Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
The Guidelines of Department of Natural Sciences for Reappointment, Promotion, Tenure,
and Post-Tenure Review
Written by DONS Departmental Tenured Faculty Committee (DTFC)
________________________________________
I. Introduction
While FSU provides minimum requirements to evaluate personnel action requests, each
college/school/department/program within FSU may specify its own particular requirements for personnel
advancement. Here, we provide the minimum requirements at DONS that apply in addition to the FSU minimum
requirements for personnel advancement. The Reappointment, Promotion, Tenure, and Post-Tenure Review
Guidelines of DONS are designed to be consistent with the mission statement and goals of DONS. It should be
noted at the outset that meeting the FSU minimum requirements or the DONS minimum requirements for personnel
action requests does not in any way guarantee a favorable personnel action.
Personnel action decision would consider not only faculty performance, but also the staffing needs of the
department or program. In addition, a faculty member’s expected future performance on teaching, research, and
service as determined by senior faculty members and the department chair would be an important factor in personnel
decision making.
Consistent with the UNC Tomorrow Commission’s recommendations, the faculty is encouraged to pay
sufficient attention to basic and applied research and scholarship; adapt teaching programs to the needs of the 21 st
century; make academic and research programs globally competitive; and actively engage in applied research and
outreach that will enhance the state’s competitiveness.
A. Applicability of Guidelines
These DONS Guidelines will be effective starting in the academic year fall 2010- spring 2011 for the
faculty members who started their probationary (tenure-track) appointments during this academic year.
B. Revision of Guidelines
These DONS guidelines are based on the following documents (1) FSU Faculty Handbook, (2) Tenure and
Promotion Policies, Regulations and Procedures of Fayetteville State University, (3) Application Procedures for
Promotion and/or Tenure at Fayetteville State University, (4) FSU Post-Tenure Review Policy, and (5) UNC
Tomorrow Commission’s Final Report 2007. The DONS Departmental Tenured Faculty Committee (DTFC) would
update these DONS guidelines every five years or sooner if necessary.
C. Credit for Past Achievements of New Faculty Members
The credit for past achievements of new faculty members is normally given at the time of hiring in terms of
appropriate rank and compensation. Therefore, all new appointments shall follow the time schedule listed below
unless they choose to apply early for advancement if allowed or agreed otherwise at the time of hiring.
D. Early Promotion or Tenure Recommendation
A favorable recommendation for early promotion or tenure would only be made in exceptional
circumstances and would require a higher minimum level of performance than what would normally be expected
from candidates.
E. Personnel Action Requests
Personnel action requests for tenure or promotion would be submitted in the fall or spring semesters but
requests for reappointment would be in the fall semester.
NOTE: These guidelines and their included criteria for promotion and/or tenure must be accumulated from the
last requested and approved personnel action. “Last personnel action” is defined as “initial appointment to a faculty
position, granting of tenure, or granting of a promotion.”
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
II. Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure
Only faculty members at the ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor are eligible
for permanent tenure.
A. Categories of Appointment
1. Probationary (Tenure-Track) Appointments. This is a trial-period appointment to determine the suitability
of the faculty member for a tenured position.
2.
Appointments with Permanent Tenure. Tenure status (only for Associate and Full Professors) may be
recommended upon appointment. An initial appoint with tenure would be rare and only in exceptional
circumstances when the new hire is a tenured outstanding scholar at his or her present university and has
written offer(s) from one or more universities that are at the same or higher level than Fayetteville State
University.
3.
Fixed-Term Appointments. Fixed-term appointments are for a specified term of service.
B. Tenure
Permanent tenure for faculty members provides them academic freedom and helps the institution attract and retain
faculty members of high quality.
III. Probationary (Tenure-Track) Faculty
A faculty member could be on tenure-track at the rank of assistant, associate, or full professor. It is the
faculty member’s responsibility to be aware of the deadlines for personnel action requests, and to submit his/her
portfolio on time. The DONS Departmental Tenured Faculty Committee (DTFC) and the department chair should
promptly inform the candidate of their decision of evaluation of the portfolio. However, a failure to give the required
notice of a decision not to reappoint has the same effect as a decision to offer a terminal appointment for one
academic year at the same rank.
1.
Assistant Professor. The initial appointment is for a 2 year term that could be extended to another 2 year
term followed by a 3-year term. The reappointment request for a 3 year term constitutes a mid-term review
for a tenure-track faculty member and would require a thorough evaluation of teaching, research, and
service. The faculty member has had three years to demonstrate potential for tenure and/or promotion.
Tables 1 and 2, below, list the minimum expectations from new faculty members at the rank of assistant
professor. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee a favorable personnel action. A faculty
member may apply for tenure and/or promotion during the second 2-year term. However, early tenure
and/or promotion would only be considered for exceptional scholars and would rarely be granted. If the
faculty member is reappointed to a three-year probationary term, at least twelve (12) months prior to the
expiration of the assistant professor’s term, the assistant professor shall be notified of a decision for
tenure/promotion to associate professor or non-reappointment. Normally, the decision for tenure would be
made only in the sixth year of the faculty member's service at the university. An assistant professor may
earn tenure and promotion to associate professor at the same time.
2.
Associate Professor. In rare cases, tenure may be granted upon initial appointment. The initial appointment
is for a 2 year term that could be renewed for another 3 year term. The faculty member may apply for
tenure and/or promotion during the 2 year term or 3 year term. The faculty member would not be
automatically promoted to professor level if tenure is granted. If the faculty member is reappointed to a
three-year probationary term, at least twelve (12) months prior to the expiration of the associate professor’s
term, the associate professor shall be notified of a decision for tenure/promotion to full professor or nonreappointment. Tables 1 and 3, below, list the minimum expectations from new faculty members at the rank
of associate professor. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee a favorable personnel action.
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
3.
Professor. In rare cases, tenure may be granted upon initial appointment. New hires at the probationary
rank of professor would be appointed for a three year term; in the second year of continuous service at the
institution, a tenure decision would be made or contract would be terminated at the end of the third year of
continuous service at the institution. Tables 1 and 4, below, list the minimum expectations from new
faculty members at the rank of full professor. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee a
favorable personnel action.
IV. The Annual Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System
FSU has an annual comprehensive faculty evaluation system that is also utilized in the DONS. If FSU
adopts another evaluation system then DONS guidelines will be revised accordingly to be consistent with the
university’s procedures and guidelines.
At present, the FSU and DONS faculty members are evaluated annually on three main factors: teaching,
research, and service. These factors are weighted as follows for the chair’s evaluation of a faculty member: Teaching
weight is 50% - 80%, Research weight is 5% - 35%, and Service weight is 5% - 15%. The chair and each faculty
member set the respective weights for teaching, research, and service by filling out a standard form at the start of
each academic year or evaluation period. These weights represent a faculty member’s work load allocation in
teaching, research, and service. For each academic year, the department chair uses a standard instrument to
determine overall chair’s evaluation as a weighted score of the faculty member’s average teaching score, average
research score, and average service score as follows:
Chair’s Evaluation = a (Teaching) + b (Research) + c (Service), where a, b, c > 0, and a + b + c = 1.
Here, Teaching weight is a = 50% - 80%, Research weight is b = 5% - 35%, and Service weight is c = 5% - 15%. In
addition, each year, the department chair also determines a Comprehensive Evaluation of each faculty member using
these weighted average ratings: 55% of Chair’s Evaluation, 15% of Students’ Evaluations, 15% of Peers’
Evaluations, and 15% of Self Evaluation. Therefore,
Comprehensive Evaluation = 0.55 (Chair’s Evaluation) + 0.15 (Student Evaluations) + 0.15 (Peer
Evaluations) + 0.15 (Self Evaluation).
The above ratings utilize the following rating scale:
0 – Not applicable or unable to judge. (Not used to calculate the average).
1 – Needs improvement in performance.
2 – Meets performance expectations marginally.
3 – Meets performance expectations and has documented evidence of productivity.
4 – Exceeds performance expectations frequently and has documented evidence of productivity.
5 – Exceeds performance expectations consistently and has documented evidence of productivity.
In the above scale a value of zero for “Not applicable or unable to judge” is misleading and should not be used to
calculate average performance. Instead, “Not applicable or unable to judge” could alternatively be coded as DK for
“do not know (or unable to judge)” and NA for “not applicable.” Therefore, this scale is, in fact, a five point scale
ranging between 1-5 instead of 0-5 as written in the university documents. This rating scale measures the degree of
performance and therefore can identify the need for improvement. These annual comprehensive evaluations serve as
inputs in decisions for annual merit pay raises, teaching excellence awards considerations and also for the evaluation
of personnel action requests.
V. The FSU Minimum Requirements for Personnel Action Requests
1.
2.
3.
Personnel action decisions about FSU faculty are required to include at least the following considerations:
The faculty member’s demonstrated professional competence,
The faculty member’s potential for future contributions, and
Institutional needs and resources.
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
Thus, a faculty member may exceed expectations but may not be recommended for tenure if the institutional needs
and resources do not support such a recommendation. Meeting the FSU minimum requirements for personnel action
requests allows a faculty member to submit a portfolio to be considered for a personnel action. Meeting these
minimum requirements does not guarantee a favorable personnel action.
These guidelines and their included criteria for promotion and/or tenure must be accumulated from the last
requested and approved personnel action. “Last personnel action” is defined as “initial appointment to a faculty
position, granting of tenure, or granting of a promotion.” If a request for a personnel action is approved,
publications, points for service and scholarly activities, and average teaching performance ratings accumulated after
the date of the requested action, but before the date of implementation of the approved personnel action, can be
applied towards the next anticipated personnel action.
Table 1. The FSU Minimum Criteria for Tenure and/or Promotion According to Rank
Minimum Criteria for Tenure
Minimum Criteria for Promotion
While at rank of Assistant Professor:
(1) Have an average Teaching Performance rating of
3.75 or higher for the period of time at the rank of
Assistant Professor.
From Assistant Professor to Associate Professor:
(1) Have an average Teaching Performance rating of 3.75
or higher for the period of time at the rank of Assistant
Professor.
(2) Publish one article in a refereed journal.
(2) Publish one article in a refereed journal.
(3) Must have accumulated 30 points in
University/Community Service and
Research/Scholarly Activities.
(3) Must have accumulated 30 points in
University/Community Service and Research/Scholarly
Activities.
While at rank of Associate Professor:
(1) Have an average Teaching Performance rating of
4.00 or higher for period of time at the rank of
Associate Professor.
From Associate Professor to Professor:
(1) Have an average Teaching Performance rating of 4.00
or higher for period of time at the rank of Associate
Professor.
(2) Publish two articles in refereed journals,
(2) Publish two articles in refereed journals,
(3) Must have accumulated 40 points in
University/Community Service and
Research/Scholarly Activities.
(3) Must have accumulated 40 points in
University/Community Service and Research/Scholarly
Activities.
While at rank of Professor:
(1) Have an average Teaching Performance rating of
4.00 or higher for the period of time at the rank of
Professor.
(2) Publish three articles in refereed journals during
the last five years including one since the last
personnel action.
(3) Must have accumulate 40 points in
University/Community Service
And Research/Scholarly Activities.
Verification of the criteria (accumulated points for service and scholarly activity, refereed journal publication, and
average teaching performance rating) must be made at the departmental level and clearly displayed for perusal by all
levels of review above the departmental level.
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
VI. The DONS Minimum Requirements for Personnel Action Requests
The DONS minimum requirements for a personnel action request for tenure and/or promotion are given
below. These requirements are in addition to the FSU minimum requirements. Meeting either the FSU or the DONS
necessary minimum requirements does not guarantee a favorable personnel action. The teaching, research, and
service factors are measured each year during the annual Comprehensive Evaluation of a faculty member and would
be utilized here. Verification of the earned credits for teaching, research, and service must be made at the department
level and clearly displayed for future action. It is highly recommended that teaching, research, and service activities
should be carefully documented and included in the faculty portfolios for personnel action requests. All relevant
faculty evaluations must be included in the portfolios and any missing evaluations must be noted by the department
chair. Each year, during the annual comprehensive evaluations, the department chair should take the necessary steps
to give credit for documented or verifiable performance. For example, credit for committee work should be given to
only those faculty members who actively participated in a committee and not to those who remained absent.
The research activities (or scholarship or intellectual contributions) expectations are elaborated below.
1. Publication Relevance and Significance. A faculty member’s intellectual contributions must be relevant to
his/her primary field of teaching for which the person was hired. For example, a faculty member who was
hired to teach and conduct research in science should focus primarily on publication outlets in science.
Faculty members who have already established themselves in their primary field of research may engage in
cross-disciplinary research, however, they must remain academically/professionally qualified in their
discipline. Scholarly activity should make a significant contribution to knowledge in the faculty member's
field of specialization. A faculty member’s research productivity should, over time, lead to the creation of a
body of knowledge that is highly regarded at the regional and national levels by the peers of the faculty
member. The scholarly impact of a faculty member’s research could be determined by utilizing tools like
http://scientific.thomson.com/products/jcr/ for citation analysis.
2.
Acceptable Journals and Journal quality. Only peer-reviewed journal articles would be considered for
personnel actions. All acceptable publications should meet or exceed the minimum quality criteria that are
acceptable to the department.
3.
Publication evidence. A candidate should include a printed copy of all published articles in his/her portfolio
for personnel action requests. Acceptance letters (instead of a copy of a published article) may be accepted if
the journal is of high quality or at the discretion of personnel action committees.
4.
Research productivity. Research productivity above the bare minimum would include higher quality and
quantity of output - journal articles, conference proceedings publications, conference participation, and other
published work. While the committee appreciates the value of collaboration in research, publishing some
single-authored and lead-authored peer-reviewed high quality journal articles in the candidate’s primary
field of teaching and research would be highly regarded as evidence of intellectual contributions.
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
Table 2. The DONS Minimum Requirements for Personnel Action Requests for an Assistant
Professor Seeking Tenure
Request for 2-year reappointment Request for 3-year reappointment Request for tenure if not granted earlier
(second year of service for a new (fourth year of service for a new
(sixth year of service for a new hire)
hire)
hire)
Requirements:
Requirements:
Requirements:
(1) For all years under consideration, the
(1) The comprehensive evaluation (1) For all years under
comprehensive evaluation meets or
meets or exceeds performance
consideration, the comprehensive exceeds performance expectations and
expectations and has documented evaluation meets or exceeds
has documented evidence of
evidence of productivity. The
performance expectations and has productivity. The faculty member should
faculty member should strive to
documented evidence of
strive to achieve an average
achieve a comprehensive
productivity. The faculty member comprehensive evaluation, calculated
evaluation that exceeds
should strive to achieve an average over all years under consideration, that
performance expectations
comprehensive evaluation,
exceeds performance expectations
frequently and consistently and it calculated over all years under
frequently and consistently and it should
should be supported by
consideration, that exceeds
be supported by documented evidence.
documented evidence.
performance expectations
frequently and consistently and it
(2) Published two acceptable refereed
(2) The faculty member must
should be supported by
journal articles since the last personnel
demonstrate a potential of high
documented evidence.
action.
future productivity in teaching,
research, and service.
(2) Published one acceptable
(3) The faculty member must
refereed journal article .
demonstrate a potential of high future
(3) Collegiality and team work
productivity in teaching, research, and
meet or exceed expectations.
(3) The faculty member must
service.
demonstrate a potential of high
(4) Institutional needs and
future productivity in teaching,
(4) Collegiality and team work meet or
resources to support a favorable
research, and service.
exceed expectations.
recommendation.
(4) Collegiality and team work
(5) Institutional needs and resources to
meet or exceed expectations.
support a favorable recommendation.
(5) Institutional needs and
resources to support a favorable
recommendation.
Tenured/Non-tenured Assistant Professor seeking promotion to Associate Professor
The minimum requirements for a request for promotion would be equal to all of the conditions that are
required for the assistant professor to seek tenure as listed in Tables 1 and 2.
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
Table 3. The DONS Minimum Requirements for Personnel Action Requests for an Associate Professor
Seeking Tenure
Request for 3-year reappointment (second year of
Request for tenure if not granted earlier (fourth year of
service for a new hire)
service for a new hire)
Necessary Requirements:
Necessary Requirements:
(1) For all years under consideration, the
comprehensive evaluation meets or exceeds
performance expectations and has documented
evidence of productivity. The faculty member should
strive to achieve an average comprehensive
evaluation, calculated over all years under
consideration, that exceeds performance expectations
frequently and consistently and it should be
supported by documented evidence.
(1) For all years under consideration, the
comprehensive evaluation meets or exceeds
performance expectations and has documented
evidence of productivity. The faculty member should
strive to achieve an average comprehensive evaluation,
calculated over all years under consideration, that
exceeds performance expectations frequently and
consistently and it should be supported by documented
evidence.
(2) At least one submission to an acceptable refereed (2) Published two acceptable refereed journal articles
journal since the last personnel action.
since the last personnel action.
(3) The faculty member must demonstrate a potential
of high future productivity in teaching, research, and
service.
(3) The faculty member must demonstrate a potential
of high future productivity in teaching, research, and
service.
(4) Collegiality and team work meet or exceed
expectations.
(4) Collegiality and team work meet or exceed
expectations.
(5) Institutional needs and resources to support a
favorable recommendation.
(5) Institutional needs and resources to support a
favorable recommendation.
Tenured/Non-Tenured Associate Professor seeking promotion to Full Professor
The minimum requirements for a request for promotion to full professor would be equal to all of the
conditions that are applicable for the associate professor to seek tenure as listed in Tables 1 and 3.
Table 4. The DONS Requirements for Personnel Action Requests for a Professor Seeking Tenure
Request for tenure (second year of service for a new hire)
Requirements:
(1) For all years under consideration, the comprehensive evaluation meets or exceeds performance expectations and
has documented evidence of productivity. The faculty member should strive to achieve an average comprehensive
evaluation, calculated over all years under consideration, that exceeds performance expectations frequently and
consistently and it should be supported by documented evidence.
(2) Published three acceptable refereed journal articles during the last five years including at least one since the last
personnel action.
(3) The faculty member must demonstrate a potential of high future productivity in teaching, research, and service.
(4) Collegiality and team work meet or exceed expectations.
(5) Institutional needs and resources to support a favorable recommendation.
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
VII. Post-Tenure Review
The DONS Post-Tenure Review guidelines supplement those provided by FSU. Two measurement scales
are utilized here as follows.
The Scale used by FSU for Annual Comprehensive Evaluation of Faculty (range 1-5)
0 – Not applicable or unable to judge. (Not used to calculate the average).
1 – Needs improvement in performance.
2 – Meets performance expectations marginally.
3 – Meets performance expectations and has documented evidence of productivity.
4 – Exceeds performance expectations frequently and has documented evidence of productivity.
5 – Exceeds performance expectations consistently and has documented evidence of productivity.
The Scale used by FSU for Post-Tenure Review (range 1-5)
Below 3.26:
Needs Improvement
3.26 – 3.99:
Satisfactory
4.00 – 4.24:
Good
4.25 – 4.49:
Very Good
4.50 and above: Outstanding
A tenured assistant, associate, or full professor for post-tenure review must meet the following criteria:
 Remain current and active in his/her field of expertise
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Revised: 12-4-09 by DONS DTFC
Approved by:
____________________________________________
Dean of CAS
Date: ________________
_____________________________________________
Chair, Faculty Senate
Date: ________________
_____________________________________________
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Date: ________________
____________________________________________
Chancellor, Fayetteville State University
Date: ________________