Senate Document 06-05

                                                                                                Faculty Affairs Committee

                                                                                                For Discussion
                                                                                                April 5, 2006

Approved: May 3, 2006

TO:  Faculty Senate

FROM: Faculty Affairs Committee

RE:  Revisions to Guidelines for Promotion

The Faculty Affairs Committee requests the approval of the Faculty Senate of the Revisions to Guidelines for Promotion.  The attached document was prepared by the Task Force on Promotion and Tenure, and reviewed and approved by the Faculty Affairs Committee on March 22, 2006. 

Approved:

A. Gregory (chair)

M. Dakich

M. Fathizadeh

M. Marthaler

B. Pai

D. Rinke

Disapproved:

Absent: 

L. Hollingsworth

Purdue University Calumet

GUIDELINES FOR PROMOTION

Purdue University Calumet has a threefold mission:

• to provide its students with a liberal education which will prepare them for life and for the professions;
• to provide career-oriented curricula which lead to certificates, associate degrees, baccalaureate degrees, and master’s degrees;
• and to provide programs that meet the professional, cultural and general education needs of the community.

Faculty excellence is essential to this mission.  The University relies on its faculty members to maintain, create, and distribute knowledge in their fields of expertise. Consequently, the professional duties of faculty go well beyond teaching, encompassing both scholarship and service.  The contributions of a faculty member may well be integrated among teaching, scholarship, and service, since many professional activities contribute to more than one of these.  Promotion committees should therefore evaluate candidates for promotion based on professional impact, using separate contributions in the three areas of teaching, scholarship, and service as guidelines only.  

The following criteria are intended to set minimum promotion standards for Purdue University Calumet.

Teaching

Teaching at the University refers to the entire area of student-faculty interaction for educational purposes.  Faculty members who excel in teaching guide and motivate students, maintain scholarship through sustaining breadth and depth of knowledge, and continually strive to improve methods and context of teaching.

Scholarly Activity

Scholarly activity at the University refers to the broad area of research, scholarship, and creative endeavor.  Scholarly activity relevant to the area of specialization is carried out, and the results are disseminated by publication, invited presentation, juried show, artistic production, or other appropriate methods, thereby ultimately achieving meritorious recognition in the field.

Service

Service refers to contributions to the University through institutional, community, or professional service.  Institutional service refers to leadership in governance responsibilities or other University affairs. Community service refers to significant public service contributions related to a faculty member’s discipline. Professional service refers to experience as a highly regarded advisor to government or industry, or showing leadership in professional, technical, or scholarly societies.

APPLICATION OF CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION TO DIFFERENT RANKS

Exceptions to these criteria should be made only in unusual cases for very strong candidates. Length of service in rank is one of the criteria for promotion, but by itself it should not insure promotion or cause denial of promotion.

Tenure-Track Faculty

Assistant Professor

Promotion to Assistant Professor is usually based upon potential.  The candidate should have completed a doctoral program or other appropriate terminal degree and demonstrated professional competency.  There should be clear indication that the individual is a successful teacher and will grow in professional stature.  Promotion to this rank is based upon strength in teaching.

Associate Professor 1

Promotion to Associate Professor is based upon actual performance as well as increased realization of potential.  Above all, the individual, while maintaining effectiveness in teaching, should be growing technically and professionally.  Promotion to this rank is based upon excellence in either teaching or scholarship,  together with strength in the other, and with active participation in service.  Promotion to Associate Professor will not normally be considered before the completion of four years in rank.  The Associate Professorship is a rank of high academic position and in many cases will be a terminal rank.

Professor

Promotion to Professor is based on recognition of the individual by professional peers as an authority in the field of specialization, and by associates and students as a capable teacher.  A candidate will have demonstrated a consistently high level of competence in teaching.  Promotion to this rank is based on excellence in at least one of the three areas together with strengths in both of the other areas.  Where the excellence lies in teaching, the candidate will be recognized for an outstanding contribution to the University’s educational program through an effective blend of interaction with students, professional growth, curricular development, and course content and methodology.  Where the excellence lies in scholarly activity, the candidate will have made important and recognized contributions in scholarly activities and will be recognized as a leader in educational or professional circles on a state or national level. For excellence in service, the candidate will be recognized on the campus for outstanding contributions to the programs of the University and the candidate will have attained a reputation at the regional, state, or national level for outstanding contributions to professional organizations or agencies, government, or industry.

Promotion will not be considered before the completion of five years in rank. 

Nontenure Track  Faculty

For the purposes of this document nontenure track faculty are defined as those faculty who hold the position of clinical/professional faculty or research professor. Individuals in these two groups may not pursue tenure but may wish to pursue promotion to a higher rank. Utilizing the following criteria each school/ department will set forth its own specific guidelines and criteria for promotion.    

Clinical/Professional Faculty

Rapid advances in theory and practice in every field makes the practitioner’s role more sophisticated and complex compared to years past. This sophistication and complexity dictate an expectation that graduates in specialized programs experienced the application of emerging theory in “best practice” settings. This expectation requires increased faculty supervision and guidance within carefully chosen clinical/professional environments. These expectations can be met more effectively if there exists flexibility in appointing faculty particularly suited to designing and maintaining educational programs in clinical/professional settings. Such flexibility gives the university the opportunity to recruit and retain highly qualified professionals whose career goals are consistent with the University Mission.  .

Assistant Professor

Required degrees, qualifications, specialty certification, and experience shall be determined by the appointing school or department. Successful candidates for promotion must exhibit expertise in clinical/professional practice and be qualified to participate in the educational program of the school/department. They must also have a primary commitment to assist the school in meeting its programmatic need for clinical/professional services and instruction.

 Associate Professor

Required degrees, qualifications (e.g. certification), or experience shall be determined by the appointing school/department. Successful candidates for promotion must demonstrate evidence of excellence in teaching and clinical/professional practice and have primary commitment to assist the school/department in meeting its programmatic need for clinical/professional services and instruction. Promotion to Associate Clinical Professor is based on actual performance as well as increased realization of potential. It is a rank of high academic position and in many cases will be he terminal degree.

 Professor

Successful candidates must demonstrate an extremely high level of professional accomplishments in teaching, service and clinical/professional practice and must be recognized by their peers at the national level. Criteria for Promotion to Clinical/Professional Professor will be determined by each individual school/department.

Research Faculty

In order to enable the university to recruit and retain top research scholars, whose primary responsibilities will be to support and enhance the research mission of the university, a position of research professor has been established. These positions would (1) be employed entirely on non-general (soft) funds, and (2) be continued on the availability of available funding and performance.

Assistant Professor

Candidates for appointment to the rank of assistant professor must exhibit significant promise for the establishment of an independent research program and related scholarly endeavors which contribute to the research mission of the university.

Associate Professor

Candidates for appointment to the rank of associate research professor must have a significant and sustained record of scholarly accomplishment and externally funded research. The candidate must show promise of continued professional growth, recognition, and contribution to the research mission of the university.

Professor

Candidates for appointment to the rank of research professor should be recognized nationally or internationally as authorities in their fields of specialization, have established significant and sustained extramural research funding, and have significantly contributed to the research mission of the university.

Promotion procedures for clinical/professional and research faculty will follow the procedures set forth in the document entitled: Promotion Procedures at Purdue University Calumet.

1 Academic tenure is in immediate effect upon promotion to this rank

Key to Revisions:

Guidelines to Promotion  -  denotes deleted text

Guidelines to Promotion  -  denotes added text