School of Nursing: Appointment, Promotion, and Reappointment Committee (APR) Policies and Procedures

Title

School of Nursing: Appointment, Promotion, and Reappointment Committee (APR) Policies And Procedures

Introduction

Purpose

These policies and procedures for the Appointment, Promotion, and Reappointment Committee (APR) state the functions of the committee. The APR Committee recommends fixed term faculty to the Dean for appointments, promotions, and reappointments.

Scope

Fixed term appointments include all fixed term professorial ranks in the School of Nursing and all title designations as outlined in the University Policy and Procedures.

Policy

A. Committee Composition

1. Membership

The APR Committee is composed of Fixed-term faculty (Clinical or Research) to include: All Full Professors; five Associate Professors; and two Assistant Professors.

• Eligibility for APR Committee Membership: All APR members must hold a full-time appointment (as defined by the School of Nursing) in the School of Nursing.
• Associate and Assistant Fixed-term Professors are elected to APR membership by Fixed Term School of Nursing faculty.
• Term of Service of APR Members:
  • Fixed-term Full Professors: The term of service is continuous for Full Professors.
  • Fixed-term Associate and Assistant Professors: Are elected for a three-year term by fixed-term faculty and may be re-elected for one additional successive term.
• Division Heads are ex-officio members of APR.
• The Dean and Executive Dean of the School of Nursing may attend all APR meetings in an observer role.

2. Committee Chair and Chair-Elect

The APR Chair is elected from the Full Professors (by APR committee members) by an APR Committee vote.

• The two-year term begins July 1 and ends June 30.
• If a Chair is unable to fulfill the duties of the office within their term, the APR Committee will elect another chair from among the Full Professor APR members. The Chair oversees the work of the APR Committee and works alongside the Chair-Elect to mentor the role.
• The Chair may be re-elected but may not serve more than two consecutive terms.
• Suggested rotation pattern:
  • Serve as Chair Elect one year - orienting to role alongside current Chair.
  • Serve as Chair two years - fulfills duty of Chair of APR.
  • Serve as Past Chair one year - serves in advisory role to Chair.

3. Vacancies

If an Assistant or Associate Professor serving on the APR Committee is promoted, resigns from the committee or from the SON, they will be replaced by another elected Assistant or Associate Professor in the same semester in which the vacancy occurs. The APR Chair will solicit a call to all fixed term faculty seeking volunteers to serve in the needed position. A survey will then be sent out to all fixed term faculty, by the APR Chair for vote.

B. Committee Meetings

• The APR Committee will meet as often as necessary to complete the work of the committee and move reviews forward. At a minimum, the committee should meet four times a semester.
• All proceedings and review documents (materials, portfolios) of APR Committee meetings are confidential.
• The APR Chair or designee should disseminate an agenda to all APR Committee members one week prior to each meeting.
  • The agenda will list Committee business and will indicate materials to be reviewed.
  • All meeting materials for review by Committee members will be uploaded to an electronic, shared location to which all members have access. Materials will be available at least one week prior to each meeting as appropriate per rank.
• APR members are expected to attend all APR Committee meetings and will notify the APR Chair at least 24 hours in advance if they are unable to attend.
• A quorum of APR Committee members is required to be present in order for the Committee to act on any business that requires a vote.
  • The APR Committee's quorum consists of one more than one-half of the voting members.
  • To be eligible to vote, members must be present (includes virtual presence via conference phone or other media) for discussion of reviews.
  • A vote by proxy is not allowed.

1. Role of Division Heads at APR Meetings

Division Heads may attend and participate in APR meetings as ex officio members without voting privileges. An exception to this rule is if a Division Head is a fixed term full professor, and then they will retain all voting rights as long as there is not a conflict of interest (COI). The Division Heads' primary objective in attending APR committee meetings is to better understand APR policy and procedures, guidelines, and appointment/promotion/reappointment decisions so that they can more effectively advise and mentor their respective department faculty.

Guidelines:

1. Division Heads have access to all meeting materials; this includes access to faculty portfolios at or below the rank of the Division Head, as well as access to the portfolios of faculty in their division.
2. Division Heads may participate in discussions around general issues related to APR when requested.
3. Division Heads may participate in discussions regarding faculty who are being reviewed for appointment, promotion, or reappointment, and offered opportunities to clarify as directed by the APR chair.
4. Division Heads may participate in discussions regarding adjunct faculty appointments.
5. If a Division Head is a committee member of APR, they will recuse themselves from voting on faculty matters related to their division or department.

C. Voting

1. Eligibility of APR Committee Members to Vote on a Faculty Appointment or Promotion

• Only APR Committee members whose rank is equal to or higher than the rank to which a candidate is seeking appointment or promotion will:
  • Serve as primary or secondary reviewers.
  • Have access to the faculty's portfolio.
  • Be present for the review, discussion, and vote.

If a real or perceived COI exists between the APR reviewer and the candidate, the APR reviewer will recuse themselves (leave the meeting) from the candidate's review, discussion, and vote.

• It is incumbent on the APR committee member to alert the Chair of APR of any real or perceived COI when the schedule of reviews is presented at the first committee meeting of the academic year or immediately if a COI should develop during the review period.
• APR members who are at or above the rank of the candidate will provide a vote for promotion. APR members who are below the rank of the candidate being reviewed will not have access to the materials, including that section of the minutes, and will not attend or participate in discussion of the candidate.
• When an internal/current member of the APR Committee is being reviewed, the Committee member will not be granted access to that section of the minutes.
• All members of APR may review and vote on recommendation of appointment and reappointment of adjunct faculty regardless of rank.

D. Process of APR Appointment, and Promotion Reviews

1. Role of Division Heads in Developing Promotion Portfolio in the Review Process

The Division Head plays a key role in mentoring faculty in their academic growth and advancement. Through annual reviews and other meetings as needed, Division Heads advise faculty on their career development, readiness for promotion, and the promotion process and should refer to the APR Standard for Preparing a Promotion Portfolio for Fixed Term Faculty. Division Heads work closely with faculty as they develop their promotion portfolios, and faculty are expected to consult regularly with their Division Head as they develop their promotion materials. In order to demonstrate sustained performance at their rank, it is generally recommended that a faculty member serves at least five years in rank before seeking promotion. However, there is not a specific length requirement between promotions/appointments. Other specific responsibilities of the Division Heads include:

For Promotion

• Solicitation of peer teaching evaluations and ensuring they are completed and included in the portfolio.
• Division Heads are expected to review all portfolio materials, including all external review letters before writing their letters of recommendation.
• Writing a formal letter of review for inclusion in the promotion portfolio.
• Communicating outcomes to the candidate.

2. Process for Initial Appointments and Reviews

• Division Heads may hire faculty for initial rank of instructor or assistant professor one-year appointments and temporary appointments per Leadership guidelines and these do not require APR review.
• All initial appointments at the rank of Associate Professor and Professor are reviewed at the following levels:
  • The Division Head will collaborate with the Dean and APR Chair for candidates who may meet requirements of rank at Associate or higher at time of interview.
  • APR Committee will review this recommendation at the next meeting.
• All portfolios for promotion are reviewed at the following levels:
  • School of Nursing APR Committee at rank seeking promotion or higher (reviews and votes to recommend or not recommend to the Dean).
  • Dean of the School of Nursing.
• Final decisions on appointment, promotion, and reappointment (APR) are made by the Dean of the School of Nursing.

3. Steps of the Promotion Process

• The APR Chair meets with the Dean and Human Resources Manager to determine the list of faculty who will be reviewed in the coming academic year and a schedule is developed.
• The Human Resources Manager sends a letter from the APR Chair to the faculty member preparing for promotion and copies the Division Head. The letter includes:
  • The date that the faculty's APR portfolio is to be completed.
  • The date the faculty will be reviewed by the APR Committee.
  • List of materials to be submitted to the Committee based on the Review criteria relevant to the appointment or promotion rank the faculty member is seeking.
  • Timeline of the review process.
• The schedule indicating faculty members to be reviewed is reviewed by the APR Committee and posted on the APR Committee site.

4. Selection of APR Committee Members as Reviewers

• Two APR Committee members are assigned as reviewers for each candidate.
• APR Committee reviewers will be at or above the rank being sought by a candidate for appointment or promotion.
• There will be a minimum of five full professors involved in the recommending/voting process on any promotion to Professor. If there are not five FT professors, then APR will select from the tenured professors (from APT) additional members (to total five, matched in area of excellence if possible) to participate in the recommendation/review process.
• A consultation with the APR chair to orient APT reviewers will take place to prepare the APT member for the APR review process.
• APR may also request at any time additional tenured professor reviewers if warranted to provide expertise that may not be present on the APR committee.

5. Selection of External Letters of Review for Faculty Seeking Promotion

• The Candidate for review or promotion will submit suggestions for reviewers to the APR Committee as published in Section 5 of the APR Standard for Preparing a Promotion Portfolio for Fixed Term Faculty.
  • *Candidates who are seeking promotion from Instructor to Assistant Professor are not reviewed externally and therefore do not need to submit names of external reviewers to APR.
  • Candidates should identify at least three external reviewers at the rank or higher for which they seek promotion.
  • Suggested reviewers should match the candidate’s area of excellence or competence and the candidate should provide a rationale for choices. 
  • An external reviewer is defined as one who works outside of the base unit (i.e., the School of Nursing), and may include faculty within or outside of the university.
  • External reviewers should not have collaborated with the candidate (e.g., co-investigators on research, co-teachers, co-authors, mentor, or friend). Service together on committee boards and commissions is not considered a threat to the independence of the external reviewer.
  • External reviewers will be asked to confirm a lack of COI before agreeing to review. Reviewers can be referred to the University’s Policy on Individual Conflicts of Interest if needed.
  • The APR Committee will consider candidate suggestions but is not obligated to accept their recommendations.
• In addition, APR committee primary and secondary reviewers will also generate a list of at least four potential reviewers and include a brief description of the potential reviewer with a rationale for choices.
• The APR Committee reviews and approves the final list of potential reviewers.
• If the list approved by APR is exhausted, and more reviewers are needed, the APR Chair will use their discretion to identify additional reviewers, and will collaborate with the assigned APR reviewers as necessary.
• The Human Resource Manager maintains an ongoing list of reviewers, their contact information, and when they were last used as a reviewer. APR committee members should refer to this list when selecting reviewers to avoid overutilization of reviewers.

6. Contact and Coordination between APR Committee and the External Reviewers

• The APR chair is responsible for contacting the reviewers from the list approved by APR Committee.
• Once the reviewer agrees to review the portfolio, the Office of Administrative Services will submit the candidate's portfolio, the timeline for completion of the review and a copy of the APR Standard for Preparing a Promotion Portfolio for Fixed Term Faculty.
• The APR Chair reviews the completed external reviews to ensure all components are appropriately addressed.
• The APR Chair has the discretion to request additional review letters if the review does not address the components as outlined in the Standard.
• External reviews will then be posted to the candidate's electronic portfolio for review by the Committee.

7. Contents of the Portfolio

• Promotion candidates will only submit the materials outlined in the Standard for Preparing a Promotion Portfolio.
• Accomplishments included on the CV should be actual achievements and not potential ones, e.g.: nominations for an award or finalist status for a position.
• Manuscripts must be either published, in press, or accepted for publication in order to be included on the CV or as scholarly examples. Articles submitted, but not yet reviewed, are not acceptable.
• The APR Committee will not accept APR portfolio materials after the due date stated in the APR Committee letter to the candidate.
• The candidate’s APR portfolio will be posted in a password protected APR folder and will only be accessible to the APR committee members at the desired rank or higher.
• APR Committee members must keep all review materials confidential.
• For those candidates who are seeking promotion from Instructor to Assistant Professor the portfolio can be streamlined in the following manner:
  • Essay (two pages that can incorporate bulleted lists) that speaks to how the candidate meets the requirements consistent with an Assistant Professor based on the "APR Specific Examples of Evidence to Support Appointments and Promotions" document.
  • Essay should include candidate’s aspirations for continued advancement of their scholarly work.

8. APR Review

• The APR committee primary and secondary reviewers will independently review the candidate’s portfolio and provide a written recommendation to the APR Committee. The primary reviewer will write a letter addressed to the APR Chair with recommendation, using the APR template, while the second reviewer will compose a written summary of evidence using the promotion criteria from the APR template.
• All APR members at the rank or higher of the candidate will also review the portfolio. The committee will then vote on a recommendation for promotion of the candidate.
• The APR Chair communicates the outcome of the review in writing to the Dean of the School of Nursing and provides rationale for the recommendation. The letter includes the committee's recommendation to support or not support appointment or promotion and lists the vote count (yes, no, abstention).
• Additionally, the letter summarizes the reviews submitted to the APR committee by the primary and secondary reviewer(s) and the committee's discussion of the portfolio. 
• The Dean, will review the faculty member's portfolio and the APR Committee’s recommendation and decide whether to accept or reject the recommendation and sign the letter, indicating the Dean's decision.
• If the Dean rejects the recommendation of the APR committee, the Dean will prepare a letter to the candidate with rationale.
• The Dean will inform the Division Head and copy the APR Chair of the Dean's decision within two weeks following receipt of the letter.
• The Dean's office will provide a copy of all signed letters to the Division Head, Human Resources Manager, and APR Chair. The Division Head will notify the candidate of the outcome and will provide the candidate with a copy of the signed letter (names of reviewers and the vote count should be excluded in the letter for the faculty member).
• If desired by the candidate, the Division Head and APR chair will meet with the faculty member, provide a copy of the letter and discuss the outcome of the review and provide any suggestions for continued career development. The faculty member may request to meet with the Dean to discuss the review process.

9. Appeals

• If a faculty member desires to review any portion of their portfolio, the faculty member should contact the SON Human Resources Manager to facilitate an appointment with the Office of the University Counsel.
• The faculty member has the right to contact the Faculty Grievance Committee or the Faculty Hearings Committee at any time during the APR review process.
• Other information regarding grievance procedures and the university's Faculty Grievance Committee may be found in The Faculty Code of University Government.

Citation List

1. APR Committee Meeting Minutes, August 2021

Related Requirements

External Regulations and Consequences

• Academic Personnel - Faculty Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure
• Academic Personnel - Dossier: Format for Tenure Track or Tenured Faculty Review
• Policy on Individual Conflicts of Interest
• The Faculty Code of University Government

Unit Policies, Standards, and Procedures

• School of Nursing: Standard for Preparing a Promotion Portfolio for Review by Appointment, Promotion, and Reappointment (APR) Committee

Contact Information

Theresa Raphael Grimm, APR Chair

Important Dates

• Revised: Approved by APR Committee 6/6/2022, 8/2021; 9/28/2018; 8/24/2018; Significantly revised and approved by faculty vote: 3/19/2018; 4/2017; 4/2012; 7/2008; 1/2008; 11/2007; 8/2007; 5/2007; 4/2007; 11/2006; 10/2006; 9/8/2006; 2/10/2006; 1/30/2006; 10/24/2005.
• Origination Date: 09/26/2005