DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY
DEPARTMENTAL STATEMENT
REQUIRED BY SECTION 7.12 OF
REGULATIONS CONCERNING FACULTY TENURE
I. Introductory Statement
This document describes the specific criteria and standards which will be used to evaluate whether candidates meet the general criteria in Section 7.11 of the Regulations Concerning Faculty Tenure. For a complete perspective, the reader is advised to review Section 7 in its entirety. Section 7.11 is printed in its entirety in III. Criteria for Tenure (see below).
The criteria, standards and procedures are applied without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, handicap, age, veteran status or sexual orientation. These same criteria are used for annual performance review and to determine annual salary increases.
II. Mission Statement
The mission of the Medical School is to conduct high quality programs of research, education, and service through which the college contributes significantly to the provision of excellent health care for the people of Minnesota.
The mission of the Department of Microbiology is to achieve and maintain preeminence in the discipline of microbiology through excellence in teaching and research.
General Criteria.
Section 7.11 of the Regulations Concerning Faculty Tenurestates:
"The basis for awarding indefinite tenure is the determination that the achievements of an individual have demonstrated the individuals potential to continue to contribute significantly to the mission of the University and to its programs of teaching, research, and service over the course of the faculty members academic career. The primary criteria for demonstrating this potential are effectiveness in teaching and professional distinction in research, outstanding discipline-related service contributions will also be taken into account where they are an integral part of the mission of the academic unit. The relative importance of the criteria may vary in different academic units, but each of the criteria must be considered in every decision."
Departmental Criteria.
The Department of Microbiology accepts and subscribes to the statement on Criteria and Standards for Tenure of Faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School, with the following standards specific to the department.
A. Research/Scholarship
Microbiology and the related discipline of immunology are research-oriented disciplines and thus tenure recommendations are based on excellent performance in research judged by the following standards:
1. Publications in Rigorously Peer-Reviewed Journals and Citation Indices
Scientific articles reporting high quality biomedical research that significantly advances the candidates field of research should be published in rigorously peer- reviewed journals. Contributions to prestigious review journals, monographs, etc., that are not peer-reviewed will be taken into consideration, but cannot be the primary basis for a decision. Examples of peer-reviewed journals include, but are not limited to:
Journal of Infectious Diseases
Journal of Virology
Science
Infection and Immunity
Journal of Bacteriology
Nature
Journal of Immunology
Immunity Cell
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publications in Monographs, Reviews and Other Books
Publications such as these, which are not generally peer-reviewed, should be part of the activities of a faculty member, but cannot be considered as the sole basis for tenure.
Service as an Editor or as a Member of the Editorial Board of a Reputable Journal or Monograph in a Biomedical Discipline
Service such as this usually indicates peer recognition for the candidates contributions, but cannot be considered as the sole basis for tenure.
Expectations
Generally, faculty members laboratories are expected to generate an average of 1?3 research papers per year with additional recognition for highly cited articles.
2.External Research Funding
Expectations
Faculty members in the Department of Microbiology are expected to maintain independent research programs funded extramurally by at least one grant from federal agencies, international agencies, or from private agencies appropriate to the discipline.
3. Invited Participation in Symposia, Meetings and Seminars
The research of faculty members is expected to be recognized by invitations from national and international scientific organizations and educational institutions to participate in symposia, meetings and conferences and to give seminars. However, this cannot be used as the sole criterion for tenure.
4. Peer Recognition of Creative and Significant Scholarly Contributions
Evidence will be sought from peers within the Department of Microbiology, the University, and from national and international leaders in the candidates field of research that the candidates contributions are scholarly, creative, and have contributed significantly to the advancement of the field. The assessments will also provide clear evidence of whether or not the candidate has a national or international reputation in the discipline of Microbiology.
Faculty members will generally be expected to have primary or shared responsibilities for at least one lecture course of 30?40 hours. Instruction at a minimum should be judged competent. The Department of Microbiology accepts the Criteria and Standards for Tenure of Faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School with respect to competence in teaching.
The following are areas in which competence in teaching can be demonstrated.
1. Participation in teaching and advising professional students (including students in the M.D. curriculum, pharmacy, dentistry, or other professional education programs) in the subject of Microbiology, and graduate students in Microbiology.
2. Service as a thesis adviser to candidates for advanced degrees (Masters degree and/or Ph.D.) in the discipline of Microbiology, or in interdisciplinary graduate programs.
3. Service and distinction as a faculty sponsor for a postdoctoral fellow(s) in Microbiology or in a collaborative research program.
4. Service as a faculty mentor to students in any of the above categories who engage in research activities in the Department of Microbiology.
5. Participation in teaching undergraduate (pre-baccalaureate) students, including students in other colleges of the University of Minnesota.
Competence in teaching is based on:
1. Review of courses taught, directed or developed by the candidate, at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
2. Degree candidates advised in both professional and graduate schools.
3. Evaluations by students.
4. Written statements by the Head of the department and others familiar with the candidates teaching performance.
If distinction in teaching is to be considered to be the primary basis for tenure, competence in research will also be required.
Distinction in teaching is based on:
1. The four items given above as sources of evidence for assessment of competence in teaching.
2. Evaluation of publications, such as books, peer reviewed journal articles, audiovisual aids, and/or other significant contributions to educational advances in the discipline, that are distributed at a national level.
3. Letters from leading educators in the discipline attesting to the candidates national reputation, and assessing the candidates contributions to the development of advances in education in the field.
4. Participation in national organizations, such as the American Society for Microbiology, that have significant activities devoted to education and educational development. Evidence of leadership in such an organization (such as by election to an officer position) would be of particular value.
C. Service
Faculty members are expected to serve on one or more departmental committees of which search committees and the Committee on Graduate Studies in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Pathobiology are the most important. However, committee service per se cannot be the sole basis for awarding tenure.
Departmental Criteria.
The Department of Microbiology accepts and subscribes to the statement on Criteria and Standards for Promotion of Faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School, with the following standards specific to the department:
A. To Assistant Professor
Candidates for promotion to Assistant Professor are judged on the following standards:
1. Outstanding record and potential for research determined from:
a. Publications: number, quality and citation impact in peer-reviewed journals;
b. Quality of postdoctoral training and performance as a fellow from letters of
recommendation, and;
c. Independent research plan with exciting but focussed goals likely to generate and
sustain external funding.
2. Interest in and evidence of at least competence to teach microbiology/immunology.
B. To Associate Professor:
The criteria and standards for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor are those stated for consideration of tenure (see III. above).
A recommendation for promotion to Associate Professor is made when an eligible faculty member has fulfilled the general criteria applicable to tenure, as stated in Section 7.11, and the specific criteria and standards for promotion to Associate Professor (same as for tenure) as stated by the Medical School and the Department.
C. To Professor:
Candidates for promotion to Professor are judged on the following standards:
1. A truly international reputation in research or teaching as shown, for instance, by invitations to international symposia, election to prestigious scientific organizations, holding of offices in international societies.
2. Letters from authorities in the candidates field attesting to the candidates acknowledged national and international reputation. Letters are also requested from prestigious university faculty at other universities stating that the candidate would be eligible for promotion to Professor at their or similar outstanding institution.
3. Establishment of a training program for pre- and postgraduate trainees that has resulted in placing trainees in academic and industrial positions in their fields.
University and Medical School
In considering proposals for tenure and/or promotion in rank, the Medical School and its Departments comply with the procedures described in the document Procedures for Reviewing Performance or Probationary Faculty, distributed annually by the Vice President for Academic Affairs. These procedures are provided for by Sections 16.3, 7.4 and 7.61 of the Regulations Concerning Faculty Tenure.
The Medical School issues annually to each department, for distribution and information to faculty members, a set of instructions, memoranda, and other documents, giving detailed information on the procedures to be followed in the preparation and consideration of each proposal for tenure and/ or promotion in rank. The pertinent documents are identified as exhibits enclosed with a cover memorandum from the Dean.
Designated non-tenured faculty members holding appropriate appointment and rank at affiliated hospitals are eligible to vote on proposals for promotion in rank of candidates, in accordance with approval for this procedure granted by the University Tenure Committee and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Department of Microbiology
The Department of Microbiology requires a two-third majority vote of tenured faculty members of the Department (as defined below) as a prerequisite for a recommendation for tenure.
The Department of Microbiology requires a two-third majority vote of all members of the regular faculty (both tenured and non-tenured) senior in rank to the candidate as a prerequisite for a recommendation for promotion.
"Tenured faculty" of a department means the regular faculty members of that department who hold indefinite tenure in that department, without regard to their rank. It does not include persons who hold non-regular or adjunct appointments in that department, even if they have tenure in another department. It does not include persons with academic professional or administrative staff appointments, even if they have continuous appointments in those professional appointments.
VI. Post-Tenure Expectations
The criteria and standards for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor and Full Professor will generally apply in evaluating performance of faculty members. Recognizing, however, that interests, emphases, and capabilities may change over the course of a productive career, the relative "weighting" of the criteria may also change. For example, a faculty member with a sustained lapse of extramural funding (> 2 years) could meet the expectations of the department by increased emphasis on teaching or extraordinary service commensurate to the effort previously devoted to research.
