C. The Tenure (and Promotion to rank of Associate Professor) Review

Overview: Tenure is granted to members of the Rhodes Faculty by the Board of Trustees on the recommendation of the President. Normally, the recommendation of the President is presented to the Committee on Student Learning at the Spring meeting of the Board of Trustees (typically held in April or May). Only rarely will tenure be offered with the initial appointment of a senior academic to the Rhodes Faculty; even in this case expedited reviews by the appropriate academic department and the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion are required.

A candidate for tenure must hold the Ph.D. degree or other appropriate terminal degree.

Normally no member of the Faculty may teach more than seven years at Rhodes without having been granted tenure; exceptions are made only in those special circumstances where a term contract is appropriate.

The sixth-year review process outlined below is established to assess the comprehensive work of a member of the Faculty. It is not simply a more comprehensive annual review, nor is it a compilation of annual reviews. It is a review of the work of the officer of instruction since the beginning of his or her appointment as well as an attempt to gauge a trajectory for the candidate’s career at the college. So, for example, the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion evaluates the candidate’s record of teaching, research or creative activity, and service, and renders a judgment about the overall quality and effectiveness of work that is presented. This is followed by similar considerations by the Dean of the Faculty and the President.

Granting tenure is an action taken only after detailed examination of the work of a member of the Faculty at Rhodes. A candidate for tenure presents the most persuasive evidence in support of a favorable decision that he or she can prepare. The candidate has the responsibility to present any and all such evidence.

In completing the assessment detailed below and determining that a recommendation in favor of granting tenure is appropriate, the consensus of the chair of the department, the Dean of the Faculty, and the President must be that there is a clear need for continuing a permanent position in the area of the Faculty member’s expertise and teaching competence.

Promotion to Associate Professor normally accompanies a positive tenure decision as a natural consequence of meeting the standards for tenure. On rare occasions promotion to associate professor may occur before completion of six years of full-time teaching as a way to recognize an unusually effective member of the Faculty. While such early promotion to Associate Professor requires evidence of outstanding contributions to the College it does not guarantee a positive tenure review.

The Process: The materials identified below are prepared in the summer prior to the academic year in which the tenure review takes place. Data collection begins in the summer and continues in the fall semester. The Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion begins its work on sixth-year reviews and promotion to Associate Professor late in the fall semester of the academic year in which the review occurs.

Responsibilities of those involved in the process are as follows:

The candidate prepares a notebook for the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion containing the following items:

a current curriculum vita, including a bibliography of all published work or evidence of creative activity;
a written statement about any and all aspects of work undertaken as an officer of instruction at Rhodes College, including a statement of the candidate’s philosophy of teaching (This statement is an opportunity for the candidate to convey to the Faculty Committee and others who read the notebook a personal assessment of qualifications for tenure. These statements typically average three to five pages, double-spaced.);
a list of six current students and six graduates whose evaluations of teaching effectiveness are to be solicited (These students will be included in the sample of students who will be asked to complete a special questionnaire on teaching.);
the names of four members of the Faculty nominated by the candidate to serve on the Classroom Visitation Committee; these members are to be tenured Faculty from both the department and/or related departments;
a list of six current and six former advisees who are in a position to evaluate the candidate’s student advising;
one copy of all published work, evidence of creative activity, and other materials related to professional research and/or creative activity;
the names of at least six outside evaluators of professional work (All of these persons should be recognized scholars in the discipline. None should have a personal stake in the career of the candidate. The candidate provides a description of the extent of personal acquaintance, if any, the candidate has with each of the scholars named, and an indication of what work each evaluator should be asked to review. At least two of the outside evaluators will be selected from this list.);
the names of three members of the Rhodes community (including Faculty at the associate professor and professor level, and staff members) who can provide evaluations of special work for the College, for example in the area of service.

Portions of the materials prepared for the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion are collected together in separate notebooks for review by others involved in the process.

The candidate prepares a notebook for the candidate’s department with the following materials:

a current curriculum vita, including a bibliography of all published work or evidence of creative activity;
a written statement about any and all aspects of work undertaken as an officer of instruction at Rhodes College, including a statement of the candidate’s philosophy of teaching;
one copy of all published work, evidence of creative activity, and other materials related to professional research and/or creative activity;
materials describing courses offered during the previous years of appointment as a probationary member of the Faculty, for example, syllabi, exams, laboratory exercises, student projects, etc.

The candidate prepares a notebook for the Classroom Visitation Committee with the following materials:

a current curriculum vita, including a bibliography of all published work or evidence of creative activity;
a written statement about any and all aspects of work undertaken as an officer of instruction at Rhodes College, including a statement of the candidate’s philosophy of teaching;
materials describing courses being offered in the fall semester, for example, syllabi, exams, laboratory exercises, class schedules, with notations about recommended times for classroom visitation during the semester.

The candidate prepares a notebook for the Dean of the Faculty with the following materials:

the names of four members of the Faculty nominated by the candidate to serve on the Classroom Visitation Committee (these members are to be tenured Faculty from the department and/or related departments);
the names of at least four outside evaluators of professional work (All of these persons should be recognized scholars in the discipline. None should have a personal stake in the career of the candidate. The candidate provides a description of the extent of personal acquaintance, if any, the candidate has with each of the scholars named, and an indication of what work each evaluator should be asked to review. At least two of the final evaluators will be selected from this list.);
four copies of the current curriculum vita, all published work, evidence of creative activity, and other materials related to professional research and/or creative activity to be sent to the outside evaluators.

The following steps are taken to define the review process:

The Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Faculty Development and the Chair of the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion forms a Classroom Visitation Committee comprised of three senior members from the candidate’s department and one senior member from outside the department. The candidate’s list of members of the Faculty who could serve in this capacity is consulted. The chair of the candidate’s department serves as chair of the Classroom Visitation Committee.
The Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Faculty Development and the Chair of the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion select two outside reviewers from the list nominated by the candidate. The Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Faculty Development, in consultation with the chair of the candidate’s department, selects two other reviewers. The Associate Dean contacts outside reviewers to secure their agreement to participate in the process of assessment. The Associate Dean forwards the materials to be reviewed and requests the letters of assessment within a time period that supports the review by the Faculty Committee.
The Chair of the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion obtains lists of students of the candidate’s students, and, with the assistance of the Information Services Office, prepares a representative sample of students, to include the students named by the candidate, to receive a special questionnaire about the candidate’s teaching effectiveness. A similar list is prepared, to include the advisees named by the candidate, to receive a special questionnaire about the candidate’s work as an advisor. These questionnaires are distributed with the assistance of the staff in the Dean of the Faculty's Office.
The chair of the Classroom Visitation Committee convenes the committee, reviews the process of visitation, and oversees the preparation of reports for the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion.
The chair of the department convenes the senior members of the department, reviews the process of evaluation at the departmental level, and oversees the preparation of reports for the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion.

The special responsibilities of the Classroom Visitation Committee are:

To review the notebook prepared for the Committee by the candidate being reviewed;
To coordinate with the candidate being reviewed the visits to classes during the fall semester;
Each member of the Committee shall visit a minimum of three different class sessions (It is not required that members of the Committee meet with the candidate after each visit to discuss the observations made; however, such meetings can prove to be a very effective form of colleague mentoring.);
Each member of the Committee prepares a letter detailing his or her observations of the classes (this letter is forwarded to the Chair of the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion, and copies are provided to the department chair and to the Dean of the Faculty).

The special responsibilities of the senior members of the candidate’s department are:

To review the notebook prepared for the department by the candidate being reviewed;
To meet with the chair of the department, as a group, to discuss the performance of the candidate and his or her suitability for reappointment with tenure;
To be especially mindful of the particular standards for research or creative activity performance as prescribed for the academic department of the candidate (These particular standards have been established to present in more detail standards for research and creative activity must be met for a positive review at the departmental level.);
To seek further information, not gathered as a result of the processes described above, where that information is essential in making a reasoned judgment about the candidate’s performance (While candidates for tenure cannot be privy to student, Faculty, or outside colleague comments on their performance, they must be informed if the department has questions about matters which the candidate can reasonably be expected to answer or clarify. The candidate makes a written response which becomes a document available throughout the review process.);
Each senior member of the department writes an individual letter of assessment and forwards the letter to the Chair of the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion.

The special responsibilities of the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion are:

In the event that a member of the Committee is from the same department as the candidate being reviewed, that member is excluded from the discussion and formulation of the Committee’s recommendation;
The chair of the Committee and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Faculty Development select two outside evaluators for research or creative activity work from the list provided by the candidate, and selects two evaluators after consultation with the chair of the department;
To apply the standards as prescribed in Section VIII above in assessing the performance of the candidate being reviewed over the entirety of his or her appointment at the College;
To be especially mindful of the particular standards for research or creative activity performance as prescribed for the academic department of the candidate (These particular standards have been established to present in more detail what standard for research and creative activity must be met for a positive review at the departmental level.);
To distribute special surveys to a representative sample of students that includes the names of students submitted by the candidate. (The Tenure and Promotion Committee will ensure that an adequate number of surveys are sent out so that a representative sampling of students can be achieved. This representative sample will be balanced by gender, course-levels, and grades; only students with grades A through C- will be included; no students with Pass/Fail grades will be included, and no one credit-hour courses will be included.);
To seek further information, not gathered as a result of the processes described above, where that information is essential in making a reasoned judgment about the candidate’s performance (while candidates for tenure cannot be privy to student, Faculty, or outside colleague comments on their performance, they must be informed if the committee has questions about matters which the candidate can reasonably be expected to answer or clarify. The candidate makes a written response which becomes a document available throughout the review process);
To establish that the candidate has met the College’s high standards in teaching, research or creative activities, and service;
To establish that the pattern of excellence evidenced in the candidate’s teaching, research or creative activities, and service can be expected to be a distinguishing mark of the candidate’s continued work at the College (this determination requires the considered judgment of the Faculty Committee based on its review of all materials available to it; it is not a determination that is reached by a simple application of annual evaluations scores or of necessary conditions.);
To make a recommendation in regard to appointment with tenure and promotion to Associate Professor to the Dean of the Faculty normally by February 15 (a copy of the recommendation is provided at the same time to the President); and,
To inform the candidate of the result of the recommendation, positive or negative, made by the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion, with an explanation of the Committee’s reasoning in reaching its recommendation.

The special responsibilities of the Dean of the Faculty are:

To obtain, with the assistance of the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for Faculty Development, the agreement of outside evaluators to review research or creative activity work and to submit in a timely fashion a report of these evaluations to the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion;
To review all information collected in the process of assessment;
To weigh the recommendation of the Faculty Committee on Tenure and Promotion, requesting from the Committee or its chair additional information, if needed, to clarify the Committee’s recommendation;
To make an independent recommendation which is then submitted with all materials collected in the process of assessment to the President; this is to be done by early March; and, To inform the candidate of the result of the recommendation, positive or negative, made by the Dean of the Faculty, with an explanation of the Dean of the Faculty’s reasoning in reaching his or her recommendation.

C. The Tenure (and Promotion to rank of Associate Professor) Review

Statement of Policies and Procedures in Regard to Faculty