Promotion and Tenure

I. General Expectations of Faculty at The University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a major land-grant teaching and research University. Accordingly, its mission is threefold: teaching -- to prepare students to become successful lifelong learners using instructional systems that respond to various student learning styles, that incorporate modern technologies, and that integrate research with instruction; research/creative activity -- to expand the frontiers of human knowledge and to promote creativity; and service/outreach -- to serve on committees and in leadership positions within the university and in professional organizations, and to participate in outreach activities that serve the community constituency and its broader state, regional, national and international community.

Whatever the field of learning, the pervasive institutional values are: an interest in perpetuating and disseminating knowledge through teaching programs at all levels; a respect for research, scholarship and artistic endeavor; a collegial approach to personal interactions; and a concern for the application of new knowledge and insights that will improve the human condition. To achieve success, the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty must be given the highest priority. To ensure that the faculty is and continues to be of very high quality, effective systems for recruitment and retention, for reward and recognition (including promotion and tenure), and for faculty development must be maintained, giving proper consideration to contributions in teaching, research, and professional and public service.

To maintain an outstanding faculty, the University must insist on rigorous standards for promotion and tenure. The obvious ideal is a high level of professionalism in the categories of scholarship as reflected in teaching, research or creative activity, and service. A combination of excellence in teaching and strong research or creative activity, or strong teaching and excellence in research or creative activity, both with demonstrated service to the institution, community, and profession, will normally warrant promotion and/or tenure.

Teaching

The instructional function of the University requires faculty members who can effectively communicate the content of the current body of knowledge and the latest research results in the classroom, in other learning environments, with individual student contact and through professional modes of publication (in its widest sense). Excellence in teaching includes, but is not limited to:

• organizing and conducting courses appropriate to the level of instruction and the nature of the subject matter;
• bringing to the classroom, and other learning environments, the latest discoveries, techniques and pedagogical approaches, which may include the use of electronic technologies;
• engaging the students, according to their capacities, in the current discourse and debates within a field;
• enabling students to articulate issues and solve problems on their own;
• instructing by demonstration of artistic activity appropriate to the discipline in on-campus or local endeavors;
• being available outside the classroom for further instruction and advice;
• successfully directing graduate, professional and post-doctoral students; and
• advising and mentoring students at all levels, which may include electronic means of communication.

Research/creative activity

The fundamental nature of faculty enterprise in the fine arts is based on creative and aesthetic activities as well as historical, critical and pedagogical scholarship. Significant performances, exhibitions, or artistic accomplishments appropriate to the discipline, properly evaluated, are fully equivalent to quantifiable research and scholarly publications dealing with the history, criticism, aesthetics, theory, and education in the arts. The sustained quality of creative endeavor and/or research, rather than the quantity alone, will be given the greatest weight in the process of evaluating cases for promotion and tenure in fine arts.

The research function of the University requires faculty members to be actively engaged in the expansion of intellectual and creative frontiers, in the application of new knowledge, and in the integration of knowledge from various disciplines. Excellence in research includes, but is not limited to:

• a sustained program of scholarly research and publication or creative contributions;
• the receipt and sustained renewal of grants, contracts, awards and fellowships, where appropriate;
• high quality as judged by independent peers both inside and outside the University; and
• the responsibility and recognition achieved by being named to important professional positions.

Electronic publication is considered an appropriate means of scholarly, artistic and professional communication, as are other means of presentation such as print and performance. The content and impact of electronic publication should be evaluated within the practices of each discipline.

Service/Outreach

Service includes: service on departmental (or unit), college, and University committees; and service to professional associations and on public committees where faculty disciplinary knowledge is required. Service becomes an increasingly important part of a faculty member's activities as he or she advances through the professorial ranks. Outreach is a form of scholarship that cuts across teaching and research/creative activity. It involves delivering, applying, and preserving knowledge for the direct benefit of external audiences in ways that are consistent with University and unit missions. The application of one's expertise to issues in the community is encouraged and often generates research ideas and contributions.

Service/outreach activities include, but are not limited to:

• serving on campus committees and teams;
• actively participating in faculty governance at unit, college or university levels;
• participating in activities of professional societies or organizations in one's discipline;
• applying one's expertise to address local, regional or national issues;
• providing non-credit courses, extension programs, or short courses to governmental agencies and professional organizations;
• providing clinical patient care and related work; and
• presenting community lectures or performances.

The primary characteristic that The University of Arizona demands in its faculty is high quality, whatever their category and rank. Without it, we cannot be a leading institution. Tenure and promotion depend on past accomplishments and on the promise of continued excellence. Every member of every committee involved in promotion and tenure decisions has the responsibility to guarantee that our quality is preserved and enhanced.

II. University Criteria for Promotion and Tenure

These guidelines for promotion and tenure provide a philosophical basis for faculty retention and advancement. They express the level of expectation that the institution holds for itself; they ensure that the activities that are to be rewarded are consistent with the overall mission of the institution; they alert faculty to first-order responsibilities and expectations; and they provide a public document that expresses The University of Arizona's seriousness in holding itself to the highest standards of a public land-grant university.

This document frames general criteria, applied by the University Promotion and Tenure Committee and employed by the Provost and the President in making final decisions. University guidelines serve as an effective reference for the development and revision of individual academic unit guidelines, which must reflect discipline-specific characteristics, defined activities, expectations, standards and criteria, and evaluative measures. All unit guidelines for promotion and tenure should uphold the general University criteria and standards. Each unit, division, school and college, in turn, should have its own approved criteria for promotion and tenure that are appropriate to its faculty.

In addition to unit-specific criteria for promotion and tenure, it is essential that a faculty member's workload responsibilities are clearly defined at the time of hire and are reviewed annually. Faculty members and unit heads are required to outline the relative importance assigned to teaching, research and service/outreach activities in relationship to the unit's mission and strategic plan. The workload assignment provides the context for evaluating a candidate's success in meeting performance expectations for promotion and/or tenure.

A. General Criteria

The University of Arizona must insist on rigorous standards for promotion and tenure. The ideal is excellence in the categories of scholarship as reflected in teaching, original research and creative work, and service/outreach. The granting of promotion or tenure is not a decision to be made lightly, but with all due attention to the quality of performance in each of the three categories. The focus of the faculty member's efforts must support the responsibilities and objectives of his/her unit.

B. Appointment as or Promotion to Assistant Professor

A faculty appointment as or promotion to assistant professor in the College of Fine Arts is based upon an effective and promising teaching record or an equivalent level of demonstrated professional competence as well as the clearly indicated potential to meet the demands of departmental, College of Fine Arts, and university criteria for subsequent promotion and tenure. The College of Fine Arts accepts and considers professional experience as the equivalent of a terminal degree. Evidence of promise in creative endeavors and/or in the candidate's primary area of appointment should be apparent. The desire and ability to provide effective service to the candidate's department, to the university, and to the professional community should also be manifest.

C. Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

For promotion to associate professor or granting of tenure, a high quality of performance is expected in teaching, research or creative activity, and service to the institution, community or profession.

1. Teaching

• Candidates must present evidence of successful teaching appropriate to the unit's mission, including lower division, upper division, and graduate courses for units involved at these levels.
• Candidates should be engaged in educating individual students at the highest level of their discipline and should be directing master's and doctoral work (where appropriate).

An important measure of quality is the evaluation by independent internal and external reviewers. Faculty members must show effectiveness within the classroom and other learning environments in organizing and presenting material and in stimulating intellectual response. Evidence on teaching effectiveness must come from: student evaluation; a peer review of the teaching portfolio and of the quality of feedback to students on their work; recognition of advising responsibilities; and participation in faculty development activities. Other evidence may include, but is not limited to: grants for teaching innovations; teaching awards; selection to teach in prestigious programs; achievements by students; and in-class peer evaluation. Evidence of efforts to improve teaching effectiveness (e.g., the appropriate use of technology) should be provided. Availability to students during office hours is an expectation.

2. Research/Creative Activity

• Candidates must present evidence of having established a program of basic and/or applied research and/or creative activity.
• The published results and/or creative work of candidates must be peer-reviewed. The results need to be in sufficient quality and quantity to establish an emerging national reputation and the clear promise of sustained contribution into the future.

An important measure of quality is the evaluation by independent internal and external reviewers. The achievement of a candidate's stature may be measured in the quality of the specific media of publication or presentation. Other measures may include, but are not limited to: citation rates; receiving grants, contracts, awards and fellowships in support of the candidate's work; and the attraction of advanced students to the candidate's tutelage.

3. Service/Outreach

• Candidates must contribute to academic planning at the unit level and, perhaps, at the college and university levels, by effectively carrying out committee assignments
• Candidates should participate in local, regional and national meetings, be active in professional societies, and participate in peer review processes.
• Candidates should share their professional expertise with the public through outreach avenues such as local schools, agencies, commissions, consulting assignments or panels.

An important measure of quality is the evaluation by independent internal and external reviewers. Evidence of the above should be provided and should reveal that assistant professors worthy of promotion to associate professor with tenure have begun to develop a habit of service, that their judgments are professionally respected and valued, and that they have demonstrated the ability and an interest in finding linkages between their discipline and public interests, needs and opportunities.

D. Promotion to Professor

For promotion to full professor, performance of high quality in teaching, research and service/outreach with outstanding performance in one or more categories is required. The focus of the faculty member's efforts must support the responsibilities and objectives of his/her unit and must be agreed upon with the unit head at each annual review.

1. Teaching

• Candidates must present evidence of continued high quality teaching and mentoring, in the classroom, in other learning environments and through individual student contact, as appropriate to the unit's mission. This should include lower division, upper division, and graduate courses for units involved at these levels.
• Candidates should continue to be engaged in educating individual students at the highest level of their discipline and should be directing master's and doctoral work (where appropriate).
• Candidates should have attained a leadership role in developing unit curricula, providing evaluation of the teaching effectiveness of other faculty, and contributing to more effective unit teaching approaches.

An important measure of quality is the evaluation by independent internal and external reviewers. Evidence of teaching effectiveness should continue to come from student evaluations, peer evaluations, advising, achievements by students, teaching grants and awards, successful innovation, selection to teach in prestigious programs here and elsewhere, and participation in faculty development activities. Faculty are expected to continually improve their teaching by staying current with the latest developments in the discipline and with pedagogical techniques.

2. Research/Creative Activity

• Candidates must present evidence of continued high quality basic and/or applied research, or creative activity.
• Candidates must present evidence that the results of these efforts have contributed to their field of study, professional discipline, or local, regional, national, or international constituencies.

An important measure of quality is the evaluation by independent internal and external reviewers. This level of achievement is manifested in signs such as the quality and quantity of work presented in reviewed media or means of presentation; the opinions of peers from other institutions; citations of the candidate's work in his/her discipline; evidence that the candidate's work or findings have been incorporated into the field; the attainment and/or renewal of major awards, grants, and fellowships; presentations to scholarly or artistic communities beyond the southwest region; the reprinting and/or translation of a candidate's work abroad; the invitation to serve on editorial boards or other boards of judgment, to review manuscripts for leading journals and presses, to review grant applications for national funding agencies, and to evaluate candidates from other institutions for promotion and/or tenure.

3. Service/Outreach

Candidates for full professor must have accepted much more service responsibility than that required for lower ranks. An important measure of quality is the evaluation by independent internal and external reviewers. Evidence of service/outreach may include, but is not limited to the following:

• leadership in faculty governance at departmental, college or university levels, in mentoring of junior faculty, and in establishing academic unit and college goals, objectives and performance standards;
• participation in professional associations, on professional review panels, and in the review of journal articles, grants and proposals;
• work with governmental and non-profit agencies that involves one's disciplinary expertise; and
• presentation of community lectures or performances.
• participation in college and university committees.

*For additional information of specifics as it relates to each School’s console please click on the appropriate link.