/Institutions/Elon-University/json/2024-2025/Faculty-Handbook-local.json

/Institutions/Elon-University/json/2024-2025/Faculty-Handbook.json

Promotion

P32F

Those faculty members on a tenured appointment and on tenure track, continuing track, lecture track, and librarians are eligible to apply for promotion. The chart below outlines the promotions available to faculty in each appointment type at Elon University.

Promotions In Rank Available for Each Faculty Appointment Type
Appointment Type	Ranks Available
Tenured		Associate Professor	Professor
Tenure Track *	Assistant Professor	Associate Professor	Professor
Continuing Track*	Assistant Professor	Associate Professor	Professor
Lecture Track	Lecturer	Senior Lecturer
Visiting Track*		n/a **
Limited Term*		n/a **
Part-Time*		n/a **
Librarian*	Assistant Librarian	Associate Librarian	Senior Librarian

*Initial rank at hiring is determined by the Dean and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

**Faculty members on this track are not eligible for promotion through the promotion and tenure process at Elon.

P23J

P29S

For Assistant Professors on tenure track, promotion to Associate Professor generally occurs simultaneously with the decision on tenure. Under normal circumstances there should not be split decisions where a faculty member is tenured but not promoted to Associate Professor.

To be eligible for promotion to Associate Professor, an Assistant Professor should expect to serve six years in rank, of which at least four are at Elon University.

For faculty on tenure track, promotion will not occur prior to a tenure decision.

P34V

Each year the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will review the promotion eligibility of each teaching faculty member and will notify faculty members in the summer prior to the academic year in which they are first eligible for promotion.

The faculty member is responsible for submitting a formal letter of application to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs indicating their desire to be reviewed for promotion.

The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

If the faculty member elects not to apply for promotion, no further notification of eligibility will be sent in subsequent years, though the faculty member will remain eligible for promotion.

P27F

Faculty members on tenure track who are candidates for promotion to Associate Professor should expect to meet the following standards by the time the promotional rank is sought.

• Have a terminal degree and at least six years’ experience as an Assistant Professor or, for persons without a terminal degree, at least six years’ experience as an Assistant Professor and significant professional experience.
• Be actively engaged in teaching, advising, service, professional activity, and scholarly activities of high quality. (See Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty).

Only in exceptional cases will this rank be awarded to persons who have not met the preceding standards.

P24D

For tenure track faculty at the Assistant Professor rank, decisions on tenure and promotion to Associate Professor are usually made simultaneously. In such cases, a single digital portfolio will suffice for both reviews.

Teaching faculty members on tenure track standing for promotion to Associate Professor will create a promotion digital portfolio, which will serve as the basic resource in the promotion decision. The digital portfolio is drawn from material in the faculty personnel file, but may be supplemented by material of the candidate’s choosing (e.g., personal recommendations). The digital portfolio will include material organized in sequential order as described below. The digital portfolio shall be in PDF format and the organization should include tabbed, linked sections to facilitate review. The peer-reviewed scholarship statement from the candidate’s department or school and the Elon Teacher-Scholar-Mentor Statement must be inserted as the first page, preceding Part 1. Once this process has been completed, the digital portfolio is returned to the candidate.

Part 1: This part includes a letter of consideration for promotion that focuses on the candidate’s activities and reviews while at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. The letter should summarize the candidate’s case for promotion with specific reference to the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty.

Part 2: This part includes a current curriculum vitae. Candidates are asked to provide clear indications of the types of scholarship listed in their curriculua vitae. In particular, reviewers of portfolios must be able to distinguish peer-reviewed and refereed scholarship from other kinds of academic products. Candidates should follow accepted professional documentation guidelines (e.g., APA, CBE, MLA style) in formatting each entry and be particularly careful to follow these guidelines when listing multiple authors and researchers.

Part 3: This part includes Teaching Faculty Member’s Annual Self-Reviews (Unit I) for the faculty member’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 4: This part includes a description, self-evaluation, documentation, and representative samples of the candidate’s achievement relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty.The primary focus should be upon activity at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. If the candidate lists scholarship that is not yet public, such as “in press,” or “under contract,” and if that scholarship is listed in support of the candidate’s application, then the candidate must document the status of the work through evidence such as galleys, letters from editors, and so on.

Part 5: In this part the candidate will include the Department Chair’s annual evaluation (Unit III), including probationary midpoint review – Midpoint Unit III or post-probationary midpoint review – Post-Probationary Unit III, for each year of the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 6: In this part the candidate will include a letter from the candidate’s Department Chair assessing the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty  and concluding with an overall recommendation.

• If the candidate standing for promotion is the Department Chair, they, in consultation with the Dean, determines which senior colleague in the department should write the letter. If a candidate’s Department Chair is serving on the Promotions and Tenure Committee, the Chair will not write the letter for the candidate. Rather, a senior member of the department selected by the Dean and in consultation with the Department Chair will write the letter.
• Candidates who have a joint appointment or have significant responsibility in two or more departments or programs (for example, a math faculty member teaching in education) should have the Chair/Director from the secondary department or program submit an addendum to the Chair’s letter.

Part 7: The candidate will submit Student Perceptions of Teaching (Unit IV) for the candidate's term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter. Include all components of the SPoTs, including scores, student comments, and individual and comparative profile lines.

Part 8: The candidate will include the most recent Dean’s evaluation of the candidate (Unit V) from a midpoint review or a long range professional development review during the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 9: A candidate being considered for promotion to Associate Professor may include self-solicited letters of support for teaching, service, and professional activity.

A candidate being considered for promotion to Associate Professor may include self-solicited letters from external reviewers that address the candidate’s professional activity, but such letters are not required. These letters are included in the 15-letter maximum stipulated above. Letters of support should not be solicited from or written by current members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the President, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Deans and Associate Deans within Academic Affairs, Assistant Provosts, Associate Provosts, the Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, or others involved in portfolio evaluation in the year of a candidate’s review. To protect confidentiality, letters of support should not be solicited from or written by faculty who worked with a candidate in their capacity as a Faculty Ombudsperson or as a Director or Associate Director at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

Candidates being considered for promotion to Associate Professor may include self-solicited letters from external reviewers, but such letters are not required. All solicited letters should be placed in Part 9, and Part 9 should contain a maximum of 15 letters. 

P33W

The evaluation system for tenure track faculty applying for promotion involves six stages and follows the Schedule of Activities for Evaluation. The steps listed below duplicate the decision making in the tenure process .

Stage 1: involves the creation of a digital portfolio consisting of material drawn from the faculty personnel file as well as additional information included by the candidate. When tenure and promotion are sought simultaneously, a single digital portfolio will suffice for both reviews. The individual candidate is responsible for seeing that the digital portfolio is in finished form by September 15 so that the process may proceed to stage two.

Stage 2: involves the separate evaluation of this digital portfolio by the respective Deans and by the Promotions and Tenure Committee. Each independently makes a recommendation regarding promotion and communicates that to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Stage 3: involves the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs holding one meeting of both the Promotions and Tenure Committee and the respective Dean to discuss their independent recommendations and rationales.

Stage 4: involves a recommendation on promotion by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to the President.

Stage 5: involves a recommendation on promotion by the President of the University to the Board of Trustees.

Stage 6: involves personnel decisions made by the Board of Trustees on promotion recommendations.

P25T

FOR DECISIONS AWARDING PROMOTION

Following the Board of Trustees’ approval for promotion to Associate Professor, the faculty member will receive a $5,000 annual increase to base salary, a sabbatical to be used within the first two years following promotion decision, and access to a post-probationary orientation. Faculty (excluding those in the School of Health Sciences) will also receive 3 reassigned times (12 shs) to be used over the following four years.

FOR DECISIONS NOT AWARDING PROMOTION

Faculty members on tenure track who apply for tenure and promotion simultaneously and who receive tenure but not promotion should confer with their dean to understand the rationale for the recommendation. These faculty members must wait at least one additional academic year following the academic year during which they applied before reapplying for promotion. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the faculty member of eligibility to reapply in the summer prior to regained eligibility.

Faculty members on tenure track who apply for tenure and promotion simultaneously and who receive neither tenure nor promotion may be given an additional year of employment.

P34A

P24Q

Faculty on continuing track appointments seeking promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor should expect to serve six years in rank, at which at least four are at Elon University.

P35P

Each year the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will review the promotion eligibility of each teaching faculty member and will notify faculty members in the summer prior to the academic year in which they are first eligible for promotion.

The faculty member is responsible for submitting a formal letter of application to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs indicating their desire to be reviewed for promotion.

Faculty members who choose not to stand for promotion in a given year continue to be eligible in subsequent years.

If the faculty member elects not to apply for promotion, no further notification of eligibility will be sent in subsequent years. The faculty member must submit formal application in any subsequent year their wish to be reviewed.

The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

P28J

In order to be eligible for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, faculty members should expect to meet the following standards by the time the promotional rank is sought.

• Have a terminal degree and at least six years’ experience as an Assistant Professor or, for persons without a terminal degree, at least six years’ experience as an Assistant Professor and significant professional experience.
• Be actively engaged in teaching, advising, service, professional activity, and scholarly activities of a high quality. (See Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty).

Only in exceptional cases will this rank be awarded to persons who have not met the preceding standards.

P35C

Teaching faculty members on continuing track standing for promotion to Associate Professor will create a digital portfolio, which will serve as the basic resource in the promotion decision. The digital portfolio is drawn from material in the faculty personnel file, but may be supplemented by material of the candidate’s choosing (e.g., personal recommendations). The digital portfolio will include material organized in sequential order as described below. The digital portfolio shall be in PDF format and the organization should include tabbed, linked sections to facilitate review. The peer-reviewed scholarship statement from the candidate’s department or school and the Elon Teacher-Scholar-Mentor Statement must be inserted as the first page, preceding Part 1. Once this process has been completed, the digital portfolio is returned to the candidate.

Part 1: This part includes a letter of application for promotion that focuses on the candidate’s activities and reviews while at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. The letter should summarize the candidate’s case for promotion with specific reference to the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty.

Part 2: This part includes a current curriculum vitae. Candidates are asked to provide clear indications of the types of scholarship listed in their curriculua vitae. In particular, reviewers of portfolios must be able to distinguish peer-reviewed and refereed scholarship from other kinds of academic products. Candidates should follow accepted professional documentation guidelines (e.g., APA, CBE, MLA style) in formatting each entry and should be particularly careful to follow these guidelines when listing multiple authors and researchers.

Part 3: This part includes the Teaching Faculty Member’s Annual Self-Reviews (Unit I) for the faculty member’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 4: This part includes a description, self-evaluation, documentation, and representative samples the candidate’s achievements relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty . The primary focus should be upon activity at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. If the candidate lists scholarship that is not yet public, such as “in press,” or “under contract,” and if that scholarship is listed in support of the candidate’s application, then the candidate must document the status of the work through evidence such as galleys, letters from editors, and so on.

Part 5: This part includes the Department Chair’s annual evaluation (Unit III), including probationary midpoint review – Midpoint Unit III or post-probationary midpoint review – Post-Probationary Unit III, for each year of the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 6: In this part the candidate will include a letter from the candidate’s Department Chair assessing the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty  and concluding with an overall recommendation.

• If the candidate standing for promotion is the Department Chair, they, in consultation with the Dean, determines which senior colleague in the department should write the letter. If a candidate’s Department Chair is serving on the Promotions and Tenure Committee, the Chair will not write the letter for the candidate. Rather, a senior member of the department selected by the Dean and in consultation with the Department Chair will write the letter.
• Candidates who have a joint appointment or have significant responsibility in two or more departments or programs (for example, a math faculty member teaching in education) should have the Chair/Director from the secondary department or program submit an addendum to the Chair’s letter.

Part 7: The candidate will submit Student Perceptions of Teaching (Unit IV) for the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter. Include all components of the SPoTs, including scores, student comments, and individual and comparative profile lines.

Part 8: The candidate will include the most recent Dean’s evaluation of the candidate (Unit V) from a midpoint review or a long range professional development review during the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 9: A candidate being considered for promotion to Associate Professor may include self-solicited letters of support for teaching, service, and professional activity. Letters of support should not be solicited from or written by current members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the President, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Deans and Associate Deans within Academic Affairs, Assistant Provosts, Associate Provosts, the Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, or others involved in portfolio evaluation in the year of a candidate’s review. To protect confidentiality, letters of support should not be solicited from or written by faculty who worked with a candidate in their capacity as a Faculty Ombudsperson or as a Director or Associate Director at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

Candidates being considered for promotion to Associate Professor may include self-solicited letters from external reviewers, but such letters are not required. All solicited letters should be placed in Part 9, and Part 9 should contain a maximum of 15 letters. 

P26E

The evaluation system for continuing track faculty applying for promotion involves six stages and follows the Schedule of Activities for Evaluation.

Stage 1 involves the creation of a digital portfolio consisting of material drawn from the faculty personnel file as well as additional information included by the candidate. The individual candidate is responsible for seeing that the digital portfolio is in finished form by September 15 so that the process may proceed to stage two.

Stage 2 involves the separate evaluation of this digital portfolio by the respective Deans and by the Promotions and Tenure Committee. Each independently makes a recommendation regarding promotion and communicates that to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Stage 3 involves the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs holding one meeting of both the Promotions and Tenure Committee and the respective Dean to discuss their independent recommendations and rationales.

Stage 4 involves a recommendation on promotion by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to the President.

Stage 5 involves a recommendation on promotion by the President of the University to the Board of Trustees.

Stage 6 involves personnel decisions made by the Board of Trustees on promotion recommendations

P33B

FOR DECISIONS AWARDING PROMOTION

Upon a favorable promotion decision by the Board of Trustees, a teaching faculty member with a continuing track appointment will receive a three-year annually renewable appointment, an annual $3,000 salary supplement, a $5,000 annual increase to base salary, a sabbatical to be used within the first two years following promotion decision, and access to a post-probationary orientation. Faculty (excluding those in the School of Health Sciences) will also receive 3 reassigned times (12 shs) to be used over the following four years.

FOR DECISIONS NOT AWARDING PROMOTION

Faculty members on continuing track who apply but are not awarded promotion to Associate Professor should confer with their Deans to understand the rationale for the recommendation. These faculty members must wait at least one additional academic year following the academic year during which they applied before reapplying for promotion. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the faculty member of eligibility to reapply in the summer prior to regained eligibility.

P22K

P35D

Before becoming eligible for promotion to the rank of Professor, faculty members on tenured, tenure track or continuing track appointments at the rank of Associate Professor should expect to serve six years in rank, of which at least four of which are at Elon University.

P34H

Each year the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will review the promotion eligibility of each teaching faculty member and will notify faculty members in the summer prior to the academic year in which they are first eligible for promotion.

The faculty member is responsible for submitting a formal letter of application to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs indicating their desire to be reviewed for promotion.

Faculty members who choose not to stand for promotion in a given year continue to be eligible in subsequent years.

If the faculty member elects not to apply for promotion, no further notification of eligibility will be sent in subsequent years. The faculty member must submit formal application in any subsequent year he or she wishes to be reviewed.

The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

P23P

Associate Professors, planning to stand for promotion to the rank of Professor, are expected to continue to develop their skills and record in a manner that will qualify them for promotion to the rank of Professor.

In order to be eligible for promotion to the rank of Professor, faculty members should expect to meet the following standards by the time the promotional rank is sought.

• Have the terminal degree and at least six years of experience as an Associate Professor or, for persons without the terminal degree, at least six years’ experience as an Associate Professor and significant professional experience.
• Have established sustained records of teaching, professional activity including scholarship, and institutional service that surpass the high quality standard for faculty at other ranks as defined in this Handbook. They should be exemplary teachers and advisors. They should be currently engaged in scholarly work that extends past achievements. Their contribution to the life of the University should reflect understanding of its mission and goals and demonstrable leadership in serving the University.

Only in exceptional cases will people who have not met the preceding standards be appointed to this rank.

P28Y

Faculty members standing for promotion to Professor will create a promotion digital portfolio, which will serve as the basic resource in the promotion decision. The digital portfolio is drawn from material in the faculty personnel file, but may be supplemented by material of the candidate’s choosing (e.g., personal recommendations). The digital portfolio will include material organized in sequential order as described below. The digital portfolio shall be in PDF format and the organization should include tabbed, linked sections to facilitate review. The peer-reviewed scholarship statement from the candidate’s department or school and the Elon Teacher-Scholar-Mentor Statement must be inserted as the first page, preceding Part 1. Once this process has been completed, the digital portfolio is returned to the candidate.

 

Part 1: This part includes a letter of application for promotion that focuses on the candidate’s activities and reviews while at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. The letter should summarize the candidate’s case for promotion with specific reference to the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty.

Part 2: This part includes a current curriculum vitae. Candidates are asked to provide clear indications of the types of scholarship listed in their curricula vitae. In particular, reviewers of portfolios must be able to distinguish peer-reviewed and refereed scholarship from other kinds of academic products. It is also important that candidates follow accepted professional documentation guidelines (e.g., APA, CBE, MLA style) in formatting each entry and be particularly careful to follow these guidelines when listing multiple authors and researchers.

Part 3: This part includes the Teaching Faculty Member’s Annual Self-Reviews (Unit I) for the faculty member’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 4: This part includes a description, self-evaluation, documentation, and representative samples of the candidate’s achievement relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty. The primary focus should on activity at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. If the candidate lists scholarship that is not yet public, such as “in press,” or “under contract,” and if that scholarship is listed in support of the candidate’s application, then the candidate must document the status of the work through evidence such as galleys, letters from editors, and so on.

Part 5: This part includes the Department Chair’s annual evaluation (Unit III), including probationary midpoint review – Midpoint Unit III or post-probationary midpoint review – Post-Probationary Unit III, for each year of the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 6: In this part the candidate will include a letter from the candidate’s Department Chair assessing the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty and concluding with an overall recommendation.

• If the candidate standing for promotion is the Department Chair, he or she, in consultation with the Dean, determines which senior colleague in the department should write the letter. If a candidate’s Department Chair is serving on the Promotions and Tenure Committee, the Chair will not write the letter for the candidate. Rather, a senior member of the department selected by the Dean and in consultation with the Department Chair will write the letter.
• Candidates who have a joint appointment or have significant responsibility in two or more departments or programs (for example, a math faculty member teaching in education) should have the Chair/Director from the secondary department or program submit an addendum to the Chair’s letter.

Part 7: The candidate will submit Student Perceptions of Teaching (Unit IV) for the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter. Part 7 must include all components of the SPoTs, including scores, student comments, and individual and comparative profile lines.

Part 8: The candidate will include the most recent Dean’s evaluation of the candidate (Unit V) from a midpoint review or a long range professional development review during the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 9:  

A candidate being considered for promotion to Professor may include self-solicited letters of support for teaching, service, and professional activity. Letters of support should not be solicited from or written by current members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the President, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Deans and Associate Deans within Academic Affairs, Assistant Provosts, Associate Provosts, the Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, or others involved in portfolio evaluation in the year of a candidate’s review. To protect confidentiality, letters of support should not be solicited from or written by faculty who worked with a candidate in their capacity as a Faculty Ombudsperson or as a Director or Associate Director at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

Candidates being considered for promotion to Professor must include at least two self-solicited external letters that address the candidate’s professional activity. All solicited letters should be placed in Part 9, and Part 9 should contain a maximum of 17 letters.

 

P33P

The evaluation system for faculty members applying for promotion to Professor involves six stages and follows the Schedule of Activities for Evaluation.

Stage 1 involves the creation of a digital portfolio, consisting of material drawn from the faculty personnel file as well as additional information included by the candidate. The individual candidate is responsible for seeing that the digital portfolio is in finished form by September 15 so that the process may proceed to stage two.

Stage 2 involves the separate evaluation of this digital portfolio by the respective Deans and by the Promotions and Tenure Committee. Each independently makes a recommendation regarding promotion and communicates that to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Stage 3 involves the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs holding one meeting of both the Promotions and Tenure Committee and the respective Dean to discuss their independent recommendations and rationales.

Stage 4 involves a recommendation on promotion by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to the President.

Stage 5 involves a recommendation on promotion by the President of the University to the Board of Trustees.

Stage 6 involves personnel decisions made by the Board of Trustees on promotion recommendations.

P22V

Following the Board of Trustees’ approval for promotion to Professor, the faculty member will receive a $9,000 annual increase to base salary, a sabbatical to be used within the first two years following promotion decision, and access to a post-probationary orientation. Faculty (excluding those in the School of Health Sciences) will also receive 5 reassigned times (20 shs) to be used over the following five years.

Faculty members who apply but are not awarded promotion should confer with their Deans to understand the rationale for the recommendation. These faculty members must wait at least one additional academic year following the academic year during which they applied before reapplying for promotion. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the faculty member of eligibility to reapply in the summer prior to regained eligibility.

P28G

P27S

Faculty on lecture track appointments should expect to serve six years in rank, of which at least four are at Elon University, before seeking promotion from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer.

P32A

Each year the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will review the promotion eligibility of each teaching faculty member and will notify faculty members in the summer prior to the academic year in which they are first eligible for promotion.

The faculty member is responsible for submitting a formal letter of application to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs indicating their desire to be reviewed for promotion.

If the faculty member elects not to apply for promotion, no further notification of eligibility will be sent in subsequent years, though the faculty member will remain eligible for promotion. The faculty member must submit formal application in any subsequent year their wish to be reviewed.

The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

P35J

In order to be promoted to Senior Lecturer, faculty members on the lecture track are expected to have established an ongoing record of excellent teaching and significant service to the institution, as well as other professional activity that promotes professional development.

Only in exceptional cases will people who have not met the preceding standards be appointed to this rank.

Senior Lecturers will not be considered for promotion to the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor.

P24U

Faculty members on lecture track standing for promotion to Senior Lecturer will create a promotion digital portfolio, which will serve as the basic resource in the promotion decision. The digital portfolio is drawn from material in the faculty personnel file, but may be supplemented by material of the candidate’s choosing (e.g., personal recommendations). The digital portfolio will include material organized in sequential order as described below. The digital portfolio shall be in PDF format and the organization should include tabbed, linked sections to facilitate review. If applicable, the peer-reviewed scholarship statement(s) from relevant department(s) or school(s) and the Elon Teacher-Scholar-Mentor Statement  may be inserted as the first pages, preceding Part 1. Once this process has been completed, the digital portfolio is returned to the candidate.

Part 1: This part includes a letter of application for promotion that focuses on the candidate’s activities and reviews while at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. The letter should summarize the candidate’s case for promotion with specific reference to the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty.

Part 2: This part includes a current curriculum vitae. Candidates who submit a record of publications as evidence of professional activity are asked to provide clear indications of the types of scholarship listed in their curriculum vitae. In particular, reviewers of portfolios must be able to distinguish peer-reviewed and refereed scholarship from other kinds of academic products. Candidates should follow accepted professional documentation guidelines (e.g., APA, CBE, MLA style) in formatting each entry and should be particularly careful to follow these guidelines when listing multiple authors and researchers.

Part 3: This part includes the Teaching Faculty Member’s Annual Self-Reviews (Unit I) for the faculty member’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 4: This part includes a description, self-evaluation, documentation, and representative samples of the candidate’s achievements relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty. The primary focus should be upon activity at Elon and subsequent to any successful promotion application. If the candidate lists scholarship to support their achievements in professional development and if the scholarship is not yet public, such as “in press,” or “under contract,” the candidate must document the status of the work through evidence such as galleys, letters from editors, and so on.

Part 5: This part includes the Department Chair’s annual evaluation (Unit III), including probationary midpoint review – Midpoint Unit III or post-probationary midpoint review – Post-Probationary Unit III, for each year of the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 6: The candidate’s file will include a letter from the candidate’s Department Chair assessing the candidate’s performance relative to the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty and concluding with an overall recommendation.

• If the candidate standing for promotion is the Department Chair, they, in consultation with the Dean, determines which senior colleague in the department should write the letter. If a candidate’s Department Chair is serving on the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the Chair will not write the letter for the candidate. Rather, a senior member of the department, selected by the Dean and in consultation with the Department Chair, will write the letter.
• Candidates who have a joint appointment or have significant responsibility in two or more departments or programs (for example, a math faculty member teaching in education) should have the Chair/Director from the secondary department or program submit an addendum to the Chair’s letter.

Part 7: The candidate will submit Student Perceptions of Teaching (Unit IV) for the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or for the previous six years, whichever is shorter. Part 7 must include all components of the SPoTs, including scores, student comments, and individual and comparative profile lines.

Part 8: The candidate will include the most recent Dean’s evaluation of the candidate (Unit V) from a midpoint review or a long range professional development review during the candidate’s term of employment at Elon University or the previous six years, whichever is shorter.

Part 9: A candidate being considered for promotion to Senior Lecturer may include self-solicited  letters of support for teaching, service, and professional activity from colleagues at Elon University and other institutions, not to exceed 15. Letters required in Parts one through eight above are not included in the 15-letter maximum. Letters of support should not be solicited from or written by current members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee, the President, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Deans and Associate Deans within Academic Affairs, Assistant Provosts, Associate Provosts, the Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, or others involved in portfolio evaluation in the year of a candidate’s review. To protect confidentiality, letters of support should not be solicited from or written by faculty who worked with a candidate in their capacity as a Faculty Ombudsperson or as a Director or Associate Director at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

Candidates being considered for promotion to Senior Lecturer may include self-solicited letters from external reviewers, but such letters are not required. All solicited letters should be placed in Part 9, and Part 9 should contain a maximum of 15 letters. 

P32W

The evaluation system for lecture track faculty applying for promotion to Senior Lecturer involves six stages and follows the Schedule of Activities for Evaluation.

Stage 1 involves the creation of a digital portfolio, consisting of material drawn from the faculty personnel file as well as additional information included by the candidate. The individual candidate is responsible for seeing that the digital portfolio is in finished form by September 15 so that the process may proceed to stage two.

Stage 2 involves the separate evaluation of this digital portfolio by the respective Deans and by the Promotions and Tenure Committee. Each independently makes a recommendation regarding promotion and communicates that to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Stage 3 involves the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs holding one meeting of both the Promotions and Tenure Committee and the respective Dean to discuss their independent recommendations and rationales.

Stage 4 involves a recommendation on promotion by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs to the President.

Stage 5 involves a recommendation on promotion by the President of the University to the Board of Trustees.

Stage 6 involves personnel decisions made by the Board of Trustees on promotion recommendations.

P29F

Upon favorable promotion by the Board of Trustees, a teaching faculty member with a lecture track appointment will receive a three-year annually renewable appointment, a raise equivalent to that of a promotion from Assistant to Associate Professor, a sabbatical to be used within the first two years following promotion decision, and access to a post-probationary orientation. Faculty (excluding those in the School of Health Sciences) will also receive 3 reassigned times (12 shs) to be used over the following four years.

Faculty members on lecture track who apply but are not awarded promotion to Senior Lecturer should confer with their Deans to understand the rationale for the recommendation. These faculty members must wait at least one additional academic year following the academic year during which they applied before reapplying for promotion. The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the faculty member of eligibility to reapply in the summer prior to regained eligibility.

P26H

P32N

Assistant Librarians will be eligible for promotion to Associate Librarian after six years of professional experience at the Assistant Librarian rank, with at least four years being served at Elon University.

Application for promotion to Associate Librarian is required and must take place within two years of continuance review.

P35Z

Each year the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library will review the promotion eligibility of each librarian and will notify librarians in the summer prior to the academic year in which they are first eligible for promotion.

The librarian is responsible for submitting a formal letter of application to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs indicating their desire to be reviewed for promotion.

Application for promotion to Associate Librarian is required and must take place within two years of the continuance review.

The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

 

P25B

Excellence in performance standards is required for promotion.

Standards for performance to advance to Associate Librarian rank include:

• Demonstrated consistent growth in the skills and knowledge of librarianship, information management, and technology
• Mastered skills in an area of specialization in a subject, service, technical, or other area of value to the Library
• Joined and actively participated in library-related professional associations and took advantage of professional developmental opportunities
• Worked and communicated professionally with colleagues and patrons of the Library
• Contributed increasing service to the Elon University community and promoted Belk Library through service to Elon University

P22Q

Librarians standing for promotion will create a digital promotion file documenting their accomplishments to be considered by the Promotion Review Committee. The candidate will also meet with the committee if requested. The promotion file will include material from the librarian’s personnel file and may be supplemented by other materials. The digital file shall be in PDF format and the organization should include tabbed, linked sections to facilitate review. The file will include the following parts organized in sequential order from Part 1 through Part 7 of the portfolio:

Part 1: Letter expressing the intent to apply for promotion. The letter should summarize the candidate’s case for promotion. 

Part 2: Current curriculum vitae.

Part 3: Current position description.

Part 4: Performance evaluations for the librarian's term of employment at Elon University or the previous five years, whichever is shorter.

Part 5: Annual self-assessment report for the librarian's term of employment at Elon University or the previous five years, whichever is shorter.

Part 6: Description, documentation, and examples where appropriate of the librarian’s accomplishments under the promotion criteria for Librarianship, Professional Achievement, and Service. Documents can include but are not limited to copies of publications, supplemental letters of recommendation, participant evaluations of classes or programs, and materials created for instruction or library publicity.

Part 7: Letter from the candidate’s current supervisor assessing the candidate’s performance. If the candidate standing for promotion reports directly to the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, the candidate, in consultation with the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, will identify a post-probationary Elon University librarian to write the letter. If the candidate standing for promotion reports directly to a University Dean other than the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, the candidate, in consultation with their respective Dean, will identify a post-probationary Elon University librarian or senior colleague in their respective department to write the letter.

P34Y

Applications for promotion will be considered by a Promotion Review Committee.

• The Promotion Review Committee will consist of two Elon librarians at the Associate or Senior Librarian rank, two post-probationary Librarians and a post-probationary member of the teaching faculty, appointed by the Provost/Executive Vice President. The teaching faculty member of the committee will serve a two-year term. Librarian committee members will be elected by their library faculty peers for terms of two years, with no more than two consecutive terms.
• Committee members will be elected on a rotating basis: at the conclusion of each fiscal year, members who have completed their two-year terms will rotate off the committee, while the other members will stay on for a second year, joined by newly elected members. Committee members will elect a chair who serves as convener.
• If the supervisor of the candidate standing for promotion serves on the Promotion Review Committee, the supervisor will step down from the committee, and another post-probationary Elon University librarian will be elected to serve the remainder of their term on the Promotion Review Committee. The post-probationary librarian elected to serve must have a rank that satisfies the Promotion Review Committee’s composition requirements.

The Committee will review the applications for promotion and make its recommendation(s) to the Provost/Executive Vice President.

After the Provost/Executive Vice President has received the promotion recommendations from both the supervising Dean and the Promotion Review Committee, the Provost/Executive Vice President will call a joint meeting of the supervising Dean and the Promotion Review Committee to discuss the substance of the deliberations that led to their specific recommendations.

The Provost/Executive Vice President recommends promotion decisions to the President. The President of the University recommends promotion decisions for final approval to the Board of Trustees.

P23E

Assistant Librarians who advance in rank to Associate Librarian will receive a three-year annually renewable appointment and one-time salary increase of $5,000

Librarians not promoted to Associate Librarian will remain at the Assistant Librarian rank and will continue to receive two-year appointments.

P26Z

P34N

Associate Librarians will be eligible for promotion to Senior Librarian after six years of service at the Associate Librarian rank at Elon University. Application for promotion to Senior Librarian is not required.

Librarians hired in at Associate Librarian rank may apply for promotion to Senior Librarian after four years of service at Elon University.

P25X

Each year the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library will review the promotion eligibility of each librarian and will notify librarians in the summer prior to the academic year in which they are first eligible for promotion.

The librarian is responsible for submitting a formal letter of application to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs indicating their desire to be reviewed for promotion.

If the librarian elects not to apply for promotion, no further notification of eligibility will be sent in subsequent years, though the librarian will remain eligible for promotion. The librarian must submit formal application in any subsequent year they wish to be reviewed.

The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

P33F

Excellence in performance standards is required for promotion.

Standards for performance leading to advance to Senior Librarian rank include:

• Mastered expertise in the skills and knowledge of librarianship, information management, and technology
• Sustained professional achievement and scholarship which is shown by:
• Achieving specialization in a subject, service, technical, administrative, or other area of value to the Library
• Publishing and making presentations in the field
• Demonstrating distinguished leadership in professional library associations
• Successfully initiating and applying new developments, techniques, and technologies in academic library service
• Working and communicating professionally with colleagues and patrons of the Library
• Demonstrating excellent service and contributions to Belk Library, the University, and the library profession

P25N

Librarians standing for promotion will create a digital promotion file documenting their accomplishments to be considered by the Promotion Review Committee. The candidate will also meet with the committee if requested. The promotion file will include material from the librarian’s personnel file and may be supplemented by other materials.  The digital file shall be in PDF format and the organization should include tabbed, linked sections to facilitate review. The file will include the following parts organized in sequential order from Part 1 through Part 7 of the portfolio:

Part 1: Letter expressing the intent to apply for promotion. The letter should summarize the candidate’s case for promotion.

Part 2: Current curriculum vitae.

Part 3: Current position description.

Part 4: Performance evaluations for the librarian's term of employment at Elon University or the previous five years, whichever is shorter.

Part 5: Annual self-assessment report for the librarian's term of employment at Elon University of the previous five years, whichever is shorter.

Part 6: Description, documentation, and examples where appropriate of the librarian’s accomplishments under the promotion criteria for Librarianship, Professional Achievement, and Service. Documents can include but are not limited to copies of publications, supplemental letters of recommendation, participant evaluations of classes or programs, and materials created for instruction or library publicity.

Part 7: Letter from the candidate’s current supervisor assessing the candidate’s performance. If the candidate standing for promotion reports directly to the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, the candidate, in consultation with the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, will identify a post-probationary Elon University librarian to write the letter. If the candidate standing for promotion reports directly to a University Dean other than the Dean of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library, the candidate, in consultation with their respective Dean, will identify a post-probationary Elon University librarian or senior colleague in their respective department to write the letter.

P22D

Applications for promotion will be considered by a Promotion Review Committee.

• The Promotion Review Committee will consist of two Elon librarians at the Associate or Senior Librarian rank, two post-probationary Librarians and a post-probationary member of the teaching faculty, appointed by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. The teaching faculty member of the committee will serve a two-year term. Librarian committee members will be elected by their library faculty peers for terms of two years, with no more than two consecutive terms.
• Committee members will be elected on a rotating basis: at the conclusion of each fiscal year, members who have completed their two-year term will rotate off the committee, while the other members will stay on for a second year, joined by newly elected members. Committee members will elect a chair who serves as convener.
• If the supervisor of the candidate standing for promotion serves on the Promotion Review Committee, the supervisor will step down from the committee, and another post-probationary Elon University librarian will be elected to serve the remainder of their term on the Promotion Review Committee. The post-probationary librarian elected to serve must have a rank that satisfies the Promotion Review Committee’s composition requirements.

The Committee will review the applications for promotion and make its recommendation(s) to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

After the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs has received the promotion recommendations from both the supervising Dean and the Promotion Review Committee, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will call a joint meeting of the supervising Dean and the Promotion Review Committee to discuss the substance of the deliberations that led to their specific recommendations.

The Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs recommends promotion decisions to the President. The President of the University recommends promotion decisions for final approval to the Board of Trustees.

P28R

Associate Librarians who advance in rank to Senior Librarian will receive a three-year annually renewable appointment and a one-time salary increase of $9,000.

Application for promotion to Senior Librarian is not required. Librarians not promoted to Senior Librarian will remain at the Associate Librarian rank and will continue to receive three-year appointments.

P27M

P25J

Faculty members who believe that a decision has been made in their case which violates University procedures should consult the section on the appeals process.

P23Z

Grounds for appeal are limited to procedural matters. Additional information can be found in the section on the appeals process.