Evaluations are required for all senior promotion actions (Associate Professor and Professor). For the faculty ranks of Associate, Senior Associate, Instructor and Assistant Professor, no evaluations other than the Chair’s letter are required, but they may be included.
In consultation with the Department Chair, the candidate will develop a list of potential internal and external evaluators, a brief description of the credentials of each that explain the selection of that evaluator; the evaluator’s perceived standing in the field with regard to scholarship, teaching, and/or professional service; and the evaluator’s relationship to the candidate, if any. A candidate may not solicit or contact potential evaluators once promotion materials have been submitted to his/her department, as this would disqualify evaluators from participating in the review process. Using a standard letter and Evaluator Profile Form approved by the Provost, the Dean’s Office shall solicit, track, and collect all internal and external evaluations for cases involving grant of tenure. For other actions, the Department shall solicit, track, and collect all evaluations. All evaluations received by the Dean’s Office will be provided to the Chair and will be considered in the reviews of the candidate’s credentials. For reporting purposes and for consideration in the review process, if appropriate, the Dean’s Office or the Department shall record the reasons, to the extent known, that any invited evaluators fail to respond.
At least four evaluations for non-tenured Associate Professor appointments and promotions and at least six evaluations for all non-tenured Professor actions appointments and promotions must be received from faculty members/faculty equivalent who hold the rank to which the candidate aspires, or higher. External evaluators of the candidate’s research should be top-ranking, acknowledged scholars in the candidate’s field. For non-tenured appointments, three (for Associate Professor) or four (for Professor) of these evaluations must be from arm’s length external evaluators who have not collaborated with the individual within the last five years, have not published with the individual in the last five years except as part of a large working group, and do not have any other close present or past relationship, including as mentor/mentee, supervisor/supervisee, or close colleague. The other evaluations may be from external collaborators who are familiar with the candidate’s contributions to the field (non-arm’s length) or from internal evaluators who are not in the same primary or joint department as the candidate. Internal evaluations may be from faculty in the candidate’s secondary department, provided that the candidate and evaluator do not have a close working relationship. For tenure decisions, all evaluations must meet the criteria set forth by the Provost’s Office. In all cases, an evaluator must complete the School of Medicine Candidate Evaluation Form or provide a letter summarizing his/her opinion. In addition, (s)he must complete an Evaluator Profile Form documenting his/her relationship with the candidate and identifying any conflicts of interest that may exist.
Inclusion of one optional letter from the candidate’s research team leader, if applicable, may be submitted. For all faculty who hold joint or secondary appointments in the School or a University unit outside the School, a letter of support for the candidate from the Dean, Department Chair or Director of the unit in which the candidate holds the joint or secondary appointment must be included.