Role of Non-Tenure Faculty
The College of IST is committed to developing integrated, high-quality programs that address missions in teaching, research, and service. IST’s scholarship and research missions encourage the employment of non-tenure line (NTL) faculty possessing outstanding professional credentials and/or experience to complement the Tenured and Tenure-track Faculty to achieve the mission of the university on a balanced and continuous basis, in a dynamic and ever-changing academic landscape.
Non-tenure line faculty positions have been established to support the mission of the College. The nontenure line faculty with an instruction emphasis supports the teaching mission of the college; whereas the non-tenure line faculty with a research emphasis supports the research mission of the college by complementing the research agenda of tenure-track faculty.
Titles and Categories of Non-Tenure Line Faculty
Examples of titles are listed in the appendix in accordance with AC-21 and may include but are not limited to those listed.
Initial Appointment
Appointments of non-tenure line faculty will be made by the Dean of the College of IST in accordance with definitions found in AC-21 and this guideline.
Research ranks and Instructional ranks are intended for individuals who are engaged primarily in research or teaching respectively, and are always Non-tenure Line in nature. A secondary administrative title is feasible.
Newly hired individuals may be appointed at a higher-than-entry-level rank with an appropriate history of employment at an equivalent or lower rank, together with evidence of excellence in performance. This evidence may take the form of letters of reference which specifically address the issue of performance. For instructional-rank faculty members, evidence of success in instructional activities is appropriate, addressed either in letters of reference and/or by submission of records of teaching effectiveness from the previous institution(s).
Promotion and Evaluation
Promotion within non-tenure line ranks should normally be made in concordance/conformity with tenure eligible review calendars. Exceptions are allowed with the approval of the Dean. Promotions are expected to involve salary increases.
Nominations for Promotion for Non-Tenure Line Faculty
Once a year, faculty interested in being considered for promotion are invited to express their interest in being formally reviewed. Each individual who asks to be considered is instructed to submit the nomination material, which includes a current CV. The nomination materials are shared with individuals, who hold the rank of equal to or higher than the one being sought, who are currently on one of the college's NTL faculty promotion committees. The dean or the dean's designee meets with this group to discuss each potential nominee. The discussion focuses on whether the individual may be successful in being promoted if they are nominated. The threshold for nominations is intended to avoid nominating individuals where there are obvious concerns that would prevent promotion. The intent is to allow individuals to be nominated when there is a chance of promotion, such that individuals who are nominated may or may not ultimately be promoted. Based on the conversation with this group, the dean or the dean's designee notifies each individual who requested consideration of the outcome.
For those individuals where the feedback did not support nomination, the dean or the dean's designee drafts a response outlining areas of concern, suggestions, and when appropriate a recommended timeline for seeking nomination. The draft is shared with the individuals consulted previously to ensure that all issues that contributed to not nominating the individual are addressed. Once there is agreement that the message effectively summarizes the concerns and suggestions of the group, the potential nominee is notified of the outcome.
Requests to be nominated are accepted once per year. If an individual has requested to be considered for formal review but was not nominated to proceed, they are strongly encouraged to wait at least as long as was suggested in the feedback provided by the dean or the dean's designee. If the same individual requests consideration again (for the second time) and is once again denied, they are strongly encouraged to wait at least as long as was suggested in the feedback provided by the dean or the dean's designee. At this point, when the individual requests consideration again (for the third time), they will be nominated for formal review with no feedback being provided regarding the materials that were submitted.
For those individuals where the feedback supported nomination, they are notified that they can proceed with submitting their materials for formal consideration for promotion.
Procedures for Evaluation and Review of Recommendations for Promotion
The candidate should prepare a written statement documenting performance relative to expected responsibilities. Standards for promotion should be guided by the norms and expectations of the candidate’s disciplinary roots, but should also take into consideration the scope of the faculty member’s primary assignment. A definition of the scope of responsibilities must accompany the documentation.
Documentation to support a recommendation for promotion consists of the following:
- updated Curriculum Vitae (CV) (from the candidate)
- narrative statement (from the candidate)
- SEEQs and job description (from the college)
- annual Faculty Activity Reports (from the college)
- other records of participation in activities related to the specific assignment (e.g., those mentioned in NTL Promotion Documentation Guidelines for College of IST)
Promotion to the highest rank requires letters of evaluation from individuals beyond the college. Both the candidate and the first review committee will provide a list of individuals who could write such letters to the dean. The dean or the dean's designee, in consultation with the candidate's department head, will select and invite individuals to write letters. In general, for instructional ranks, progress should include a component of pedagogical accomplishment. Promotion will depend upon contributions through teaching, research, and service while considering the details of an individual's assignment, such that teaching will be given more weight for those in teaching-focused positions and research will be given more weight for those in research-focused positions. Additional guidance regarding expectations for promotion is provided later in this document.
Consistent with Senate policy, candidates for promotion are reviewed by a Departmental Review Committee and a College Promotion Committee within the College of Information Sciences and Technology. The recommendation of the Departmental Review Committee is forwarded to the department head of the candidate. The recommendation of the department head, together with the recommendation of the Departmental Review Committee, is forwarded to the College Promotion Committee comprised only of NTL faculty. The recommendation of the Departmental Review Committee, the recommendation of the department head, and the recommendation produced by the College Promotion Committee are forwarded with the written case to the dean or the dean's designee for final consideration. The review of each committee/level starts when all of the materials for that committee/level are ready for review, including recommendation letters from previous committee and/or level.
Constituting a Committee
Individuals eligible to serve on the College Promotion Committee and the Departmental Review Committee are full-time Non-Tenure Line Associate or Full Professors with a rank comparable or higher than the rank that the candidate is being considered for promotion to in the College of IST. The members of each committee are elected by the College's faculty in the spring semester for a two-year term. The College Promotion Committee is formed first, before the Departmental Review Committee is elected. Membership is staggered. The College Promotion Committee consists of five members: one elected from each department, and two appointed by the dean or the dean's designee, in consultation with the department heads. The Departmental Review Committee consists of five members: one elected from each department, and remaining committee members are appointed by the dean, or the dean's designee, in consultation with the department heads. The Chair for each committee is selected by the dean, or the dean's designee.
In the case of promotion to Full NTL Professor, the size of the committees can be reduced, but to no less than three. If needed, the dean or the dean's designee can appoint additional members to the Departmental Review Committee to build a set at the required rank (for example, a full tenured professor from College of IST or a full teaching professor from another college).
Faculty members on leave of absence, including sabbatical leave are prohibited from participating in NTL promotion committees.
In regard to committee voting, members must recuse in advance of any discussion if there is a declared conflict of interest.
Timelines and Time-in-Rank
Time in rank should not be the primary consideration for promotion; the time periods described in the following sections are intended only as a general guideline.
It is generally expected that NTL faculty would have completed sufficient time-in-rank before applying for a promotion, which is typically five years in a rank. The anniversary date for determining time-in rank is July 1.
Any exceptions to the Timelines and Time-in-rank expectations should have prior written approval from the Dean’s office.
Term of Appointments
Although term appointments are frequently made with the clear possibility of reappointment or promotion, there is no entitlement to such action at the end of the term and it is by no means automatic. Instead, decisions on reappointment and promotion, like decisions on initial appointment, are subject to the exercise of professional and scholarly judgment and discretion by the College’s faculty and academic leadership. Timely notice shall be given to the NTL faculty member to reappoint or to let the appointment lapse.
Assuming no performance-related concerns that would necessitate a shorter contract, NTL faculty who have either successfully completed six years of service as a full-time member of the college’s teaching faculty or been promoted as a member of the college’s teaching faculty will normally be offered a fiveyear contract when it is time to issue a new contract. If a NTL faculty member does is not meet the above criteria a three-year contract will normally be issued.
Note: NTL faculty for whom there are performance-related concerns, will receive feedback and the opportunity to address any concerns. In extreme cases, this may not be possible. When there are performance concerns, faculty may be offered a contract that is shorter in duration (e.g. one or two years).
Appendix
When determining if the promotion criteria have been satisfied, the emphasis should be on contributions since the last promotion. The suggested timeline between ranks is five years. The contributions to be considered at each stage of promotion are outlined below.
- Lecturer to Assistant Teaching Professor - Faculty without a terminal degree may be hired as Lecturers and the highest rank they can achieve is Associate Teaching Professor.
- Consistently strong teaching record with the potential to excel
- Strong record of service
- Research contributions consistent with one’s appointment
- Assistant Teaching Professor to Associate Teaching Professor
- For those with a terminal degree:
- Consistently strong teaching record with the potential to excel
- Strong record of service
- Research contributions consistent with one’s appointment
- For those without a terminal degree:
- Excellence in teaching
- Leadership as exemplified by teaching innovations, curricular design, and faculty and student mentoring
- Excellent record of service to the college, university, and the field in general.
- Could include research contributions or other contributions if time is provided for these activities as part of their contract
- For those with a terminal degree:
- Associate Teaching Professor to Teaching Professor
- Excellence in teaching
- Leadership as exemplified by teaching innovations, curricular design, and faculty and student mentoring o Excellent record of service to the college, university, and the field in general.
- Could include research contributions or other contributions if time is provided for these activities as part of their contract
- Terminal degree (required)
- Researcher to Assistant Research Professor - Faculty without a terminal degree may be hired as Researcher and the highest rank they can achieve is Associate Research Professor.
- Consistently strong research record with the potential to excel
- Strong record of service
- Teaching contributions consistent with one’s appointment
- Assistant Research Professor to Associate Research Professor
- For those with a terminal degree:
- Consistently strong research record with the potential to excel
- Strong record of service
- Teaching contributions consistent with one’s appointment
- For those without a terminal degree:
- Excellence in research
- Leadership as exemplified by research innovations, and faculty and student mentoring
- Excellent record of service to the college, university, and the field in general
- Could include teaching contributions or other contributions if time is provided for these activities as part of their contract
- Associate Research Professor to Research Professor
- Excellence in research
- Leadership as exemplified by research innovations, and faculty and student mentoring
- Excellent record of service to the college, university, and the field in general.
- Could include teaching contributions or other contributions if time is provided for these activities as part of their contract
- Terminal degree (required)
- For those with a terminal degree:
1/16/2013 (kb)
2/14/2013 (kb)
4/4/2013 (wf)
4/16/2015 (FC appr’d)
8/22/2017 (Letterhead Updated) (kb)
12/11/2017 HR-21 changed to AC-21
1/10/2018 Job titles, promotion criteria, process, and timeline
11/16/2020 (kb) Changed from IST_HR-01 to IST_AC-14
10/4/2021 Removed Appendix sunset clause, valid only through 2020-21 (sb)
11/21/2021 Added the section Nominations for Promotion for Non-Tenure Line Faculty (sb)
9/20/2022 Letterhead updated, changed Fixed-term to NTL, added section Constituting a Committee (kw)
11/19/2022 Updated Terms of Appointments (kw)
2/23/2023 Revised to reflect new timeline (sb)
9/1/24 Revised to mention designee of dean ( kr)
3/27/25 Revised for the college's change to a departmental structure