DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE TENURE BY-LAWS
The following document is intended to clarify the “Criteria for Granting Tenure” as presented in the UTC Faculty Handbook, with special application to tenure in Political Science. The document is therefore designed to serve as a guide for new faculty in Political Science to help such individuals plan their goals and objectives and to provide direction for their careers at UTC.
The awarding of tenure expresses both the department’s and the university’s confidence in the professional excellence of the individual as reflected in the faculty member’s teaching, research, and service including the faculty member’s ability to interact appropriately with colleagues and students.
Under Roman numeral one, these by-laws address specific procedures in this department’s tenure process, which may differ from those of other departments. However, nothing in these by-laws should be understood to conflict with general university policy as found in chapter three of the Faculty Handbook.
Under Roman numeral two, these by-laws address specific clarifications, appropriate for this department, of the general criteria for tenure found in chapter three of the Faculty Handbook. The College of Arts and Sciences also maintains a regularly updated publication, “Promotion and Tenure: A Guide to the Preparation of Documentation,” which is endorsed by this department as a complement to these by-laws and a valuable guide to the faculty member in preparing an effective tenure application. Neither by-laws nor guide should be understood to conflict with general university policy as found in chapter three of the Faculty Handbook.
- I. Departmental Procedures regarding Tenure Recommendations
- 1. The department will maintain a Rank, Tenure, and Reappointment Committee (RTR). The membership of this committee will consist of all tenured faculty within the department with the exception of the head. Tenured faculties on leave are eligible to participate in the committee’s deliberations and voting, but are not required to do so. At the first meeting of this committee each year the committee will elect a chair by a simple majority vote.
- 2. Prior to the conclusion of their probationary period, tenure-track faculty wishing to be considered for tenure shall, following existing university and college guidelines, submit a dossier to the RTR committee containing appropriate materials pertaining to three professional areas of teaching and advising, research and scholarship, and professional service.
- 3. For tenure decisions the RTR committee will sit as a whole, as compared to promotion decisions where consideration is only by those members of the committee at the rank to which promotion is to be made or higher rank.
- 4. For tenure decisions, the vote of the committee shall be by secret ballot rather than by a voice vote or by a show of hands. A vote of approval of tenure from the RTR committee is defined as at least a simple majority of RTR committee members present and voting in favor of the candidate. A vote of denial from the RTR committee is defined as either a vote in the negative or a tie vote on the candidate by all committee members present and voting. Abstentions are treated as if the abstaining member of the committee had not been present. Proxy votes sent to the committee chair by any member of the RTR committee (whether presently teaching or on leave) unavailable to attend meetings of the committee, or the final meeting at which a vote is taken, will not be counted. Following deliberation and the casting of ballots, the chair of the committee shall open the ballots in the presence of the committee and announce the result to the committee members present.
- 5. Recommendations (denial or approval) from the RTR Committee for tenure are made to the department head. The vote of the RTR Committee is advisory to the department head and becomes part of the candidate’s tenure file. After making an independent judgment on the tenure candidacy, the head shall submit his or her recommendation to the dean with a written summary of his or her judgment. If the head’s recommendation differs from the recommendation of the RTR Committee, the summary must explain the reasons for the differing judgment, and the head must provide a copy of the summary to the RTR Committee. The RTR Committee may forward a dissenting report to the next level of review.
- 6. Recommendations (denial or approval) for tenure by the department head are made to the dean of the college of arts and sciences.
- II. Departmental Criteria for Tenure
- 1. Demonstrated excellence in teaching and advising as evidenced by the following:
- Student ratings from faculty instruction during the candidate's probationary period
- assessments from current of former students or from faculty colleagues
- specific evidence of performace of students of the tenure candidate with regard to any appropriate outcome masure (e.g., student awards or recognition; student presentations of scholarly papers; student co-authorship)
- receipt of, or nomination for outstanding teacher awards
- other evidence of exvellence in teching (e.g., course syllabi and course examinations; sponsorship of honors papers and/or graduate papers or theses)
- superior academic advising of students
- 2. Demonstrated record of external recognition of research and scholarship as evidenced, in part, by the following
- publication, or acceptance by publisher of final manuscript for a book
- publication, or acceptance of article(s), research note(s), book reviews(s), or review essay(s) for publication in refereed journals
- publication, or acceptance of a book chapter(s) in a peer-reviewed book
- 3. Demonstrated service to the department, the university, and the profession as evidenced, in part, by the following:
- active service on deparmental, university and professional organization committees
- chairing departmental and university committees
- service as an electied member, executive committee member, or president of the faculty council
- officer in state, national, or internation professional organization
- organizer, chair, or discussant in panels at national or regional progessional meetings
- funded grants from external granting agencies
- documented community service related to the profession
- 1. Demonstrated excellence in teaching and advising as evidenced by the following:
The above listing should not be considered as comprehensive listing, nor should it be assumed that the three items (teaching/advising; research; service) are of equal significance. The department places its greatest weight on the first two items, and published research is expected for the awarding of tenure.
