APPENDIX XVIb
Tenure and Promotion Factors for CULMA Faculty
(Approved by faculty ____________ 2003 and by the President and Provost _______________
2003)
The following factors apply to both tenure and promotion.
The College of Urban, Labor, and Metropolitan Affairs has six distinct groups of faculty:
1. CULMA Professors of Urban and Labor Studies (PULS). These are scholars appointed in the
College but who normally hold tenure retreat rights in a disciplinary department, college, or school
outside CULMA. These faculty members usually have a teaching load below that of faculty in most of
the social science departments elsewhere in WSU. This teaching load is predicated on an assumption
of sustained high scholarly productivity at exemplary levels of quality and of professional and/or public
service.
2. CULMA faculty in the Chicano-Boricua Program. These are faculty appointed in the college to teach
in the Chicano-Boricua program but whose tenure (or tenure track line), as a retreat right, is in a
disciplinary department, college, or school outside of CULMA. Such CULMA faculty have a normal
teaching load, adjusted for the demands of teaching high risk students in the Chicano-Boricua
program.
3. CULMA research faculty. These are people appointed in the classifications of Assistant Professor
(Research), Associate Professor (Research), and Professor (Research). By University policy, these
are non-tenure track positions, and such appointments are for people whose primary responsibility is
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scholarly research and/or service. People in these classifications may teach from time to time, but
teaching is not considered part of their normal job duties.
4. Faculty appointed in the Department of Geography and Urban Planning. These faculty members
hold their tenure or tenure-track status in the Department, which is an administrative unit of the
College. Their customary teaching load is approximately the same as that in other social science
disciplinary departments at WSU. As in those other social science disciplinary departments, faculty in
Geography and Urban Planning are expected to attain excellence in teaching and scholarship, and to
undertake professional and/or public service. The Department has its own promotion and tenure
committee, and its own promotion and tenure factors.
5. Faculty appointed in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. These faculty members hold
their tenure or tenure-track status in the Department, which is an administrative unit of the College.
Their teaching load is similar to comparable units at WSU adjusted for the demands of teaching nontraditional students. Faculty appointed in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies are expected to
attain excellence in teaching and scholarship, and to engage in substantive professional and/or public
service. The Department has its own promotion and tenure committee, and its own promotion and
tenure factors.
6. CULMA coordinate faculty. These are faculty members whose appointment or tenure track status is
held in other units in the university but whose letter of offer specifies that they will “teach one course
(or its equivalent), perform appropriate service, and/or conduct scholarly work in conjunction with the
College of Urban, Labor, and Metropolitan Affairs.” While the factors of the faculty member’s home
unit apply, CULMA’s factors set forth below will be used as the basis for CULMA’s supplementary
input into the promotion and tenure process.
For all of these groups (except CULMA research professors), tenure and promotion shall be based upon
excellence in scholarly achievement, teaching, and service to the College, University, profession, and
community.
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Scholarship: Scholarship is defined as the creation, integration, and application of knowledge, and
encompasses both basic and applied research. Evaluation of scholarship shall be based on evidence
of the quantity and quality of scholarly activities and prospects for continued excellence in such
activities in areas relevant to the individual units and the mission of the College of Urban, Labor,
and/or Metropolitan Affairs. Such evidence shall consist of products that meet a standard of
excellence as judged through peer assessment and evaluation, and that are disseminated to relevant
publics. Scholarship activity includes the creation, integration, and application of knowledge and
encompasses both basic and applied research as well as other forms of scholarship.
Excellence in scholarly achievement may be manifested by evidence such as:

Publication in peer-reviewed academic journals.

Books published by recognized scholarly and commercial presses.

Chapters in books that have been published by recognized scholarly and commercial presses
and have been subjected to a peer review process.

Textbooks, edited volumes, or translations published by recognized and commercial presses that
have been acknowledged by peers as involving excellence in integration and/ or adaptation of
scholarship, thereby making a contribution to instruction, analysis, or conceptualization of the
field.

Work that is not normally peer reviewed because it is written or created for dissemination to a
non-academic audience provided such work involves the creation, integration or adaptation of
knowledge and meets the standard of excellence as determined through external peer evaluation
(through special procedures to provide such evaluation if necessary). Where appropriate, an
additional evaluation by a leader in the audience to which the work is addressed assessing the
quality of the scholarship is desirable.

Work in the arts consisting of exhibition, performance, or other creative activity that has been
invited, refereed, and/or reviewed. Also:

Scholarly publications in non-peer reviewed journals or edited books
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
Papers delivered at academic or professional conferences

Funding or high priority ratings on proposals for external funding

National and international recognition as evidenced by awards, invitations to participate in
colloquia and academic conferences, etc.
Because the College has a particular interest in fostering interdisciplinary research, consideration will be
given to scholarly activity that is interdisciplinary in nature, as well as scholarship within the applicant’s
own discipline. In addition to individual scholarly activity, the college encourages collaborative work with
other scholars, both within the University and elsewhere. Consideration will be given to such
collaborative work in which the faculty member contributes substantially or is an equal partner in the
collaborative activity.
Teaching: Teaching is defined as the imparting of knowledge about substantive content and analytical or
investigative method, particularly aimed at students enrolled at the University. Teaching is
accomplished using a variety of pedagogical strategies and delivered through a number of modalities
in a variety of contexts, such as traditional classroom lectures seminars, online web-based
instruction, interactive television, and would include related activities such as mentoring, tutoring, and
advising.
Evidence of excellence in teaching may be manifested by evidence such as:

Evaluations by students or by peer classroom observers

Evidence of student learning and achievements

Evaluations of teaching portfolios

Teaching of courses across disciplinary boundaries

Teaching involving collaborative activity with other faculty, including team teaching

The development of new courses.
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
The design and development of course content and web-based materials for online and other
innovative course delivery modalities.

The development and documentation of creative knowledge transmission techniques, including,
but not limited to innovative curriculum/classroom materials.

The mentoring of junior faculty.

The supervision or mentoring of or thesis direction for graduate students.

The active participation of graduate students on faculty research projects.

Supervision of independent studies or directed readings.

Teaching awards.

Evidence of professional instructional development.

Evidence of a high degree of involvement in student learning.

Evidence of excellence in teaching in non-traditional settings and modalities (e.g., non-credit
courses, workshops, online courses, and interactive television), and with non-traditional students,
provided such evidence is through appropriate documentation and evaluation.
Service: Service is defined as participation in activities related to the individual’s professional role at
Wayne State University
Excellence in service may be manifested by evidence such as:

Participation in unit, college and university policy and administrative processes (e.g., committees,
task forces, etc.).

Participation in activities related to the faculty member's discipline(s) or area of professional
expertise, including membership and participation in professional organizations (e.g., organizing,
chairing, and moderating panels, presenting or discussing papers), holding office in such
organizations, serving as editor or as a member of the editorial board of professional journals.

Serving as a referee for journals or book manuscripts, producing book reviews, serving as a
judge for grant proposals, as an external reviewer for programs.
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
Applying existing professional knowledge (i.e., the application of existing knowledge and
techniques) in service to external groups or institutions (e.g., local, state, or federal agencies,
community groups, non-profit groups, labor unions, businesses, foundations, etc.).