DEPARTMENT RESOURCES

POLICY FOR PROMOTION AND TENURE

(adopted 3/20/2006)

All decisions about promotion and tenure are to be based on evaluations of teaching, scholarship and service.  All three are important, but service is less critical.  Candidates’ teaching and scholarship must both be of high quality.  The department will conform to the following guidelines in making the evaluations relevant to promotion and tenure.

I.          Decisions About Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

A.        Teaching

Candidates’ teaching must be of high quality, and likely to remain so. 

1.         Teaching performance will be evaluated, in part, on the basis of the following:

--Peer evaluations, conducted according to the Peer Evaluation Policy (IA3)

--Candidates’ own assessment of their success in teaching

--Quality of instruction as evidenced by course materials such as syllabi and handouts

--Student evaluations

--Student advising:  candidates should advise both first year students and philosophy majors

--Grade distributions, demonstrating the absence of grade inflation

2.         Teaching quality may be further substantiated by teaching awards.

3.         Peer Evaluation Policy for Probationary Faculty (adopted 9/7/2005)

During the probationary period, in the semester prior to each formal review and the first informal review, each tenured member of the department will sit in on one or more classes offered by probationary faculty members, and on additional classes upon request by the latter, on dates that are mutually convenient.  The visits will be followed by a constructive discussion in which visiting faculty help probationary faculty develop as teachers.  Visitors will also write a brief assessment, to be sent to the department chair, who will summarize these assessments and provide a copy of the summary to the probationary faculty member.  These written reports will serve as one of the tools by which the department evaluates probationary faculty members’ teaching effectiveness. 

B.         Scholarship

Candidates’ scholarship must be of high quality, and likely to remain so.

1.         Scholarship will be assessed on the basis of items such as the following (these items are not listed in order of importance):

--Contributions to edited volumes or journals

--Dictionary and encyclopedia entries

--Edited collections of scholarly essays

--Papers and commentaries delivered at professional meetings and conferences

--Published book reviews

--Published peer-reviewed monographs

--Published peer-reviewed journal articles

--Textbooks

--Translations

2.         In assessing scholarship, the department will also consider the following materials:

--Candidates’ statement of their research program and goals

--Peer evaluations of the quality of candidates’ work

--Evaluations from external referees selected by the department in accordance with the External Referee Selection Policy (IB4)

3.         Scholarly excellence may be further substantiated by the following:

--The scholarly reputations of the publishers of work, and their acceptance rates

--The fact that work is peer reviewed prior to publication

--The fact that a candidate’s work is a single-author piece rather than an edited work

--The fact that a publication or presentation is invited

--The fact that a candidate is asked to review for journals and publishers

--Awards

4.         External Referee Selection Policy

Early in the spring semester before the tenure or promotion review, the candidate and the tenured members of the department will independently draw up lists of four possible external reviewers and document their credentials.  The tenured faculty will then select four outside referees along with two alternatives.

C.                 Service

Candidates must establish a record of responsible service.  Candidates’ service to the department, the university, the profession, and the community will be evaluated.  Service includes such activities as the following:

--Service on university, regional, or national committees, especially in leadership roles

--Refereeing manuscripts for scholarly journals and publishers

--Involvement in functions of interest to the university community, such as cultural events, symposia, and visiting speaker presentations

--Involvement in university functions for students and prospective students, such as convocations and Trinity in Focus

--Involvement in interdisciplinary programs of the university

--Involvement in and initiation of departmental programs, such as departmental speaker events and the philosophy club

--Participation in departmental self-governance

II.         Decisions About Promotion to Professor

To be promoted to full professor, candidates must have a prolonged record of responsible service, and a sustained record of excellence in teaching and scholarship.  In evaluating candidates’ teaching, scholarship and service, the department will conform to the guidelines set out in Section I above, except that peer evaluations of teaching will follow the policy set out below. 

Peer Evaluation Policy for Promotion to Professor

During one of the two semesters before candidates are to be considered for promotion, each tenured member of the department will sit in on one or more classes offered by the candidates, and on additional classes upon request by the latter, on dates that are mutually convenient.  Visitors will write a brief assessment, to be sent to the department chair, who will summarize these assessments and provide a copy of the summary to the candidates.  These written reports will serve as one of the tools by which the department evaluates candidates’ teaching effectiveness.

(Return to the Trinity University Philosophy Department Home Page)