Unit Policy
Title
School of Education: Post-Tenure Review Policy
Introduction
Purpose
This policy establishes the process by which the School of Education conducts periodic, comprehensive reviews of tenured faculty performance across teaching, research, and service. Its goals are to promote faculty development, ensure productivity, and provide accountability, while also outlining consequences and support structures for faculty who do not meet expectations.
Scope
This policy applies to all tenured faculty members of the School of Education at UNC Chapel Hill whose primary duties are teaching, research, and service.
Policy
Post-tenure review is a systematic process for the periodic, comprehensive review of the performance of all faculty members having permanent tenure and whose primary duties are teaching, research and service. The goals of post-tenure review are to promote faculty development, ensure faculty productivity and provide accountability. The post-tenure review process should respect the basic principles of academic freedom. Post-tenure review does not abrogate, in any way, the due process criteria or procedures for dismissal or other disciplinary action established under the Trustee Policies and Regulations Governing Academic Tenure.
The current UNC-Chapel Hill policy for Review of Tenured Faculty can be found at the following link: https://facultyaffairs.unc.edu/policies-and-procedures/faculty-reviews/post-tenure-review-policy/
School of Education General Policies
All matters relating to post-tenure review are confidential. All those who participate as members of the Post-Tenure Review Committee or who otherwise advise on individual cases should be advised of their obligation to abide by this requirement.
Comprehensive evaluations conducted for other purposes, such as promotion, may be substituted for post-tenure review. Annual reports may inform but not substitute for the post-tenure review.
The faculty believes that the post-tenure process should be as efficient, straightforward, fair, functional, constructive, and flexible as possible.
Responsibilities of the Dean
The Dean is to ensure that each tenured faculty member is reviewed at least once every five years following conferral of permanent tenure. More frequent review may be made at the discretion of the Dean. Each faculty member who is to undergo review will be advised by the Dean of the upcoming review at least six months before the start of the review. The Dean will ensure that faculty members are advised of the members of their review committee during the year of their review. If a faculty member is reassigned to other duties (e.g., department chair or academic unit head) for .50 FTE or more or is occupying a leave-earning position (e.g., SAAO Tier I or Tier II), that faculty member shall not be required to undergo post-tenure review until having completed a five-year cycle following the reassignment. A faculty member may request to delay a scheduled post-tenure review for compelling reasons. The request for postponement must be in writing, sent to the Dean, and approved by the Provost.
Effective upon the award of tenure, and coincident with the start of each post-tenure review cycle, faculty should develop, in consultation with the Dean, long-term work plans that are aligned with annual performance evaluations and consistent with the expectations of the department/school. These long-term work plans will cover the five years of the post-tenure cycle. The long-term work plan can be modified annually by the faculty member in consultation with, and with the approval of, the Dean. The long-term work plan shall correspond with the annual work plan and evaluation required by the University Policy on Faculty Workload. While annual evaluations may inform the process, they are not a substitute for a periodic, comprehensive post-tenure review. The finalized long-term work plan must be approved by the Dean. Comprehensive evaluations conducted for other purposes, such as a review for promotion, may be substituted for or combined with post-tenure review.
The review must examine all aspects of faculty activities and performance. Faculty who have a faculty success plan that precedes a post-tenure review must address their progress in their Post-Tenure Review. This progress will be evaluated by the Post-Tenure Review committee in a unique section of their report titled “Faculty Success Plan Progress.”
The Dean will review the Post-Tenure Review Committee’s work and determine if additional consultation/review is needed. In addition, the Dean will provide a separate written review of the faculty member that clearly states points of concurrence or points of variation from the post-tenure review committee. Any recommendation for a faculty success plan or for recognition of performance that exceeds expectations shall include a specific rationale from the Dean for the recommendation.
The Dean will maintain the Post-Tenure Review Committee’s final report and the faculty member’s response, if applicable, in the faculty member’s confidential personnel file.
When faculty members being reviewed are found to have exceeded expectation in performance, the Dean may initiate other forms of positive recognition (i.e., recommendation for awards).
Faculty Success Plan
A faculty member whose PTR results in an overall rating of does not meet expectations shall be subject to a faculty success plan. The Dean will meet with the faculty member and establish a faculty success plan designed to assist the faculty member in addressing identified deficiencies. The plan should include clear goals, specific steps designed to achieve those goals, definite indicators of goal attainment, a clear and reasonable time frame for implementation of the plan, and identification of the consequences of failure to attain the goals. Faculty success plans should be individualized and flexible, taking into account the faculty member’s intellectual interests, abilities, and career stage, as well as the needs of the School. The plan will be filed in the faculty member’s personnel file. If a success plan is established, the faculty member in question is reviewed on an annual basis by the Dean until such time as the faculty member being reviewed demonstrates successful completion of the development plan. The Dean should acknowledge in writing the faculty member’s successful completion of a success plan. In the event substantial deficiencies in performance continue to exist at the end of the remediation plan period, the Dean will notify in writing the faculty member and make a recommendation regarding any remedial action, consistent with Trustee Policies and Regulations Governing Academic Tenure.
In addition, when a faculty member’s PTR results in an overall rating of does not meet expectations, the Dean may redefine faculty workloads and distribution of teaching, research/creative activity, and service. In such cases where revisions are made:
- The Dean shall ensure any changes to these duties address ways to support the SoE and UNC to better leverage the faculty member’s expertise and abilities and improve their performance.
- The faculty success plan shall detail the changes in duties and responsibilities. The faculty member’s annual work plan shall also change accordingly to ensure the faculty member is evaluated appropriately, based on the relevant allocation of workload.
A faculty member who fails to satisfactorily complete their faculty success plan and whose performance continues to be deficient during or after a review period may be subject to the imposition of a disciplinary sanction or dismissal in accordance with the Trustees Policies and Regulations Governing Academic Tenure.
Expectations of Faculty Members
All members of the faculty are expected throughout their careers to maintain the standards of excellence in research, teaching, and service as described in the School’s APT Policy Manual. Faculty will be evaluated based on the expectations applicable to their current rank, as indicated in the School's APT Policy Manual. Each faculty member who is to undergo review in a given year will take an active role in the post-tenure review process by assisting with preparing relevant information and participating in the creation of a faculty success plan, if needed, to address deficiencies in performance.
Each tenured associate and full professor being reviewed should provide the following:
- A concise summary of accomplishments for the preceding five years and plans for the next five years (not to exceed 750 - 1000 words)
- An updated CV
- A completed School of Education Post-Tenure Review Self-Assessment Tool (see Appendix B)
- Copies of the last five years of annual reports
The Dean may also provide the Post-Tenure Review Committee with additional pertinent information developed during periodic merit reviews and information relating to the faculty member’s ongoing work within the School.
For all faculty with a workload plan that includes teaching, peer assessments must occur at least once per appointment period, promotion, or post-tenure review interval. Peer assessments should occur during the third year after being granted tenure. Similarly, peer assessments should occur during the third year after a post-tenure review is conducted as outline in the UNC Evaluating Faculty Teaching Effectiveness Policy.
Post-Tenure Review Committee Composition and Responsibilities
The School of Education Post-Tenure Review Committee consists of four tenured full professors elected by the tenured faculty. Members' two-year terms are staggered to ensure continuity on the committee. A subcommittee of three members, with one serving as chair, conduct individual faculty member reviews.
Each Post-Tenure Review Committee member must complete any required ongoing support or training provided by the UNC System Office.
The Post-Tenure Review Committee will use all the evidence provided by the faculty member being reviewed and the School in evaluating performance. The committee will evaluate faculty performance using the standards articulated in the SoE Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure manual. The review process will be conducted in a way that provides the faculty member being reviewed, the Dean, and the members of the Post-Tenure Review Committee with relevant information concerning the faculty member’s accomplishments and plans in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service in relation to the mission of the School and University over the course of at least the previous five years. Clarification regarding the faculty member’s record of scholarship, teaching, or service may be sought from the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development.
The Post-Tenure Review Committee prepares a written report, not to exceed 2 pages, summarizing its findings regarding the faculty member’s research, teaching, and service in accordance with the faculty member’s long-term work plan and responsibility of duties. In the report, the committee should recognize significant accomplishments and make recommendations for ways to strengthen the record in research, teaching or service, when appropriate. For each category of assessment (i.e., research, teaching, service), the Committee must clearly specify that the faculty member’s performance exceeds expectations, meets expectations or does not meet expectations, along with a rationale for each assessment. The post-tenure review process should identify and recognize performance that exceeds expectations and include a statement from the Post-Tenure Review Committee of the faculty member’s primary responsibilities and specific descriptions of how the individual exceeded assigned duties and goals. The process should also identify faculty members who do not meet expectations and include a statement from the Post-Tenure Review Committee of the faculty member’s primary responsibilities and specific areas in which faculty members can improve and, in such cases, the process should result in specific recommendations and plans for improvement. For faculty who have a faculty success plan, that precedes a post-tenure review, their progress toward successfully completing this plan will be evaluated by the Post-Tenure Review committee in a unique section of their report titled “Faculty Success Plan Progress.”
Within its report, the Post-Tenure Review Committee will advise the faculty member being reviewed and the Dean on its overall conclusions regarding the faculty member’s performance, using the UNC-CH category system (does not meet expectations, meeting expectations, exceeding expectations).
The faculty member being reviewed is afforded an opportunity to review the report and provide a written response to the Post-Tenure Review Committee within two weeks of the report being sent to the faculty member. Based on this response, the Dean may ask the Committee to re-visit its recommendations. The final Post-Tenure Review and faculty member’s response (if applicable) are kept in the faculty member’s confidential personnel file.
Annual Reporting
At the request of the Provost’s Office, the Dean’s office prepares and submits an annual report specifying the number of faculty members reviewed during the previous year and the number of evaluations that are given using the UNC-CH category system (i.e., does not meet expectations, meets expectations, exceeds expectations). In addition, information is presented on whether and how many faculty success plans were recommended.
Dispute Resolution
Faculty who wish to contest determinations regarding their post-tenure review may seek resolution through the Faculty Grievance Committee.
Related Requirements
External Regulations
Contact Information
Primary Contact
Name: Jill Hamm, Dean, William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education
Email: jill.hamm@unc.edu