III. THE STANDING FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
A. NEW APPOINTMENTS
- Authorization for Appointment
Prior approval of the Dean and the Provost must be obtained by department chair before formal searches for new positions are undertaken. This authorization will be for a specified period (generally between eighteen months and two years) but an extension may be granted if the Dean feels the department needs additional time to identify the best possible candidate.
- Search Procedures
All new appointments to the Standing Faculty and to the Research Faculty other than the exceptional case mentioned in the next paragraph require a formal search. The Chair should inform the SAS Affirmative Action Officer when positions are made available and furnish the officer with a copy of the advertisements announcing the position. The Chair must be prepared to document this search when completing the Faculty Equal Opportunity Compliance Statement. The search should include letters to departments in other institutions and should not rely solely on personal or telephone contacts. Disciplinary and professional associations, including committees and caucus groups, should be contacted, and their facilities for employee location and referral should be used. Search committees should include women and minority persons among their members if possible. Consideration of women and minority persons for a position for one departmental subfield cannot be used to satisfy the search requirements in another subfield. The percentage of women and minorities in the national candidate pool for the specific position available should be indicated (this information may be obtained from Kathy Fey in the Dean's Office). Questions concerning appropriate methods for setting up a search should be referred directly to the Affirmative Action Officer. Also refer to Section II.A. on page 2.
It is the normal practice of the Dean to require the participation of one or more faculty from other departments on tenure-level search committees. Please consult with your divisional associate dean regarding the composition of your search committees.
Only in rare and exceptional cases is it possible to make an appointment without a search. An exception may be made only when a department that does not have an open position learns unexpectedly that an eminent professor is available. A department may not use this provision to justify an appointment without a search if a position is authorized through normal procedures and there is time to conduct a search. Any exception to this policy must be requested by a chair in writing with an indication as to why a search had not been conducted.
- Letters of Recommendation from External Reviewers
Letters of recommendation for appointments to untenured faculty ranks (Assistant Professor and untenured Associate Professor) are normally procured by the department using whatever mechanisms are customary in that department. However, in the case of an appointment to a tenured rank (Professor or Associate Professor with tenure) evaluations must be solicited from a list of external reviewers that has been previously approved by the Dean and by the Provost (SAS Form 99-17). The department should nominate at least eight persons to serve as external reviewers. These reviewers should be persons selected for their national and international scholarly standing as well as for their knowledge and judgment of the field of the candidate. The names of the reviewers nominated by the department should not be made known to the candidate. The letter that requests the evaluation will be sent from the department, but must conform closely in spirit to the sample letter contained herein. The letter must request comparisons that are as quantitative as possible and must not "lead" the reviewer by suggesting, for example, that the department wishes to appoint the person being reviewed. It is contrary to University and School policy for a chair or other faculty to prompt reviewers in any fashion in addition to the sending of the approved letter. A samples of the suggested letter (SAS Form 99-18) is enclosed. The actual letter is to be reviewed by the appropriate Associate Dean before it is sent.
In addition to the external letters obtained as in the previous paragraph, candidates for appointment to a tenured rank must be asked to name up to three (3) persons to serve as external reviewers. Note that occasionally candidates will suggest the same individual as named by the department. This is perfectly acceptable; such a person should be listed separately on each list but should, of course, receive only one letter requesting an evaluation.
The Provost's Staff Conference requires six external letters in the dossier in addition to any written by reviewers nominated by the candidate. If fewer than six letters are received from reviewers proposed by the Department, the Department must ask for authorization of additional reviewers to ensure that the minimum of six letters is received.
Please review Section II.I on page 11 (Confidentiality of Employee Records).
- Dossier for Appointment
The dossier presented to the Dean should contain all of the following items in the order listed. The pages should be numbered consecutively. Page numbers are then entered on the table of contents on the cover sheet. Before the dossier is paginated, it is advisable that a copy be reviewed for technical details by the Dean's Office.
- Chair's Letter
The evaluation of the candidate by the department should be summarized by the Chair in a covering letter that indicates the candidate's present status and comments in detail on his or her promise and, if appropriate, his or her past record as a scholar and teacher. A statement of the academic program of the department and the candidate's relationship to it should be included, along with an estimate of the importance of the appointment of this candidate to other programs in SAS or in the University. The letter should indicate clearly what priority this appointment has within the department, and what competing priorities have been set aside to make this appointment. The candidate should be ranked (with specific comparisons) among several possibilities, including the two best candidates in the affirmative action pool.
The formal vote of the faculty on the candidate must be stated explicitly in the Chair's letter. Positive votes, negative votes, abstentions, and absences must all be included in this statement. No dossier will be considered by the Personnel Committee if it lacks an explicit statement of the formal vote. Minority opinion (including differences over the field selected if that is an issue apart from the selection of the candidate) should be expressed in writing, either in the Chair's letter or in a separate letter written by another faculty member selected by the Chair. Faculty members on leave or temporarily absent should be given an opportunity to express their views.
- Curriculum Vitae of the Candidate
The basic document for presentation of the candidate for appointment is a curriculum vitae (usually prepared by the candidate) which sets forth the essential facts concerning the candidate's educational background, teaching experience (including courses taught with number of students, dissertation supervision, and graduate student placement), scholarly activities and honors, public service and other relevant activities, research grant history, and a bibliography of published works. It is often useful, particularly with senior appointments, to have a brief synopsis of the candidate's career.
Candidates must provide inclusive pagination for all bibliographical citations in the curriculum vitae (exact page numbers for articles, number of pages for books and monographs). In addition, the Chair should annotate the curriculum vitae or append to it a statement that will enable readers of the dossier: (1) to distinguish the journals in which the candidate's work appears that are refereed from those that are not; and (2) to identify the writings that are primarily by the candidate in cases of multiple authorship. The Chair should identify the most significant scholarly journals in the field and indicate the protocol for the field with regard to the order of names on jointly authored works.
Include all professional reviews of books written by the candidate since his or her last review.
When a candidate for appointment has, had, or will have grant support from outside agencies, the Department should use SAS Forms 99-28, 99-29, and 99-30 to elaborate.
- Personal Statements
The candidate is encouraged to provide a personal statement(s) detailing research, teaching, and service approaches and goals. Typically, this statement-or these statements-greatly strengthen the understanding of the candidate in the various stages of review.
- Teaching Chronicle (SAS Form 99-15)
- Evaluation of teaching
Since candidates for new appointments to the faculty will come from varied previous institutions, there is no standard approach to teaching evaluation. In the case of a person who recently completed professional training, a summary by the Chair may be the only supporting material available, although any evidence from graduate student teaching should be included.
- Faculty Distribution by Rank (SAS Form 99-16)
The Dean's Office will check this summary of faculty in the department against its own records to ensure accuracy. (List Standing Faculty only.)
- Letters from University Faculty
Letters of evaluation of the candidate by the faculty of the recommending department must be submitted by the Chair as part of the proposal. Where the candidate's field overlaps with the specialties of members of other departments or schools in the University, letters from these members of the faculty should be included, too. The report of a departmental committee may be substituted for individual letters from department faculty.
- External Letters
- Non-tenured Appointments -- The dossier should contain at least three letters from individuals outside the University. These letters should include, if appropriate, letters from the Chair of the candidate's current department and the candidate's thesis advisor.
- Tenured Appointments -- The approved list of external reviewers and one sample of the Chair's standard letter requesting the reviews should precede any letters. Non-respondents should be noted. The letters from the approved list should be included in the order in which the names appear on this list. Other external letters may be included after those on the approved list. If these latter letters are to be given any weight whatever, some indication of the credentials of the reviewers and of the circumstances under which they appear should be included.
- In addition to the above listed items for the dossier, the department must also submit one copy each of Documentation of Affirmative Action Procedures (SAS Form 99-3) and Certification of English Language Fluency in the Classroom (SAS 99-6).
- Letter Offering Appointment
The Chair may only write offering an appointment to the candidate after receiving notification from the Dean's Office that the Department's recommendation has been reviewed by the SAS Personnel Committee and the Provost's Staff Conference and approved by the President and the Provost. Tentative correspondence sent prior to formal approval by all levels of the administration must clearly indicate the necessary formalities that must be observed before a formal offer can be made. Chairs should consult with their divisional associate dean when drafting formal and tentative offers. All formal and tentative offer letters must be reviewed in the Dean's office before being sent.
- Candidate's Letter of Acceptance
The candidate's formal letter of acceptance to the Chair must be received by the Dean before formal approval of the Trustees can be obtained.
- Notification of Appointment
After the Trustees have acted on the appointment, a formal notice of the appointment will be sent to the candidate by the Secretary of the University. Due to the schedule of the Trustees' meetings, this action often comes some time after the candidate has begun the term of his or her appointment.
- Dean's Letter of Appointment
The Dean's letter of appointment to the new faculty member states the title and the term of the appointment. If the appointment is for a definite term, the letter will contain the expected review dates for reappointment and the review processes. The letter will also state the general expectations that the School of Arts and Sciences has for its members.
- Appointment Prior to Receipt of the Ph.D.
If a candidate for appointment to the standing faculty has not received the Ph.D., or equivalent, and if the award of the degree is imminent ("all but degree" --ABD), the Provost's Staff Conference can give at most tentative approval of the appointment pending receipt of the degree. In such case, the candidate may be appointed to the faculty as a Lecturer C until the degree is awarded at which time the standing faculty appointment will be forwarded to the Provost, President, and Trustees for final action. If the degree is awarded in the July-December period, tenure probation begins the preceding July 1. If the degree is awarded in the January-June period, tenure probation begins the following July 1.
Extensions of ABD appointments beyond one year are extremely rare, requiring extenuating circumstances and approval of the Dean. Chairs should give written notice to each ABD candidate before the end of the first year--with a required signed acknowledgement--that the appointment will end at the end of the second year if the Ph.D. has not been awarded by that time.
- Appointment Prior to Receipt of Appropriate Visa
If a candidate for appointment to the standing faculty is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and has not received the appropriate visa, the Provost's Staff Conference can give at most tentative approval of the appointment pending receipt of the visa. In such case, the candidate may be appointed to the faculty as a Lecturer C until the visa is received at which time the standing faculty appointment will be forwarded to the Provost, President, and Trustees for final action.
- Appointment of Associate Professor without Tenure
Persons initially appointed to the rank of Associate Professor from outside the University may be given untenured appointments for terms of five years except that faculty appointed to the rank of Associate Professor who have not previously held faculty appointments at other institutions may elect a probationary period of seven years.