculty appointed by the department chair will appraise both the manuscript and
the press.
Teaching effectiveness shall be evaluated by means of a teaching portfolio. The portfolio will include a
statement of teaching philosophy and provide evidence of teaching effectiveness. This evidence shall include,
but is not limited to, peer evaluations of teaching, TCEs (Teacher/Course Evaluations), samples of course
materials, examples of new courses developed, evidence of student learning and graduate supervision,
teaching awards and other peer acknowledgments, and work as an external faculty member on dissertations
or thesis committees. The chair and/or, at least, one senior tenured faculty member should from time to time
attend the classes of untenured members. Such visits must be made twice a semester during the faculty
member's first year, at least once per semester the second year, and at the discretion of the chair thereafter
until the fifth year, when there must be at least one visitation per semester. In no case will there be more than
two visits per semester. A written report on each occasion must be placed in the untenured faculty member's
file kept by the department chair. The faculty member should be apprised of any criticism in writing, and
will receive a copy of the written report from the department chair. History Department TCEs are to be
administered by the applicant every semester in every course. Student counseling will be taken into
consideration as part of teaching ability.
2.
The following criteria, although somewhat less important than those under point 1 above, will also be
taken into consideration in the tenure decision process.
a) Ongoing research
1) This comprises as yet unpublished scholarly work and present research with a view to
publication.
2) It is understood that the departmental chair has kept an annual record of the progress of
scholarly research of the untenured members of the department. They shall submit to
him/her full reports or material evidence of their work at the time of the Annual Faculty
Assessment proceedings.
b) Committee work and service to the University
This will be assessed by the conscientiousness with which he or she performs the duties of
committee assignments within the department or university. Service to the department and
university includes contributing to an atmosphere of mutual respect towards students, staff,
and fellow faculty.
c) Service with professional societies and/or professional journals (editorial) in the field of
history or related disciplines.
d) Community service
This includes educational and/or scholarly activity directed toward the larger public, not
necessarily with a view to future publication, that enhances the reputation of the
department in particular and the university as a whole.
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Points c) and d) are not obligatory upon an applicant for tenure, but may improve his or her
credentials.
Promotion
General procedures
The applicant in consultation with the department chair will initiate promotion proceedings. The
chair should inform the applicant of the process and request a list of external reviewers in the candidates field
who can attest to the applicant’s national reputation. The persons chosen to supply these recommendations
should be contacted by the department chair, not the faculty member applying for promotion. An additional
three to four names should be supplied by the Departmental Advisory Committee.
The department chair must inform the Departmental Advisory Committee at the latest by
September 1 every year of those members of the faculty who have applied, or whom he or she recommends,
for consideration for promotion. In the case of promotion to full professor, the chair may request a
preliminary recommendation from a subcommittee of the Departmental Advisory Committee composed of
full professors who have examined the applicant’s credentials.
Those faculty members who have applied for promotion are responsible to supply the department
chair with an up-to-date curriculum vitae and other material information and evidence (see specifics for
tenure, which remain required for promotion to full professor as well), which will then be examined by the
Departmental Advisory Committee, before it makes its recommendations to the department chair.
Only those members of the Departmental Advisory Committee who are above the rank of the
applicant--e.g. in case of an assistant professor applying for promotion only the associate and full professors-may participate in the deliberations and vote on the application.
Upon instructions from the chair, the Department Advisory Committee will then proceed to poll all
tenured faculty in the department. In the case of promotion to full professor, the Departmental Advisory
Committee polls all full professors.
In the case of an untenured member’s application, the tenured members of the Departmental
Advisory Committee vote in an executive session. In the case of tenured member applying for full professor,
the full professors on the Departmental Advisory Committee vote in an executive session. The department
chair may, if he or she chooses, participate in either session as a non-voting member. In the same sessions,
following the vote by the Departmental Advisory Committee, the Committee will proceed to open and count
the secret ballots cast by the eligible voting faculty.
The chair of the Departmental Advisory Committee submits a written report to the department chair. It
includes:
(a) the results of both ballots;
(b) general comments regarding the teaching, research and service performance of the
applicant;
(c) the Advisory Committee recommendations.
(d) A minority report, if any, is to be submitted at this time. There are no provisions for
breaking a tie vote in tenure cases.
The departmental recommendation[s] are transmitted to the candidate only once, and by the chair when the
process is complete.
The department chair submits a written report to the dean of the College of Arts. It includes:
(a) the results of both ballots;
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(b) general comments regarding the teaching, research and service performance of the
applicant;
(c) the Advisory Committee recommendations;
(d) the department chair’s recommendations;
(e) A minority report, if any, is to be submitted at this time. There are no provisions for
breaking a tie vote in tenure cases.
Promotion to Associate Professor
It is almost invariably the case that promotion to Associate Professor occurs at the same time as the grant of
tenure. The criteria for promotion to Associate Professor are the same as for tenure. The final tenure
decision must be made by the end of the sixth year.
Promotion to Full Professor
Application for promotion to the rank of professor may occur no sooner than the beginning of the sixth year
at the rank of Associate Professor. Individual members of the faculty, members of the Advisory Committee,
the chair or the applicants themselves can initiate promotion proceedings.
The Departmental Advisory Committee, before coming to a decision, must consider the whole career of the
applicant since he or she commenced their services at Loyola University. This should include a critical
evaluation of publications and research. An applicant normally must have another book published since
promotion to associate professor.
The applicant is to produce further evidence of conscientious performance of teaching duties, as well as
service to students and direction of graduate essays and dissertations. At this level, significant service to the
department, e.g., as director of the honors program or the graduate program, to the College of Arts and
Sciences, and to the university as a whole are to be given greater weight than in cases of promotion to
associate professor. Professional or academically-related offices held by the applicant outside the university,
e.g., in professional associations, and honors or distinctions earned should also be taken into consideration.
Annual Faculty Assessment Process
The insights gained by the department chair in preparing this assessment shall serve him or her in
making recommendations to the university administration in matters of tenure and promotion. The chair
shall also use the process to advise the various faculty members applying for tenure/promotion of any
criticisms or recommendations made by the Departmental Advisory Committee.
The Departmental Advisory Committee, however, proceeds and acts independently of the Faculty
Assessment process and reports directly to the department chair.
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DEPARTMENTAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
A.
Purpose
To serve as an advisory group to the department chair.
B.
Responsibilities
The committee advises the chair of the Department of History on matters of
personnel, policy, and procedure that are the concern of the department.
These may include the following functions:
C.
1.
The formulation and review of departmental goals, long-range plans and criteria for
evaluation of faculty in accordance with guidelines set forth by the University or
established by the Department of History.
2.
Rendering assistance to the department chair in the on-going evaluation of all
faculty members in the department.
3.
Recommendations to the department chair on retention, tenure, and promotion
decisions for all department faculty; assistance in polling the tenured faculty in
tenure decisions.
4.
Advice to the department chair on hiring new faculty and replacements for faculty
on leave.
5.
Recommendations to the department chair on requests for reduced teaching loads.
6.
Recommendations on relations with other departments within Loyola University
and departments and institutions outside Loyola University (e.g., other universities,
libraries, research institutes, etc.)
7.
The maintenance of faculty morale of the department.
8.
Any other matter referred to it by the department chair.
Membership
The Advisory Committee consists of the department chair as a nonvoting ex officio member
and seven voting members elected as follows:
One professor, one associate professor, and one assistant professor are elected by
their peers at those ranks. The other four members are to be elected at large by all
the full-time faculty of the department. At least two must be professors and the
other two are to be elected in accordance with the instructions of the Department.
Elections for the Committee are normally conducted under the direction of the department
chair during the spring semester of each year and the elected members assume office at the
start of the next academic year.
Eligible voters indicate a first and second choice for each position to be filled, and
the votes are counted so that a first choice is awarded two votes and the second
choice one vote. In the case where the full professors are elected at large, the voters
should indicate four choices in order of preference, and the votes are to be counted
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so that a first choice receives four votes, a second three, a third two, and a fourth
one. The candidates with the highest totals for each position are elected.
Terms of the elected members are two years each, staggered so that the members chosen by
their peers and the members chosen at large are elected to alternate years.
If an elected member is unable to serve, is on leave, or is promoted, another member is
chosen by bi-election to serve the unexpired portion of the term. Members of the committee
are eligible for re-election.
D.
Officers
a.
Chair
The Advisory Committee elects a chair from among the elected full professors. The chair's
function is to call and conduct the meetings. In matters affecting retention, tenure, and
promotion, the chair will conduct the meetings in accordance with the approved
departmental guidelines.
b. Secretary
The committee also elects a secretary who takes the minutes of the meetings, records the
individual votes, and handles all the correspondence. In cases where the secretary is
prevented from being present at the deliberations, e.g., in matters of promotion, and the
voting, another member must be delegated the task.
E.
Meetings
The Departmental Advisory Committee meets at least once a semester, but it may meet more
frequently at the request of its elected chair, the department chair, or any other three members of the
committee.
F.
Minutes
Full minutes of all proceedings and discussion of the committee are to be kept, including careful
records of each vote.
These written minutes are to be kept strictly confidential, put in a sealed envelope, which is to be
dated and retained intact for a minimum of five years.
Conclusion
It should be noted that departmental/school Promotion and Tenure committees are advisory to the
Chairperson and the Deans. Furthermore, these guidelines are subject to the provisions of Loyola
University's Faculty Handbook (1993), which will supersede the former in cases of apparent conflict.
All revisions of the guidelines must be approved by the appropriate deans, Faculty Affairs UPC, and
the Senior Academic Officer. These guidelines will affect only those faculty appointed after March
2012. All other faculty will be subject to the guidelines written in 1983 and revised in 1990 and 1997.
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