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Bylaws: A Committee on
Tenure and Promotion, consisting of six tenured members of this
Faculty elected by the entire voting Faculty, and the Provost, without vote.
At all times, the Committee membership shall include at least two members
from the faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences and one member of the
faculty from the School of Engineering. No more than one member of a single
department may be a member of this Committee at any one time.
The Committee shall elect its own chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary.
In the event that an individual being considered is a member of the same
department as the chairman of the Committee, the vice-chairman shall serve
as chairman.
This Committee shall review the qualifications of all individuals who are
proposed for consideration for a tenured position or who are proposed for
promotion above the rank of assistant professor, or who request such
consideration. It shall requisition and consider all evidence that has a
bearing on the individual under consideration. This shall include a
departmental statement, and a privately submitted evaluation and
recommendation to the chairman of the Committee on Tenure and Promotion from
each tenured member of the candidate's department(s); non-tenured members
are invited to submit evaluations and recommendations but are not required
to do so. After review of the confidential letters by the Committee on
Tenure and Promotion, the Committee will forward these letters along with
the rest of the candidate's dossier to the Administration, unless the case
is tabled. Confidential letters will be kept secure by the Secretary of the
Faculty for three years from the date of official action by the Board of
Trustees on the candidate's application, at which time the letters will be
destroyed, unless the Administration has been legally enjoined from doing
so.
The departmental statement shall reflect the full range of opinion of
department members who vote on the application, record the numerical vote,
and be signed by all voting members. When department members cannot agree on
a single statement, a signed minority statement shall be submitted. The
statement(s), including a list of members who voted, shall be made available
to the candidate who has the option to submit a timely written response to
the department statement. When pertinent, the views of colleagues, both
tenured and non-tenured, in other departments, and of individuals from
outside the University shall be obtained. The Committee may ask any of the
above persons, or the candidate himself/herself, to appear in person. Each
department will maintain records of student opinion of faculty members, from
which information about a candidate will be made available to the Committee
when appropriate.
For candidates who already hold tenured positions at comparable
institutions, and whose appointment at Tufts does not involve a promotion in
rank, the full Committee may, upon request from the department and the
appropriate Dean, review the case without the formation of a Subcommittee.
In all other cases, or if after reviewing the case the Committee feels a
full review is necessary, a Subcommittee shall be constituted and meet as
described below.
The Committee on Tenure and Promotion shall create a Subcommittee for
each candidate under consideration. Each Subcommittee shall consist of: (a)
two members of the Committee on Tenure and Promotion, one of whom shall
serve as chairman; (b) two members of the department(s) concerned, elected
by the tenured member(s) of the department; and (c) one member selected by
the tenured members of the department(s) concerned, from a department in a
related field, or from outside the University, from the same discipline.
Members of the Subcommittee shall review and meet to discuss all the
evidence presented in a candidate's case. At the request of any single
member of the Subcommittee, the Subcommittee shall meet with all of the
voting members of the Committee on Tenure and Promotion for further
deliberations. Such request may be expressed prior to the Subcommittee
meeting, in which case the larger meeting may take place immediately
following the Subcommittee meeting (for the convenience of the outside
expert). Such request may also be expressed at the conclusion of the
Subcommittee meeting, in which case the larger meeting may have to take
place on a later date. Following the Subcommittee meeting, and, if
requested, the larger meeting with all voting members of the Committee on
Tenure and Promotion also present, the Subcommittee Chair will prepare a
written report that reflects the discussions and findings of these meetings;
this report shall be signed by all members of the Subcommittee and shall
become a permanent part of the case that goes forward to the Committee on
Tenure and Promotion and to the Administration, unless the case is tabled.
In no case shall the subcommittee vote on the qualifications of the
candidate.
The Committee on Tenure and Promotion shall review and deliberate on all
the available evidence in the case. The Committee on Tenure and Promotion
shall (a) vote on the merits of each case, and it shall submit a written
report of its findings for each case, including a record of the vote, to the
appropriate Dean; or (b) vote to table the case and report the vote to table
to the appropriate Dean.
The deliberations of the Committee shall be considered confidential;
however, the Committee's final division on the vote shall be conveyed to the
candidate and his/her chair by the chair of the Committee at the time such
information is transmitted to the appropriate Dean. The Committee's
procedures shall ensure that the candidate is made aware of the names of all
proposed referees, subcommittee members, and consultants, and of authors of
all unsolicited communications regarding the candidate, in sufficient time
to permit written objections and/or alternative suggestions to be considered
prior to relevant actions. Confidentiality of communications received by or
on behalf of the Tenure and Promotion Committee shall be honored to the
fullest extent permitted by law.
The Committee shall also, in consultation with the Provost and the Deans
of the Associated Schools, prepare and review periodically the general
criteria for tenure and promotion. These shall be made available in writing
to this Faculty.
Nomination and election of members of this Committee shall take place in
accordance with the provisions of these Bylaws. With the exception of the
Grievance Panel, membership on this Committee shall not preclude membership
on any other committee of this Faculty. A member shall serve for three
years; with the exception of the first election, one- third of the members
shall be elected each year. |