The College Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Committee shall consist of tenured faculty members who have achieved the rank of professor--one representative elected from each department.
(Revised and approved by Faculty on April 22, 2009)
Eligibility: To be eligible to serve on the Promotion and Tenure Committee, members must be tenured professors or tenured associate professors not serving as an Academic Administrator. To be eligible to serve as the Energy and Mineral Engineering representative to the Earth and Mineral Sciences Promotion and Tenure Committee, the representative must be a tenured professor who is not serving as an Academic Administrator and who has previous experience on the departmental promotion and tenure committee but has not served in the previous two years.
Size and Composition: The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall consist of five people including one elected chair and four elected members, two associate professors and three professors. There shall be one department representative to the EMS Promotion and Tenure Committee.
Election procedures: Elections shall be held at the end of each spring semester for the following academic year. All tenure-track and tenured faculty members, excluding those serving as an Academic Administrator, are eligible to vote. A faculty member on sabbatical leave for the coming year is not eligible to be a candidate. Election of the representative to the EMS committee shall be held first, followed by election for members of the Energy and Mineral Engineering committee. The ballot will be organized into sections for votes on the Professor ranked member and votes on the Associate Professor ranked member, with one vote allowed in each category. If any election is needed for a replacement to fill out a term, that will be conducted as a separate ballot following elections for the full-term members. The top vote recipients will be elected. Tie votes shall be resolved by a run-off election of those individuals receiving the same number of votes. The chair for the Energy and Mineral Engineering committee will be held immediately once the members have been established.
Chair: The Chair shall be elected every year for a one-year term. The Chair must be a professor and be elected from among the three professors serving on the committee during the coming year. Chairs may serve multiple successive terms.
Representative: The representative to the EMS committee shall be elected for a three-year term and shall be eligible for renewal.
Members: The committee shall be composed of five tenured faculty members elected by the entire faculty. At least three will be at the rank of professor. Three members of the committee shall be elected each year. Eligibility will be restricted to tenured faculty. The two faculty members receiving the most votes will serve two-year terms. If any of the two faculty members with the most votes served in the previous year, however, they will be limited to a one-year term. The faculty member receiving the third most votes will serve a one-year term. Each faculty member may vote for three candidates in the election. After serving on the committee for two consecutive years, a faculty member may not serve for the following two years. The chair of the committee shall be elected annually by the membership of the committee.
Duties: Working within college and university (AC-23) guidelines, the promotion and tenure committee is responsible for evaluating a faculty member’s progress toward promotion and tenure. Where applicable, the committee will evaluate faculty members in non-tenure track academic ranks (as described in AC-21) for promotion.
Vacancies: If a member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee or the Representative to EMS resigns his/her position, or is unable to fill a full term, a replacement of the same academic rank shall be selected to fill the remaining term using the procedure specified below.
Under-performing Committee Member: If the faculty member is not fulfilling their duties, the P&T committee chair and/or department head may meet with the committee member to discuss ways the person can better meet obligations. However, the department head should not request the member’s resignation or take part in replacing the member. If the faculty member continues to be unable to meet their obligations to the committee, the P&T committee can vote to remove the member, and then a new member will be elected by a vote from the department faculty through normal voting procedures (detailed above/below).
When any vacancy occurs, the replacement to fill the open term will be selected through a special election in which faculty who are eligible to vote can vote for one candidate from the set of eligible candidates.
Changes to this departmental policy are discussed in a faculty meeting and voted on by the tenured and tenure- track faculty with tenure-home in Energy and Mineral Engineering.
Eligibility: To be eligible to serve on the Promotion and Tenure Committee, members must be tenured professors or tenured associate professors not serving as an Academic Administrator. To be eligible to serve as the Geography representative to the Earth and Mineral Sciences Promotion and Tenure Committee, the representative must be a tenured professor who is not serving as an Academic Administrator and who has previous experience on the departmental promotion and tenure committee but has not served in the previous two years.
Size and Composition: The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall consist of five people including one elected chair and four elected members, two associate professors and three professors. There shall be one department representative to the EMS Promotion and Tenure Committee.
Election procedures: Elections shall be held at the end of each spring semester for the following academic year. All tenure-track and tenured faculty members, excluding those serving as an Academic Administrator, are eligible to vote. A faculty member on sabbatical leave for the coming year is not eligible to be a candidate. Election of the representative to the EMS committee shall be held first, followed by election for members of the Geography committee with each eligible faculty member voting for two candidates (unranked) to fill the two elected positions open each year (see explanation below of staggered terms). The top two vote recipients will be elected. Tie votes shall be resolved by a run-off election of those individuals receiving the same number of votes. The chair for the Geography committee will be held immediately once the members have been established.
Chair: The Chair shall be elected every year for a one-year term. The Chair must be a professor and be elected from among the three professors serving on the committee during the coming year. Chairs may serve multiple successive terms.
Representative: The representative to the EMS committee shall be elected for a three-year term and shall be eligible for renewal.
Members: Professors shall be elected for three-year terms. Terms will be staggered among members to ensure regular change in membership. Professors may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms followed by a two-year break, during which time they are not eligible.
Associate Professors shall be elected for a two-year term. Terms will be staggered among members to ensure regular change in membership. Associate Professors may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms followed by a two-year break during which time they are not eligible.
At the end of every spring semester two members shall be elected to serve for their appropriate term. Elected members may be either associate professors or professors. The ballot will be organized into sections for votes on the Professor ranked member and votes on the Associate Professor ranked member, with one vote allowed in each category. If any election is needed for a replacement to fill out a term, that will be conducted as a separate ballot following elections for the full-term members.
Vacancies: If a member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee or the Representative to EMS resigns his/her position, or is unable to fill a full term, a replacement of the same academic rank shall be selected to fill the remaining term using the procedure specified below.
Under-performing Committee Member: If the faculty member is not fulfilling their duties, the P&T committee chair and/or department head may meet with the committee member to discuss ways the person can better meet obligations. However, the department head should not request the member’s resignation or take part in replacing the member. If the faculty member continues to be unable to meet their obligations to the committee, the P&T committee can vote to remove the member, and then a new member will be elected by a vote from the department faculty through normal voting procedures (detailed above/below).
When any vacancy occurs, the replacement to fill the open term will be selected through a special election in which faculty who are eligible to vote can vote for one candidate from the set of eligible candidates.
Changes to this departmental policy are discussed in a faculty meeting and voted on by the tenured and tenure-track faculty with tenure-home in geography.
Adopted by the Geography Faculty April 2018
There shall be a single departmental committee to consider matters of promotion and tenure on the University Park campus.
Eligibility: To be eligible to serve on the Promotion and Tenure Committee, members must be tenured professors not serving in an academic administrative position.
Size and Composition: This committee shall be composed of five tenured faculty members elected by the entire faculty. At least three must be at the rank of professor.
Election/Appointment Procedures: Three members of the committee shall be elected each year. Each faculty member may vote for two committee members in the election. The Head of the Department of Geosciences shall be excluded from membership on the committee.
Term Lengths and Leadership of the Department Committee: The two eligible faculty members who receive the most votes will serve two-year terms; the third will serve a one-year term. After completion of a two-year term of service, the member may not serve on the departmental promotion and tenure committee for the following two years. The Chair of the committee shall be elected annually by the membership of the committee.
EMS College Committee Representation: The departmental representative to the College Promotion and Tenure Committee serves a three-year term. Therefore, every three years an election for this position shall be held with votes being cast by all tenure-line faculty, with the Department Committee Chairs from two, three, and four years prior as candidates for election to the College P&T Committee. For example, in Spring 2016 the Departmental Committee Chairs from spring 2012, 2013 and 2014 will form the slate of candidates. The candidate with the most votes will be appointed to a three-year term. At the discretion of the Department Head, the serving chair could be reappointed to serve a second term.
Under-performing Committee Members/Replacement Procedures:
Committee Member Requests Replacement
Under-performing Committee Member
Eligibility: To be eligible to serve on the Promotion and Tenure Committee, members must be tenured professors not serving in an academic administrative position.
Size and Composition: The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall consist of five people including one Chair and four members, all of whom are tenured an hold the rank of professor. There shall be one representative to the Earth and Mineral Sciences Promotion and Tenure Committee.
Election/Appointment Procedures: Elections shall be held at the end of each Spring semester for the following academic year. All tenure-track and tenured faculty members, excluding those holding academic administrative appointments, are eligible to vote.
Each year the Department Head will nominate a new member of the Committee at a Department faculty meeting. Nominees will be selected based on time since last service, as well as balance on the Committee with respect to discipline and diversity. Additional nominations may be made at the faculty meeting, including self-nominations. A faculty member on sabbatical leave for the coming year is not eligible to be a candidate. After the faculty meeting an electronic vote will take place as to the suitability of the faculty candidate(s) to serve on the Committee.
Term Lengths and Leadership of the Department Committee: Each Committee member will serve for five years. The Committee member serving his/her fourth year will be the Chair of the Committee.
EMS College Committee Representation: To be eligible to serve as the Materials Science and Engineering representative on the Earth and Mineral Sciences Promotion and Tenure Committee, the representative must be a tenured professor who has previous experience on the Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee. The representative will be selected by the Department Head, approved by the faculty, and will serve on the College Committee for three years.
Vacancies: If a member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee or the representative to the Earth and Mineral Sciences Committee resigns his or her position or otherwise fill a full term due to illness, sabbatical, extensive travel in fulfillment of professional duties, or other reasons, a replacement shall be elected to fill the remaining term using the same process described above. If the Chair of the Promotion and Tenure Committee is unable to fulfill his or her duties, the member serving his/her third year shall become Chair of the Committee.
Under-performing Committee Members/Replacement Procedures
Committee Member Requests Replacement: If the Faculty Member cannot fulfill their duties due to time restraints, travel schedule, or research needs, they may request removal from their P&T Committee responsibilities. Replacement of the member will follow the department's normal appointing procedures (found in the Election/Appointment procedures captured above).
Under-performing Committee Member: If the Faculty Member is not fulfilling their duties, for any reason, the P&T Committee Chairperson, the Dean and/or department head (as appropriate to committee level) may meet with the under-performing committee member to discuss behaviors, causes of behaviors, and ways to meet obligations. However, neither the dean nor the department head should request the member’s resignation or take part in replacing the member. If the Faculty Member continues to be unable to meet their obligations to the committee, the under-performing committee member may be replaced by a vote from the department’s P&T Committee members or a vote from the department faculty. Replacement of the member will follow the department's normal appointing procedures (found in the Election/Appointment procedures captured above).
Eligibility: Full Professors
Size: 3 members, 1 of whom is chair.
Election: Each spring, the Department Head looks ahead to likely P&T activities during the coming academic year. The Head identifies needed disciplinary expertise and approaches full professors to ask if they would be willing to serve if elected. Consideration is given to continuity from year-to-year and having someone with past experience as a member of this committee. The chair is also identified in this process. This slate of 3 is then brought to the full faculty for a vote during the last faculty meeting of the spring semester.
Term lengths: Service is for 1 year, with potential for renewal. There are no restrictions on the number of years that someone can serve.
EMS College Committee P&T Representative: The College P&T Representative is selected by the Department Head and will be a full professor.
Vacancies: If needed, the Head will suggest replacement(s) for any vacancies and bring these to the faculty for a vote.
Procedure changes: The Head would discuss any changes with the faculty and seek approval.
Under-performing Committee Members/Replacement Procedures
Committee Member Requests Replacement: If the Faculty Member cannot fulfill their duties due to time restraints, travel schedule, or research needs, they may request removal from their P&T Committee responsibilities. Replacement of the member will follow the department's normal appointing procedures (found in the Election procedures captured above).
Under-performing Committee Member: If the Faculty Member is not fulfilling their duties, for any reason, the P&T Committee Chairperson, the Dean and/or department head (as appropriate to committee level) may meet with the under-performing committee member to discuss behaviors, causes of behaviors, and ways to meet obligations. However, neither the dean nor the department head should request the member’s resignation or take part in replacing the member. If the Faculty Member continues to be unable to meet their obligations to the committee, the under-performing committee member may be replaced by a vote from the department’s P&T Committee members or a vote from the department faculty. Replacement of the member will follow the department's normal appointing procedures (found in the Election procedures captured above).
