Bucknell University - Committee to Review Tenure and Promotion Policies and Procedures

Faculty Governance
Ad Hoc Committee to Review Tenure and Promotion Policies and Procedures

History

At the April 2007 meeting of the faculty, the Faculty Council, the incoming co-chairs of the University Review Committe, and the Committee and Academic Freedom and Tenure announced their intention to convene an ad hoc Committee to Review Tenure and Promotion Policies and Procedures. The formation of such a committee is consistent with the recommendations contained in the report "Governance and Trust at Bucknell University" that was issued after the visit of the external review team later in April 2007. The Committee was given its formal charge at the September 2007 Faculty Meeting.

Charge from the Faculty Council, the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure, and the co-chairs of the University Review Committee

Tenure and promotion policies and practice play a critical role in shaping the faculty, and thus the future of the university. This committee is charged to undertake a critical examination of Bucknell's system of evaluation for tenure and promotion, and make recommendations to the faculty regarding any changes that will help us to develop the faculty that can best serve our students and university. In considering such changes the the committee should undertake a review of Bucknell's record of hiring, retention, tenure, and promotion, and it should also compare Bucknell's tenure and promotion system to those in place at peer institutions. (Any changes that are recommended should be implemented in such a way that they will not affect in any substantive way those untenured faculty who have already begun careers at Bucknell at the time the changes are made.) In addition the committee is asked to examine the following issues:

the fundamental charge of the URC and its relationship to DRCs;
the procedures that the URC uses in evaluation of materials;
the appropriate process by which evolving standards for tenure and promotion should be determined;
a consideration of which elements of DRC statements can be made more uniform;
the communication of standards to departments and to individual candidates;
the workload of the URC;
the presidential role in tenure and promotion; and
the annual schedule for reviews.

The committee is asked to present an interim report to the faculty no later than the March meeting of the faculty. In addition to summarizing the preliminary work of the committee, this report could introduce motions to amend the Faculty Handbook so that they could be voted on at the April faculty meeting. The committee should make a final report to the faculty in the Fall semester of 2008 with recommendations for changes that should be brought to the faculty for consideration.

March 2008 Progress Report

Recommendations from 1994 Review

Committee Membership

Ad hoc Committee to Review Tenure and Promotion Policies and Procedures
Position	Name	Term Ends
Faculty	Ben Vollmayr-Lee, chair
Faculty	Geoff Schneider
Faculty	Kim Daubman
Faculty	Julian Bourg
Faculty	Paula Davis
Faculty	Peter Stryker
Faculty	Linden Lewis
Administration	Jim Rice

This page maintained by
Marty Ligare mligare@bucknell.edu