A resolution advocating the need for more thorough faculty evaluations of tenure candidates received unanimous support from the Faculty Senate at its meeting Friday.
The resolution came after a few members of the faculty were unexpectedly denied tenure status recently. Problems such as lack of specificity of tenure criteria at the department level and of timely feedback from faculty were cited as possible reasons for the tenure policy confusion.
Donald Lehman, executive vice president for Academic Affairs, said faculty members must understand tenure expectations from the moment of hire.
"When somebody is hired here ... it is very clearly spelled out what the expectations are," Lehman said.
Lehman said faculty members generally concentrate on teaching, scholarship and University service, and tenure candidates should know from the beginning where the emphasis in their work should lie.
Lehman said "ambiguous," and "bland" evaluations by department chairs in annual reports of faculty members has contributed to faculty confusion. He emphasized the importance of critical and thorough reports to better enable faculty to correct possible problems.
Lehman said of department chairs, "You have a responsibility you have to deliver on it."
About 25 candidates are reviewed for tenure each year, which, if attained, means the professors can work at the University indefinitely. Faculty members are hired for a three-year period, after which the University can keep the professor for an additional three years. After six years, a professor is eligible to undergo tenure review.
On average only one negative decision results, Lehman said.
Non-concurrence, or denial of tenure, occurs when a department's dean cites "compelling" reasons why a candidate's tenure should be denied.
Faculty members are judged on criteria including teaching ability and contribution to their field of service to the University. Professors can be denied tenure because of University financial constraints or program constraints, among other factors, according to a 1993 Faculty Senate memorandum.
The resolution came after a few members of the faculty were unexpectedly denied tenure status recently. Problems such as lack of specificity of tenure criteria at the department level and of timely feedback from faculty were cited as possible reasons for the tenure policy confusion.
Donald Lehman, executive vice president for Academic Affairs, said faculty members must understand tenure expectations from the moment of hire.
"When somebody is hired here ... it is very clearly spelled out what the expectations are," Lehman said.
Lehman said faculty members generally concentrate on teaching, scholarship and University service, and tenure candidates should know from the beginning where the emphasis in their work should lie.
Lehman said "ambiguous," and "bland" evaluations by department chairs in annual reports of faculty members has contributed to faculty confusion. He emphasized the importance of critical and thorough reports to better enable faculty to correct possible problems.
Lehman said of department chairs, "You have a responsibility you have to deliver on it."
About 25 candidates are reviewed for tenure each year, which, if attained, means the professors can work at the University indefinitely. Faculty members are hired for a three-year period, after which the University can keep the professor for an additional three years. After six years, a professor is eligible to undergo tenure review.
On average only one negative decision results, Lehman said.
Non-concurrence, or denial of tenure, occurs when a department's dean cites "compelling" reasons why a candidate's tenure should be denied.
Faculty members are judged on criteria including teaching ability and contribution to their field of service to the University. Professors can be denied tenure because of University financial constraints or program constraints, among other factors, according to a 1993 Faculty Senate memorandum.
