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When submitting to the Provost’s Office a recommendation for promotion or the granting of tenure or merit salary increase, the dean of the school or college or chancellor of UW Bothell or UW Tacoma is requested to present a detailed documentation of the recommendation. The primary data would originate from the academic unit. Faculty and chairs or program directors are directed to give careful attention to all phases of the candidate’s service to the school, college, or campus, and the University. Characteristic types of contributions to the University are described in the following sections:
1. Teaching
An essential qualification for the granting of tenure or for promotion is the ability to teach effectively. Some elements in assessing effective teaching are: the ability to organize and conduct a course appropriate to the level of instruction and the nature of the subject matter; the consistency with which the faculty member brings to the classroom the latest research findings and professional debates within the discipline; the ability to stimulate intellectual inquiry so that students develop the skills to examine and evaluate ideas and arguments; the extent to which the faculty member encourages discussion and debate within the course to enable students to articulate the ideas they are exploring; the availability of the faculty member to the students beyond the classroom environment; the regularity with which the faculty member examines or re-examines the organization and readings for a course and explores new approaches to effective educational methods. A major activity related to teaching is the faculty member’s ability to participate in academic advising and counseling, whether this takes the form of assisting students to select courses or discussing the students’ long-range goals. The faculty member’s concern for the progress and well being of the students is an inseparable adjunct to the classroom.
2. Research
All members of the faculties must demonstrate scholarly ability and attainments. Their qualifications are to be evaluated on the quality of their published and other creative work, the range and variety of their intellectual interests, their success in achieving an appropriate level of independence and/or collaboration, their success as appropriate in securing external support, their success in training graduate and professional students in scholarly methods, their participation and leadership in professional associations and in the editing of professional journals, and their potential for continued success in scholarly attainments. Attainment may be in the realm of scholarly investigation, in the realm of constructive contributions in professional fields, or in the realm of the creative arts.
3. Service
The scope of the University’s activities makes it necessary for members of the faculty to engage in many activities outside of the fields of teaching and research. These may include participation in University committee work and other administrative tasks, clinical duties, and special training programs. The University recognizes the value of its faculty in rendering these internal services as well as extramural professional services to schools, to industry, and to local, state, national, and international organizations.
4. Other Considerations
In arriving at recommendations for promotion or tenure, faculty and chairs or program directors are directed to study the whole record of candidates. To warrant recommendation for the granting of tenure or for promotion in the professorial ranks, a candidate must have shown outstanding ability in teaching or research, an ability of such an order as to command obvious respect from colleagues and from professionals at other universities; and substantial contribution in other phases. The qualifications of teaching and research must remain unequivocally the central functions of the faculty, but administrative and other internal and extramural professional services must also be recognized.
The factors with reference to the granting of tenure or for promotion thus far mentioned have to do with the qualifications of the candidate as an individual and may be regarded as the intrinsic factors. Consideration must also be given to the way in which the candidate will fit into the present and foreseeable future of the academic unit. Does there appear to be a place for a candidate with these special interests? Will a given candidate help to bring the academic unit into balance or throw it out of balance? Does a given candidate demonstrate high standards of professional integrity and conduct, and a commitment to the sharing of academic and administrative duties sufficient to contribute to the achievement of the academic unit’s goals? It does happen that individuals whose performance would otherwise warrant the granting of tenure should not, and cannot, become tenured here because the special nature of faculty requirements in the academic unit makes it impractical.
Formerly University Memorandum No. 70, June 15, 1964; Executive Order No. 45 of the President, June 1, 1972; March 21, 1978; April 20, 1979; RC, July 5, 2011; July 3, 2013.
For related information, see:
- Executive Order No. 59, “Excess Compensation to Faculty”
- Executive Order No. 64, “Faculty Salary Policy”
- Faculty Code, Chapter 24, “Appointment and Promotion of Faculty Members”
- Administrative Policy Statement 41.1, “Salary Payments and Employment Periods for Academic Personnel”