Periodic Review Of Tenured Faculty (Policy 4380)
University Policy 4380
Download a Printable Version of Policy 4380
Effective Date
January 1987
Last Revision Date
October 2016
Responsible Party
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, (208) 426-1202
Scope and Audience
This policy applies to University faculty.
Additional Authority
State Board of Education Policy, Section II.G.
Given the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Faculty Evaluation Procedural Appendix was approved in December, 2020, to provide procedural guidance for individuals and committees regarding performance evaluation during any period of time that has been designated an “affected term.” Accordingly, “[a]ll forms of Faculty performance evaluation that include an Affected Term within the review period shall be subject to the procedural adjustments described” in the Procedural Appendix. These adjustments include post-hoc workload adjustments. This Appendix has the force of policy.
To date, the following semesters have been declared affected terms:
- Spring/Summer/Fall 2020
- Spring/Summer/Fall 2021
- Spring 2022
Supervisors and faculty reviewers must apply the principles for evaluation outlined in the Appendix for all faculty during those periods, no subsequent reviewer may change them.
1. Policy Purpose
To establish policy and procedures for review of tenured faculty members at intervals not to exceed five years.
2. Policy Statement
The State Board of Education requires that, at intervals not to exceed five years following the award of tenure, the performance of each tenured faculty member be reviewed by the faculty members of his or her department or equivalent unit, and the department chairperson or unit head. The faculty member’s performance is reviewed as to its continuing effectiveness in teaching, research or creative activities, professionally-related service, other assigned responsibilities, and overall contributions to the department.
3. Responsibilities and Procedures
3.1 Procedures
3.1.1 Notification
a. Each year the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs notifies departmental administrators (the dean in the case of a college that is not departmentalized), in writing, as to the members of their units whose performance is to be reviewed during the year and as to the dates by which review procedures are to be completed. Each administrator communicates the names to the unit’s faculty members and asks them to indicate whether they question the performance of any member who is under review.
b. Exception for Associate Professors in the Promotion Process – Generally, the promotion from the rank of associate professor to full professor is considered no earlier than the fifth full year after attaining the rank of associate professor, which is generally contemporaneous with the granting of tenure. In such cases, if review for promotion to full professor is scheduled during the fifth, sixth, or seventh full year after the award of tenure, then the promotion review may if it meets substantially similar criteria and goals of the post tenure review, take the place of the periodic performance review described here.
3.1.2 Review Standards
a. If during the periodic review, the performance of a tenured faculty member is questioned in writing by a majority of tenure-track and tenured members, or if the appropriate dean, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, or the President questions the faculty member’s performance, then the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost must decide whether a full and complete review must be conducted in accordance with the procedures established for the initial evaluation for tenure at the institution, detailed in University Policy 4340 (Faculty Tenure and Promotion Guidelines).
b. If during the periodic review, the performance of a tenured faculty member is not questioned in writing, members of the department or unit and the department chairperson or unit head must prepare a written review statement that the performance review has been conducted and that a full and complete review is not required. The unit administrator completes Form One provided by the Provost’s Office.
c. If the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost has determined that further review of a faculty member’s performance is required, that review must be conducted in accordance with the procedures established for the initial evaluation for tenure at the University, detailed in University Policy 4340 (Faculty Tenure and Promotion Guidelines). If following a full and complete review, a tenured faculty members’ performance is deemed to have been unsatisfactory with a less than adequate performance rating, this shall constitute adequate cause for action, up to and including dismissal.
4. Related Information
University Policy 4340 (Faculty Tenure and Promotion Guidelines).
Revision History
July 1995; July 2003; September 2011; January 2015; October 2016