Transitional Policies for the New Advancement and Tenure Policy

Implementation of the new system

This transition system assumes the following: that the Trustees, University Administration, and Faculty Assembly, have approved a tenure and promotion policy as stipulated in AAUP guidelines prior to Spring of 2009; that the restructured promotion and tenure committee outlined above has been approved by the three constituencies named above prior to the Spring of 2009; and that a revised mentoring process as well as the definitions for the standards by which faculty will be evaluated also has been approved by the three constituencies named above prior to the Spring of 2009.

Thecurrentthree-personCommitteeonAdvancement andTenurewill expandto fivemembersinthespring of 2009, constituted as stated in 4.b of the “Policies Relating to Academic Freedom, Faculty Evaluation, and Employment” document. The larger committee will begin evaluating faculty in the 2009-10 academic year.

In addition, before the new policy can go into effect, the facultywill have to establish the three standards it requires for promotion evaluation. The Standards Committee (defined in the Advancement and Tenure policy document) will present to the faculty a set of criteria for each of the three standards. Only upon approval by the faculty can the standards be placed in the faculty handbook. This process will insure that the criteria for the three standards are reasonable for all faculty and are consistent with administrative assessment of those standards.

If all of the above happen, thenew systemwill be in force for newhires whose first year on campus is 20092010. For those in this class who are not granted time based on full-time service elsewhere, mandatory pretenure review based on all new requirements clearly stated in a revised faculty handbook will occur in the Springof 2012 and Tenure review (up or out with Tenure and Associate being granted simultaneously) will occur in the Fall of 2014. The deadlines for pre-tenure review and/or tenure may be adjusted by mutual agreement of the faculty member and the VPAA in the event of unusual circumstances, as specified in the permanent policy document.

For purposes of implementing the initial round of post-tenure review, the VPAA shall establish a schedule of reviews so that approximately one-fifth of the tenured faculty are reviewed in each year, beginning in the 200910 academic year.

Rules for faculty employed before the implementation of the new system, but not yet promoted to Associate Professor or grantedtenure

Facultyhired prior to the Springof 2009 and who have not yet been promoted to Associate Professor and/or granted tenure may if they wish form mentoring committees, as described in section 4.i of the “Policies Relating to Academic Freedom, Faculty Evaluation, and Employment” document. Their advancement and tenure applications will be treated in the followingmanner:

Eligible for Promotion 2007-2008, 2008-2009 (either for first time or after being denied in a prior attempt)

Old system, tenure and promotion considered separately, failure to achieve either promotion ortenureallowsa facultymember totryagain. If, in the unlikelyevent,afacultymember has not achieved tenure and/or promotion by the academic year 2009-2010, that member must submit materials in the fall of 2009. A failure to achieve tenure and/or promotion at this point will result in the fall 2009 evaluation being treated as a pre-tenure review with the faculty member being mandated to apply within one to three years for tenure and promotion again. If the faculty member is not approved for tenure and/or promotion after that period of time, he or she will receive a terminal, one-year contract. Failure to reapply will result in a terminal, one- year contract. Criteria for promotion and tenure will be based on the requirements stated in the faculty hand book at the time of hire and as documented by the promotion and tenure standards committee in Fall 2008, which will serve as a guide to the transitional candidates and the Advancement and Tenure Committeealike.

EligibleforPromotionin 2009-2010,2010-2011,2011-2012, 2012-2013,2013-2014(forfirst time only)

New system -modified, faculty in these cohorts must apply for combined tenure and promotion when eligible, but if they are not granted tenure, their tenure application will be treated effectively as a mid-tenure review with the faculty member being mandated to reapply for tenure within one to three years. If the faculty member is not approved a second time, she or he will receive a terminal, one-year contract. Failure to reapply will result in a terminal, one-year contract. Criteria for promotion and tenure will be based on the requirements stated in the faculty hand book at the time of hire and as documented by the promotion and tenure standards committee in Fall 2008, which will serve as a guide to the transitional candidates and the Advancement and Tenure Committeealike.

The special case of faculty members who have met their eligibility requirements prior to 2007-2008 but have not chosen to submit tenure and/or promotion materials

Faculty who are eligible to go up for tenure under the old system but have not done so will be required to apply under the old system in 2008-2009. If tenure and/or promotion is denied under the old system, that faculty member will be required to submit materials in the fall of 2009. A failure to achieve tenure and/or promotion at this point will result in the fall 2009 evaluation being treated as a pre-tenure review with the faculty member being mandated to apply within one-three years for tenure and promotion again. If the faculty member is not approved for tenure and/or promotion after the period of time, he or she will receive a terminal, one-year contract. Failure to apply will result in a one- year terminal contract. Criteria for promotion and tenure will be based on the requirements stated in the faculty hand book at the time of hire and as documented by the promotion and tenure standards committee in Fall 2008, which will serve as a guide to the transitional candidates and the Advancement and Tenure Committee alike.

Faculty whose employment at Virginia Wesleyan began before September 1, 1995

Faculty in this category may choose to be exempt fromthe requirement to participate inthetenureand promotion process, in whichcase they may not move beyond their current rank. If they choose to participate, they must notify the VPAA of that intention with the understanding that they have to comply with the process outlined in paragraph “c”. Criteria for promotion and tenure will be based on the requirements stated in the faculty hand book at the time of hire and as documented by the promotion and tenure standards committee in Fall 2008, which will serve as a guide to the transitional candidates and the Advancement and Tenure Committeealike.

The special case of faculty members who are in the category of exempt from contractual stipulations Agreements between the administration and these faculty members should remain in place and be honored.

Rules for tenure track faculty whose initial appointment to the Associate or Full professorlevel was made prior to the implementation of the newsystem

Faculty hired at or above the associate level who have not yet reached their eligibility year to apply for tenure must apply for tenure in the year stipulated by their contract. A failure to achieve tenure at this time will result in this evaluation being treated as a pre-tenure review with the faculty member being mandated to apply within one-three years for tenure again. If the faculty member is not approved for tenure after the period of time, he or she will receive a terminal one-yearcontract. Failureto reapplywill result in aterminal one-year contract. Criteria for tenure will be based on the requirements stated in the faculty hand book at the time of hire and as documented by the promotion and tenure standards committee in Fall 2008, which will serve as a guide to the transitional candidates and the Advancement and Tenure Committeealike.