University of California / Academic Personnel Manual
APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION
Review and Appraisal Committees
210-0

APM - 210

PolicyIn their deliberations and preparations of reports and recommendations, academic
review and appraisal committees shall be guided by the policies and procedures set
forth in the respective Instructions which appear below.

210-1

Instructions to Review Committees Which Advise on Actions Concerning
Appointees in the Professor and Corresponding Series
The following instructions apply to review committees for actions concerning
appointees in the professor series and the professor in residence series; and, withappropriate modifications, for appointees in the adjunct professor series.

*****d.

Criteria for Appointment, Promotion, and Appraisal
The review committee shall judge the candidate with respect to the proposed
rank and duties, considering the record of the candidate’s performance in(1) teaching, (2) research and other creative work, (3) professional activity,and (4) University and public service. In evaluating the candidate’squalifications within these areas, the review committee shall exercise
reasonable flexibility, balancing when the case requires, heavier commitments
and responsibilities in one area against lighter commitments andresponsibilities in another. The review committee must judge whether thecandidate is engaging in a program of work that is both sound and productive.
As the University enters new fields of endeavor and refocuses its ongoing
activities, cases will arise in which the proper work of faculty members departs
markedly from established academic patterns. In such cases, the review
committees must take exceptional care to apply the criteria with sufficient
flexibility. However, flexibility does not entail a relaxation of high standards.
Superior intellectual attainment, as evidenced both in teaching and inresearch or other creative achievement, is an indispensable qualification forappointment or promotion to tenure positions. Insistence upon this standard
for holders of the professorship is necessary for maintenance of the quality of
the University as an institution dedicated to the discovery and transmission ofknowledge. Consideration should be given to changes inemphasis and interest
that may occur in an academic career. The candidate may submit for thereview file a presentation of his or her activity in all four areas.

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APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION
Review and Appraisal Committees

APM - 210

The University of California is committed to excellence and equity in every
facet of its mission. Teaching, research, professional and public service
contributions that promote diversity and equal opportunity are to be
encouraged and given recognition in the evaluation of the candidate’squalifications. These contributions to diversity and equal opportunity can takea variety of forms including efforts to advance equitable access to education,
public service that addresses the needs of California’s diverse population, or
research in a scholar’s area of expertise that highlights inequalities. Mentoring
and advising of students or new faculty members are to be encouraged andgiven recognition in the teaching or service categories of academic personnelactions.
The criteria set forth below are intended to serve as guides for minimum
standards in judging the candidate, not to set boundaries to exclude otherelements of performance that may be considered.
(1) Teaching — Clearly demonstrated evidence of high quality in teaching isan essential criterion for appointment, advancement, or promotion. Underno circumstances will a tenure commitment be made unless there is clear
documentation of ability and diligence in the teaching role. In judging theeffectiveness of a candidate’s teaching, the committee should consider
such points as the following: the candidate’s command of the subject;continuous growth in the subject field; ability to organize material and topresent it with force and logic; capacity to awaken in students anawareness of the relationship of the subject to other fields of knowledge;
fostering of student independence and capability to reason; spirit andenthusiasm which vitalize the candidate’s learning and teaching; ability toarouse curiosity in beginning students, to encourage high standards, and tostimulate advanced students to creative work; personal attributes as theyaffect teaching and students; extent and skill of the candidate’s
participation in the general guidance, mentoring, and advising of students;
effectiveness in creating an academic environment that is open andencouraging to all students, including development of particularly
effective strategies for the educational advancement of students in various
underrepresented groups. The committee should pay due attention to thevariety of demands placed on instructors by the types of teaching called
for in various disciplines and at various levels, and should judge the total
performance of the candidate with proper reference to assigned teaching
responsibilities. The committee should clearly indicate the sources ofevidence on which its appraisal of teaching competence has been based.
In those exceptional cases when no such evidence is available, thecandidate’s potentialities as a teacher may be indicated in closely
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APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION
Review and Appraisal Committees

APM - 210

committee should keep in mind that a redacted copy of its report may be
an important means of informing the candidate of the evaluation of his or
her teaching and of the basis for that evaluation.
It is the responsibility of the department chair to submit meaningfulstatements, accompanied by evidence, of the candidate’s teachingeffectiveness at lower-division, upper-division, and graduate levels ofinstruction. More than one kind of evidence shall accompany eachreview file. Among significant types of evidence of teachingeffectiveness are the following: (a) opinions of other faculty members
knowledgeable in the candidate’s field, particularly if based on classvisitations, on attendance at public lectures or lectures before professionalsocieties given by the candidate, or on the performance of students incourses taught by the candidate that are prerequisite to those of theinformant; (b) opinions of students; (c) opinions of graduates who haveachieved notable professional success since leaving the University;(d) number and caliber of students guided in research by the candidate andof those attracted to the campus by the candidate’s repute as a teacher; and(e) development of new and effective techniques of instruction, including
techniques that meet the needs of students from groups that areunderrepresented in the field of instruction.
All cases for advancement and promotion normally will include:(a) evaluations and comments solicited from students for most, if not all,courses taught since the candidate’s last review; (b) a quarter-by-quarteror semester-by-semester enumeration of the number and types of courses
and tutorials taught since the candidate’s last review; (c) their level;(d) their enrollments; (e) the percentage of students represented by
student course evaluations for each course; (f) brief explanations forabnormal course loads; (g) identification of any new courses taught or ofold courses when there was substantial reorganization of approach orcontent; (h) notice of any awards or formal mentions for distinguishedteaching; (i) when the faculty member under review wishes, a selfevaluation of his or her teaching; and (j) evaluation by other faculty
members of teaching effectiveness. When any of the information
specified in this paragraph is not provided, the department chair will
include an explanation for that omission in the candidate’s dossier. If
such information is not included with the letter of recommendation and its
absence is not adequately accounted for, it is the review committee
chair’s responsibility to request it through the Chancellor.

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APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION
Review and Appraisal Committees

APM - 210(2) Research and Creative Work — Evidence of a productive and creativemind should be sought in the candidate’s published research orrecognized artistic production in original architectural or engineering
designs, or the like.
Publications in research and other creative accomplishment should beevaluated, not merely enumerated. There should be evidence that thecandidate is continuously and effectively engaged in creative activity ofhigh quality and significance. Work in progress should be assessed
whenever possible. When published work in joint authorship (or otherproduct of joint effort) is presented as evidence, it is the responsibility ofthe department chair to establish as clearly as possible the role of thecandidate in the joint effort. It should be recognized that special cases ofcollaboration occur in the performing arts and that the contribution of aparticular collaborator may not be readily discernible by those viewing
the finished work. When the candidate is such a collaborator, it is theresponsibility of the department chair to make a separate evaluation of thecandidate’s contribution and to provide outside opinions based on
observation of the work while in progress. Account should be taken of
the type and quality of creative activity normally expected in thecandidate’s field. Appraisals of publications or other works in thescholarly and critical literature provide important testimony. Dueconsideration should be given to variations among fields and specialties
and to new genres and fields of inquiry.
Textbooks, reports, circulars, and similar publications normally areconsidered evidence of teaching ability or public service. However,contributions by faculty members to the professional literature or to theadvancement of professional practice or professional education, including
contributions to the advancement of equitable access and diversity ineducation, should be judged creative work when they present new ideas
or original scholarly research.
In certain fields such as art, architecture, dance, music, literature, anddrama, distinguished creation should receive consideration equivalent tothat accorded to distinction attained in research. In evaluating artistic
creativity, an attempt should be made to define the candidate’s merit in
the light of such criteria as originality, scope, richness, and depth ofcreative expression. It should be recognized that in music, drama, anddance, distinguished performance, including conducting and directing, isevidence of a candidate’s creativity.

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APPOINTMENT AND PROMOTION
Review and Appraisal Committees

APM - 210

(3) Professional Competence and Activity — In certain positions in theprofessional schools and colleges, such as architecture, businessadministration, dentistry, engineering, law, medicine, etc., a demonstrated
distinction in the special competencies appropriate to the field and itscharacteristic activities should be recognized as a criterion forappointment or promotion. The candidate’s professional activities should
be scrutinized for evidence of achievement and leadership in thefield andof demonstrated progressiveness in the development or utilization of new
approaches and techniques for the solution of professional problems,including those that specifically address the professional advancement ofindividuals in underrepresented groups in the candidate’s field. It is theresponsibility of the department chair to provide evidence that theposition in question is of the type described above and that the candidate
is qualified to fill it.
(4) University and Public Service — The faculty plays an important role in
the administration of the University and in the formulation of its policies.
Recognition should therefore be given to scholars who prove themselves
to be able administrators and who participate effectively andimaginatively in faculty government and the formulation of departmental,college, and University policies. Services by members of the faculty to
the community, State, and nation, both in their special capacities as
scholars and in areas beyond those special capacities when the work done
is at a sufficiently high level and of sufficiently high quality, should
likewise be recognized as evidence for promotion. Faculty service
activities related to the improvement of elementary and secondary
education represent one example of this kind of service. Similarly,
contributions to student welfare through service on student-facultycommittees and as advisers to student organizations should be recognized
as evidence, as should contributions furthering diversity and equal
opportunity within the University through participation in such activities
as recruitment, retention, and mentoring of scholars and students.
The Standing Orders of The Regents provide: “No political test shall ever beconsidered in the appointment and promotion of any faculty member oremployee.” This provision is pertinent to every stage in the process ofconsidering appointments and promotions of the faculty.

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