Letters to referees should include a brief description of the candidate's department and its mission. Letters should also specify a date for return of the evaluation. Candidates will not be shown external letters as part of the promotion and tenure process. During the Review Departmental review committees are responsible for reviewing all persons eligible for tenure and promotion and for writing a justification of their votes. Department chairs are responsible for conducting an independent review that corrects any errors in the evaluation that were caused by procedural problems within the committee.
Chairs write separate letters stating their own evaluations of the candidate.
The letter from the department chair should address the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. Negative letters should explain reasons and specify areas of weakness which justify the negative recommendation. Justification for each recommendation should be clearly and fully stated. Moreover, justifications should address the merits of each individual case and should not be mere summaries or restatements of external or committee assessments. The rehearing may not question the professional judgment of the review body.