This administrative guideline describes the construction of the departmental committees and the college committee for promotion and tenure (P&T) evaluations in the College of IST.
A. Criteria Common to Formation of Both Committees
Committee membership is established in spring of the academic year before the committee evaluates candidates (for example, spring 2026 elections would take place for a committee that reviews candidates in the 2026-2027 academic year). Both the departmental P&T committees and the college P&T committee shall consist of both elected and appointed members (see below). The electorate in each department consists of all tenure track or tenured faculty with majority appointment and tenure home in the respective department. Academic Administrators, e.g., department heads, dean, associate deans, cannot vote in committee member elections or serve on the committee.
Elections for all elected P&T committee members shall be held before the appointment of additional members of the departmental and college committees (see below). Each committee elects its Chair from among its elected members after the committee is in place but before the start of the review cycle.
A faculty member on leave (paid or unpaid, e.g., on sabbatical) cannot serve on the committee.
In the event of a tie in the vote for electing departmental P&T committee members, the department head will select the committee member from among the tied candidates.
All committee members with rank equal to or above the promotion rank sought will serve on the committee when it evaluates a candidate. A committee member recuses themself from evaluation if they have a conflict of interest with a candidate, or close association (e.g., spousal relationship), that will compromise their ability to objectively evaluate the candidate or present an appearance of conflict of interest.
B. College Promotion and Tenure Committee
The college P&T committee shall be comprised of three faculty members at the rank of full professor.
Each department shall elect one member of the college P&T committee.
All professors at the rank of full professor in a department, except for those that are ineligible to serve, will be on the ballots for election of departmental representatives on the college P&T committee. Each elected member serves a two-year term. However, when this policy first goes into effect, one of the three elected members will serve a one-year term to ensure staggered terms, with one elected member being replaced each year.
If an elected member cannot complete the second year of their service, a replacement for that year will be determined by a special election within the department they represent. The vote may be for one or two years of service to ensure a staggered set of terms among elected members at the discretion of the dean or dean’s designee.
In the event the necessary numbers of members at the required academic rank are unavailable to serve on the college P&T committee, the dean (or dean’s designee) can appoint, in consultation with the department heads, tenured Penn State faculty at the required rank from other colleges.
The college P&T committee does not review second- and fourth-year tenure dossiers (or third or fifth-year dossiers if they are prepared).
C. Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee
Each department will constitute a departmental P&T committee. Each departmental P&T committee will consist of five members, three of whom will be at the rank of full professor.
The pool for membership in a departmental committee consists of all eligible tenured faculty members in the department, excluding academic administrators, members of the college committee for the upcoming academic year (the year when the committee reviews are conducted).
Each department shall elect 3 members – two at the full professor rank and one at the associate professor rank -- to the departmental committee. The departmental P&T committee elections shall take place after the formation of the college P&T committee.
All eligible associate and full-rank professors will be on the departmental ballots, except departmental P&T committee members who are continuing their service on the departmental committee. Each elected member serves a two-year term. However, when this policy first goes into effect, one of the three elected members will serve a one-year term to ensure staggered terms, with one elected member being replaced each year.
If an elected member cannot complete the second year of their service, a replacement for that year will be determined by the election within the department they represent. The vote may be for two years of service to accomplish a staggered set of terms among elected members at the discretion of the department head.
Two additional members shall be appointed by the department head to each departmental P&T committee after the elections are completed. The purpose of the appointment is to ensure that each departmental committee has three members at the rank of full professor and two members at the rank of associate professor while balancing the range of academic expertise represented on the committee. The appointed members serve a one-year term. Members can serve multiple terms.
In the event the necessary numbers of members at the required academic ranks professors are unavailable to serve on a departmental P&T committee, the department head shall appoint tenured Penn State faculty at the required ranks from other departments within or beyond the college.
The departmental P&T committee reviews second-year and fourth-year tenure dossiers (or third or fifth-year dossiers if they are prepared), as well as all dossiers for tenure and promotion to associate professor and promotion to full professor.
D. Additional Information on Process
D.1. Evaluation of student assessment of teaching
A one-page report that evaluates student assessments of a candidate’s teaching is prepared by a pair of professors. The report is 750 words or less and evaluates both quantitative median and mode ratings and qualitative open-ended comments by student respondents to SEEQ/SRTE surveys. All SEEQ/SRTE reports for all courses taught during the period of evaluation are provided to the pair of professors.
For this pair, one professor is a member of the departmental committee. The second professor is selected by the head of the department from a list of two or more professors provided by the candidate. The candidate’s suggestions may include teaching professors and tenured or tenure-track faculty at the same or lower ranks as the candidate, in addition to professors at higher ranks. The second professor does not become a member of the departmental committee (unless they are already a member of it). Their specific role is preparing the SEEQ/SRTE report that is entered into the dossier.
Committees with multiple dossiers to evaluate will most likely be reading reports by multiple pairs of professors.
See https://facultyaffairs.psu.edu...
D.2. Steps for external letters of assessment
External letters of assessment are part of a candidate’s dossier prepared for tenure and promotion to associate professor or a dossier for promotion from associate to full professor.
The departmental P&T committee reviews the Candidate’s CV and generates a list of people external to Penn State who are suitable for writing assessment letters (for example, the proposed writers are not past supervisors, publication coauthors, or research collaborators). The candidate also submits a list of suggested external evaluators. The head of department narrows the lists (and plans additional names) to produce a final recommendation of up to 15 external evaluators. This final list includes each potential evaluator’s name, rank and titles, affiliation(s), contact information, and a short biography (fewer than 100 words).
The dean or the dean’s designee approves the final list of external evaluators for each candidate. The head ascertains the willingness of potential writers to assess the candidate’s materials. The dean’s office makes formal requests for letters, provides evaluation materials, and produces the log of external evaluators for the dossier.
Letters are requested in the spring of the year before a dossier is prepared and finalized. Thus, it is the members of the preceding year’s committee that recommend the external referees who are requested to provide the letters that the next year’s committee will be reading.
D.3 Committee appointments in extenuating circumstances
The need to appoint a replacement member of either the college P&T committee or the departmental P&T committee may arise in the event an elected or an appointed member departs the university abruptly or takes an unexpected leave while the P&T evaluations are underway resulting in insufficient lead time to run elections. The dean or dean’s designee, in consultation with the faculty council, will appoint a replacement member for the college P&T committee, if necessary, drawing on Penn State faculty eligible to serve on the respective committees from within or beyond the college as needed.
Similarly, the department head will appoint a replacement member for the departmental P&T committee under extenuating circumstances Alternatively, the dean or the dean’s designee may approve dossier evaluation by a committee with fewer than the required five —but at least three—members.
No other changes to committee membership are permitted. One set of committee members evaluates tenure dossiers of all assistant professor candidates each year. Likewise, one set of committee members evaluates dossiers for all associate professor candidates seeking promotion each year.
Approved by faculty – 8/20/2002
Revised – 01/30/2006
Revised – 08/12/2009
Revised – 02/26/2015 – approved by Mary Beth Rosson, Interim Dean
Revised – 01/22/2016 – Graphic Only
Revised – 01/28/2018 – IST_HR-06 Admin Guideline Added to Document
Revised – 11/16/2020 – Changed from IST_HR-06 to IST_AD-19
Revised – 10/20/2022
Revised for transitional year – 02/14/2025
Revised - 05/11/2026
Changes to the Assessment of Teaching
Beginning July 1, 2025, all colleges are expected to incorporate the overarching principles for the incorporation of student feedback detailed below into promotion and/or tenure guidelines for tenure-line and non-tenure-line faculty members undergoing formal review. These changes must be reflected in the guidelines for academic units within the college no later than July 1, 2026.
- The goal of this approach is to provide a holistic review of SEEQ/SRTE student feedback that minimizes bias.
- This review of student feedback will replace the current summary of quantitative and qualitative student feedback on teaching effectiveness in formal promotion and/or tenure review materials.
- The unit
at the first level of review will identify a minimum of two individuals to
serve as student feedback reviewers, consistent with the criteria below.
- At least one individual selected from a list of two or more Penn State faculty members nominated by the candidate
- One member of the promotion and tenure committee at the first level of review
- The
reviewers are charged with
- Examining student feedback from available courses for the period since a candidate’s last formal review and/or covered by the review (whichever is the shortest)
- Writing a report of no more than 750 words (about one single-spaced page) describing insights about the candidate’s teaching effectiveness derived from quantitative and qualitative student feedback from SEEQ/SRTE responses across the courses taught during the review period
- As
applicable, reviewers should incorporate attention to the elements of teaching:
effective course design, effective instruction, inclusive and ethical pedagogy,
reflective and evolving practice
- NOTE: Reviewers are advised to consult with the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Effectiveness for guidance for how to interpret student feedback
- This report will be sent to the administrator at the first level of review and will be included in the dossier or promotion materials reviewed by the candidate. If a candidate perceives that the report inadequately represents teaching effectiveness based on student feedback, candidates may revise their narratives to address the perceived discrepancy.
- SEEQ/SRTE scores will be included in an appendix to the dossier. The delivery mode of the course and the distribution, mode, and median for SEEQ/SRTE items will be provided for each course.
- All candidates have the option of including raw data student feedback from the SEEQ/SRTE in their supplemental materials.
- As long as the principles articulated here are adhered to, academic units are free to incorporate this work into existing structures, such as teaching review committees.