This document contains criteria and guidelines for the tenure and promotion process in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership. Each guideline reflects a purpose or goal of the department and provides a structure for a fair and consistent evaluation of faculty in the department. Each candidate for tenure and/or promotion will be provided wit a current, written copy of these guidelines for the purpose of submitting an organized dossier pertinent to the awarding of tenure and/or promotion.

Faculty members should note that the areas of instruction, research, service, and collegiality are each important in the determination of promotion and tenure; but in any one period, university, college, and department goals and priorities may change. It is the faculty member's responsibility to keep current with university, college, and department goals and priorities.

Every faculty member, irrespective of particular status, is entitled to academic freedom. Each is also entitled to the university's system of due process. These safeguards offer each faculty member security from violations of academic freedom and from arbitrary decisions with regard to tenure and promotion.

Activities for the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership derive primarily from the following objectives:

A. To contribute research to that body of knowledge that supports the area of instruction and curriculum in a wide variety of school, classroom, university, and related settings.

B. To advise and instruct students in a manner that demonstrates efficient and effective teaching and learning.

C. To provide and maintain high quality graduate and undergraduate programs and curricula in order to fulfill requirements leading to degrees offered by the department, college, and university.

D. To provide and maintain high quality graduate and undergraduate programs and curricula in order to fulfill requirements leading to degrees offered by the department, college, and university.

There will be one department committee to advise the department chair on matters of tenure and promotion. The committee will be established according to the following guidelines and will be named The Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion. The committee will function according to the guidelines described in Part B of this section.

A. Composition Guidelines

1. The composition and functions of the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion will be consistent with university policy on tenure and promotion found in The University of Memphis Faculty Handbook.

2. Service on this committee is not optional. The Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion will be elected from a list of all eligible faculty in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership. Only full-time, tenured faculty with the rank of associate or professor may serve on this committee.

3. A member of the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership will be elected to the college tenure and promotion committee. This election will be held prior to the election of the department committee and follow the same guidelines that have been prescribed for the department committee. The member receiving the highest number of votes will serve on the college committee for a period of one academic year. If for any reason this person cannot serve, the department chair will conduct a special election to select an alternate from the remaining faculty who are eligible to serve.

4. The committee will be composed of seven members. The election for the department tenure and promotion committee will be held early in the first semester of the academic year. Faculty will vote for six persons from a list of eligible faculty provided by the department chair. Members with the six highest vote counts will serve on the committee for a period of one academic year. The faculty member with the seventh highest vote count will serve as an alternate. All eligible faculty have a professional obligation to serve on this committee and cannot be excused from committee service except for the following reasons:

a) A faculty member applying for tenure or promotion may not serve on the committee.

b) A faculty member may not serve on the committee if a family member is a candidate for tenure or promotion.

c) A faculty member who has additional input into the tenure or promotion process at another level may not serve on this committee.

B. Functions of the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion

1. Initial committee deliberations will involve:

a) The election of a committee chair who also serves as the transition member for the next academic year.

b) The review of candidate applications, guideline changes (if any).

c) Votes on each candidate will be taken by secret ballot. Committee deliberations are confidential. However, it should be noted that materials and data presented for tenure and promotion and any records of committee are considered open records and subject to public scrutiny.

2. The Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion is advisory and serves to assist the department chair in the decision making process. After considering each candidate, the committee will prepare a formal tenure and/or promotion report listing the recommendations for each candidate. The chair of the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion will communicate these written recommendations only to the department chair.

3. Peer review will occur in the spring to provide feedback to untenured tenure track faculty.

The Department Chair and the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion will follow these producers to insure a fair, consistent and accurate assessment of each candidate for tenure and promotion.

A. Initial Procedures

1. In the Spring prior to the year of review, the department chair will request a letter of intent from faculty who desire to become candidates for tenure and/or promotion. The letter of intent should include a list of at least six potential external peer reviewers with addresses and phone numbers. Reviews by doctoral and postdoctoral mentors are discouraged but if included should be so identified (see faculty handbook). The Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion with the Department Chair will select six from this list of external peer reviewers. Materials (consisting of a vita and at least one scholarly product) will be selected by the candidate and forwarded to the six external reviewers by the department chair in the spring. A minimum of three letters should be received. The external reviewers who have not responded by September 1, of the tenure/promotion year will be contacted to request a response.

2. In fall of the review year, the department chair will send a memorandum to verify faculty intent and announcing the procedures and deadlines for submitting applications for promotion and tenure.

3. The letters of intent from each candidate will be turned over to the newly elected advisory committee chair at the first meeting of the Advisory Committee of Tenure and Promotion. At the same time the department chair will convey any new information on tenure and promotion that might be pertinent to the review process.

4. After receiving faculty letters of intent, the department chair will counsel and advise all candidates with regard to department, college, and university guidelines, procedures, and approximate due dates. It is appropriate for a faculty member to request assistance with the preparation of a tenure/promotion portfolio. All materials will be completed by the required date and submitted to the department chair. The department chair will secure these records and make them available only to the advisory committee for deliberations until the records are forwarded to the college dean.

B. Deliberation Procedures

1. The committee will review, discuss, evaluate and vote on each candidate's application for tenure and/or promotion.

2. The committee's deliberations will be objective and based on the criteria for tenure and promotion outlined in this and other university documents. The discussions will be held in strict confidence. The committee will prepare a final recommendation report for each candidate. These recommendations will be submitted to the department chair.

3. The final committee vote taken by secret ballot will be reported to the department chair along with the committee's recommendations. All committee members must be present and all committee members must vote. A simple majority of positive votes is required for a positive recommendation. The following statement, or one similar to it, will be used to convey the committee's vote to the chair:

C. Tenure Reporting Procedures

1.The department chair will make his/her recommendations after receiving a report from the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion. The department chair may consult with the committee chair for clarification but cannot send the advisory report back to the committee for reconsideration. The chair will inform the dean of his/her recommendation in a written report along with the report from the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion.

2. The department chair will communicate and discuss the final recommendations from the department, college, and university with each candidate. The department chair will advise each candidate of the options available at each level of the tenure and promotion process and release any pertinent information under guidelines specified by the university.

A. Introduction

The criteria for tenure and promotion emanate from the sources of teaching, research, service and collegiality. The University of Memphis Faculty Handbook describes the university standards for these faculty evaluations.

The faculty member has the responsibility of submitting data pertinent to his/her application for tenure and/or promotion in the areas of teaching, research, service and collegiality. In addition, the candidate needs to indicate the quality and significance of this information for local, state, regional, national, or international applications. Inaccurate information jeopardizes the outcome of the tenure and/or promotion process.

B. Criteria for use by the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion

1. Teaching

a. Evidence should include such things as; ability to organize and present subject matter in a logical and meaningful way; ability to motivate and stimulate creativity in students.

b. Documentation of teaching should include: statement of teaching philosophy; course materials; systematic student evaluations for each course each semester, including the summer and the previous spring semester; grade distributions, plus any comments the faculty member chooses to make about the relation between the grade distribution and the nature of the course; evidence of supervision of student projects and other forms of student mentorships. Additional evidence may include open-ended or other student input; student products; teaching recognition; teaching scholarship; peer input; evidence of professional development in teaching; evidence of disciplinary or interdisciplinary program or curriculum development; alumni surveys and student exit interviews; other evidence of excellence in teaching and/or mentoring.

2. Scholarship

Candidates for tenure and/or promotion must present evidence of their research and scholarly activities. Such evidence should cite books, journal articles, monographs, and curriculum materials and must accompany the application for tenure and/or promotion. Appropriate videos, computer programs, textbooks, or articles in one's own discipline and innovative contributions to teaching, if published or presented in a peer-reviewed forum, constitute scholarship of teaching. The publication of research in refereed journals or media of similar quality is considered a reliable indication of scholarly ability. Evidence of national recognition is considered the most important criterion in evaluation scholarship for promotion to professor. Evidence of potential for national recognition is considered to be the most important criterion in evaluating scholarship for promotion to associate professor. Professional scholarly papers presented at international, national, or regional meetings are appropriate. Books published by reputable firms and articles in refereed journals or reviewed by recognized scholars are more significant than those, which are not subjected to such rigorous examination.

3. Service encompasses activities in one or more areas: public service, institutional service, and professional service.

a. Public service involves professional sharing expertise and should support the goals and mission of the department, college and university.

b. Institutional service includes, but is not limited to, serving on departmental committees, advising students, and participating in college and university committees.

c. Professional service refers to the work done for organizations related to one's discipline or to the teaching profession generally. Service to the profession includes association leadership, journal editorships, article and grant proposal review, guest lecturing on other campuses, and other appropriate activities.

4. Collegiality

A. The Tennessee Board of Regents defines collegiality as: Demonstrated willingness and ability to work effectively with colleagues to support the mission of the institution and the common goals both of the institution and academic organizational unit.

B. Evidence of collegiality in teaching may include:

1. Working with colleagues to develop curriculum, integrate courses or develop course sequences

2. Serving on dissertation or thesis committees outside the department

3. Mentoring faculty and TAs with regard to their teaching

4. Providing assistance or training to improve others' teaching

5. Holding regular office hours or being available for consultation with students

6. Being responsive to suggestions for improved teaching

7. Working with other faculty to coordinate courses or course content

C. Evidence of collegiality in research may include:

1. Collaboration on research projects

2. Participating in research groups, lecture series, etc.

3. Interdisciplinary efforts

4. Reviewing and critiquing colleagues or students papers and grants

5. Sharing information

6. Research and publishing with students

7. Action research or evaluation for schools

8. Appropriate credit or authorship is given to collies or students

9. Willingness to assist others

D. Evidence of collegiality in service may include:

1. Willingness to take on tasks

2. Collaborates with colleagues in a problem-solving mode when dealing with professional concerns or problems

3. Attends and participates responsibly and willingly in faculty meetings, on committees, assignments and other university service activities

4. Discharges assignments and responsibilities in an expedient manner

The preparation of the dossier is the responsibility of the faculty member. The organization of the dossier should follow the format provided by the department chair. It is strongly suggested that this documentation be representative and not all-inclusive. All dossiers will be treated confidentially and available only to the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion and the department chair until the records are forwarded to the college dean.

The department chair will notify untenured faculty of the dates for the review process. Dossiers will be submitted to the department chair on March 1 of each year. Dossier format for submitted materials will be the same as that used for tenure and promotion consideration; with the exception that the review will remain in the department and will not necessarily involve external peer review. The department chair and a member of the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion will meet with the candidate to provide feedback from the review. The results of the review will be sent to the dean.

The third year annual evaluation will serve as the midterm review required by the university.