Contract Renewal, Continuing Appointment, and Promotion – Teaching Faculty (Pre-Fall 2022)

Policy Statement

Normally, teaching faculty must serve seven years before achieving tenure (referred to as "continuing appointment" in the Board of Trustees policies and the collective bargaining agreement with UUP, the "Agreement"). Initial appointments are usually for two years, and subsequent appointments of one or two years may be made depending upon the decision of SUNY Oneonta.

It is possible to be considered for promotion simultaneously with the request for tenure. The promotion will not be automatic with the granting of continuing appointment but will be decided on a case by case basis. Faculty who wish to be considered for promotion at the time of tenure must follow the standing procedure for seeking promotion.

The criteria for promotion of teaching faculty are found in Article XII(B) of the Policies of the Board of Trustees. Promotion to the rank of Associate Professor or Professor requires that the individual serve at least three years in the lower rank, as appropriate. Timelines for notification of non-renewal decision are located in Article 32 of the Agreement.

Applicability of the Policy

A new faculty member who has prior service at another SUNY institution is automatically credited with up to three years service, assuming the faculty member has indicated such service on the appropriate form. A faculty member who has prior service at a non-SUNY institution of higher education may petition for up to three years prior service, to be granted at the discretion of SUNY Oneonta.

Policy Elaboration

Deadlines for submitting materials for consideration for reappointment and/or continuing appointment vary, based upon such factors as length of appointment and leaves taken. In February and October of each year, the Office of Human Resources provides each department chair/program director with a "Retention and Permanency List". This list provides dates by which individual faculty must be notified of continuation. Those dates are available to individual faculty members through the Department Chair or the Office of Human Resources, Netzer 208.

Additionally, the Administrative Calendar for Academic Affairs, distributed to department chairs by the Provost prior to the beginning of the academic year, lists specific deadlines for the following:

  • Department recommendations and files due in the Dean’s Office
  • Division Advisory Council recommendations due in Dean’s Office
  • Dean’s recommendations due to the Provost
  • Provost’s recommendations due to the President
  • President’s decisions due

Procedures

Candidates are individually responsible for the preparation and timely submission of personnel review files for matters of Term Contract Renewal, Continuing Appointment, and Promotion. Departments should provide: a) a mentor for the candidate who will provide assistance and guidance in the preparation of the dossier and b) the deans with the assurance that the personnel review files accurately reflect the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. Minimum requirements for each type of review follow in this document. Additional items may be included as determined by the candidate, or required by the Department, Chair, Dean, Division Advisory Council, or campus-wide Promotion and Tenure Committee.

The quality and presentation of materials is an important factor. In general:

  1. All materials must be prepared in a professional manner, proofread, presented in the prescribed order (see below), sequentially numbered, and placed in a binder or bound.
  2. The required Curriculum Vita (CV) must be detailed specifying the most recent as well as required data. The CV is one of the most important summaries of an academician’s credentials and accomplishments. It should be crafted carefully and updated frequently. Organization and layout are extremely important. Avoid using initials when identifying awards, agencies, etc., for example, National Research Council, not NRC. The following outline represents major divisions common to the CV. Your CV may deviate from the order and categories indicated below. Additional sections may be added as necessary to reflect specific accomplishments of individuals or expectations and standards that vary from one discipline to another.

Biographical Data

  1. Name, address, phone, e-mail address
  2. Academic degrees, dates conferred, institutions
  3. Areas of specialization
  4. Professional societies – memberships, offices held, accompanying dates, etc.
  5. Honors and Awards

Teaching Experience

  1. List all teaching positions held beginning with current position, including dates and institutions
  2. Other pertinent employment with dates and institutions
  3. New courses developed/modified.
  4. Courses taught.
  5. Innovative methods.
  6. Internships supervised.

Scholarship

  1. Publications – Only professional scholarly work, includes Research, Performances, and Exhibits. Citations must be complete: full titles (no acronyms), dates, co-authors, serial identification including volume number, pages, etc. Use the following subheadings:
    1. Books and/or monographs authored and in print
    2. Edited books
    3. Juried/competitive/invited/refereed (evaluated and accepted by outside anonymous reviewers)
    4. Non-juried/non-refereed (no formal evaluation process)
    5. Reviews, newspaper and magazines articles
  2. Conferences
    1. Conference Presentations (papers) – separate from Publications. Include co-authors, titles, dates, locations, organizations, etc. In the event that a paper was presented at a conference and the abstract published, give a citation of abstract here. Do not list presentation separately as a publication (above) and presentation in this section.
    2. Conference Panels and/or Participation – title, co-authors, role, dates, locations, organizations, etc.
    3. Invited Presentations – as keynote speaker, invited lecturer, convivium presenter, etc. Include topic, organization, location, dates, etc.
  3. Grants and Awards
    1. Grants external and internal with the dates and organizations (no acronyms)
    2. Grants external and internal with the amount, organization (no acronyms), title, and date

College and Community Service

  1. Committee appointments
  2. Department assignments
  3. College or program accreditation activities
  4. Consulting work
  5. Community organization membership and/or community service

    3. The candidate’s file should contain only relevant materials from the past five years plus other "selected" materials of the candidate’s choice.

    4. Letters of recommendation should be written within the past two years.

Term Contract Renewal

(Candidates should submit a complete master file [clearly identified], plus six abbreviated files containing copies of the following items.)

  1. Departmental recommendation. The recommendation should contain details concerning the review process, strengths and/or weaknesses of the candidate, and the specific period for which renewal is recommended. If the recommended term differs from that specified by the standard guidelines, an appropriate explanation should be provided.
  2. A separate letter of recommendation from the Department Chair.
  3. Up-to-date professional vita.
  4. Evidence of teaching effectiveness:
    1. Minimum of two peer evaluations, based on classroom observation and/or other experience as appropriate. This item may be omitted as a separate entry if there are letters of support from SUNY Oneonta colleagues that reasonably fulfill the intended function.
    2. Required administration of the Student Perception of Instruction (SPI) or a similar tool as recognized by the campus or the department. It is expected that a third party administered the evaluation forms. Statistical results of student evaluation of instruction for the past four semesters as received by the candidate from a third party. The candidate should provide mean scores that are compared with the departmental average and the college. It is expected that statistical information will include the number of students registered for each section, and the number of individuals completing evaluation forms for each section. Candidates may comment on circumstances as well as the results of the evaluations.
    3. If student free responses/comments are included, they should be typed exactly as written. Anecdotal information and letters of recommendation from students may be included.
    4. Grade distribution data, including numbers and percentages for each section for each of the preceding three semesters (or from the date of initial appointment, as appropriate). Candidates are encouraged to comment on unusual grading patterns.
    5. Self-evaluation, which will typically include a statement of pedagogic approach and expectation (teaching philosophy, goals, objectives, etc.). Candidates are also encouraged to provide data and comment on the teaching assignment, enrollments, and advisement responsibility. Ideally, the self-evaluation will show how the candidate has sought systematic feedback on teaching performance and used that feedback to improve teaching effectiveness.
    6. Representative course outlines, examinations, and similar pedagogic materials.
  5. Summary statement concerning contributions to college-wide goals (committee service, etc.).
  6. Summary statement concerning research and scholarship. A sampling of publications, conference presentations, etc. should be included in the master file.
  7. Faculty Activities Reports for each year since the most recent review should be included in the master file.

Continuing Appointment or Promotion

(Candidates should submit a complete master file [clearly identified], plus six abbreviated files.) Decisions dependent on continuing appointment and promotion are based on the following five criteria (Policies of the Board of Trustees, Article XII). The candidate must be proficient in the following five criteria.

  1. Mastery of subject matter—as demonstrated by such things as advanced degrees, licenses, honors, awards and reputation in the subject matter field.
  2. Effectiveness in teaching—as demonstrated by such things as judgment of colleagues, development of teaching materials or new courses and student reaction, as determined from surveys, interviews and classroom observation.
  3. Scholarly ability—as demonstrated by such things as success in developing and carrying out significant research work in the subject matter field, contribution to the arts, publications, and reputation among colleagues.
  4. Effectiveness of University service—as demonstrated by such things as college and University public service, committee work, administrative work and work with students or community in addition to formal teacher-student relationships.
  5. Continuing growth—as demonstrated by such things as reading, research or other activities to keep abreast of current developments in the academic employee’s fields and being able to handle successfully increased responsibility.

The completed dossier contains the following items:

  1. Departmental recommendation.
  2. Separate recommendation from the Department Chair.
  3. Up-to-date professional vita.
  4. A minimum of three letters of support is required from SUNY Oneonta colleagues conversant with the candidate’s discipline. At least one letter should be from a colleague who is not a member of the candidate’s department and at least one letter should be from a departmental colleague.
  5. A minimum of three letters of support from professional colleagues at other institutions.
  6. Faculty Activities Reports for the past three years should be included in the master file.
  7. Evidence of teaching effectiveness:
    1. Required administration of the Student Perception of Instruction (SPI) or a similar tool as recognized by the campus or the department. It is expected that a third party administered the evaluation forms. Statistical results of student evaluation of instruction for the past four semesters as received by the candidate from a third party. The candidate should provide mean scores that are compared with the departmental average and the college. Statistical information should include the number of students registered for each section, and the number of individuals completing evaluation forms for each section. Candidates may comment on circumstances as well as the results of the evaluations.
    2. If student free responses/comments are included, they should be typed exactly as written. Anecdotal information and letters of recommendation from students may be included.
    3. Grade distribution data, including numbers and percentages for each section for each of the preceding three semesters (or from the date of initial appointment, as appropriate). Candidates are encouraged to comment on unusual grading patterns.
    4. Self-evaluation, which will typically include a statement of pedagogic approach and expectation (teaching philosophy, goals, objectives, etc.). Candidates are also encouraged to provide data and comment on the teaching assignment, enrollments, and advisement responsibility. Ideally, the self-evaluation will show how the candidate has sought systematic feedback on teaching performance and used that feedback to improve teaching effectiveness.
    5. Representative course outlines, examinations, and similar pedagogic materials.

Related Documents / Policies

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