Instructional Faculty

Instructional (Non-Tenure-Track) Faculty consists of experienced persons holding part-time or full-time appointments, who are primarily considered instructional personnel and may also have service responsibilities, related to the teaching mission of the department, college, or university but no expectation for research or creative activity.
Instructional faculty members promoted within the College will demonstrate high-quality mentoring/teaching effectiveness. Teaching effectiveness is viewed as a measure of quality, not quantity, and is expected of all candidates. Instructional faculty may hold the following rank:

1. Assistant Professor of Instruction
2. Associate Professor of Instruction
3. Professor of Instruction

Faculty in the Instructional faculty track will normally be hired at a rank of Assistant Professor of Instruction, but rank may be negotiated at the time of hire depending on qualifications and experience.

Instructional faculty must be evaluated annually by the unit Director/Chair based on the unit’s guidelines with more extensive reviews performed in the last year of multi-year contracts. Extensive reviews will be completed the unit’s PTC with input from the Director/Chair and then sent on to the Dean for action of renewal or non-renewal.

Instructional faculty members may be employed on the basis of full-time or part-time appointments.

Instructional faculty members may negotiate a shift from a full-time to a part-time appointment, or from a part-time to a full-time appointment without loss of rank.

Percentage distribution of teaching and service responsibilities are negotiated with the Chair/Director at the time of hire in the letter of offer and annually as appropriate to meet the needs of the unit or college.

A. Promotion

In all review cases, the weight given to teaching must be considered in light of other demands made on the faculty member by hiring agreements or activities necessary to fulfill the unit’s mission. For example, a candidate may have been hired with the understanding that the workload would include administrative responsibilities or may have received resources for scholarly activities that include a reduced teaching workload. Specific teaching responsibilities will occur through dialogue between the faculty member, the unit Director/Chair, the Program Director, and/or the Chair of the unit’s PTC (other committee members also may be involved) and will reflect the goals and needs of the program (including interdisciplinary teaching, if applicable) and the professional goals of the individual faculty member.

The unit Director/Chair shall provide a written record of decisions that may later affect promotion decisions to the faculty member and copies retained in his/her permanent file. To this end, the candidate must maintain accurate documentation (e.g., summary notes of conversations with the Director/Chair, email correspondences) of any changes in workload and expectations that may occur during the pre-promotion period. These documents may be used in the evaluative materials submitted by the candidate at the time of review.

B. Early Promotion

A recommendation for early promotion is possible but requires that a case be made for the candidate’s exceptionality. The candidate must explicitly address the case for exceptionality in the dossier under each section as applicable. Faculty members who apply for early promotion and are not successful may reapply the following year.Candidates are advised to conduct preliminary discussions with their chair and the Dean prior to submission for early promotion/tenure by the last day of the spring semester prior to dossier submission.

C. Review of Instructional Faculty

Promotion through the ranks from assistant professor of instruction to professor of instruction is in recognition of the accomplishments of the faculty member being considered. All Instructional faculty in the College are encouraged to move through the academic ranks to achieve the status of professor of instruction. Promotion shall not be automatic nor will it be regarded as guaranteed upon completion of a typical term of service.

1. Pre-Promotion Review

In addition to annual evaluations, instructional faculty planning on applying for promotion should request a pre-promotion review. Depending on the terms and conditions of hire and the historical relationship with the College, the timeline may vary. Ideally, the review would take place in the fall term, three years prior to applying for promotion. It is noted that individual circumstances may alter the timeline. Congruent with the College’s goal of collaboration and mentorship, the Unit PTC will work with the candidate to assist in preparation and guidance for the review. It is the responsibility of the candidate to initiate this process. By the second Monday of September, the candidate will submit to the Unit PTC a dossier conforming to the college template.

The unit PTC and unit Director/Chair will review the materials by the end of the first week of spring term. The candidate will receive a letter from the unit Director/Chair that integrates all feedback about his/her progress toward promotion and/or tenure. The letter will include suggestions regarding which area(s) the candidate may need to strengthen and improve. The unit Director/Chair will issue the letter no later than February 15.

2. Assistant Professor of Instruction to Associate Professor of Instruction

Depending on the terms of hire and the standards of the academic unit, promotion from the rank of assistant professor of instruction (>= 0.5 FTE) to associate professor of instruction will be based on one or both of the following:

1. A demonstrated record of effectiveness as a teacher/mentor.
2. A record of service including administration to the discipline, the academic unit, and, where possible, the College, the University, and the public as well as the profession at large.

3. Associate Professor of Instruction to Professor of Instruction

Depending on the terms of hire and the standards of the unit, promotion to the highest rank requires academic achievements and a professional reputation that is recognized as outstanding

One or more of the following attributes will be considered when deciding if a faculty member will earn the rank of professor of instruction:

1. Demonstrated continued growth and a cumulative record of mentoring/teaching effectiveness.
2. Demonstrated leadership in service to the University (unit, College, University), to the public, and the profession at large.
3. Mentorship and development related to teaching in the college

Continued growth is expected from the time of appointment as Associate Professor of Instruction.

D. Documentation

The college PTAC will focus review on documentation that would advance to the Provost and can request supplemental materials such as teaching portfolios. Required documentation will be submitted electronically and must include the following:

Section One - Introductory documents

1. Review form for promotion
2. College dean letter
3. Unit Chair/Director letter
4. Unit PTC letter
5. Regional campus dean non-decision, input letter (if applicable)
6. Annual evaluation letters and any promotion progress letters
7. Appointment letter

Section Two – Promotion Summary Documents (Dossier)

1. Table of Contents
2. Academic preparation
3. Professional experience
4. Instruction and advising
   1. Teaching load
   2. Teaching effectiveness
      1. Evidence of course organization, presentation, and requirements, including 2 course syllabi
      2. Student course evaluation results
      3. List of teaching awards and recognition
      4. Selection for teaching in special programs
      5. Participation, as a student, in the teaching enhancement program
      6. Other evidence of teaching effectiveness (e.g. instructor self-assessments, sample course materials, measures of student learning, peer reviews, academic leader reviews, and/or stakeholder feedback)
   3. Interdisciplinary teaching
   4. Advising and supervision
   5. Professional associations
5. Committees and service
   1. Division, unit, college, university committee service
   2. State and national professional services, such as:
      1. Member of professional association committees, task forces, workgroups, etc.
      2. Elected office, board of directors, etc.
      3. Contributor to the improvement of clinical practice standards
      4. Consultant to clinical practice or clinical product development
      5. Editorial consultant/reviewer
      6. Member of an accreditation organization
6. Interdisciplinary contributions
7. Other factors

Section Three – Curriculum Vitae and Promotion Guidelines

1. Comprehensive, current CV
2. Unit promotion guidelines applicable to the case
3. College/RHE guidelines applicable to the case