Section 4 - Faculty Personnel Policies and Procedures

XI. Procedures for Granting Tenure and Promotion

These procedures draw upon the principles, policies, and standards enunciated by the faculty elsewhere in the Faculty Manual , more especially in Section 4, Part V: "Faculty Staff Planning," Part VII: "Standards for Faculty Evaluations," Part IX: "Tenure," and Part X: "Promotion in Rank."

1. Recommendation for tenure and promotion shall usually be initiated by the department chair. The candidate's Associate Dean or the Dean of the College may also initiate the candidacy. When a department chair is a candidate, recommendation for tenure or promotion shall be initiated by the chair's Associate Dean or the Dean of the College, who shall carry out the responsibilities normally assumed by the chair, or appoint a full professor from the chair's department to be the initiator of the candidacy.
   
2. Before making recommendations, the initiator of the candidacy shall confer with each candidate for tenure or promotion.
   
   For all cases of promotion, the initiator shall convene a meeting of the department's members who possess a rank equal to or greater than the rank to be considered, after providing them with an updated vitae from the candidate, in order to discuss the advisability of proceeding with the candidacy. The initiator shall provide a written summary of this discussion to the candidate only.
   
   For all cases of early tenure, the initiator shall convene a meeting of the department's tenured members, after providing them with an updated vitae from the candidate, in order to discuss the advisability of proceeding with the candidacy. The initiator shall provide a written summary of the discussion to the candidate only.
   
   With the consent of the candidate, the initiator of the candidacy shall send written notification of the faculty member's candidacy to the Dean of the College by April 10. Under unusual circumstances, the Dean of the College may grant an extension.
   
3. The initiator of the candidacy shall be responsible for compiling the candidate's dossier. In the case of candidates whose work has recently included teaching in interdisciplinary programs, the appropriate director or coordinator shall provide an evaluation of the candidate for the dossier. In completing the dossier, the initiator of the candidacy shall solicit the help of appropriate persons and shall confer regularly with the candidate about the progress of the compilation and the general nature of the material. In the case of reconsideration at the same rank within three years, promotion to associate professor or professor within three years of the tenure decision, or tenure within three years of a promotion decision, dossiers may be resubmitted with only relevant new information added.  The completed dossier shall be forwarded to the relevant Associate Dean or Associate Deans. It is the responsibility of both the initiator of the candidacy and the Associate Dean to ensure that the dossier addresses all the items listed in the Faculty Manual under Standards for Faculty Evaluations (Section 4.VII)
   
4. The dossier shall contain only the documents described below. These descriptions apply to dossiers for candidates for both tenure and promotion except as otherwise noted. Candidates for tenure or promotion from the Library shall follow modified procedures approved by the Review and Planning Committee.
   
   1. The candidate's curriculum vita, limited to seven pages with 12 point font or larger and no less than 1 inch margins.
      
   2. A statement from the candidate setting forth the candidate's own assessment of strengths and weaknesses, teaching plans, and professional objectives in the context of "Standards for Faculty Evaluations" (Section 4.VII).  Candidate statements shall be no longer than 3000 words.
      
   3. (For tenure candidates only.) The initiator of the candidacy will poll all tenured members on candidates for tenure and record the vote numerically.
      
   4. Letters required from all tenured members of the candidate's department.  Letters from all tenured members of the candidate's department shall be prepared in accordance with guidelines set forth by the Tenure and Promotion Committee.  These letters shall be independent assessments of the candidate's suitability for tenure or promotion and shall address explicitly the categories and criteria in Section 4.VII, Standards for Faculty Evaluations. Those writing these letters shall be provided the candidate's curriculum vitae and shall have access to the competed student survey forms (see Section 4.XI.4.f, below). The tenured member writing the letter is not permitted to share its contents with the candidate or anyone not granted access to the dossier.  All tenured members of the candidate's department shall write a letter except in the case of a conflict of interest.  If a tenured member of the candidate's department refuses to write a letter, the initiator of the candidacy shall ascertain the nature of the conflict of interest and shall enter a statement in the dossier explaining such in lieu of the letter.
      
   5. Three to five letters from colleagues at St. Olaf College from outside the candidate's department selected by the candidate and solicited by the initiator of the candidacy.
      
   6. The completed student survey forms of the candidate's teaching.  All completed student survey forms shall be included in the dossier with any information identifying the respondents removed.  The Dean of the College shall designate an administrative office with appropriate professional expertise to administer, conduct, and summarize the student surveys.  The office so designated shall conduct a survey of students and alumni of the College who are or have been students of the candidate.  The survey shall use written evaluation forms that solicit responses regarding the effectiveness of the candidate's teaching as described in Section 4.VII, Standards for Faculty Evaluations.  The sample of students and alumni shall be selected so as to be representative of the candidate's current and past teaching responsibilities.  A committee of three students shall provide additional questions for inclusion on the student survey form.  A representative of the designated administrative office shall convene the committee.  The student committee members must be either juniors or seniors.  The candidate shall name one student to the committee.  The tenured members of the candidate's department shall name the other two students.
      
   7. A summary of quantitative information collected through the student survey forms. The office designated to conduct the survey of students and alumni shall provide summaries of any quantitative information collected through the student survey forms.  The summary shall include but not be limited to measures of central tendency and dispersion of the responses, measures of central tendency and dispersion of appropriate subsets of the responses, and appropriate cross-tabulations.
      
   8. A summary of the completed student survey forms prepared by the student committee.  The summary shall be based on responses contained in the student survey forms and shall be no more than five hundred (500) words in length.  The student committee shall have access to all completed student survey forms with any information identifying the respondents removed.
      
   9. Peer reviews of the candidate's teaching prepared by three faculty members: (1) the initiator of the candidacy, (2) a tenured member of the candidate's department chosen by the candidate, and (3) one other tenured member of the department selected by the tenured members (or from the Faculty or appropriate program in cases where the size of the department or the interdisciplinary nature of the candidate's teaching warrants such a decision). These peer evaluations of teaching shall address the items in "Effective Teaching" under "Standards for Faculty Evaluations" (Section 4.VII.A.1), whether on the official college form or in a narrative letter addressing the questions which are on the form, and shall not be shared with the candidate.
      
   10. No more than five letters from individuals outside the College, containing evaluations of the professional activities of the candidate. After consultation with the candidate and the tenured members of the department, an ordered list of potential writers is to be recommended to the Dean of the College by the initiator of the candidacy along with rationales stating their objectivity, balance, and professional expertise. The candidate and the tenured members of the department will suggest possible evaluators, providing a rationale for each evaluator and a statement of his or her professional relationship, if any, to the suggested writer. The Dean of the College shall request these individuals to provide a narrative evaluation of the candidate's professional activities in the context of the Standards for Faculty Evaluation and the department's statement on Significant Professional Activity.
       
   11. No more than five letters from St. Olaf graduates who did a portion of their work with the candidate; these graduates will be named by the candidate and solicited by the initiator of the candidacy.
       
   12. (For faculty who are being evaluated under category 4.VII.B.) Peer reviews of the candidate's administrative work prepared by: (1) the candidate's supervisor, (2) up to five constituents of the candidate's administrative unit chosen by the candidate and supervisor in consultation with one another, and (3) one other faculty colleague engaged in comparable administrative work. These reviews shall address the criteria listed in Section 4.VII.B and may not be shared with the candidate.
       
   13. The initiator of the candidacy's recommendation, including the opinions of all full-time, non-tenured members of the candidate's department who have completed at least two years of service at the College. This letter, in addition to providing the above recommendation and opinions, should synthesize other information in the dossier.
       
   14. The Associate Dean's recommendation, based on an overview of the Faculty.
       
   15. The department's statement on Significant Professional Activities.
       
5. The Dean of the College shall send to the Tenure and Promotion Committee on or before December 15th a list of all candidates for promotion and tenure.
   
6. Normally, the Dean of the College or the President shall interview each candidate for tenure before February 1 st . Similar interviews with candidates for promotion are optional, but they shall be held if the candidate, the Dean of the College, or the President requests it. During this interview, the candidate shall be informed, in a general way, of the contents of the dossier. In such a discussion, the participants will strive to keep the names of individuals who have contributed to the dossier and the precise nature of the contribution confidential.
   
7. The Tenure and Promotion Committee shall recommend to the Dean of the College candidates for promotion and tenure according to the Standards for Faculty Evaluation, subject to constraints contained in Faculty Staff Planning, and the special conditions applicable to candidates for tenure and to candidates for promotion.
   
   1. The committee shall receive from the Dean of the College the full dossiers of all candidates.
      
   2. The committee shall meet with the Dean of the College who will provide information on Faculty Staff Planning, the Department Staffing Plan, and the statements on Significant Professional Activity for each department having a candidate for tenure or promotion.
      
   3. The committee shall meet with the Associate Deans individually or as a group to discuss the candidates.
      
   4. The committee shall discuss each candidate's dossier with the candidate.
      
   5. The committee shall discuss the dossier of each candidate with the initiator of the candidacy.
      
   6. In its recommendations to the Dean, the committee shall include a numerical vote on each candidate, together with a written rationale for each unanimous vote and written rationales for split votes.
      
   7. If the committee intends to make a recommendation to the Dean that is at variance with the recommendation on a candidate by the initiator of the candidacy or the Associate Dean, the committee shall discuss the case with such persons individually before it makes its final recommendation to the Dean. Such persons will have this opportunity to respond to the committee's recommendation.
      
8. The committee recommendations shall be reviewed by the Dean of the College, who shall report these together with his or her own recommendations to the initiator of the candidacy and appropriate Associate Deans; all recommendations shall be forwarded to the President on or before February 15th .
   
9. The Dean of the College will invite every candidate to a final interview in order to share with the candidate the Tenure and Promotion Committee's overall assessment. Such a meeting shall be designed to point out areas in which improvement is needed or where changes in priority are in order. It will also indicate in a positive way a candidate's strengths as a teacher, a scholar, and a contributing member of the College community.
   
10. The President, if intending to make recommendations to the Board of Regents at variance with the committee's recommendations, shall notify the committee, and, if requested, shall explain to the committee the reasons for so intending.
    
11. Normally, the names of persons receiving tenure and promotion shall be announced within one week after the spring meeting of the Board of Regents.
    
12. Each candidate's dossier shall be treated with strict confidentiality by those authorized to review it.
    
    1. The initiator of the candidacy, the candidate's Associate Dean(s), the members of the Tenure and Promotion Committee, the Dean of the College, and the President shall have access to the dossier for evaluation of the candidate.
       
    2. The candidate may request at any time a discussion with the initiator of the candidacy, Associate Dean(s), the Dean of the College, or the President regarding the general contents of the dossier. In such discussions, the participants shall strive to keep the names of individuals who have contributed to the dossier confidential.
       
    3. In the event of an appeal by the candidate, and with the consent of the candidate, the Faculty Review Committee shall have access to the dossier if so requested.