College of Arts and Sciences: Economics Fixed-term Faculty Personnel Guidelines

The principal aims of the Department of Economics are to preserve, increase, and transmit knowledge and understanding of Economics. In hiring, reappointing and promoting fixed-term faculty, the Department seeks to maintain its high standards of scholarship and teaching. It also encourages service to the Department, the University, the professional community, the state, the nation and the world; as appropriate, it also encourages engagement with groups outside academia.

Unit Policy

Title

College of Arts and Sciences: Economics Fixed-term Faculty Personnel Guidelines

Introduction

Purpose

The principal aims of the Department of Economics are to preserve, increase, and transmit knowledge and understanding of Economics. In hiring, reappointing and promoting fixed-term faculty, the Department seeks to maintain its high standards of scholarship and teaching. It also encourages service to the Department, the University, the professional community, the state, the nation and the world; as appropriate, it also encourages engagement with groups outside academia. The Department of Economics seeks to be objective, fair, and honest in matters of hiring and promotion. It reaffirms at this time its goal of quality combined with diversity. All hiring and promotion take place within the context of departmental needs and resources. The Department subscribes wholeheartedly to the guidelines of Affirmative Action and commits itself to make personnel decisions with justice to both the University and the individuals concerned.

Scope

This policy applies to all fixed‑term faculty in the UNC–Chapel Hill Department of Economics, including those in the Teaching Track (Teaching Assistant Professor, Teaching Associate Professor, Teaching Professor) and the Entrepreneurship Track (Entrepreneur‑in‑Residence and Professor of the Practice).

Policy

I. Fixed-Term Faculty Positions in Economics

The Economics Department appoints fixed-term faculty at the ranks of Teaching Assistant Professor, Teaching Associate Professor and Teaching Professor as well as Entrepreneur in Residence and Professor of the Practice. In what follows the positions of Teaching Professor, Teaching Associate Professor and Teaching Assistant Professor will be referred to as the Teaching Track. The Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Professor-of-the-Practice positions are associated with the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship and will be referred to as the Entrepreneurship Track.

Appointments to all fixed-term faculty positions can either be full-time (i.e., 1.0 FTE) or part-time. Full-time Teaching Track positions are in most cases funded through the Personnel budget; those positions must be authorized by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Part-time teaching positions and all Entrepreneurship positions are funded through private contributions or grants. Full-time Entrepreneurship-track appointments are recommended by the Executive Director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship and the Chair of the Department of Economics; they are approved by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

A full-time fixed-term faculty appointment of one year or more entitles the recipient to:

• Salary and benefits consistent with accomplishments.
• Voting rights in those areas of Economics Department decision-making accorded to fixed-term faculty, consistent with the Economics Department policy on faculty voting rights.
• Eligibility for College and departmental travel grants and course development grants.
• Appropriate office space.
• Eligibility for a CCI Computer according to established schedules of delivery.

A part-time fixed-term faculty appointment does not entitle the recipient to these accommodations, but the appointee will be entitled to a salary commensurate with responsibilities. The Economics Department will provide office space and CCI computer accommodations to these appointees as well should such resources be available.

II. Teaching and Service Standards for Fixed-Term Faculty

Fixed-term faculty appointments in Economics are appropriate for individuals who possess excellent qualifications for teaching and university service. The initial appointment may be for a fixed term of one to five years. These appointments will be recommended to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences by the Department Chair. The Senior Associate Dean of Social Sciences and Global Programs must approve all full-time fixed-term appointments with the Dean retaining final authority on the appointment and promotion of all full-time fixed-term faculty in the College.

Teaching excellence and a commitment to service are important areas of evaluation by the Department of Economics of all fixed-term faculty. The Department evaluates as well the degree to which the candidates for appointment or reappointment will contribute to the overarching teaching, research and service mission of the Economics Department. It will be important that the new teaching faculty member be an active participant in advancing the Economics Department goals. The Economics Department is constantly innovating in new curricular and service dimensions, and it will be important that the candidates for appointment or reappointment be active in that process.

In addition to long-standing criteria for such evaluation, innovative faculty work in these areas will also be considered when germane. The Economics Department will continually educate itself on the changing landscape of the profession, and it will seek evaluations of the candidate’s work that inform and evaluate particular innovations. Some of the prominent areas in which innovation occurs include engagement, digital technologies, and interdisciplinarity. These will be considered in appointment, reappointment and promotion cases if the faculty member wishes them to be included, but are not required of candidates for appointment, reappointment or promotion.

As a public university, the Economics Department recognizes the importance of faculty engagement. Engagement may be embedded in one or more aspects of a faculty member’s teaching, and service activities. Faculty engagement refers to scholarly, creative, pedagogical, and service activities directed toward persons and groups outside UNC Chapel Hill and outside the usual spheres of professional academic work. Such activities typically take the form of collaborative interactions, include partners outside the University, and seek to enhance the “public good” or “public life” of the state, nation, or wider world.

When present, engagement is recognized as a component of a faculty member’s professional achievements. Engagement may play a more prominent role at different phases of a faculty member’s career, and it will be supported at any phase if it is consistent with our Department’s practices and priorities. Faculty candidates whose work does not include engaged activities will not be penalized or denied promotion or appointment on those grounds.

Digital technologies are reshaping every profession. Digital technologies shape not only how we communicate new knowledge, but also how we perceive and develop knowledge in the first place.. Candidates for appointment, reappointment or promotion should indicate the nature and reception of their digital work that they believe germane to their cases.

Interdisciplinary work provides opportunities for creating knowledge in new and unanticipated ways, often representing cutting-edge teaching. Since many challenges and problems require skills and perspectives from multiple academic and professional disciplines, evidence of innovative inter- and cross-disciplinary teaching and service will therefore be valued in a candidate’s appointment, reappointment or promotion dossier.

Teaching-Track faculty and Entrepreneurship-Track faculty are expected to undertake diligently and responsibly those service functions the Economics Department Chair may assign. Although they focus primarily on teaching, fixed-term members of the Economics Department will also be called upon to perform service activities such as work on departmental or appropriate University committees.

Groups and communities increasingly connect and identify themselves through online resources, electronic networks, virtual spaces and social media. Therefore, in the Department of Economics, faculty service involving digital technologies may be recognized as an important contribution to academic life and to communities outside the University. Faculty who wish to have their contributions in this area evaluated in appointment, reappointment or promotion cases should help articulate the nature of their contribution in this area in their dossiers.

Faculty may be involved in interdisciplinary service in one, two or more units, depending on the nature of their appointment(s). In cases of interdisciplinary service, the Department of Economics, the other units and the faculty member will establish standards and expectations clarifying the extent of service expected from the faculty member for the Department and the other unit(s). These standards and expectations shall be reviewed, evaluated and, if necessary, modified on a regular basis. The same general standards of evaluation shall be employed for interdisciplinary service as for service within a single unit.

The performance standards of teaching-track positions differ by rank.

• A candidate for Teaching Assistant Professor must demonstrate clear promise of excellence in teaching and service. He or she must also have completed all requirements for the doctorate with conferral of degree completed or imminent.
• A candidate for Teaching Associate Professor must provide demonstrable evidence of distinguished teaching and service to the appointing unit, beyond that which is expected of a Teaching Assistant Professor.
  
  Evidence of distinguished teaching in the Department of Economics may include one or more of the following: a university teaching award, consistent teaching evaluations in the top ten percent of the department, regular service on undergraduate honors theses committees, exceptionally high peer teaching reviews, success in writing and administering grants that improve teaching in a unit, administrative oversight and training of teaching assistants and other fixed-term faculty in Economics. It may also include a departmental teaching award, evidence that candidates have taken exceptional efforts to keep current in the fields in which they teach (such as attending advanced training courses and participating in Department seminars), and scholarly activities such as writing and presenting scholarly papers.
  
  Evidence of distinguished service may include: a university service award, service as departmental undergraduate advising coordinator, service on the UNC Faculty Council and/or its subcommittees, service on university, chairing departmental committees or task forces, membership on the advisory board of a professional journal, invitations for speaking engagements at other institutions of higher learning or service through the Carolina Speakers Bureau.
• A candidate for Teaching Professor must provide demonstrable evidence of distinguished teaching and service to the Economics Department beyond that which is expected of a Teaching Associate Professor.
  
  In the Department of Economics, evidence of distinguished teaching may include: a university teaching award, teaching evaluations consistently in the top 5-10% of the department, outstanding peer teaching reviews, leadership roles on departmental committees concerned with teaching, success in writing and administering grants that improve teaching in the Department, administrative oversight and training of teaching assistants and other fixed-term faculty in Economics. It may also include a Departmental teaching award, evidence that candidates have taken exceptional efforts to keep current in the fields in which they teach (such as attending advanced training courses and participating in Departmental seminars), and scholarly activities such as writing and presenting scholarly papers.
  
  Evidence of distinguished service will include: a university service award; leadership on committees and task forces at the unit, College, or University levels (such as educational policy, teaching award, staff award, or search committees); service as departmental undergraduate advising coordinator or director of undergraduate studies; outstanding service on the UNC Faculty Council and/or its subcommittees; leadership in national or regional professional organizations; membership on the advisory board of a professional journal; and invitations for speaking engagements at other institutions of higher learning.

The standards for Entrepreneur in Residence and Professor of the Practice are:

• A candidate for Entrepreneur in Residence must provide demonstrable evidence of real-world experience of importance to students in the Minor in Entrepreneurship. He or she must also demonstrate clear promise of excellence in one-on-one mentoring undergraduates enrolled in the Minor in Entrepreneurship.
• A candidate for Professor of the Practice must provide demonstrable evidence of real-world experience of importance to students in the Minor in Entrepreneurship. He or she must also demonstrate clear promise of excellence in teaching and in mentoring undergraduates enrolled in the Minor in Entrepreneurship. He or she should have a terminal graduate degree in a discipline relevant to the courses he or she is asked to teach.

It is not unusual for individuals with the relevant skills and terminal graduate degrees to be appointed as both Entrepreneur in Residence and Professor of the Practice. There is no advance in rank possible for those appointed to the Entrepreneurship track.

III. Voting Rights of Fixed-Term Faculty

The Economics Department has adopted the rules on voting rights of fixed-term faculty set by the UNC System and the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The UNC Faculty Code, the system-wide code of rights and responsibilities, includes fixed-term faculty among the General Faculty who have voting rights at UNC provided three conditions are met. Voting rights are reserved for fixed-term faculty (a) who hold at least a .75 FTE position, (b) whose responsibilities include teaching or research, and (c) whose term of appointment is for at least three years. With respect to (c) fixed-term faculty who have a shorter fixed term contract but have been re-appointed to a position such that the combined length of the current term and immediately preceding term of service is at least three years are also eligible to vote.

The College of Arts and Sciences has ruled that fixed-term faculty are not eligible to vote on the tenure and promotion of faculty within the Tenure-Track ranks. Teaching Associate Professors are eligible to vote on the promotion of Teaching Assistant Professors to the rank of Teaching Associate Professors. Teaching Professors are eligible to vote on the promotion of Teaching Associate Professors as well as Teaching Assistant Professors.

The Economics Department has expanded upon the rules of the College of Arts and Sciences to choose the following rules to determine eligible voting faculty among the fixed-term faculty members for personnel votes.

• For appointments at the Teaching Assistant Professor rank, Teaching Assistant Professors, Teaching Associate Professors and Teaching Professors join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For reappointments at the Teaching Assistant Professor rank, Teaching Associate Professors and Teaching Professors join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For appointments at the Teaching Associate Professor rank, Teaching Associate Professors and Teaching Professors join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For cases of promotion from Teaching Assistant Professor to Teaching Associate Professor rank, Teaching Associate Professors and Teaching Professors join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For reappointments at the Teaching Associate Professor rank, Teaching Professors join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For appointments at the Teaching Professor rank, Teaching Professors join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For cases of promotion from Teaching Associate Professor to Teaching Professor rank, Teaching Professors join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For reappointments at the Teaching Professor rank, the faculty on the Tenure Track are the eligible voting faculty.
• For appointments at the Entrepreneur in Residence and Professor of the Practice ranks, Entrepreneurship-Track faculty join the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.
• For reappointments at the Entrepreneur in Residence and Professor of the Practice ranks, the Executive Director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship joins the faculty on the Tenure Track as eligible voting faculty.

IV. Annual Evaluations of Fixed-Term Faculty

The Chair of the Economics Department will meet annually and individually with each fixed-term faculty member at the end of the spring semester to discuss that individual’s performance during the preceding year. The Chair will prepare for that meeting by consulting with the Director of Undergraduate Studies for Teaching-Track faculty and with the Executive Director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship for the Entrepreneurship-Track faculty and by reviewing the peer evaluations and student course evaluations of the preceding semesters. The Chair will communicate to the individual faculty member the Department’s evaluation of his or her performance relative to the performance standards defined in Section III. The meeting will also provide an opportunity for the fixed-term faculty member to raise questions and concerns with the Chair.

Pursuant to this meeting, the Chair will prepare a letter of evaluation. The Chair will provide it to the fixed-term faculty member and will place a copy of the letter in the faculty member’s personnel file. If the fixed-term faculty member wishes to contest all or parts of this letter, he or she can write a formal response to that letter which will be placed in the personnel file as well.

V. Appointment, Reappointment, and Promotion

A. Initial appointment as fixed-term faculty member

All hiring decisions will take place within the context of the needs and resources of the Economics Department and the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship. In cases of initial appointment of full-time fixed-term faculty in response to such a need, the Department Chair will appoint three current faculty members to a departmental review committee.  These three will include at least one tenured faculty member and at least one fixed-term faculty member at the same or higher rank than the position to be filled. The remaining member(s) will be chosen from the eligible voting faculty. In appointments to the Entrepreneurship Track the Department Chair will confer with the Executive Director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship in choosing the members of and providing the charge to this committee. This committee will evaluate the candidates using the standards outlined above and will recommend a short list of candidates for campus visits to the Department Chair. The candidate will meet with Economics faculty from the Tenure Track as well the Teaching Track and/or the Entrepreneurship Track as appropriate. The candidate will make a presentation to an actual or simulated undergraduate class. The eligible voting faculty will then discuss the candidates and will provide its recommendation through faculty vote. The Department Chair will take the faculty’s recommendation into account and will make his or her hiring recommendation to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

B. Reappointment

Re-appointment to a faculty fixed-term position, whether in the Teaching Track or in the Entrepreneurship Track, is based on the belief that the appointment meets a continuing need of the Economics Department and that the individual is performing well as an instructor. Where this need is found not to exist, has disappeared or may disappear, or where program change or curtailment of funding obliges the University to discontinue support, reappointment is precluded. Each candidate for reappointment is also examined carefully for evidence that he or she meets or exceeds the Departmental performance standards on teaching and service as laid out in section III above. These standards include evidence both of individual excellence in the classroom and active participation by the fixed-term faculty member to the departmental innovations in curriculum and service.

The faculty member seeking reappointment will assemble the following dossier:

• Concise self-assessment statements summarizing the faculty member’s teaching, service and engagement accomplishments over the time of his or her most recent appointment.
• Access to the faculty member’s annual reports for the time of his or her appointment
• A current curriculum vitae, prepared according to University guidelines
• Summaries of student teaching evaluations with quantitative data for the period of his or her most recent appointment.

The Chair of the Department of Economics will also ensure that at least two peer faculty teaching observation reports are available for the candidate from the year of reappointment or the year preceding it.

The Department Chair will appoint a departmental review committee of three faculty members, including at least one tenured faculty member and at least one from the Teaching Track or Entrepreneurship Track, as appropriate. The other member(s) will be chosen from the eligible voting faculty for that candidate’s case. In appointments to the Entrepreneurship Track the Department Chair will confer with the Executive Director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship in choosing the members of and providing the charge to this committee. That committee will carefully review and consider the documentation provided by the faculty member, examining the qualitative and quantitative evidence of all relevant aspects of a faculty member’s professional performance in relation to the standards of the Economics Department as laid out above.

The committee will prepare a written summary report of its conclusions and recommendations. It should identify and recognize outstanding performance. It should also identify any specific areas in which the faculty member can improve with specific recommendations for improvement.

The committee will provide its written report to the Department Chair. The Chair will in turn distribute this report to the eligible voting faculty for this candidate as defined in section IV above. The Chair will facilitate a discussion of the faculty member’s success relative to the standards laid out above and will request a formal vote of eligible voting faculty. The Department Chair will then communicate his or her recommendation on reappointment to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

C. Promotion from Teaching Assistant Professor to Teaching Associate Professor

A Teaching Assistant Professor can be evaluated for promotion to Teaching Associate Professor if the candidate has a minimum of six consecutive years’ full-time (i.e., 1 FTE) service as a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Economics Department, or, if the candidate is from another institution, six consecutive years of full-time (1 FTE) service as a Teaching Assistant Professor or faculty equivalent. This evaluation is independent of any consideration for reappointment.

A candidate eligible for promotion to Teaching Associate Professor in the Department of Economics will be reviewed by a departmental committee appointed by the Chair. This review committee will be composed of at least one tenured faculty member and at least one Teaching Professor or Teaching Associate Professor, provided one or more teaching faculty are part of the Economics faculty. The remaining member(s) will be drawn from the eligible voting faculty for this candidate’s case. If the Economics faculty contains no Teaching Professors or Teaching Associate Professors, an individual at those ranks from another department should be included on a review committee with the approval of the Dean’s Office. This committee is responsible for reviewing any eligible candidate’s dossier and submitting a report on each candidate under consideration.

To be reviewed by the Economics Department’s review committee, eligible candidates for Teaching Associate Professor must submit a dossier containing the following:

1. the candidate’s current curriculum vitae;
2. the candidate’s statement of teaching and service;
3. documentation of the candidate’s teaching and service activities;
4. list of courses taught by year for the past five years;
5. evidence of distinguished teaching and service;
6. the names of two individuals (external to the candidate’s base department) who may serve as referees. Referees from within the University must be able to observe at least one class taught by the candidate and substantiate the candidate’s qualifications for the rank of teaching professor. This review may count toward the required two peer teaching reviews.
7. additional materials such as student recommendations, nominations for teaching awards, grant applications, and other materials relevant to the case.

These records should cover the prior five-year period, or the candidate’s period of service at UNC-Chapel Hill if less than five years.

Upon receipt of a complete dossier, the Department Chair or the review committee Chair will solicit letters from two referees external to the Economics Department (one from the list provided by the candidate and one from a list developed by the Department or review committee Chair) as to the candidate’s qualifications for promotion to the rank of Teaching Associate Professor. Upon receipt of the two letters, the Chair will include them in the candidate’s dossier.

At least two faculty members must each observe at least one full class session. It is recommended they observe class sessions in different courses or for a different section of the same course. The observation must be carried out by a member of the eligible voting faculty. Class observations carried out as part of a personnel decision are normally carried out in the 12 month period prior to the Economics Department meeting regarding the decision; they should preferably be carried out in the same semester as the Department decision. Each faculty member participating in a peer faculty teaching observation is required to write a report for each class session observed, employing the peer teaching review template. The Department Chair will add these peer teaching reviews to the candidate’s dossier.

After reviewing each dossier, the departmental review committee will submit to the Economics chair a report concerning each candidate for promotion to Teaching Associate Professor. The report should identify and recognize outstanding performance. It should also identify any specific areas in which the faculty member can improve with specific recommendations for improvement.

The Chair will make this report available to the eligible voting faculty of Economics whom the Chair will consult in a manner analogous to the process whereby the chair consults the Economics faculty on the promotion of faculty members on the tenure track. This consultation will culminate in a vote of the eligible voting faculty of the Economics Department, recorded by rank, on each case for promotion. To ensure confidentiality, reports of the faculty vote, other than the report submitted to the Dean, will include only the total vote of the eligible faculty.

The Chair may decide to accept or reject the advice given by the eligible voting faculty. In either case, the candidate’s complete dossier will be forwarded to the Dean with a letter from the Chair either recommending or denying promotion. Besides reporting the vote of the faculty, the Chair’s letter should highlight factors concerning teaching and service that most influenced the recommendation. Regardless of the Chair’s recommendation, the Chair must communicate that decision in writing to the candidate.

A Teaching Assistant Professor whose case for promotion is denied is eligible for reconsideration three years after the decision against promotion; earlier consideration requires permission from the Senior Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Global Programs.

The dossier for the candidate forwarded to the Dean will contain the following:

• the chair’s letter, noting the departmental review committee’s role and vote, and the vote of the eligible faculty, recorded by rank;
• the report of the departmental review committee on the candidate;
• the candidate’s current curriculum vitae;
• the candidate’s statement of teaching and service;
• documentation of the candidate’s teaching and service activities;
• student course evaluations for the past five years including summarized data;
• a minimum of two peer teaching evaluations;
• a minimum of two letters from referees (external to the Economics Department) that address the candidate’s qualifications for the rank of Teaching Associate Professor;

Upon promotion to Teaching Associate Professor in Economics, the successful candidate will receive a salary increase at the next annual raise process effective July 1, subject to legislative and Board of Governors approvals. For January promotions, the increase will be effective the following July.

D. Promotion from Teaching Associate Professor to Teaching Professor

A Teaching Associate Professor in Economics is eligible for evaluation for promotion to Teaching Professor if the candidate has a minimum of six consecutive years’ full-time (i.e., 1 FTE) service as a Teaching Associate Professor, or, if the candidate is from another institution and identified in a national search, six consecutive years of full-time (1 FTE) service as a Teaching Associate Professor or faculty equivalent. A Teaching Assistant Professor is not eligible for promotion to Teaching Professor. This evaluation will be independent of any evaluation on reappointment and need not be coincident.

A candidate eligible for promotion to Teaching Professor in the Department of Economics will be reviewed by a departmental review committee appointed by the Chair. This review committee will be composed of at least three members: at least one tenured faculty member, at least one Teaching Professor (provided one or more Teaching Professors are part of the Economics faculty), and at least one other faculty member drawn from the eligible voting faculty. If the departmental faculty contains no Teaching Professors, a Teaching Professor from another department should be included on a review committee, with the approval of the Dean’s Office. This committee is responsible for reviewing any eligible candidate’s dossier and submitting a report on each candidate under consideration.

To be reviewed by the departmental review committee, eligible candidates for Teaching Professor must submit a dossier containing the following:

1. the candidate’s current curriculum vitae;
2. the candidate’s statement of teaching and service;
3. documentation of the candidate’s teaching and service activities;
4. list of courses taught by year for the past five years;
5. evidence of distinguished teaching and service;
6. the names of two individuals (external to the Economics Department) who may serve as referees. Referees from within the University must be able to observe at least one class taught by the candidate and substantiate the candidate’s qualifications for the rank of teaching professor. This review may count toward the required two peer teaching reviews.
7. additional materials such as student recommendations, nominations for teaching awards, grant applications, and other materials relevant to the case.

These records should cover the prior five-year period, or the candidate’s period of service at UNC-Chapel Hill if less than five years.

Upon receipt of a complete dossier, the Department Chair will solicit letters from two referees, one from a list provided by the candidate and one from a list developed by the Department Chair or the review committee Chair, as to the candidate’s qualifications for promotion to the rank of Teaching Professor. Upon receipt of the two letters, the chair will include them in the candidate’s dossier.

At least two faculty members must each observe at least one full class session taught by the candidate. It is recommended they observe class sessions in different courses or for a different section of the same course. The observation must be carried out by either tenured/tenure track faculty or a teaching professor. Class observations carried out as part of a personnel decision are normally carried out in the 12-month period prior to the department meeting regarding the decision; they should preferably be carried out in the same semester as the department decision. Each faculty member participating in a peer faculty teaching observation is required to write a report for each class session observed, employing the peer teaching review template. After receiving these peer teaching reviews, the Department Chair will add them to the candidate’s dossier.

After reviewing each dossier, the departmental review committee will submit to the Chair a report evaluating each candidate for promotion to Teaching Professor. The committee’s report should identify and recognize outstanding performance. It should also identify any specific areas in which the faculty member can improve with specific recommendations for improvement.

The Chair will make this report available to the assembled eligible voting faculty of the department whom the chair will consult in a manner analogous to the process whereby the chair consults the departmental faculty on the promotion of faculty members on the tenure track. For cases involving promotion to Teaching Professor, this consultation must include the tenured faculty and any Teaching Professors in the department. The consultation process will result in a vote of the eligible voting faculty of the department, recorded by rank, on each case for promotion to Teaching Professor. To ensure confidentiality, reports of the faculty vote other than the report submitted to the Dean will include only the total vote of the eligible faculty.

The Chair may decide to accept or reject the advice given by the eligible faculty. In either case, the candidate’s complete dossier must be forwarded to the Dean with a letter from the Chair either recommending or denying promotion. Besides reporting the vote of the eligible voting faculty, the Chair’s letter should highlight factors concerning teaching and service that most influenced the recommendation. Regardless of the Chair’s recommendation, the Chair must communicate thee decision in writing to the candidate. A Teaching Associate Professor whose case for promotion is denied is eligible for reconsideration three years after the decision against promotion; earlier consideration requires permission from the Senior Associate Dean for Social Science and Global Programs.

The dossier for the candidate forwarded to the Dean will contain the following:

• the chair’s letter, noting the departmental review committee’s role and vote, and the vote of the eligible faculty, recorded by rank;
• the report of the departmental review committee on the candidate;
• the candidate’s current curriculum vitae;
• the candidate’s statement of teaching and service;
• documentation of the candidate’s teaching and service activities;
• student course evaluations for the past five years including summarized data;
• a minimum of two peer teaching evaluations;
• a minimum of two letters from referees (external to the Economics Department) that address the candidate’s qualifications for the rank of Teaching Professor;

Those promoted to Teaching Professor will receive the following rewards:

• A salary increase at the next annual raise process effective July 1, subject to legislative and Board of Governors approvals. For January promotions, the increase will be effective the following July.
• A one-time $5,000 professional development fund, to be expended within 5 years.
• A fifty-percent reduction in the Teaching Professor’s teaching and/or administrative responsibilities for one semester upon appointment to Teaching Professor and based on a written project proposed by the Teaching Professor and approved by the Department Chair.

Related Requirements

External Regulations

Unit Policies, Standards, and Procedures

• College of Arts & Sciences Chair’s Manual
• Memorandum from the Dean on Peer Faculty Teaching Observations for Tenure, Promotion and Post-Tenure Review, August 21, 2012.
• College of Arts and Sciences: Economics Policies on Faculty Personnel Actions

Contact Information

Primary Contact

Office: Dean's Office

Telephone: 919-962-1165

Email: artsandsciences@unc.edu