Guideline UL-ACG06 Immediate Tenure/Out of Sequence Tenure Review Process

Contents:

 

Initiating the Process

Immediate Tenure

Newly hired faculty members and academic administrators who hold faculty appointments are eligible for immediate tenure consideration if they meet the criteria outlined in “Appendix I: Guidelines for Immediate Tenure Reviews”. Eligible candidates may not already be under contract. This process is reserved for new faculty appointments and the process must be initiated before the candidate’s start date.

Before beginning the process, hiring managers must consult with the candidate's Department Head and the Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications regarding the candidate’s appropriateness for the immediate tenure application process. The final decision about candidate appropriateness resides with the Dean. The hiring manager is responsible for communicating with the candidate about their eligibility for the immediate tenure process.

Out of Sequence Review

When there is a desire to hire a faculty member or academic administrator with a faculty appointment who does not currently have tenure at their home institution, but whose record is deemed worthy of being hired with tenure, the “out-of-sequence” process should be used instead. In these cases, hiring managers must consult with the candidate's Department Head and the Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications regarding the candidate’s appropriateness. The final decision about candidate appropriateness resides with the Dean. If there is support, the Dean contacts the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs requesting an “out-of-sequence” process. A copy of the candidate’s vita should be shared with the request. Discussion between the Dean and VPFA will occur.

After VPFA approval is received, the hiring manager will be responsible for communicating with the candidate about their eligibility for the “out of sequence” process, and the Libraries can initiate the process to request external letters and obtain a narrative statement as the Libraries does with immediate tenure cases.

Out-of-sequence cases are typically reviewed by the University’s Promotion and Tenure Committee, although they may on occasion be reviewed by the University's Immediate Tenure Review Committee.

 

The Process (for both Immediate Tenure and Out of Sequence Tenure Review)

A candidate moving forward for immediate tenure/out-of-sequence review must provide a comprehensive vita. This vita should include recent scholarship/creative accomplishments and an up-to-date record of service to the profession. The candidate will also be asked to supply a brief narrative statement that describes their accomplishments in librarianship and their impact on the profession. The appropriate Promotion and Tenure Department Head is responsible for helping the candidate craft this statement. The candidate will be sent some sample narrative statements as a guide. External review letters (rather than recommendation letters written for the search process) will be solicited from appropriate peer reviewers. The candidate will be asked to submit 6 to 8 names of individuals who can provide an independent, unbiased, and fair evaluation of their contributions. These individuals should be external to Penn State and should not have a close academic or personal connection to the candidate. The Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications will solicit all external review letters. A minimum of four external letters are required. Receipt of these external letters may take two to three weeks. Once the external letters are received, the review process takes about 10 weeks.

The Office of the Dean is responsible for organizing review materials. Per guidelines, “To the extent possible, it is expected that the same college and department review committees that were appointed at the beginning of the review process will be reconvened to make recommendations in cases of immediate tenure” (“Appendix I: Guidelines for Immediate Tenure Reviews”).

Tenured faculty members of any rank may serve on these committees. The immediate tenure review process closely parallels policies and procedures outlined in AC23 Promotion and Tenure Procedures and Regulations.

 

Cross References:

Guideline UL-ACG07 Promotion and Tenure Criteria

Appendix I: Guidelines for Immediate Tenure Reviews

Policy AC23 Promotion and Tenure Procedures and Regulations

August 2024:  Revised in accordance with University-level policy and to reflect the role of the Department Head in the Promotion and Tenure process.

Effective Date: February 24, 2022
Date Approved: February 24, 2022 (Dean)