Please explain the process used in evaluating scholarship. We need to demonstrate exactly how evaluative conclusions have been reached in every case. Because candidates need to know the basis for decisions about promotion and tenure from the outset, I repeat the request from past years that departmental standards and criteria be made explicit to new faculty. Criteria should not be inflexible, but candidates should understand the importance of teaching, scholarship, and service, as interpreted by the department, and should be aware of the standards to be applied. Please consider assigning experienced faculty members to serve as mentors to new tenure track appointees.
Mentors can convey institutional standards more effectively than any written prescriptions can.
Please call this office if there are questions or if any part of the instructions needs to be clarified. As much as possible, I try to delegate questions about promotion and tenure policies and procedures, once I have sent out the guidelines and the season has begun, as I must subsequently sit in judgment and do not want to preview issues that pertain to particular cases. Administrative matters will be addressed by Leigh Anne Melanson or Jim Varn. Thanks for your attention to the enclosed guidelines.