Background
The University at Albany has established guidelines and procedures for reviewing faculty members for continuing appointment (tenure) and promotion. At present, these guidelines require candidates for new faculty appointment to undergo the same full-scale review for continuing appointment as candidates who have been appointed to the University for some years. This practice disadvantages the University in recruiting established senior faculty members, particularly in cases where they already hold tenure at a peer institution. The following revision to the campus guidelines seeks to address this situation in a way that also maintains the University's high standards for a lifetime contract.
Review of New Faculty Members for Continuing Appointment
It shall normally be expected that faculty members will be reviewed for continuing appointment in accordance with the University's established process, involving parallel administrative and peer review of their record of professional attainments in scholarship, teaching and service. The complete process shall be used for new faculty members who have not been previously reviewed for continuing appointment. In individual cases where a faculty member already holds tenure at another institution, the following procedure may be used:
- The departments/schools proposing to appoint a new faculty member who already holds tenure at another institution will prepare a case for recognizing that decision at UAlbany.
- The case must be made on the basis of the candidate's professional attainments, national reputation and performance in scholarship, teaching, and service. A report of a faculty vote on the appointment must be included as part of the case. The documentation to support the case shall include:
- copies of the candidate's major publications,
- professional testimony, in addition to the candidate's personal references regarding the quality and impact of the candidate's research,
- student course evaluations, where available,
- other testimony and documents regarding the teaching performance (for example: course syllabi)
- and testimony regarding the scope and impact of the candidate's contributions in service.
- The Dean shall review the case and make a recommendation to the Provost.
- Either the Dean or the Provost may require the department to submit the case for review through the University's complete process for continuing appointment.
- Where the Dean and the Provost endorse the case, the Provost will submit the file with a recommendation for appointment with continuing appointment to the President.
Initial Rank of Appointment for New Faculty Members
The initial rank of a new academic appointment shall be determined by the applicable Dean, based on a recommendation from the appointing department(s) and with the approval of the Provost.
Faculty Appointments for University Officers
It is a courtesy as well as a common practice for a senior university academic officer — for example: the Provost, the Vice President for Research or a Dean — to hold a concurrent academic appointment with continuing appointment. In such cases, it shall continue to be the University's practice to consult with the faculty as follows:
- The faculty of the applicable department/school shall be polled by the department chair (or dean) regarding the rank and tenure of the academic appointment.
- The department chair or dean shall report the poll's outcome and make a recommendation regarding the academic appointment.
- The chair/dean's recommendation, as well as with a copy of the candidate's curriculum vitae and any other relevant materials, shall be presented to the applicable school/college tenure and promotion committee and the committee shall be invited to comment on the academic appointment.
- The dean shall provide a written recommendation regarding the appointment.
- All recommendations and materials related to the academic appointment shall be provided to the University Council on Promotion and Continuing Appointment (CPCA) and the Council shall be invited to comment on the academic appointment.
- All recommendations and materials related to the academic appointment shall be transmitted with the Provost's recommendation to the President for approval.