Kansas State University

I. This document has two purposes. First, it summarizes many of the reappointment, tenure, and promotion details discussed in the Faculty Handbook, Section C. The Faculty Handbook can be found at www.ksu/uauc/fhbook. Items in this document taken from the Faculty Handbook are placed in quotations and referenced. Faculty are encouraged to consult the Faculty Handbook, Section C, for additional detail on university procedures and protocol. Second, as noted in Section C31.1, "It is not possible at the university or college levels to establish detailed criteria and standards for annual merit salary adjustments, reappointment, promotion, and tenure." These criteria are established by "the faculty of each academic department or unit." This document also describes the current departmental standards and criteria for teaching, scholarship, and tenure in section XI below.

II. Calendar of Procedures: The Department of Economics follows the calendar for reappointment, tenure, and promotion as set forth annually by the Dean or Provost; the document is available from the department head.

III. Reappointment of non-tenured faculty--general procedures

A. The department head announces a meeting of tenured faculty to consider reappointment of non-tenured faculty. The head makes available to faculty members all materials provided by the candidate and may supplement it with other material the head considers relevant for the reappointment decision, such as comments solicited from students and faculty.

B. "The candidate compiles and submits documentation of his or her professional accomplishments in accordance with the criteria, standards, and guidelines established by the department." (Faculty Handbook, Section C62.)

C. Tenured faculty and the department head meet to consider candidates for reappointment. Faculty vote formally with a secret ballot for each candidate.

D. The head conveys the faculty vote and comments to the Dean, along with the head's own recommendations.

E. The head also conveys his/her comments and suggestions to each candidate and, for tenure-track candidates, the faculty's comments regarding the candidate's progress toward tenure. The letter to the candidate should make reference to the department's tenure and promotion document.

F. "A faculty member may request an early tenure review. Ordinarily, this is done after consultation with the department head and the tenured faculty members in the department." (Faculty Handbook, Section C110.)

IV. First-year faculty

A. Consideration for reappointment of instructors and new assistant professors emphasizes teaching effectiveness.

B. Individuals with substantial professional experience may, in addition, be evaluated with regard to other activities, e.g., administration and research. Such would be the case for a person hired at the level of associate or full professor.

V. Second-year faculty (evaluated twice during the academic year)

A. The evaluation of second-year faculty will generally have a broader focus than evaluation of first- year faculty.

B. For tenure-track faculty, evaluation will incorporate the faculty member's research program, as well as other responsibilities of the faculty member.

VI. Third-year faculty and mid-probationary review

A. Faculty Handbook, Section C92.1, states in part:

A formal review of probationary faculty members is conducted midway through the probationary period.... This review provides the faculty member with substantive feedback from faculty colleagues and administrators regarding his or her accomplishments relative to departmental tenure criteria. A positive review does not ensure that tenure will be granted in the future; nor does a negative review necessarily mean that tenure will be denied.

[The procedure is essentially the same as that used in the final review for tenure:

the candidate provides statements of accomplishments, of future goals, and of contributions to instruction, research, and service. The candidate's file is examined by the dean and the dean's advisory committee.]

B. Faculty Handbook, Section C92.2, states in part:

"The department head may discuss the review and assessment of the tenured faculty members in the department with the dean, and shall provide a letter of assessment to the candidate, including a summary of faculty comments and suggestions.... After receiving the assessment, the candidate has the right to submit a written response for the file."

The head provides a letter of assessment to the candidate. This letter summarizes the head's assessment of the candidate as articulated in the head's recommendation letter to the dean.

Faculty Handbook, Section C92.3, states in part:

"Comments also may be solicited from students, and other relevant faculty members in the college or university, and from outside reviewers."

VII. Fourth-year and fifth-year faculty

A. Evaluation of faculty in the fourth and fifth years will focus on their progress toward achieving a performance level that warrants tenure.

B. The department head will convey in writing to candidates their progress toward achieving a favorable departmental recommendation for tenure. The letter to the candidate should make reference to the department's tenure and promotion document.

VIII. Sixth-year faculty

A. "Faculty members in the final year of probation will be automatically reviewed for tenure, unless they resign." (Faculty Handbook, Section C110.)

B. "Tenure is not granted below the rank of associate professor, except in special circumstances approved by the provost." For faculty hired at the assistant professor level, recommendation for tenure is generally concurrent with the recommendation to promote to associate professor. (Faculty Handbook, Section C13.)

C. Early in the fall semester of the sixth year, the department head will consult with probationary faculty regarding the preparation of a file to support recommendation for tenure and promotion.

D. As part of that file, the candidate provides statements of accomplishments, of future goals, and of contributions to instruction, research, and service. The department head provides the candidate's file ("Promotion and Tenure Documentation") to tenured economics faculty and to the dean for his/her review and review by the dean's advisory committee.

E. The College of Arts and Sciences requires an outside review of the candidate's research and publication for tenure and for promotion to associate and full professor. Probationary faculty will be asked to supply names of at least five potential outside reviewers, who are recognized for excellence in the candidate's discipline and who can provide an unbiased evaluation. The department head seeks peer review from at least two persons on the candidate's list and adds two or more of the head's choosing. The head formally requests reviews from these individuals. An example of the head's letter to outside reviewers is on file for inspection by faculty.

F. Tenured faculty members review the candidate's file and make recommendations to the head; this consists of a secret ballot and written comments. The results of the faculty vote and the faculty's unedited, written comments regarding tenure and promotion are forwarded to the dean by the department head.

G. The department head forwards his/her own recommendation to the dean "accompanied by an explanation of her or his judgement." (Faculty Handbook, Section C112.5.) The head shall discuss with the voting faculty the content of the recommendation letter that he/she intends to transmit to the dean. This discussion may take place at the same meeting in which the ballots are cast or, at the discretion of the head, a subsequent meeting. Any voting faculty member may subsequently elect to write a separate letter to the dean, either concurring or dissenting with the head's articulated position. The head provides a letter of assessment to the candidate. This letter summarizes the head's assessment of the candidate as articulated in the head's recommendation letter to the dean.

[Note: The department's recommendation is only one step of the procedure for receiving tenure from Kansas State University. An Arts and Sciences committee on tenure and promotion and the dean also make recommendations. The provost, who reviews the candidate's file and the several recommendations, makes the final recommendation to the Board of Regents.]

IX. Promotion of tenured faculty

A. Consideration for promotion is not automatic. "A faculty member, after consultation with the department head or appropriate departmental faculty, may request a review for promotion. The candidate compiles and submits a file that documents his or her professional accomplishments in accordance with the criteria, standards, and guidelines established by the department." (Faculty Handbook, Section C151.) This procedure normally begins early in September.

B. Associate professors may request feedback from the head concerning their progress toward satisfying the requirements for promotion during the annual evaluation process.

C. The procedure for promoting tenured faculty is, in general, identical to the procedure for recommendation of tenure. However, faculty who evaluate the candidate are limited to those of higher rank than the candidate.

X. Instructors on regular (non-temporary) appointment are evaluated annually. Such instructors "must be explicitly informed in writing of a decision not to renew their appointments in accordance with the standards of notice of non-reappointment." (Faculty Handbook, Section C60.)

XI. Criteria and standards for reappointment, tenure, and promotion

A. Teaching. The department expects high quality teaching, and to that end establishes the following criteria and means of evaluation.

1. Reappointment, tenure, and promotion require that faculty be evaluated via a formal evaluation instrument and/or interviews with students and classroom observation by the head. This evaluation should establish that the faculty member's teaching practices are consistent with high standards of scholarship and student learning. The department head considers the impact on evaluations of items such as grading standards of the instructor, course content, number of students in the class, level of the class (e.g., introductory or graduate).

2. Particularly in upper-level courses, the department expects faculty to challenge students with assignments that, in part, develop skills valued by prospective employers and/or graduate and professional schools. These assignments may entail analysis of data, term papers, group projects, class presentations, case studies, etc. Examinations and class assignments may be reviewed by tenured faculty as part of the review process.

3. Lecture presentations are expected to be modified over time to incorporate advances in the discipline.

B. Research. The department expects high quality research, and to that end establishes the following criteria and means of evaluation.

1. Reappointment, tenure, and promotion require that faculty pursue a continuously active research program, evidenced by publications in highly regarded, refereed journals. The department also considers other scholarly activities, such as publication of books, editorial board membership, citations to work in the SSCI, presentations at conferences, applications for research grants, etc.

2. The department takes special note of research activities that promote the national reputation of the department.

C. Service. The department expects service to the department, the university, and the community; and to that end the department establishes the following criteria and means of evaluation. [Note: The department weights most heavily service to the department; professional and university service ranks second, and community service third.]

1. Departmental service

a. Faculty are evaluated on the basis of their contributions to graduate students, in particular, their contributions to Ph.D. dissertations and Masters' theses and reports. Quality of the final product and value added are important criteria. Particularly in the case of Ph.D. dissertations, quality may be demonstrated by subsequent publication of the research.

b. Faculty are also evaluated with respect to service to undergraduates: advising, assistance with job placement and applications to graduate school, providing research experiences, and other assistance.

c. Other departmental service: recruiting of faculty and students, committee work, and other activities listed in the department's faculty evaluation document.

2. University and professional service

a. The department considers service to the university through such activities as membership in faculty senate, college and university committees, etc.

b. The department considers service to the profession through such activities as accepting positions as officers in organizations, organizing conference sessions, etc.

3. Community service includes the following: presentation to groups, articles for newspapers, media interviews, and other service that provides recognition to the department and university.

D. The departmental document, Faculty Evaluation Criteria, provides additional detail on the evaluation of teaching, research, and service. In general, the candidate should anticipate that consistent ratings on the departmental annual evaluations of "exceeds expectations" increase the likelihood of a favorable recommendation from the department concerning promotion/tenure. Conversely, the candidate should anticipate that consistent ratings on the departmental annual evaluations of "fails to meet expectations" decrease the likelihood of a favorable recommendation from the department concerning promotion/tenure. In general, consistent ratings of "meets expectations" do not carry any informational content in this regard.

E. In general, the candidate should anticipate that satisfaction of the standards for minimum acceptable productivity are necessary but not sufficient for a favorable recommendation from the department concerning promotion/tenure.