Deadlines for Faculty Promotion and Tenure Reviews

Department Chairs shall submit the request for permission of any tenure line candidate they wish to nominate for an early tenure review to FacultyAffairs@pennstatehealth.psu.edu  For these requests to be reviewed by the Dean and the Vice Provost in time for this year’s review cycle, request for permission must be accompanied by the candidate’s most current CV and a letter requesting permission for an early tenure review from the Department Chair.  The request letter should present a strong justification for an early tenure review and provide accomplishments achieved by the candidate. The request for permission from the department chair shall also include confirmation of support by the departmental P&T committee of an early tenure review. If the request for permission for an early tenure review will be accompanied by a promotion in rank, please state that in the letter.

See AC-23 Administrative Guidelines, Appendix H.

Department’s P&T Policy as a PDF file.

The department’s P&T policy and promotion criteria must be aligned with the Promotion and Tenure Statement of the Dean of College of Medicine. The policy for both the tenure-line and non-tenure line is required annually, whether or not the department has any faculty undergoing review this year. Please highlight in yellow any updates or edits from last year’s version. The Vice Provost Office requests any updates/changes to be highlighted.

All required document templates and forms are available via OneDrive (Penn State Access login required) or by contacting the Office of Faculty Affairs.

For each candidate for promotion and/or tenure, submit the following items as separate PDF files but submitted via one email to the Office of Faculty Affairs at facultyaffairs@pennstatehealth.psu.edu:

1. The nomination sheet.
2. The faculty member’s CV as a PDF file. The CV should be comprehensive and up-to-date and include information reflecting each mission area in which the faculty member participates. Keep in mind, the CV is distributed to the external evaluators.
3. The faculty member’s Narrative Statement as a PDF file. This is the one- to three-page statement required for the dossier and no longer than 2,000 words, per AC-23 guidelines, explaining the candidate’s areas of focus and scholarly contributions in the context of overall career goals. This statement also is distributed to external evaluators.
4. Names and contact information for at least six external evaluators who meet the eligibility criteria and have no conflicts of interest. Evaluators will be contacted by the Office of Faculty Affairs; departments and candidates should have no contact with the evaluators. The Office of Faculty Affairs will provide the letters received to the Department. (External letters are not solicited for provisional tenure reviews.)
5. For non-tenure-line candidates only: Provide names and contact information for 12 external evaluators who meet the eligibility criteria and have no conflicts of interest. Evaluators will be contacted by the Office of Faculty Affairs; departments and candidates should have no contact with the evaluators. The Office of Faculty Affairs will provide the letters received to the department. (External letters are not solicited for provisional tenure reviews.)
6. For clinicians only: If the clinician interacts regularly with external clinicians, as in a referral-based practice or as a consultant, provide the names and contact information for up to four clinicians outside Penn State who can be contacted by the Office of Faculty Affairs and asked to provide a letter evaluating the effectiveness of patient care, for the Patient Care section of the dossier. Letters requested from clinicians inside Penn State are solicited directly by the department chair and the internal names do not have to be submitted to the Office of Faculty Affairs.
7. A representative selection of no more than five items of scholarship, including a cover sheet, as one merged PDF file: Scholarly items are generally publications or other products as determined by the departmental promotion and tenure policy. This should not be interpreted as meaning that a candidate needs only these scholarly items to qualify for promotion. The cover sheet must list the five items with full citations and summarize in a brief paragraph the nature of each scholarly contribution and the importance to the candidate’s field.
8. Roster of Members of the Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee, as a PDF file. The Departmental Committee is required to include at least one non-tenure-line faculty in the review of non-tenure-line promotion cases. Consult AC-23 Administrative Guidelines, Section IV.B. Review Committees, for rules about how these committees should be constituted. The roster is required annually, whether or not the department has any faculty undergoing review this year.
9. Roster of Members of the Departmental Non-Tenure-Line Promotion Committee, as a PDF file. This is an optional committee, and only submit the roster if this committee is applicable to your department.

Submit the final dossier (an electronic PDF copy) for each promotion or tenure candidate to the Office of Faculty Affairs. (Final dossiers for provisional tenure reviews are due in February; see below.) Prior to submission, the dossier must have been reviewed by the departmental P&T Committee and by the department chair, and the letters for these two levels of review must be in the dossier in Section E. The committee and chair’s letters must address the external letters of evaluation received for the candidate and address any negative comments or conflicts of interest. It is the responsibility of the department chair to ensure that the dossier is complete and compliant with AC-23 guidelines; failure to do this could necessitate a re-review of the dossier at the departmental level or a postponement of the promotion review to the next academic year.

The College of Medicine Promotion and Tenure Committee and the College of Medicine Non-Tenure-Line Promotion Committee will convene to review candidates. Department chairs will be notified of the meeting dates and will be on “standby” to be called into the meeting for consultation if the college-level committee disagrees with the chair’s recommendation for any case.

Submit the final dossier (an electronic PDF file) for each candidate undergoing a provisional tenure review to the Office of Faculty Affairs. At the time of submission, the dossier must have been reviewed by the departmental P&T Committee and by the department chair, and the letters from these two levels of review must be in the dossier in Section E. Candidates will receive a letter from the Dean summarizing the provisional tenure review and providing recommendations. Upon completion of the review process, department chairs should meet with the faculty member to discuss the departmental and Dean’s reviews.

Submit names and materials as an electronic PDF file for promotions of Instructors. Materials should include the candidate’s CV and an evaluative letter from the departmental P&T Committee and the department chair. No dossier is required. Additional information on instructor and researcher promotion is available here.