RTP Role & Scope Documents Policy PDF Download

Policy:                   RETENTION, TENURE, AND PROMOTION – ROLE AND SCOPE DOCUMENTS

Effective date:        July 1, 2017

Review date:          July 1, 2026

Revised:                   July 1, 2023

Responsible Party: Office of the Provost

1. PREPARATION OF ROLE AND SCOPE DOCUMENTS 

The Role and Scope documents of the academic units define the standards, indicators, and procedures that, in alignment with the Faculty Handbook and other university policies, govern retention, tenure, and promotion reviews of faculty members.

2. CONTENTS OF ROLE AND SCOPE DOCUMENTS 

The Role and Scope Document of the academic units shall contain the following information:

  1. Description of the role and scope of the unit, and its responsibilities and obligations in furtherance of the mission of the university as articulated in the Mission and Vision statements of the university.
  2. Procedures for appointment and advancement in rank of research faculty.
  3. Procedures for Annual Review of all tenurable faculty, non-tenurable faculty who are not in the collective bargaining unit, and research faculty.
  4. The unit’s role in the retention, tenure, and promotion review process:
    1. Identification of the unit as a primary or intermediate academic unit;
    2. Identification of the primary or intermediate academic units linked to the unit;
    3. Identification, by title, of the unit’s review administrator.
  5. Procedures for selection of the unit’s review committee.
  6. The performance indicators and associated quantitative and qualitative expectations for teaching, service and integration, with appropriate weighting of the indicators, that demonstrate effectiveness and sustained effectiveness.
  7. The performance indicators and associated quantitative and qualitative expectations for scholarly activities and products, with appropriate weighting of the indicators, that demonstrate effectiveness, accomplishment, and excellence. The quantitative expectations should be subject to adjustments as necessary for varying percentages of effort of the candidates.
  8. The materials required and methods acceptable for the assessment of teaching, scholarship, service, and integration.
  9. Required method for the faculty member’s attribution of their contribution to works done in collaboration with others.
  10. Procedures used to solicit and obtain external and internal peer reviews and the scope of review. External reviews must include a review of scholarship at a minimum. At least four external reviews are required for tenure and promotion reviews.
  11. Procedures for and frequency of review and updating the unit’s Role and Scope Document.

3. APPROVAL OF ROLE AND SCOPE DOCUMENTS 

Role and Scope Documents of the academic units must be approved, as detailed below, before taking effect. Effective dates for approved Role and Scope Documents will be established by the provost.

Role and Scope Documents of primary academic units shall be reviewed and approved by:

  1. the tenurable faculty and administrator of the primary academic unit;
  2. the promotion and tenure review committee and administrator of all associated intermediate units;
  3. the University Retention, Tenure and Promotion Committee (URTPC); and
  4. the provost.

 

Role and Scope Documents of intermediate units shall be reviewed and approved by:

  1. the promotion and tenure review committee and administrator of the intermediate unit;
  2. the University Retention, Tenure and Promotion Committee (URTPC); and        
  3. the provost.

The provost, working with the URTPC, will resolve any conflicts that arise during the approval of Role and Scope Documents of the academic units. Once approved by all required parties, the provost will establish the effective date for the revised documents. Current documents will remain in force until revised documents are effective.

4. UPDATES AND REVISIONS 

  1. Units will define procedures for updating their Role and Scope Documents. All faculty members are entitled to propose changes to Role and Scope Documents of their academic units.
  2. Any review committee or administrator that identifies a need for improvement, clarification, or other revision to an academic unit’s Role and Scope Documents may submit the request for changes to the Chair of URTPC who will forward the recommendations to the unit. Submission to the Chair of URTPC should occur after the review committee or administrator completes all of its reviews for the review cycle.
  3. Units will act on any proposed changes received from the Chair on an annual basis and will undertake a full review of their Document no less than every three years.
  4. All updates and revisions must be approved as set forth in Section 3. For expediency, committees or administrators may submit draft revisions to the URTPC chair for feedback prior to routing for formal approval.