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Standards and Procedures for Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion

Department of Government

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The department seeks to tenure and promote outstanding teacher-scholars who are active members of the departmental and college communities. We will give roughly equal weight to performance in teaching and scholarship, and lesser weight to community and professional service. Inadequacy in either teaching or scholarship cannot be offset by strength in the other two categories.

Process for Evaluation Prior to Re-appointment and Tenure
The department chair has primary responsibility for advising tenure-track faculty as they work toward re-appointment and tenure. This will be done formally through the chair's evaluation of tenure-track faculty members' annual reports each year, which will be shared with all tenured members of the department. Through this process, the chair will review not only tenure-track faculty members' annual reports, but also their syllabi and research material. To evaluate teaching, each tenured faculty member will observe at least one of the non-tenured faculty's class sessions during each probationary period, and write a brief report to the chair, copies of which will be put in the faculty member's file and given to him/her. Tenure-track faculty should work with the chair in arranging the classroom visits each semester.


Standards for Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

Teaching: Assessment of the quality of teaching will be based on student evaluations of teaching, both in course evaluation forms and student letters in the tenure file; direct observation of classroom teaching; evidence of high expectations and standards for students; our own and external reviewers' assessment of teaching material; and ability to teach a variety of courses. The department expects student evaluations to be reasonably near college and departmental norms. In assessing student satisfaction, the department will take into account the nature and size of courses taught. The department expects all members to be willing and able to teach courses at all levels of our curriculum.

Scholarship: Candidates for tenure must have established themselves as recognized and respected scholars in their sub-field within the discipline. Scholarship will be judged on the basis of quality, trajectory and quantity. Assessment of quality will be based on publication venue, internal reading of scholarly work, and especially reports from external reviewers. Books and articles in refereed journals will receive the greatest weight, followed in descending order of importance by articles in anthologies, articles in non-refereed journals, articles submitted to journals (especially those receiving "revise and resubmit"), other kinds of publications such as book review essays and book reviews, and conference papers. Trajectory involves substantial progress on a research project beyond the dissertation, evidenced by conference papers, book chapters, or publications. Successful candidates ordinarily will have had a book accepted for publication and several scholarly articles at the time of tenure. Some candidates might choose to publish a larger set of articles in well-respected journals instead of a book.

Service: The department expects candidates for tenure to serve the department and college in modest roles beyond their teaching and scholarship. Most appropriate is service within the department itself, though limited service to the college as a whole is also encouraged. We especially value service that directly benefits our students' learning beyond the classroom, such as bringing speakers to campus and advising relevant student groups such as the Model UN. We also value moderate professional service, such as organizing panels or small conferences, or taking on organizational tasks in national or regional professional associations. We endeavor not to overburden junior faculty with service, but expect them to be willing to take on moderate obligations when the opportunity arises.


Standards for Re-appointment prior to Tenure

Candidates for re-appointment prior to tenure should demonstrate clear evidence of progress toward the standards outlined above for tenure. For scholarship, this could include one or more publications, several conference papers, articles submitted to journals, or substantial parts of a book manuscript. For teaching, student evaluations should be near departmental and college averages, or should show substantial progress toward that goal. For service, candidates should have shown a willingness to serve in modest roles when asked.


Standards for Promotion to Professor

Candidates for promotion to Professor should demonstrate sustained achievement in scholarship, teaching and service. The department will look for the same kinds of evidence for this that is outlined above for tenure. For scholarship, candidates should complete the second major research project via a number of significant publications, and indicate the direction of future research projects. For teaching, student evaluations and letters should be at least comparable to those at the time of tenure. For service, candidates should demonstrate greater willingness to undertake more significant service obligations than prior to tenure, as these services are essential to the smooth functioning of the department, college, and profession.

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