Mentor Group/Candidate Review Guidelines for Tenure Track Faculty

Promotion and Tenure Standards and Procedures for Tenure-Track Faculty Members

In its Promotion and Tenure Standards and Procedures, the School Promotion and Tenure Committee states its purposes and goals for promotion and tenure review as the following:

“The School of Journalism and Mass Communications conducts a rigorous and fair evaluation of faculty performance in considering the award of tenure and/or promotion pursuant to the Faculty Senate Rules and Regulations Article VI and this document. A candidate’s record of teaching, scholarship and service is evaluated according to the policies of the University and the standards of the School. The review is based on the entirety of the candidate’s record, not on isolated or biased sources of information. In the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, successful candidates for promotion and/or tenure must achieve a rating of excellent or very good in teaching and/or scholarship while meeting expectations in other areas.”

The P&T Committee has the responsibility to review candidates for promotion and tenure and to make recommendations to the Dean. To ensure consistency and fairness in the process for newly appointed tenure-track faculty, the P&T Committee will systematically review candidates in years one, two and three.

For each newly appointed tenure-track faculty member, the P&T Committee will organize a Mentor Group consisting of three tenured faculty members who are not Associate Deans. Mentor Groups will serve in both an advisory role and an evaluative role in each of the first three years.

The Mentor Group will write an annual review of each tenure-track faculty member and present that review, along with documentation of teaching and scholarship, to the full P&T Committee on or before March 1 in each of the first three years. The P&T Committee will examine the record of each tenure-track faculty member and vote upon a recommendation to the Dean in one of three categories from the University’s Progress Toward Tenure Review List:

Evidence sufficient for continuing tenure-track appointment at this time.

Evidence requires a subsequent formal probation review within one academic year. Evidence supports recommendation of non-reappointment.

Organization of Mentor Groups

Each Mentor Group will comprise three P&T Committee members who are not Associate Deans. Guidelines are as follows:

  • Each tenure-track faculty member will select one tenured member of the faculty. Every spring, the P&T chair and the tenure-track faculty member will review and adjust the Mentor Group members and chair as necessary.
  • The P&T Committee will select the two other tenured members of the Mentor Group.
  • The P&T chair and tenure-track faculty member will select the Mentor Group chair with the consent of that individual.
  • The Mentor Group will be formed on or before Sept. 15 of each new tenure- track faculty member’s first year.

Tenure Track — Academic Year 1:

  1. On or before Sept. 15. P&T organizes the Mentor Group in the first year of appointment.
  2. On or before Feb. 1. The tenure-track faculty member completes a curriculum vitae according to the University Committee on Promotion and Tenure procedures on the Provost’s website and submits it to the chair of the Mentor Group and the School P&T chair. The Mentor Group meets with its tenure-track faculty member to review the curriculum vitae, syllabi, student evaluations and other pertinent materials for teaching and service. The Mentor Group arranges class visits by faculty who can help the new faculty member. Mentors also examine scholarship or creative work that will lead to publication or exhibition and advise accordingly.
  3. On or before March 1. The Mentor Group chair provides a draft annual review to the School P&T Committee covering teaching, scholarship and service. The presentation to P&T includes documentation and analysis of teaching and scholarship. P&T Committee endorses or amends the draft and approves a final annual review. P&T then votes on a recommendation to the Dean. P&T forwards the annual review and the vote to the Dean, who reports to the University by March 15. The P&T chair will provide a copy of the Mentor Group Report/School Promotion and Tenure Committee Evaluation to the tenure-track faculty member.
  4. On or before April 15. After receiving the Mentor Group Report/School Promotion and Tenure Committee Evaluation, the tenure-track faculty member arranges to meet with the Dean and the Mentor Group chair to discuss progress toward tenure.
  5. On or before May 1: After the tenure-progress meeting with the Dean and the Mentor Group chair, the tenure-track faculty member meets with the Mentor Group to develop plans for the following year.

Tenure Track — Academic Year 2:

During this academic year, the Mentor Group attends the tenure-track faculty member’s classes to observe and mentor. The schedule remains the same as in year one, except that the CV must be updated.

Tenure Track — Academic Year 3:

Work this year focuses on the formal third-year Progress Toward Tenure Review. In this year, the tenure-track faculty member completes an updated CV as well as statements on teaching and scholarship (in accordance with instructions posted on the University’s Progress Toward Tenure Review website).

  1. On or before Feb. 1. The tenure-track faculty member delivers digital copies of those documents plus digital copies of major works of scholarship to his or her Mentor Group chair.
  2. On or before Feb. 15. The Mentor Group reviews those materials, plus peer and student evaluations of the tenure-track faculty member’s teaching, and recommends a formal evaluation of (a) Evidence sufficient for continuing tenure-track appointment at this time; or (b) Evidence requires a subsequent formal probation review within one academic year; or (c) Evidence supports recommendation of non-reappointment. On or before Feb. 15, the Mentor Group provides a brief written explanation of its evaluation to the School P&T chair.
  3. On or before March 1. The School Promotion and Tenure Committee meets and, by vote, agrees or disagrees with the Mentor Group’s recommendation. By March 1, the School P&T chair communicates the committee’s decision to the Dean.
  4. On or before March 15. The Dean reviews the Mentor Group report and the P&T evaluation of that report, makes a final official assessment of the tenure-track faculty member’s progress toward tenure, and sends a feedback letter, which includes that assessment and an explanation, to the tenure-track faculty member.
  5. On or before April 1: The Dean meets with the tenure-track faculty member to discuss progress toward tenure. However, according to University regulations, all meetings with faculty members recommended for non-reappointment must be completed by mid-March (the specific date can vary annually).

Tenure Track— Academic Years 4 and 5:

The Mentor Group continues to work with the tenure-track faculty member, following up on the previous year's review. These years should be spent in solidifying scholarly productivity and teaching mastery. The P&T Committee of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications will fulfill the following responsibilities to newly appointed tenure-track faculty:

  1. provide a Mentor Group
  2. provide this Promotion and Tenure Procedures and Timeline document and indicate links to the Provost’s websites on promotion and tenure
  3. provide annual reports on progress toward tenure in years one, two and three
  4. work with the tenure-track faculty member following each annual review to help the faculty member develop strategies for strengthening the tenure dossier

The tenure-track faculty member has the responsibility to do the following:

  1. become familiar with University procedures outlined on the Provost’s websites under Promotion and Tenure
  2. follow the School’s Promotion and Tenure Procedures and Timeline and meet procedural deadlines
  3. seek advice and counsel from the Mentor Group and other faculty members
  4. work toward being ready by year six to put forth his/her candidacy for promotion and tenure and prepare for final submission the documents within “Candidate Documents” on the Provost’s Promotion and Tenure website

Mentor Group/Candidate Review Guidelines revised and adopted by P&T Committee vote Nov. 4, 2011. Revised: April 20, 2012. Revised and adopted by P&T Committee vote Jan. 31, 2014. Reviewed 1/2021.