School of Medicine: Post-Tenure Review Policy

Unit Policy

Title

School of Medicine: Post-Tenure Review Policy

Introduction

Purpose

This policy describes the process of Post-Tenure Review for tenured faculty in the School of Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill, ensuring that all tenured faculty undergo a rigorous peer review every five years. The process is designed to recognize faculty accomplishments, provide constructive feedback on performance, and address substantial deficiencies where they exist.

Scope

This policy applies to all tenured faculty members with a primary appointment in the School of Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill, excluding those who have submitted intent to retire, resign, or enter Phased Retirement during the review period.

Policy

Introduction

This document describes the policy and process of Post-Tenure Review for the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The process set forth below shall be interpreted to conform to the guidelines for Post-Tenure Review defined by the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and by the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina. See: UNC Policy 400.3.3 and its implementing regulation 400.3.3.1[R].

Throughout their academic careers, all School of Medicine faculty are expected to maintain standards of excellence that are set forth in the School of Medicine's Guidelines for Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion.

Following the conferral of tenure, each faculty member is subject to Post-Tenure Review involving faculty peers every five years. This process is designed to recognize the accomplishments of tenured faculty while offering constructive feedback on their performance.

While this policy is intended to ensure that all tenured faculty members with a primary appointment in the School of Medicine undergo a rigorous review once every five years, it is not meant to supersede comprehensive evaluations conducted for other purposes. Indeed, reviews for promotion or five-year reviews for senior leaders (i.e., department chairs and center directors) may be substituted for Post-Tenure Review.

If a faculty member is reassigned to other duties 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. This includes interim chairs. Departmental promotion reviews may serve in place of a Post-Tenure Review for Associate Professors with tenure.

Annual faculty reviews are not a substitute for Post-Tenure Review. Faculty who have submitted intent to retire, resign, or be switched to Phased Retirement during the Post-Tenure Review period (November – April) will not be reviewed.

Post-Tenure Reviews must consider every aspect of a faculty member's academic performance, professionalism, and how the faculty member has contributed to the School of Medicine mission to "improve the health and wellbeing of North Carolinians and others whom we serve."

Effective upon the award of tenure, and coincident with the start of each Post-Tenure Review cycle, faculty should develop, in consultation with their department chairs, 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.

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 tenure is granted. Similarly, peer assessments should occur the third year following a Post-Tenure review as outlined in the UNC Evaluation Faculty Teaching Effectiveness Policy.

Post-Tenure Review Committee

The Post-Tenure Review Committee is one of the Standing Committees of the School of Medicine, and the composition and responsibilities of the Committee are outlined in the School of Medicine's Bylaws. The Committee composition includes voting members and non-voting members:

Voting Members:

• One Full Professor with tenure from each basic science and clinical department with more than five tenured Full Professor faculty members appointed by the Dean on the recommendation of the Department Chair. These are one-year terms.
• Two elected Full Professors (one each from a research and clinical background) with tenure who have successfully undergone Post-Tenure Review in the past two academic years. These are three-year terms.

Non-Voting Members:

• The Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (or their designee) serves as Chair of the Post-Tenure Review Committee but does not have a vote.

Full professors undergoing Post-Tenure Review are not eligible to serve on the Committee. Department Chairs are excluded from serving on the Committee.

There are two subcommittees of the Post-Tenure Review Committee:

1. Clinical Subcommittee
2. Research Subcommittee

All members of the Post-Tenure Review Committee, department chairs, and deans will be compliant with UNC system training requirements for Post-Tenure Review evaluators. The UNC System Office provides digital training modules that focus on the basics of state personnel policy and UNC policies, regulations, and guidelines related to personnel and tenure; the essential elements of a useful and thoughtful review; how to prepare, conduct, and manage a meaningful review process; and how to provide constructive criticism in a positive manner.

The Post-Tenure Review Committee will assess a faculty member's performance based on the following categories: meets, exceeds, or does not meet expectations. The Committee should recognize performance that exceeds expectations. In cases where faculty members do not meet expectations, the Committee will identify specific areas for improvement and require a faculty success plan to address these deficiencies.

The Committee will prepare a written summary of its assessment regarding the faculty member's overall performance, and, where appropriate, its recommendations. This written summary will be shared with the Department Chair, who will provide it to the faculty member.

Review Portfolios

All faculty members who are scheduled to undergo Post-Tenure Review will prepare a Post-Tenure Review Portfolio. The Portfolio should include the following:

1. Self-Assessment: A self-assessment will be written by the faculty member undergoing Post-Tenure Review. This document is to summarize the faculty member's accomplishments during the preceding five years and their goals for the next five years. The statement should also summarize the impact of the faculty member's efforts in support of the School of Medicine's mission. To support this process, the School of Medicine provides a written self-assessment tool.
2. A current, updated Curriculum Vitae: This document should be prepared according to the standard UNC-Chapel Hill format for Curriculum Vitae which includes a teaching statement, research statement, and an optional professional service statement. Faculty should highlight information on their CV that pertains to the Post-Tenure Review period of the last five years, and in addition, should detail the below activities if not already included:

Basic Science Faculty:

TEACHING

1. Courses (include semesters/year, # of hours lectured, # of hours in lab, etc.)
   1. Course Director (give course title)
   2. Course Instructor (give course title)
2. Undergraduate students (if applicable)
   1. Students in lab for research rotations
   2. Other interactions with Undergraduate students
3. Graduate students
   1. Students in lab for research rotations
   2. Advisor for students in lab for thesis/dissertation (student's name and years in lab)
   3. Service on Thesis/Dissertation Committee (names of students)
   4. Other interactions with Graduate students
4. Former Graduate students (completed graduate school during the past five years)
   1. Thesis/dissertation title for students who completed their research in the lab
5. Post-doctoral trainees
6. Training grants in which you are a participant (Title)

Clinical Faculty:

TEACHING

1. Strategies they use to develop learners with the capacity and knowledge needed to personalize health care according to individual patient needs and backgrounds.
2. Courses (include semesters/year, # of hours lectured, # of hours in lab, etc.)
   1. Course director (give course title)
   2. Course Instructor (give course title)
3. Resident supervision (clinic days/week)
4. Fellow supervision (clinic days/week)
5. Area Health Education Center (AHEC) lectures
6. Other teaching responsibilities

CLINICAL ACTIVITIES

1. Attending Physician (months/year)
2. Consulting Physician (months/year)
3. Clinic activities (days/week)

Procedure for Requesting a Post-Tenure Review Delay

Faculty with extenuating personal circumstances may request to delay an upcoming Post-Tenure Review by one year. Requests must be submitted to the faculty member's Department Chair three months in advance of the deadline for submitting review portfolios to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development. Requests must be submitted using the Review Deferral Request Form.

The Chair should determine within two weeks of receiving the faculty member's request if they will approve it. If the Chair approves the request, the Chair must then forward the request to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development. If approved at this level, the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development will transmit the request to the Provost's Office for final review and approval. Once the request is reviewed, a written communication will be sent from the Provost's Office to the faculty member, the unit head and the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development indicating whether the request has been approved.

If the request is approved, the faculty member's academic unit must then complete an electronic action in the existing system, with the Provost's letter of approval attached, to finalize the change to the Post-Tenure Review date.

Off-Cycle Post-Tenure Review

Off-cycle reviews are not permitted as faculty should be given a full, five-year period to focus on their performance and productivity.

Department Level Promotion Review for Associate Professors

Comprehensive evaluations for promotion may be substituted for or combined with Post-Tenure Review. Departments may therefore elect to conduct a promotion review for tenured Associate Professors internally, rather than having them submit for Post-Tenure Review. In this case, the department will form a committee of at least three Full Professors with tenure who have successfully completed Post-Tenure Review in the last five years. The material to be submitted to the committee will be the same as is outlined in the section on Review Portfolios in this Policy.

This departmental committee will be responsible for reviewing the portfolio(s) and developing a written summary and recommendation for each one. The result of the departmental promotion review can have one of three outcomes:

1. Recommendation for promotion
2. Productive member of the department with a solid activity level, but not recommended for promotion
3. Recommendation for a faculty success plan

At the conclusion of the review period, the committee's summary and recommendation should be given to the faculty member by the Department Chair and included in the faculty member's personnel file in the department. The department must also submit a copy of the summary to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development for record keeping.

If a faculty success plan is recommended, the Department Chair and the faculty member are responsible for its design and implementation as outlined below.

Any tenured Associate Professor who defers their promotion review will undergo a Post-Tenure Review to ensure that all tenured faculty receive a comprehensive review on a regular five-year schedule.

Review Process

The steps that comprise the Post-Tenure Review process include the following:

1. Faculty scheduled for review during the academic year will be notified at least six months in advance to ensure adequate time to prepare the Post-Tenure Review portfolio.
2. All faculty members who are scheduled for review are responsible for compiling and submitting their review portfolio. Once the faculty member has completed their portion of the portfolio it should be submitted to the Department Chair.
3. The Department Chair is responsible for preparing a letter using the provided template, in which they evaluate the contributions that the faculty member has made to the overall activities of the department, focusing on the review period of the last five years. In addition to activities such as research, teaching, clinical responsibilities, and service commitments, the Department Chair should address the faculty member's: (i) mentoring of other faculty and staff as part of their service to the departments or larger university community; and (ii) impact on their contributions to the mission of the School of Medicine. The Department Chair will submit the completed portfolio to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development for review.
4. The Post-Tenure Review Committee will review all complete portfolios and provide a brief, written rationale for each assessment in each relevant category in accordance with the faculty member's allocation of duties. The Post-Tenure Review Committee will provide an overall ranking of: 1) exceeds expectations, 2) meets expectations, or 3) does not meet expectations.
   1. To meet expectations, the faculty member must conduct themselves in a professional manner in all circumstances and interactions and present evidence that they are maintaining the standards for promotion to their current rank.
   2. To exceed expectations, a faculty member must consistently demonstrate achievement that is above and beyond the standard for promotion to their current rank in multiple mission areas, or truly exceptional in one area, while also conducting themselves with the highest level of professionalism. Faculty members found to be exceeding expectations may be considered for nominations for important School-wide or University awards.
   3. Faculty members who fail to submit a portfolio, who do not show evidence that they are maintaining the standards for promotion to their current rank and/or who fail to uphold the expectation of professionalism outlined in section 603 of The Code of the UNC Policy Manual will be found to be not meeting expectations.
5. The Post-Tenure Review Committee's written summary and recommendation will be distributed to the faculty member's Department Chair. The Chair will then meet with the faculty member to discuss the Post-Tenure Review Committee's summary and provide recommendations for continued improvement. Note that a Post-Tenure Review recommendation of meets or exceeds expectations does not determine the likelihood that a faculty member will be approved for promotion to Professor, since that is a separate, more extensive review. For a faculty member whose overall performance reflects substantial deficiencies and receives a recommendation of "does not meet expectations", a much more comprehensive plan for improvement (i.e., a faculty success plan) will be recommended.
6. Each faculty member has the opportunity to provide a written response to the recommendation of the Post-Tenure Review Committee, which they will submit to the Department Chair within thirty calendar days of the faculty member receiving the Committee's recommendation. The response shall offer evidence in support of a different assessment.
7. The Department Chair will evaluate the faculty member's response and the committee's recommendation and transmit these materials, along with their own evaluation to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development.
8. The Dean or designee will conduct a written evaluative review of the information provided and transmit any response back to the Department Chair. Other than relief available through an institutional grievance process, this is the final rating (and one reported to the UNC System Office). All materials will be maintained as part of the faculty member's confidential personnel file within the unit.

Contesting Post-Tenure Review Outcomes

In accordance with University policy, faculty members who wish to contest the outcome of their Post-Tenure Review may pursue resolution through the Faculty Grievance Committee, as outlined in the UNC Policy Manual & Code, Section 607.

Faculty Success Plans

For a faculty member whose overall performance reflects substantial deficiencies and receives a recommendation of "does not meet expectations", a much more comprehensive plan for improvement (i.e., a faculty success plan) will be required. Such plans are to be prepared jointly by the Department Chair and the faculty member who was found to have substantial deficiencies during their Post-Tenure Review.

Each faculty success plan will be individualized and flexible, taking into account the intellectual interests, abilities, and career stage of the specific faculty member. It will also give consideration to the needs of the department, the School, and the University. The plan should establish clear goals, specify steps designed to achieve those goals, define indicators of goal attainment, establish a clear and reasonable timeframe for the completion of goals, identify resources available for implementing the plan, and state the consequences of failing to attain the goals. Progress meetings with the Department Chair must occur on at least a semi-annual basis during the specified time frame. Annual reviews conducted within the Department should also assess and document the progress made toward the goals outlined in the faculty success plan.

Department Chairs must provide the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development with a copy of the faculty success plan, signed by both the faculty member and the Department Chair, within six months of the faculty member receiving the Post-Tenure Review Committee's recommendation; or if the faculty member files a grievance, within six months of receiving the response to the grievance.

After one year into the faculty success plan and at each subsequent annual review during the specified timeframe, the Department Chair must acknowledge in writing a faculty member's clear improvement, or willingness to work towards completing the recommendations outlined in the plan. This acknowledgement must be kept on file in the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development. If the faculty member is making progress towards their success plan, and is considered on track by their Department Chair, the faculty member will undergo their next Post-Tenure Review on schedule, five years from the date of their last review. If at any point after the first year of the success plan, the faculty member is not making progress towards completing their plan, the Department Chair will notify the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development who will then notify the Dean of the School of Medicine or their designee. The Dean or their designee, in conjunction with the Advisory Committee and the Office of the Provost, will then consider whether grounds for disciplinary action up to and including dismissal exist under the Trustee Policies and Regulations Governing Academic Tenure. Dismissal or severe sanction may be imposed only in accordance with and on the grounds stated in the Trustee Policies and Regulations Governing Academic Tenure.

Records

Each year, the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development will maintain a record of the faculty members reviewed, review outcomes, and, as needed, a copy of any faculty success plans.

At the start of each Post-Tenure Review period, departments will submit to the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development a record of the names of faculty members reviewed during the previous year for whom a faculty success plan was recommended and established, along with a progress report.

At the conclusion of each Post-Tenure Review period, departmental Human Resources Representatives will update the faculty member's tenure review date in the online system. Departments will maintain a list of the faculty members reviewed each year, a record of completed reviews, any responses to the reviews, the names of all faculty members for whom a faculty success plan was recommended, and a copy of the success plans.

On behalf of the Dean, the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development will provide an annual written report summarizing the findings of the Post-Tenure Review Committee to the Provost's Office that includes the following information:

• Number of faculty members reviewed during the previous year by rank
• Number of faculty members for whom a faculty success plan was recommended
• Number of faculty who are subject to review, but for whom a delay was approved (and reason for delay)
• An update on the status of previous faculty success plans

When submitting the required annual Post-Tenure Review reports, the Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development will also certify compliance with UNC system training requirements for all members of the Post-Tenure Review Committee, department chairs, and deans.

Amendment to Policy (2010)

In 2010, the SOM amended the Post-Tenure Review Policy to further detail how promotion review for Associate Professors with tenure may take the place of Post-Tenure Review, per the process outlined above.

Amendment to Policy (2021)

In an effort to be inclusive of all genders and gender expression, all instances of he/she and his/her were replaced with they/their. In addition, the expectation of documenting contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion was added to align with the SOM guidelines for appointment, promotion, and tenure. The policy was revised and expanded to provide clarity.

Amendment to Policy (2023)

The expectation of documenting contributions to the mission was added to align with the SOM guidelines for appointment, promotion, and tenure. In addition, the expectation of documenting contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion was removed to align with the UNC Board of Governors revisions to the employee political activities policy.

Amendment to Policy (2025)

Effective March 26, 2024, the University of North Carolina System Office adopted revisions to Policy 400.3.3, Performance Review of Tenured Faculty (Post-Tenure Review). As such, the School of Medicine Post-Tenure Review Policy has been updated in 2025 to reflect the changes.

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Office: UNC SOM Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development

Telephone: 919-966-8622

Email: facultyaffairs@med.unc.edu