Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
FIN-ECO PPS 2.01
Policy Statement on: Promotion and Tenure Guidelines Texas State University
Department of Finance and Economics
Adopted 12-8-2010 Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to set forth the guidelines for promotion and tenure recommendations by the Department of Finance and Economics Personnel Committee. This policy sets forth the general parameters to be used by the reviewing committee and should be used for guidance by faculty anticipating review. It is the stated intent of the department to be entirely consistent with the applicable university and college policy statements.
Reference Policy and Procedure Statements
Academic Affairs PPS Documents:
AAPPS 8.01 Development/Evaluation of Tenure Track Faculty Members
AAPPS 8.10 Tenure/Promotion Review
College of Business PPS Documents:
CBAPPS 5.05 Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
Also, though not specific to tenure or promotion, the following policies may be informative:
AAPPS 4.05 Maintenance and Improvement of Quality in Teaching
AAPPS 7.10 Procedures for Awarding Merit and Performance Raises to Texas State Faculty Members
CBAPPS 2.01 - 2.16 Curriculum Policies
CBAPPS 3.01 - 3.12 Academic Requirements and Advising Policies
CBAPPS 4.01 - 4.13 Teaching
CBAPPS 5.01 - 5.03 Scholarly Activities & Grants
CBAPPS 5.06 Workload Policy Texas State Faculty Handbook
The Core of Academe, American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) The Texas State University System (TSUS) Rules and Regulations
General Information
The grant or denial of tenure or promotion is at the election of the Department, College, and University. In order to obtain tenure or promotion the applicant must, as a threshold, satisfy expectations at each level of review. This PPS provides the guidelines to be used in review by the Department of Finance and Economics as its primary decision factor, but all decisions will be made in light of all relevant factors. Faculty are reminded that the grant of tenure or promotion is not a right, but rather a privilege, the award of which is wholly within the discretion of the evaluating entities, and may from time to time be subject to additional constraints or considerations. The overriding decision is whether or not the grant of tenure or promotion is in the best interest of the Department, College, and University.
Faculty normally must spend five (5) years in rank prior to promotion eligibility. The year in which promotion is reviewed counts as one of the years in rank. Exceptions to this policy should be specifically addressed and justified during the promotion process. Application for promotion may be initiated in the year prior to the effective promotion, i.e. the beginning of the sixth or tenth year. Although faculty members may have been hired at the Associate Professor rank, without tenure, normally tenure and promotion will not be separated. Faculty members whose rank is below associate professor must apply for promotion to associate professor at the same time they apply for tenure.
Procedures
A candidate for tenure or promotion must demonstrate performance and success in each of the three major areas of review, i.e. teaching, scholarship and service. Each reviewing committee member will determine, based on his or her experience and perceptions, the degree to which the candidate has reached the expected performance.
In accordance with the University calendar, the Chair of the Department will notify each member of the Personnel Committee of the deadline by which the review of the applicant files must be completed. The Chair will call a meeting of the Personnel Committee following the deadline to discuss and vote on the applications. The meeting will be set for a time when all members of the Personnel Committee are free of teaching duties. The presence of 75% of the Personnel Committee constitutes a quorum for initiation and continuance of the meeting. Proxy voting will not be allowed for tenure or promotion decisions. Each applicant's file will be brought before the Committee and the floor opened for discussion. Following discussion of each applicant, the Personnel Committee will, by secret ballot, vote for or against the recommendation for tenure or promotion of the applicant. A majority vote in favor of the proposed action, tenure or promotion, is required in order to constitute a recommendation by the Department.
Teaching Criteria
Within the Department of Finance and Economics, teaching effectiveness is generally considered of equal importance with intellectual contributions. Assessment of teaching effectiveness will rely on the production of documentation necessary to show the “sustained teaching effectiveness and commitment to continuous improvement” as required by the McCoy College. At a minimum, in order to receive a recommendation for either tenure or promotion to any rank, a candidate should have acceptable student and peer teaching evaluations, from the date of hire to the date of tenure review, or from the date of the last promotion to the date of promotion review. Student evaluation results, however, are only one component of the assessment and other factors will be considered.
Research Criteria
McCoy College
The McCoy College of Business Administration requires that:
A faculty member should provide evidence of a sustained research stream. Intellectual contributions that are eligible for consideration for tenure and promotion are:
* Peer-reviewed journal articles, as defined by AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), published or accepted; and
* Other intellectual contributions, including scholarly books, non-peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, published book reviews, funded research grants (external to the college), scholarly monographs, textbooks, peer-reviewed proceedings, peer-reviewed case publications with instructional materials (not in peer-reviewed journals), study guides, peer-reviewed paper presentations, invited presentations, instructional software, publicly available material describing the design and implementation of new curricula or courses, technical reports related to funded projects, publicly available research working papers, and documented works in progress.
Department of Finance and Economics Generally Applicable Principles of Research Review
In some circumstances an intellectual contribution may be regarded as equivalent to a peer reviewed journal article if it carries a similar level of prestige and requires a similar level of effort; however, reliance upon any such categorization is cautioned against, and would in any event require adequate justification. Although the McCoy College allows some research to be pedagogical, a significant portion of a candidate’s research must be contributions to practice or discipline based scholarship. Additional contributions, such as non-refereed publications, cases, presentations, and grants are encouraged but do not substitute for peer-reviewed journal articles.
Evaluation of scholarly contributions involves a judgment about quality as well as quantity. If a contribution is judged to be of superior quality, then a lesser quantity may be appropriate; or conversely, if intellectual contributions are of inferior quality, then a greater number of contributions may be required. Additional factors as considered relevant by the personnel committee, including the number of co-authors, impact, public recognition, and circulation, may be considered and incorporated into the departmental decision. Candidates should be aware, however, that any weighting of scholarly work will not be binding on any other level of review.
Department of Finance and Economics Minimum Research Expectation Tenure and Promotion to the Rank of Associate Professor
Within the Department of Finance and Economics it is recommended that a candidate for tenure have a strong record in research as evidenced by intellectual contributions. At least five (5) of these intellectual contributions should be articles in peer-reviewed journals. A faculty member hired with credit for previous experience must have at a minimum the same number of scholarly contributions, including articles in peer-reviewed journals, over the course of his or her career as any other candidate for tenure. In addition, there must be evidence of research productivity from the time of hire at Texas State and a continuation of productivity in the future. The research criteria for promotion to Associate Professor are the same as that for tenure.
Department of Finance and Economics Minimum Research Expectation
Promotion to the Rank of Professor
It is recommended that a candidate for promotion to Professor have a strong record in research as evidenced by additional scholarly contributions since promotion to Associate Professor. At least six (6) of these should be articles in peer-reviewed journals. Research productivity must be sustained over a number of years and there must be evidence of continuation. A faculty member hired with credit for previous experience must have at a minimum the same number of scholarly contributions, including articles in peer-reviewed journals, since promotion to Associate Professor as any other candidate for Professor. In addition, there must be evidence of research productivity from the time of hire at Texas State and evidence of a future research agenda.
Service
Service is an expected attribute of all tenure and promotion decisions at Texas State University. Although levels of service vary with the career of a faculty member, new faculty will usually have a lighter service expectation than those of Associate or Full Professor rank. Generally, to meet the minimum service expectations for tenure or promotion, all candidates should willingly and competently engage in those service activities reasonably requested of them by the Department, College, or University. Evidence of a strong commitment to service may include
1. Chairing University, College, or Department committees
2. Service on University, College, and/or Department committees
3. Leadership in national, regional, and/or local professional organizations
4. Academic and career advising
5. Sponsorship and advising of student organizations
6. Community service, including consulting activities
7. Mentoring of students and other faculty
8. Grant proposals for instructional programs
9. Administrative activities
Expectations of service are greater for those in advanced rank, and therefore service activities carry greater weight in evaluating candidates for Professor than for Associate Professor and tenure.