Deadlines for Tenure-Track Faculty Promotion and Tenure Reviews

Submit the names of any candidates for early tenure review to the Office of Faculty Affairs at facultyaffairs@pennstatehealth.psu.edu. For these requests to be reviewed by the Dean and the Provost in time for this year’s review cycle, requests must be accompanied by the candidate’s current CV and a letter from the Department Chair presenting a strong justification for the request for an early tenure review. See HR-23 Administrative Guidelines, Appendix H.

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

For each candidate for promotion, tenure or provisional tenure review, submit the following information 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, 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 the external evaluators and placed in the dossier.
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 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 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.
6. Five representative items of scholarship, including a cover sheet, as one merged PDF file: These items will be sent to the external evaluators. It is preferable if these items reflect the candidate’s most important scholarship during the period under review. In-press articles are acceptable if page proofs can be provided. The cover sheet must list the five items with full citations and summarize in a brief paragraph the nature of each scholarly contribution and importance to the candidate’s field.
7. 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 is required annually, whether or not the department has any tenure-track faculty undergoing review this year.
8. Roster of Members of the Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee, as a PDF file. The Departmental Committee is required to include fixed-term faculty in the review of fixed-term promotion cases. Consult HR-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 tenure-track faculty undergoing review this year.

Submit the final dossier (one original paper version with signatures AND oan electronic PDF copy on USB drive) 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 HR-23/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 Fixed-Term Promotion Committee will convene to review candidates. Department Chairs will be notified of the meeting date and will be on “standby” to be called into the meeting for consultation if the Committee disagrees with the Chair’s recommendation for any case.

Submit the final dossier (one original paper copy with signatures) 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.