These procedures are conceived as a guide to the department for the attainment of collective judgements on matters related to the evaluation of faculty and other teaching and research staff. It is clear and agreed as a premise that the faculty must make judgements, based on as much factual and pertinent information as is practically available, first as individuals and then as a body, on these matters. It is also clear and agreed that all details of this judgement process cannot be specified both because there may be legitimate variations in the way individuals make judgements and because it is impossible to anticipate all matters that may come before the faculty.
Evaluations and recommendations regarding promotion, tenure and termination are made by the Promotion and Tenure Committee. This committee is comprised of the tenure-track faculty of the department. Evaluations and recommendations regarding salary increases and doctoral directive status are made by the Faculty Evaluation Committee. This committee is elected by the department and functions in an advisory capacity to the chairperson. Evaluations are based on criteria and evidence as to degree of satisfaction of these criteria, relative to the mission of the University and the Department and the duties assigned the person being evaluated. The basic document containing evidence upon which an individual is to be judged is called the individual's Faculty Evaluation Committee Folder. This folder should contain minimally a current Curriculum Vitae and student, peer, and administrative evaluation data from the last three years if available, but may contain or reference many other items. It is the individual's responsibility and right to keep the contents of the folder up to date.
The primary distinction between an evaluation for promotion or tenure consideration and merit salary increase recommendation is the length of time of service to be considered in the evaluation. As a general guideline, evaluations for promotion or tenure cover the lifetime contributions of an individual while evaluations for merit salary increases cover recent contributions and current level of activity. The same criteria apply in either of these cases. Exact time spans for these evaluations are not specified. The department places its trust in its elected representatives on the Faculty Evaluation Committee and in the members of the Promotion and Tenure Committee to apply general principles in an equitable, appropriate, unbiased manner.
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