Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A)
Probationary periods are established for tenure-track faculty members. During a
probationary period a faculty member does not have tenure and is considered for
reappointment annually.
(B) Length
of probationary period.
(1) An appointment as
professor or associate professor will generally entail tenure. However, a
probationary period not to exceed four years may be granted by the office of
academic affairs upon petition of the tenure initiating unit and college. For
the petition to be approved, a compelling rationale must be provided regarding
why appointment at a senior rank is appropriate but tenure is not. All
appointments to the rank of associate professor or professor require prior
approval of the executive vice president and provost.
An appointment to the rank of instructor is always probationary
and may not exceed three years. An instructor must be approved for promotion to
assistant professor by the beginning of the third year of appointment or the
appointment will not be renewed beyond the end of the third year. When an
instructor is promoted to the rank of assistant professor, prior service credit
may be granted for time spent as an instructor if the faculty member requests
such credit in writing at the time of the promotion. This request must be
approved by the tenure-initiating unit's eligible faculty, the
tenure-initiating unit head, the dean of the college, and the office of
academic affairs.
An appointment to the rank of assistant professor is always
probationary and may not exceed six years, including prior service credit. An
assistant professor is reviewed for promotion and tenure no later than the
sixth year of appointment as an assistant professor and informed by the end of
the sixth year as to whether promotion and tenure will be granted at the
beginning of the seventh year.
(2) Promotion and tenure may be granted at
any time during the probationary period when the faculty member's record of
achievement merits tenure and promotion. Similarly, a probationary appointment
may be terminated at any time subject to the notice provisions of rule
3335-6-08 of the Administrative
Code and the provisions of paragraphs (G)
and (H) of this rule.
(3)
Probationary tenure-track faculty members will be informed no later than the
end of the year in which their mandatory review for tenure takes place as to
whether tenure will be granted by the beginning of the following year. If
tenure is not granted, a one year terminal year of employment is
offered.
(C) Annual
review of probationary tenure-track faculty members.
(1) At the time of appointment, probationary
tenure-track faculty members shall be provided with all pertinent documents
detailing tenure initiating unit, college, and university promotion and tenure
policies and criteria. If these documents are revised during the probationary
period, probationary tenure-track faculty members shall be provided with copies
of the revised documents.
(2)
During a probationary period a tenure-track faculty member shall be reviewed
annually in accordance with this rule and with policies of the tenure
initiating unit, college and university. The annual review should encompass the
faculty member's performance in teaching, in scholarship, and in service; as
well as evidence of continuing development. The involvement of tenure
initiating unit faculty in annual reviews is strongly encouraged. External
evaluations of the faculty member's work, required for tenure and promotion
reviews, may be obtained for any annual review if judged appropriate by the
faculty review body or tenure initiating unit chair. The tenure initiating unit
chair shall inform probationary faculty members at the time of initial
appointment, and in a timely fashion each year thereafter, when the annual
review will take place and provide a copy of the office of academic affairs
dossier outline to be completed by the faculty member in reporting
accomplishments to date. At the completion of the review the tenure initiating
unit chair shall provide the faculty member and the dean of the college with a
written assessment of the faculty member's performance and professional
development. The assessment should include both strengths and weaknesses, as
appropriate. If the chair's recommendation is to reappoint the faculty member
to another probationary year of service, that recommendation shall be final. A
recommendation from the chair to not reappoint the faculty member to another
probationary year requires a review that follows fourth year review procedures
(see paragraph (G) of this rule) and the dean shall make the final decision in
the matter. All annual review letters to date shall become a part of a faculty
member's dossier for subsequent annual reviews during the probationary period,
including the review for promotion and tenure.
(3) When probationary tenure-track faculty
receive their annual review, the tenure initiating unit chair shall inform them
of their right to review their primary personnel file maintained by their
tenure initiating unit and to place in that file a response to any evaluation,
comment or other material contained in the file (see paragraph (C)(8) of rule
3335-3-35 of the Administrative
Code).
(4) The fourth year review
of probationary tenure-track faculty shall follow the same process as the
review for tenure and promotion at the tenure initiating unit and college
levels with two exceptions: Solicitation of external letters of evaluation may
or may not be required by the tenure initiating unit and review by the college
promotion and tenure committee shall be optional in all cases where both the
tenure initiating unit and the dean approve the renewal of the appointment.
Renewal of the appointment of a probationary assistant professor for the fifth
year requires the approval of the dean of the college. Before reaching a
negative decision or a decision contrary to the tenure initiating unit's
recommendation, the dean must consult with the college promotion and tenure
committee.
(D) Exclusion
of time from probationary periods.
(1) There
are three circumstances under which probationary tenure-track faculty may
obtain an exclusion of time from probationary periods, also known as extending
the tenure clock. These exclusions recognize factors that impact the ability to
meet the criteria for tenure within the probationary period outlined in
paragraph (B) of this rule. A request to exclude time from the probationary
period for any of the reasons listed in paragraphs (D)(1)(a) to (D)(1)(c) of
this rule must be made prior to April first of the year in which the mandatory
review for tenure is scheduled.
(a) A
probationary tenure-track faculty member will have one year excluded from the
probationary period for the birth or the adoption of a child. The maximum time
that can be excluded per birth or adoption is one year. This exclusion is
guaranteed provided the faculty member informs the TIU head in writing within
one year of the birth or adoption unless the exclusion is prohibited in
paragraph (D)(3) of this rule. It is the responsibility of the TIU head to
inform the college dean and office of academic affairs of the birth or
adoption. The probationary faculty member may decline the one-year exclusion by
informing the TIU head in writing before April first of the original mandatory
review year.
(b) A probationary
tenure-track faculty member may apply to exclude time from the probationary
period in increments of one year because of personal illness, care of a
seriously ill or injured person, an unpaid leave of absence, or factors beyond
the faculty member's control that hinder the performance of the duties
associated with being a successful faculty member, i.e., teaching, scholarship,
and service. For faculty members requesting an exclusion due to personal
illness or care of a seriously ill or injured person, requests shall be made in
writing to human resources which will work with the TIU head to determine the
necessary documentation. Requests to exclude time from the probationary period
due to unpaid leave or factors beyond the faculty member's control must be
submitted in writing to the TIU head within one year of the unpaid leave or the
extenuating factors. Such requests shall be reviewed by the TIU promotion and
tenure committee which will advise the TIU head on the appropriateness of the
request. In units that do not have a promotion and tenure committee, the
eligible faculty shall review the request. All requests require approval by the
TIU head dean, and executive vice president and provost. The extent to which
the event leading to the request was beyond the faculty member's control and
the extent to which it interfered with the faculty member's ability to be
productive will be considered in granting or denying the request.
(c) Probationary tenure-track faculty members
on less than full-time service for part or all of their probationary period may
request an exclusion of time. Such requests require approval of the TIU head,
dean, and executive vice president and provost. The exclusion shall be for an
integer number of years based on the principle that the usual probationary
period represents full-time service. The maximum exclusion of a probationary
period for less than full-time service is one year for a probationary
instructor, three years for a probationary assistant professor and two years
for a probationary associate professor or professor.
(2) A request to exclude time from the
probationary period for any reason will not be granted after a nonrenewal
notice has been issued nor will previously approved requests to exclude time
from the probationary period in any way limit the university's right not to
renew a probationary appointment
(3) Except in extraordinary circumstances, a
maximum of three years can be excluded from the probationary period for tenure
track faculty for any reason or combination of reasons covered in the
provisions in paragraphs (D)(1)(a) and (D)(1)(b) of this rule. For probationary
faculty who are on appointments of less than full time, the maximum is four
years for an instructor, six years for an assistant professor, and five years
for an associate professor or professor for any reason or combination of
reasons covered in the provisions in paragraphs (D)(1)(a), (D)(1)(b), and
(D)(1)(c) of this rule. Exceptions require the approval of the tenure
initiating unit chair, dean, and executive vice president and
provost.
(4) Tenure-track faculty
members will be reviewed annually during their probationary periods regardless
of whether time is excluded from that period for any of the above reasons
unless their absence from campus during an excluded period makes conduct of
such a review impractical.
(5) For
purposes of performance reviews of probationary faculty, the length of the
probationary period is the actual number of years of employment at this
university less any years of service excluded from the probationary period
under the terms of this rule. Expectations for productivity during the
probationary period cannot be increased as a consequence of exclusions of time
granted under the terms of this rule. Probationary faculty who are on part-time
appointments should be reviewed in the context of their reduced
duties.
(6) The exclusion of time
granted under for reasons specified in this rule in no way limits the award of
promotion and tenure prior to the mandatory review year.
(E) Service credit of up to three years may
be granted for prior work experience at the time of the initial appointment and
requires the approval of the tenure initiating unit chair, dean, and executive
vice president and provost. Prior service credit shortens a probationary period
by the amount of the credit and once granted cannot be revoked except through
an approved request to exclude time from the probationary period.
(F) Probationary appointments may be
terminated during any probationary year because of inadequate performance or
inadequate professional development. At any time other than the fourth year
review or mandatory review for tenure, a nonrenewal decision must be based on
the results of a formal performance review conducted in accord with fourth year
review procedures as set forth in paragraph (C)(3) of this rule. Notification
of nonrenewal must be consistent with the standards of notice set forth in rule
3335-6-08 of the Administrative
Code.
(G) Probationary appointments
may be terminated for fiscal or programmatic reasons. When nonrenewal is based
on fiscal or programmatic reasons, the faculty member should be advised that
such nonrenewal is a possibility and formal notice of nonrenewal should be
provided as soon as possible after the need for nonrenewal is established.
Nonrenewal of a probationary appointment for fiscal or programmatic reasons
does not entail a performance review and requires the prior approval of the
executive vice president and provost. Because hiring decisions should be based
on informed assumptions regarding the future availability of resources and of
programmatic needs, approval of such nonrenewals will be based on the extent to
which convincing evidence is provided that the fiscal or programmatic reasons
for the nonrenewal could not be anticipated when the appointment was made and
are expected to be long lasting.
(H) Decisions affecting the nonrenewal of a
probationary appointment may not be arbitrary or capricious or carried out in
violation of a faculty member's right to academic freedom. Faculty rule
3335-5-05 of the Administrative
Code provides a procedural mechanism under which an aggrieved probationary
faculty member can challenge a nonrenewal decision believed to have been
improper. In that instance, however, the burden of proof is on the probationary
faculty member to establish that the nonrenewal decision was improper (see rule
3335-6-05 of the Administrative
Code).
