July 6, 2007
TO: Interim Dean Trevor Ames, College of Veterinary Medicine
Dean Connie Delaney, School of Nursing
Dean John Finnegan, School of Public Health
Dean Patrick Lloyd, School of Dentistry
Dean Deborah Powell, Medical School
Dean Marilyn Speedie, College of Pharmacy
FROM: Frank Cerra, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and
McKnight Presidential Leadership Chair
SUBJECT: 2007-2008 Promotion and Tenure Review Cycle
Updated guidelines regarding the 2007-2008 cycle are now available on the Academic Health Center (AHC) website www.ahc.umn.edu/P&T. The material should be used in your review of AHC faculty who will be considered for tenure, promotion, continuing, or non-reappointment in the 2007-2008 cycle. Please share this website address with your school's faculty, Promotion and Tenure Committee, Department and Division Heads, and others involved in the process.
As the senior academic officer for the AHC, I will review all dossiers. The AHC Assistant Vice President for Education and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs will also review all AHC dossiers and advise me. As appropriate, I will consult with the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. My final recommendations will be forwarded to the office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost for administrative processing no later than March 17 for consideration by the Board of Regents at its April meeting.
The process of decision making for tenure or non-reappointment, as well as the evaluation of the progress of probationary faculty, is one of the most important responsibilities of a Dean or Department Head. In working with faculty members who are preparing for promotion and/or tenure, mentors should direct them to the website to obtain guidance for the preparation of their dossier to support a decision for indefinite tenure or for promotional purposes.
All faculty must also have the below documents available to them:
-
Section 11 of the Procedures for Reviewing the Performance of Probationary Faculty,
-
Faculty Tenure policy, and
7.12 Statements, which are the indices used in your school or college (or department, if appropriate) to measure faculty achievement.
Section 23 of the Procedures for Reviewing the Performance of Probationary Faculty specifies that the Dean will make the recommendations for the college or school for each faculty member being considered for promotion and tenure. The Dean's recommendation should be substantive. Deans should hold Department Heads and Promotion and Tenure Committees responsible for providing letters of critical evaluation, not mere letters of transmittal. For detailed instructions, please refer to Section 3 in the Guidelines for Preparation of Candidate Dossiers on the website.
As stated in Section 6.2 of the Faculty Tenure policy, a faculty member who is recommended for non-reappointment and termination of probationary appointment must receive written notice, in the form prescribed in Section 17, of this recommendation no later than May 15 of the preceding academic year. The notice must advise the faculty member of their rights.
Submit documents to the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, according to the dates indicated on the website “Calendar,” by delivering them to:
Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences
485 Children's Rehabilitation Center
426 Church St SE
Please contact Dr. Barbara Brandt (brandt@umn.edu, 625-3972) if you need additional information regarding this year's process.
