1-4 OOI Nominations to Tenure and the Tenure Review Process
Policy
From the CU Faculty Handbook:
“Appointments to tenure are made in the grades of Professor and Associate Professor following the process of peer review.”
“Criteria for an appointment to tenure is made when an individual of widely recognized excellence is found to fill a scholarly need that is demonstrably vital to a discipline central to the University purposes.”
Tenure can be proposed for existing officers of instruction on the tenure track or it can be offered to a new recruit.
Officers of instruction on the tenure track can be reviewed at any time prior or at their 7th year (Research faculty) or 10th year (Clinical Faculty) of service. The tenure appointment must be approved by May 31st of the 7th or 10th year of service. Appointments to tenure are effective January 1 or July 1.
Requirements and Workflows – choose the relevant portion of the timeline
MARCH-APRIL
Requirements
Department submits the following to OFA by April 15th:
- Names of officers of instruction whom they intend to nominate to tenure and candidates who are scheduled for a tenure review during the next academic year
Workflow
- Department submits their list and, for each candidate, a two- to three-paragraph field description summarizing the candidate’s research field and work.
- OFA reviews the list and sends the field description to the Office of the Provost.
- OFA reminds the department that they must finalize their tenure candidates and submit documents to the SVP by May 15th.
MAY
Requirements
Department submits the following documents to the SVP by May 15th:
- Officer’s CV in COAP format
- Candidate field description (two- to three-paragraph description of the candidate’s field of research/interest)
- Candidate’s statement of research, teaching, and service activities
- List of referees and comparison scholars (list should include the academic title and contact information of each referee)
- One copy of five papers judged by the candidate and the department to be the most important/influential work of their career
Workflow
- The department finalizes their list of tenure candidates and sends their requests to OFA by May 15th, including the required documentation for each candidate.
- For each candidate, OFA forwards to the Office of the Provost the officer’s CV and candidate’s field description, which are given to the Tenure Review Advisory Committee (TRAC) in order to prepare for their review process.
MAY-JUNE ONGOING
Workflow
- For each candidate, OFA forwards to the Office of the Provost the officer's CV and candidate's field description, which are given to the Tenure Review Advisory Committee (TRAC) in order to prepare for their review process.
- The SVP reviews the documentation for each candidate and sends requests for references to each person on the referee list.
- When referee letters are returned to the SVP, the SVP's office sends the department a copy of each letter for the candidate; additionally, the SVP's office sends the department responses from reviewers if they have declined the invitation.
JUNE-OCTOBER
Requirements
The department works on the remaining sections of the tenure dossier and presents tenure candidates to their departmental COAP for approval (based on the rules/procedures of the candidate’s individual departmental COAP).
The Department is responsible for submitting the following sections of the tenure dossier (see the current year’s CU Tenure Guidelines):
- Candidate’s Curriculum Vitae (Section 3)
- School COAP Approval Letter and Report: SON, CDM, and Mailman only (Section 4)
- Case Statement (Section 5)
- Nominee’s Statement of Research and Teaching (Section 6)
- Supplemental Materials (Section 7)
- Referee documentation, which includes the Annotated Referee and Comparison Scholar List and all referee responses (list should include the academic title, contact information, and brief annotation of each referee which explains their research and the referee’s standing in the field) (Section 8)
- Witness (Section 9)
- (If applicable) Any materials collected for any previous review for tenure (Section 10)
The Office of Faculty Affairs is responsible for the following sections of the tenure dossier:
- Dossier Coversheet (Section 1) signed by the Dean
- Table of Contents (Section 2)
- Reports (Section 4)- Report of the CUIMC COAP
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER
Requirements
- Department submits the complete dossier to OFA, allowing for at least 2-4 weeks between submission of dossier to OFA and COAP review.
Workflow
- The OFA Representative reviews the dossier for accuracy and completeness.
- If any changes or revisions are needed to the tenure dossier, the OFA Representative works with the department to address any revisions and the department submits changes to the dossier as needed.
- The OFA Representative contacts the department chair or School dean (if applicable) to schedule the presentation of the CUIMC COAP
- Once the CUIMC COAP presentation is scheduled, the OFA Representative forwards the agenda to the CUIMC COAP members and uploads the dossier to CourseWorks for their review.
- The OFA Representative sends reminder notices to the school dean and/or chair or designee regarding the presentation(s).
- The dean, chair, and/or designee presents the candidate to the CUIMC COAP.
- When the chair has completed the brief presentation and leaves, the committee votes.
- If the candidate is approved by the CUIMC COAP, the OFA Representative prepares the tenure dossier for Dean’s approval.
- Once approved by the Dean, OFA forwards the dossier to TRAC for their review.
JANUARY-MAY (TRAC REVIEW)
Workflow
- TRAC reviews the completed dossier.
- If approved by TRAC during first review, the Office of the Provost conducts the final review and approves the tenure nomination.
- If not approved during first review, the chair is invited to TRAC to speak on the candidate’s behalf.
- If approved during second review, the OFA Representative forwards the tenure nomination to the Office of the Provost for final review and approval.
When approved by TRAC
Requirements
Department submits the following:
- Upon TRAC approval, a PAF with effective date of tenure appointment and reflecting action/reason codes DTA/TTL and DTA/Complete University title, and with the tenure status code changed to “1” Tenure
Workflow
- Upon TRAC approval, the OFA Representative sends the officer’s CV to the Office of the Provost for Trustees’ review and approval.
- If the Trustees approve the appointment to tenure, the Office of the Provost forwards to OFA the monthly Trustees Report with the resolution approving the appointment to tenure.
- OFA notifies the school and department chair.
- The department submits a PAF for the tenure appointment
- The OFA Representative reviews the PAF for completeness and accuracy.
- OFA approves and submits the PAF and supporting documentation to CUIMC Payroll.
When NOT approved by TRAC
Workflow
- If not approved by TRAC, the Office of the Provost notifies the Dean, SVP, dean of school (if applicable), and/or department chair of the decision.
- The department either switches the officer to the non-tenure track title of (“at CUMC”) or issues a letter of nonrenewal to the officer by May 31st (13-month notice of nonrenewal).
Resources
CU Action and Reason Codes for Personnel Transactions