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BRYN MAWR COLLEGE

Handbook for Faculty


General Statements about the Appointments Processes
Responsibilities and Participants
Procedures in a Reappointment Review
Confidentiality

Authorization and Guidelines for Searches for New Continuing Faculty
Continuing Positions
Interim Positions

Review and Reappointment Procedures
Continuing Non-Tenure Track Positions
Tenure Track Positions:
Initial Reappointment
Reappointment with Tenure
Review of Associate Professors with Tenure
Procedures for Promotion to Full Professor with Tenure
Review of Full Professor

The Candidate's Reappointment Review Dossier
Outside Review and Reviewers
Student Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness
The Departmental Review and the Chair's Responsibilities

 

POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES FOR REVIEW OF CANDIDATES FOR APPOINTMENT, REAPPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION

This section of the Handbook for Faculty sets forth the participants, responsibilities, timetables and procedures for the initial appointment, reappointment and promotion of continuing members of the faculty. It outlines the process for authorizing new tenure track, tenured and continuing non-tenure track hires and the key requirements in a search. Generic descriptions of the academic ranks and titles and types of appointment are available elsewhere, in the Faculty Employment part of the Handbook.

This section provides an introduction to the review process and the links to detailed information about the specific reappointment processes (organized chronologically) and to the standard components of a review (candidate's dossier, student evaluation process, departmental review process, outside review and reviewers).

N.B. Information packets for searches for tenure track and continuing non-tenure track faculty and for interim appointments are available electronically.

Please note that within this document and in reference to appointment matters only:

  • the term "department" encompasses departments and programs;
  • the term "department chair" encompasses the substitute for the chair in cases where the particular case requires one.

  • General Statements

    1. Responsibilities and Participants in Appointments Processes
      1. Members of the College responsible for recommendations and decisions in matters of appointment must be concerned with insuring the strength of the teaching and research activities of the faculty, and with the future directions and needs of the College.
      2. Final decisions regarding the reappointment and promotion of members of the faculty of Bryn Mawr College are made by the Board of Trustees upon the recommendation of the President.
      3. In making these recommendations, the President regularly consults with the Provost and the appropriate deans, and is advised by the Committee on Appointments. The President must be concerned with issues of quality, departmental need, future curricular direction and general institutional interest.
      4. As the College's chief academic officer, the Provost is responsible for the quality and support of the College's academic resources and the welfare of the faculty; see the Plan of Governance IV.3. The Provost is responsible for overseeing all matters concerning appointments of members of the faculty. The Provost sits with the Committee on Appointments but is not a voting member.
      5. The Dean of the Undergraduate College, the Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and the Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research provide, at the President's request, advice in matters of appointments from the perspective of their schools. In order to discharge their responsibilities effectively they will have access to the candidates' dossiers.
      6. The members of the Committee on Appointments are elected by the General Faculty, as described in the By-Laws of the General Faculty. They are responsible for advising the President on the qualifications of all candidates for initial appointment, reappointment, and promotion. They also advise the President in cases of termination of appointment. In order to perform these functions, the Committee on Appointments is charged with familiarizing itself with the teaching and scholarly work of the faculty and with the general academic and professional work of the College.
      7. In the reappointments processes, the following responsibilities and participants also pertain:
        1. The department chair leads a review at the departmental level of each member of the department who is under consideration for reappointment or promotion, although rank or special circumstances may require the Provost to appoint someone other than the chair to conduct the review. In the case of joint or interdisciplinary spannung appointments or appointments in programs, the Provost in consultation with the Committee on Appointments will establish the appropriate equivalent to a departmental review committee with a chair or co-chairs. For reappointment and promotion reviews involving faculty members in the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, the chair's duties are performed by the Dean, regardless of rank.
        2. It is the responsibility of the faculty member eligible for reappointment and/or promotion to provide those published and written materials which constitute a candidate's dossier and to be aware of the significance of all stages and facets of the review.
        3. A former member of the Committee on Appointments designated by the Committee (usually the outgoing chair of the Committee) and the Chair of the Faculty are available to candidates to provide general advice and counsel throughout the review process.
        4. Faculty members under review may confer with members of the Committee on Appointments at any time in the course of the review process.
        5. Any member of the faculty may communicate directly in writing with the President, the Chair of the Committee on Appointments, or the Provost about any case of appointment, reappointment, or promotion. Any student may communicate directly with the department chair, the Chair of the Committee on Appointments, the Provost, or the President about any case of appointment or reappointment to a continuing term. A list of candidates for such reappointments will be placed on reserve in Canaday Library early in each academic year and will be available through the Provost's website.

    2. The Procedures in a Reappointment Process
      1. The Provost initiates the process by informing the chairs, in writing, of the calendar for reappointment and promotion review, outlining the procedures to be followed, and establishing the deadlines involved.
      2. The candidate prepares a dossier for use by the department and the Committee on Appointments in the review.
      3. In consultation with certain other persons as specified below, the chair usually leads the departmental aspects of the review and sends a written recommendation to the Committee on Appointments. The department chair has the responsibility to inform the candidate of the substance of the departmental recommendation.
      4. The Committee on Appointments reviews all the materials submitted by the candidate, the department chair, and the chair of any existing counterpart department at Haverford College. Where appropriate, the Committee on Appointments may amplify submitted materials by consulting with outside parties, faculty or students, before making its recommendation to the President. The Committee on Appointments may seek additional information from relevant parties at any point in the process. The recommendation of the Committee on Appointments is not binding on the President.
      5. The President presents to the Board of Trustees the names of those members of the faculty eligible for reappointment and promotion and makes recommendations on the course of action. The President may elect to inform a candidate and the department chair of her intended recommendation in writing prior to the next meeting of the Board of Trustees. If the President has not agreed with the recommendation of a majority of the members of the Committee on Appointments, the Committee on Appointments may write a letter directly to the Board of Trustees setting forth its recommendation and supporting arguments.
      6. The Board of Trustees votes to approve or reject the President's recommendations.
      7. Following the meeting of the Board of Trustees, its decision is communicated by the President, in writing, to the candidate and to the department chair.

    3. Confidentiality
      It is the policy of Bryn Mawr College that all materials submitted by departments and outside consultants--including the departmental evaluation, student and alumnae/i evaluations, evaluations from counterpart departments at Haverford College, and the assessments of external scholars--will be shown to the Committee on Appointments, the President, Provost, deans of the College, and departmental members participating in the departmental recommendation. In special circumstances, the President, in consultation with the Committee on Appointments, may seek advice from members of the College who carry legal responsibilities, such as the College Counsel and the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer.

      Under terms of the Pennsylvania Personnel Files Act of 1978 and subsequent case law, faculty members have the right to inspect their personnel files, which include evaluative materials by fellow faculty members used for decisions on reappointment, promotion, tenure, salary, and termination. Personnel files do not include letters or other materials submitted by external scholars, students and alumnae/i. These documents shall be held in confidence, apart from the personnel file, to the extent permitted by law.

      Faculty members who wish to inspect their file in the Provost's Office shall make a written request to the Provost who will arrange for inspection in a designated space in Taylor Hall. Faculty will be permitted reasonable inspection time commensurate with the breadth of their file. Faculty may take notes regarding the content of their file, but in no case shall they be permitted to remove or photocopy documents contained in the file.

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    Authorization and Guidelines for Searches for New Continuing Faculty

    Requests to appoint new faculty members on continuing appointment (i.e., tenured, tenure track, or continuing non-tenure track) must be reviewed by the Committee on Academic Priorities, the Committee on Appointments and the Provost, and authorized by the President. See elsewhere for guidelines for continuing non-tenure track appointments.

    Requests to convert a continuing non-tenure track position to a tenure track position must be similarly reviewed. If such a conversion is authorized by the President, standard procedure requires a national search, i.e., they are to be treated as "new" positions. In exceptional cases, the President may determine in consultation with the Committee on Appointments that it is in the best interest of the College to convert not only the position but the status of the individual in the position without a national search.

    1. Requests to Approve a Search
      It is the responsibility of the department chairs to submit any such requests to the Committee on Academic Priorities in the fall semester of the year preceding the proposed search. The formal request should include discussion of:
      1. the importance of the appointment to the department;
      2. fields that are viewed as priorities;
      3. contributions the appointment might make to other departments, programs, or institutional goals;
      4. relation to other academic programs at the College and results of consultation with allied Bryn Mawr departments or programs regarding the proposed appointment;
      5. relation to the counterpart department at Haverford and/or other academic programs at Haverford and the results of two-college consultation. (The department should consult with its counterpart department at Haverford, if any. The Committee on Academic Priorities will also solicit a written statement from the Haverford counterpart department requesting that it express its views of the proposed appointment.)
      6. course enrollment statistics (N.B. These should be requested well in advance from the Registrar.)
      7. specialties of department members and courses they regularly teach, on an annual or semiannual basis;
      8. discussion of how the department will be configured and its needs met if the request is not approved;
      9. information on the pool of available minority candidates provided on the College's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission form, which is available from the Office of the Provost and electronically.

      Department chairs should communicate any such requests to the Provost as part of the annual staffing and budget meeting in the fall semester preceding the anticipated search.

    2. Timing
      The search request will be reviewed by the Committee on Academic Priorities between December and early March. In the latter half of March, the Provosts of Bryn Mawr and Haverford and the Chairs of the Committee on Academic Priorities and Haverford's Educational Policy Committee will consult on the two institutions' respective staffing requests and proposals. Search requests and the recommendations of the Committee on Academic Priorities will then be forwarded to the President in early April, along with the results of the two-college consultation. The President will respond to the Committee on Academic Priorities and to the individual departments in a timely fashion.

    3. Advertising for the Position
      If approval of the position is secured, the department chair submits to the Provost for joint approval with the Committee on Appointments and the Committee on Academic Priorities the text for an advertisement and a list of publications in which the advertisement will be placed, following the conventions described elsewhere. The position description for the advertisement should be submitted to the Provost by the end of the second week of May.

    4. Formation and Work of the Search Committee
      1. Membership: After ads have been approved, the search committee is formed. The Provost in consultation with the Committee on Appointments appoints all members of search committees, including committee chairs. In searches for departmental positions, typically all ranked and continuing non-tenure track members of a department are part of a search committee. Larger departments may wish to ask three or four of their members to serve on the search committee. In addition to the members of the department, a member of the Committee on Appointments, a Haverford faculty member (usually from the counterpart department), and one or more Bryn Mawr faculty members from an allied department or departments are asked to serve.

        In searches for joint or department-"spanning" positions, faculty members representing the relevant departments or programs will be designated by the Provost in consultation with the Committee on Appointments. In small departments and/or programs, all ranked and continuing non-tenure track members will be asked to serve, but in larger departments and/or programs representatives will be selected. Allied faculty members from other departments may or may not be required. A member of the Committee on Appointments and a member of the Haverford faculty will also be asked to serve on the search committee.

        When the membership of the search committee has been determined, the Provost communicates with the search chair, confirming the committee membership and calling attention to general search procedures. The Provost forwards to the chair a set of guidelines drawn up by the Committee on Appointments in consultation with the Faculty Liaison Officer of the Diversity Leadership Group, concerning ways to increase the likelihood of attracting strong minority candidates into the search. At this time, the search chair is sent the EEOC form that is to be filled out as the search progresses. For more information on EEOC-compliant search procedures, click here.

        Searches in Physical Education for positions which will have faculty status are academic searches. Membership in the search committee should include the Director, the Associate Director, the Undergraduate Dean (or her representative), the Faculty Liaison to Athletics, and other members of the department as determined by the Director and the Dean.

      2. Student participation: Undergraduates should be asked to participate in searches, as should graduate students in those departments with graduate programs. Departmental practice varies in the extent to which students are asked to participate. In some departments, students are full members of the committee; in others, students only meet the top candidates and submit opinions.

      3. Voting rights: With the exception of the Committee on Appointments representative, all faculty members of the search committee have voting rights.

      4. Committee procedures: The search committee should meet at an early stage of the search and decide on procedures for circulating dossiers, voting on dossiers, ranking the candidates, etc. All members of the committee should be familiar with the minority search guidelines. The representative from the Committee on Appointments has a special responsibility to see that these guidelines are being observed in the course of the search and that the integrity of the College's seach process is maintained.

        The Provost's Office prepares a packet of information on conducting searches. This packet is available electronically. It addresses such factors as

        1. Approval for search committee members' travel
          Any Bryn Mawr faculty member's travel in connection with the search must be authorized ahead of time by the Provost. See the packet.
        2. Approval of campus visits for candidates
          When the search committee has ranked its candidates and is prepared to conduct on-campus interviews, the chair should present the names and resumes of the preferred candidates along with each candidate's letter of introduction, outside letters of recommendation, and a proposed schedule for the campus visit to the Provost for authorization. See the packet for more details.
        3. See the packet for guidelines on planning, scheduling and paying for the candidate's campus visit.

      5. Making an Offer of Appointment
        If the search committee wishes an offer to be made to a candidate and after all campus visits are completed, the chair should forward to the Provost the committee's recommendation and vote, the candidate's resume, and the EEOC form. The Provost brings the recommendation to the President and the Committee on Appointments. If the appointment is approved, the chair is notified and the Provost contacts the candidate to make an offer.

        N.B. Chairs are expected to refrain from discussing or negotiating contractual details with the candidates. Only after approval by the Committee on Appointments is it appropriate for the chair to contact the top candidate to indicate the search committee's hopefulness and to discuss likely courses to be offered.

        The teaching load is five courses, as it is for other tenured and tenure track members of the faculty. The Provost shall write a letter offering the candidate the position specifying the terms of the appointment. After the candidate returns a signed copy of the offer letter, the President sends a letter of appointment.


    Authorization and Guidelines for Searches for Interim Faculty,
    Full- and Part-Time

    The term "interim faculty members" covers those positions referred to elsewhere as "temporary," or "adjunct," or "visiting." It covers all faculty who are not in tenured, tenure track, or continuing non-tenure track positions.

    1. Request for funding: Department chairs must request in writing permission from the Provost to hire interim faculty members to serve as leave replacements and/or teach a single course or several courses. These requests should be made during the annual budget preparation process as a part of the department's staffing and curriculum plan, i.e. in the fall of the year preceding the academic year in which the interim appointments are needed.

    2. Approval to search: Once the Provost has reviewed the budget requests, the Provost--or on her or his behalf, the Associate Provost--will notify each chair in writing of the position(s) which have been funded. Once the positions have been approved, chairs should discuss search procedures with the Provost or the Associate Provost. Information on conducting seaches for interim faculty is in the interim search packet.

    3. Request to appoint: When the department is ready to recommend that a specific individual be appointed or re-appointed to fill the approved slot, the chair should make that recommendation in writing to the Associate Provost, following the requirements in the interim search packet. N.B. No offer letters will be prepared without a written formal recommendation from the chair that includes the candidates current curriculum vitae, contact information, and the specific courses to be taught.

    4. Offer and appointment letters: The Provost--or on her or his behalf, the Associate Provost--will send an offer letter to the potential interim faculty member, spelling out the terms of the appointment and requesting that within a stated period of time the individual endorse a copy of the letter and return it to the Provost's Office to signify acceptance of the offer. Once this acceptance is in hand, the Provost will send an official appointment letter.

    5. Revision of an interim faculty member's appointment: If, in the course of the academic year, the department wishes to add to or change the nature of the interim faculty member's appointment, a written request for that change must be addressed to the Provost.
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    Review and Reappointment Procedures

    1. Full- and Part-time Instructors, Lecturers, and other Faculty Members on Continuing Non-Tenure Track (CNTT) Appointment

      Reappointment and promotion decisions for all Instructors and Lecturers on continuing non-tenure track appointments will be based on teaching effectiveness and evidence of professional development in the area of pedagogy. A chart itemizes the procedures for the reappointment review for all CNTT faculty. It details the responsibilities of those involved (candidate, chair, department, Committee on Appointments, administrators, trustees) and the schedule for action, describing the candidate's preparation of a dossier, student evaluation of teaching effectiveness, outside review, etc.

      In addition to the criteria for reappointment noted above, CNTT faculty in the Arts Program are to evidence:

      • Excellence in teaching;
      • Excellence in creative and/or scholarly work, or creative achievement in working with students (directing, choreography, etc.);
      • Administrative contributions to the program and service to the College.

      The weighting of these areas will depend on the goals, needs, staffing, and special circumstances of each program or field.

      In addition, for appointment or promotion to Senior Lecturer, it is expected that there will be a body of creative/scholarly work, or pedagogical scholarship, and/or a performance record which has been recognized or evaluated by colleagues in the field beyond the College community.

      Reappointment procedures for Physical Education are detailed elsewhere.

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    2. Tenure Track Faculty

      1. Initial Reappointments

        Procedures for making/searching for initial tenure track appointments are described above and in the tenure track search packet.

        1. Tenure track but untenured faculty members will be reviewed for reappointment in the penultimate year of their first term. Such faculty may be at the level of Assistant or Associate Professors. In the spring of the year prior to the review the Provost, in consultation with the Committee on Appointments, will establish a schedule for the review and inform candidates and the department chair of the schedule in writing.

        2. The reappointment process, in outline, is as follows:
          1. In the spring of the academic year preceding the review, the Provost shall write to the chairs of departments/programs with Assistant and Associate Professors eligible for review for initial reappointment, outlining the procedures to be followed in the reappointment review and setting deadlines. The Provost will also send the candidate a letter of notification outlining procedures and setting deadlines.
          2. All materials submitted by the department chair shall be reviewed by the President, the Provost, and the Committee on Appointments.
          3. After receiving the final recommendations from the Committee on Appointments, the President shall recommend a course of action to the Board of Trustees. The President may elect to inform a candidate and the department chair of her or his intended recommendation in writing prior to the next meeting of the Board of Trustees.
          4. The decision of the Board shall be communicated by the President in writing in a brief formal letter to the candidate and to the department chair.
          5. In due time, the President, Provost, and CA chair communicate the more detailed elements of the review in a letter to the successful candidate.

        3. An attached chart itemizes the procedures for the reappointment review, detailing the responsibilities of those involved (candidate, chair, department, Committee on Appointments, administrators, trustees) and the schedule for action.

        4. Any tenure track faculty member may postpone consideration for initial reappointment and reappointment effecting tenure for up to two consecutive or non-consecutive years when maternity, infant-care or elder-care, or comparable family obligations substantially impede the candidate's professional activity. These postponements may occur in either the first or second term and may not exceed two years. Requests for such postponement must be made in consultation with the chair of the candidate's department and must be submitted to the Provost and the Committee on Appointments for consideration in the year preceding the year designated for postponement. Years so designated may coincide with unpaid leaves of absence but not with the junior faculty research leave. Persons who have postponed reappointment and/or tenure decisions will also postpone consideration for future leaves by an equal number of years. Nothing in this policy affects the standards for reappointment.
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      2. Procedures for Reappointment to a Term in which Tenure will become Effective

        1. The reappointment process, in outline, is as follows:

          1. In the spring of the academic year preceding the review, the Provost shall write to the chairs of those departments in which there are Assistant and Associate Professors eligible for review for reappointment to a term in which tenure will become effective, outlining the procedures to be followed in the reappointment review and setting deadlines. The Provost shall also send the candidate a letter of notification outlining procedures and setting deadlines.
          2. The recommendation submitted by the department chair, the candidate's dossier, student evaluations of teaching effectiveness, the reports of outside readers and a letter of evaluation from the chair of any existing counterpart department at Haverford College shall be reviewed by the President, the Provost and the Committee on Appointments.
          3. After receiving the final recommendation of the Committee on Appointments, the President shall recommend a course of action to the Board of Trustees. The President may elect to inform a candidate and the department chair of her or his intended recommendation in writing prior to the next meeting of the Board of Trustees. The decision of the Board shall be reported by the President in writing to the candidate and to the department chair.

        2. An attached chart itemizes the procedures for the reappointment review, detailing the responsibilities of those involved (candidate, chair, department, Committee on Appointments, administrators, trustees) and the schedule for action, describing the candidate's preparation of a dossier, student evaluation of teaching effectiveness, outside review, etc.

        3. Any tenure track faculty member may postpone consideration for initial reappointment and reappointment effecting tenure for up to two consecutive or non-consecutive years when maternity, infant-care or elder-care, or comparable family obligations substantially impede the candidate's professional activity. These postponements may occur in either the first or second term and may not exceed two years. Requests for such postponement must be made in consultation with the chair of the candidate's and must be submitted to the Provost and the Committee on Appointments for consideration in the year preceding the year designated for postponement. Years so designated may coincide with unpaid leaves of absence but not with the junior faculty leave, if awarded. Persons who have postponed reappointment and/or tenure decisions will also postpone consideration for future leaves by an equal number of years. Nothing in this policy affects the standards for reappointment.
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    3. Procedures for the Reviews of Associate Professors with Tenure

      1. Institutional Expectations for Promotion to Full Professor

        Faculty members promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure may put themselves forward for promotion to Full Professor at any time. There is, however, an institutional expectation that five to seven years normally are needed to establish the dossier necessary for promotion to Full Professor. Associate Professors are advised to consult with the senior colleagues in their department, current and former members of the Committee on Appointments, and/or the Provost concerning their readiness for a review for promotion.

        Criteria for promotion to Full Professor include:

        1. Sustained and significant record of scholarship
        2. Continued excellence in teaching and significant contribution to the curriculum.
          This may be demonstrated in a number of ways, for example, new or revised courses, teaching in interdisciplinary programs, and participating in the College Seminar program.
        3. Important contributions to the College and the profession
          This may be demonstrated in a number of ways, for example, service on major committees; departmental, program, or center leadership; service to the profession outside the College; and community outreach on behalf of the College.

        For the procedures for the review for promotion to Full Professor, see below.

      2. The Types of Reviews of Associate Professors with Tenure

        Once a faculty member is promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure, there are two kinds of regularly scheduled reviews: departmental and College. Reviews, either departmental or College, are conducted every third year. Departmental reviews are conducted so that progress toward promotion may be addressed within a departmental or program context.

        1. Departmental Reviews
          Departmental reviews are conducted in the second semester of the 3rd and 6th years after a faculty member's having been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. The 6th year departmental review is waived if the faculty member puts her/himself forward for promotion. If necessary, there is also a 12th year departmental review.

          The Provost is to remind a department chair about the 6th year departmental review of an Asociate Professor in her or his department and of the chair's responsibility to notify the Provost that the coversation with the faculty member about progress towards promotion took place.

          The Associate Professor under review provides the Full Professors of her/his department or program with the following:

          1. a brief (2-3 pages) self-assessment;
          2. a current curriculum vitae;
          3. all teaching evaluations since the last review.

          If there are no Full Professors in the department or program, the Provost will appoint two Full Professors from appropriate departments to conduct the review. If there is only a single Full Professor in the department, the Provost will appoint one or two additional Full Professors to join the review committee.

          The department/program chair (or in the case of a joint position, chairs) after consulting with the other Full Professors in the department(s) /program(s), writes a brief letter to the Provost summarizing the review.

        2. College Reviews
          There are two kinds of College reviews for promotion to the rank of Full Professor: those initiated by the Associate Professor and the mandatory review. If an Associate Professor does not put herself/himself forward in the first 8 years after promotion to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure, the College will conduct a mandatory review in the 9th year after tenure. If the Associate Professor is not promoted in this 9th year mandatory review, there will be another mandatory review in the 15th year. N.B. An intervening departmental review takes place in the 12th year after tenure.

          1. The 9th Year Mandatory Review
            The 9th year review begins as an assessment of the faculty member's preparation for promotion and can turn into a review for promotion to Full Professor. For the criteria for promotion, see
            above. The detailed procedures are available in the linked chart and may be summarized briefly as follows:

            1. The faculty member will be asked in the preceding spring to submit her or his dossier by early summer. The candidate need not, at this point, include in the dossier suggested names and addresses of outside reviewers. The dossier is described in the linked table.
            2. The department or program chair will formulate the departmental recommendation in consultation with the other Full Professors in the department(s) and/or program(s). Appropriate members of other departments, as determined by the department, the Provost, and the President, may be asked to share in this responsibility. If the department chair is unable by virtue of rank or other circumstance to carry out the chair's task, the Provost will designate another Full Professor, in or out of the department, to conduct the review. If there are no Full Professors in the department or program, the Provost will appoint two Full Professors from appropriate departments to conduct the review. If there is only a single Full Professor in the department, the Provost will appoint one or two additional Full Professors to join the review committee.
            3. The Committee on Appointments will review the material and decide whether a full review is appropriate. If so, the candidate and the department are asked to suggest names of outside reviewers (see elsewhere. The procedures for review for promotion to Full Professor will be followed (see below). If the Committee on Appointments does not consider it appropriate to proceed with a full review, the Committee will communicate this in writing to the candidate and will invite the candidate to discuss the Committee's finding with the Provost.

          2. The 15th Year Mandatory Review
            The procedures in this review follow the first two steps for the 9th year mandatory review. The Committee on Appointments may decide to send the dossier to outside reviewers and would, in this case, send a request for names of reviewers to the department and to the candidate. But the Committee on Appointments may make a positive recommendation for promotion to Full Professor on the basis of evidence of continued scholarly activity and vitality (even in the absence of significant publication), contribution to the intellectual life of the department and College, and, as with any reappointment or promotion, distinguished teaching and strong record of service to the College.

      3. Procedures for Promotion to the Rank of Professor

        Associate Professors with tenure may be considered for promotion to the rank of Full Professor in two circumstances: in a mandatory review (see above), or by asking to be considered for promotion. In the latter case, a candidate must make the request for a review to the Provost in the academic year prior to the year of review. The linked chart itemizes the procedures for the review. It details the responsibilities of those involved (candidate, chair, department, Committee on Appointments, administrators, trustees) and the schedule for action, describing the candidate's preparation of a dossier, student evaluation of teaching effectiveness, outside review, etc. These procedures may be summarized briefly as follows:

        1. In the spring prior to the year of review, the Provost provides the candidate, the department, and the Committee on Appointments with a calendar for the review.
        2. The candidate prepares a dossier for the review.
        3. The Chair of the Committee on Appointments solicits letters from the outside reviewers.
        4. The department solicits letters from students to assist in the evaluation of teaching.
        5. The senior members of the department solicit a letter or letters from the Haverford colleagues, conduct a departmental review, and submit a written recommendation to the Committee on Appointments.
        6. The senior members of the department send a letter to the Committee on Appointments commenting on the outside letters.
        7. The Committee on Appointments reviews the materials and makes a recommendation to the President.
        8. The President may recommend promotion to the Board of Trustees. Negative decisions will not be brought to the Board. Whether the outcome is positive or negative, the President communicates the decision in writing to the candidate.

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      4. Procedures for the Review of Full Professors

        Each Full Professor is reviewed by the Committee on Appointments approximately every six years. The review process, in outline, is as follows:

        1. In the spring of the academic year preceding the review, the Committee on Appointments sends a letter to those Full Professors to be reviewed in the coming year, giving details of the review and all relevant dates.
        2. The materials for the review include
          1. a statement of any issues the professor wishes to discuss relative to his or her service to the College for the years ahead;
          2. an outline of the professor's present research and future plans and priorities for both teaching and research;
          3. an up-to-date curriculum vitae,
          4. the rofessor's self-evaluations
          5. the professor's original teaching evaluations in the original envelopes and course syllabi for the previous six years or since the last review, and
          6. the chair's letter of evaluation, as described elsewhere.
        3. These materials are considered by the members of the Committee on Appointments, the President and the Provost. After the Committee's review, the President, Provost, and Chair of the Committee on Appointments meet with each Full Professor considered that year, share the view(s) of the Committee, and discuss issues that relate to the contributions that the individual is making to the institution and to the profession. This full professorial review serves as the merit review in determining the merit component of salary.


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    Maintained by the Office of the Provost.
    Posted Summer 2002. Updated Summer 2006 and summer 2007.