selected with approval of the Department Chair. If the faculty member is the Department Chair, consultation regarding peer reviewers will take place with the Dean. The Dean may not be a reviewer. Peer review consists of an examination of course syllabi, selected materials, and classroom observations for knowledge, accuracy, appropriateness and command of content, planning and organization, use of teaching strategies that create a learning environment, clarity and effectiveness of communication. In a written report, the reviewer will also identify the faculty member’s strengths and areas for continuing development. During the year prior to submission of the application for promotion, the three-peer panel review substitutes for the individual peer review. iii. The faculty candidate’s teaching shall be reviewed by three peer reviewers in the academic year prior to the academic year in which the faculty member will be a candidate for promotion to Associate Professor. The candidate shall select the first reviewer. If the person selected by the candidate declines to be a reviewer, the candidate shall make another selection. The departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee shall select the second reviewer. The Dean shall select the third reviewer. The Dean may not be a reviewer. Reviewers shall be selected from among the tenured faculty in the School of Law. In special circumstances, with approval of the Chair of the departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee and the Dean, the faculty candidate may select a tenured faculty member from elsewhere in the University or from outside the University. Before visiting a class session, the reviewer should meet with the faculty candidate to discuss the syllabus, text, and general philosophy of what the faculty candidate is trying to accomplish in the course, as well as the goals of the specific class session to be observed. After visiting the class session, the reviewer should meet again with the faculty candidate to briefly discuss the class session. The criteria for the peer review are those set forth in “Promotion and Tenure: Specific Standards for the Law School,” Section Based on these criteria, the faculty reviewers shall write a joint report which reflects the observations each of them has made and which becomes part of the candidate’s portfolio. A copy of the peer review report shall be provided to the faculty candidate, who may file a written response that will be included in the candidate’s portfolio. Copies of any response must be sent to
draft report and vote on the candidate’s application for promotion to associate professor or for tenure. The draft report may be revised by the Committee before approval by a majority. Faculty members who have not reviewed the candidate’s portfolio shall not vote on that candidate’s promotion or tenure. The decision on promotion or tenure may be recorded in a secret ballot. The Committee Chair will immediately count the votes and communicate the results to the Committee. If the departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee votes against recommending promotion or tenure, the report should include, at a minimum, the specific criteria the Committee believes the candidate has not met. If there are minority views with respect to the candidate’s fitness for promotion or tenure, these must be reflected in the report, either by acknowledgement in the main report that summarizes those minority views or, at the option of the minority, by a dissenting minority opinion that is attached to the main report. No separate statement of views, by either faculty in the majority or in the minority, may be submitted separate from the committee report. The report must include the vote tally and be signed by the Committee Chair. When the report has been approved by the departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee, one copy is sent to the candidate and another copy is placed in the candidate’s portfolio. The departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee’s deliberations shall be confidential. (The Dean may attend the departmental Promotion and Tenure meeting as an observer but may not participate in the discussion or vote.) November 1 to November 30 Access to the Blackboard site is not available to the candidate or the departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee. December 1 to January 15 Dean’s Recommendation on Candidate for Tenure. By January 15, the Dean shall write a report and recommendation on the candidate for tenure and shall provide a copy to the candidate. The Dean shall forward to the Executive Vice President and Provost the following: the candidate’s portfolio, the Dean’s report and recommendation, the Promotion and Tenure Committee’s report and recommendation, and the vote of the tenured faculty in the Department. January 16 to February 28 University’s Promotion and Tenure Committee’s Recommendation and President’s Decision on Candidate for Tenure. Access to the Blackboard site is not available to the candidate, departmental Tenure and Promotion Committee, and the Dean. Members of the University’s Tenure and Promotion Committee have access to the candidate’s