Tenure Track Evaluation

R22A

R26D

Following consultation with the Dean, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will determine the length of the faculty member’s probationary period for a tenure track appointment at the time of the initial appointment. The Dean should consult with the faculty member in making this decision.

The probationary period is four, five, or six years, depending on the faculty member's prior full time college teaching experience.

A faculty member with no full time college teaching experience normally will have a six year probationary period. A faculty member with one year of full time college teaching experience will have a five or six year probationary period. A faculty member with two or more years of full time college teaching experience will have a four, five, or six year probationary period.

When eligible, tenure track faculty members have a one-time only opportunity during their second year of appointment to request a change in their probationary period. Before Letters of Agreement are issued in April of year two, faculty members, in writing to the Dean, may request to change their pre-selected probationary period following the same guidelines as when initially appointed.

*Eligible tenure track faculty members have a one-time only opportunity during their second year to request a change to the length of their probationary period

Unit reports are described in the Faculty Evaluation System.

Shaded areas in the chart above indicate post-probationary status.

Additional information on tenure and stop the clock for tenuremay be found elsewhere in this Handbook.

R22N

(Also used for evaluation of Professional Status faculty)

Full time tenured, tenure track, and professional status faculty at Elon University are evaluated annually according to the criteria listed in the Criteria for Evaluation of Teaching Faculty and by the guidelines found in the Statement of Professional Standards .

Review of full time tenured, tenure track, and professional status faculty includes an evaluation of teaching, that is given top priority, and second level priorities including contributions to the life of the university and professional activity. All criteria for evaluation are considered.

R28U

The tenure review occurs during the final year of the agreed upon probationary period of four, five, or six years  for all teaching faculty on tenure track appointments. Upon successful completion of this review, with the recommendation of the President and approval of the Board of Trustees, tenure will be awarded. The full review process is outlined in the Schedule of Activities for Evaluation. The applicant is responsible for meeting the guidelines in place at the year of application.

R33X

The evaluation system for teaching faculty applying for tenure 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. 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 tenure 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 with both the Promotions and Tenure Committee and the respective Dean to discuss their independent recommendations and rationales.

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

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

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

R23P

Teaching faculty members standing for tenure will create a tenure digital portfolio, which will serve as the basic resource in the tenure decision. When tenure and promotion are sought simultaneously, a single digital portfolio will suffice for both reviews. 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 from Part 1 through Part 8 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 tenure 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 tenure 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. Candidates 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-Review (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. Evidence as to the status of scholarship that is not yet public, such as “in press,” or “under contract,” must be provided, if that scholarship is listed in support of the candidate’s application. Such evidence might include 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 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 tenure is the Department Chair, they, in consultation with the Dean, will determine 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 annual summaries of 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 8: The candidate will include the most recent Dean’s evaluation of the candidate (Unit V) from a midpoint 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 tenure may include letters of support for teaching, service, and professional activity from colleagues at Elon University and other institutions, not to exceed 15 letters. Letters required in Parts 1-8 above are not included in the 15-letter maximum.

A candidate being considered for tenure 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.

R24E

Subject to the financial resources of the University, academic tenure implies continuation of employment until retirement, provided that the faculty member continues to adhere to the standards of teaching and scholarship that are essential to the mission and goals of the University.

Those applicants not awarded tenure may be given an additional year of employment.