Criteria and Procedures for Promotion to Specific Ranks
Promotion to specific ranks may occur before or after the award of tenure, and is a separate process. Moreover, promotion in rank carries no guarantee regarding the granting of tenure. In order to attain promotion, faculty performance in the areas of teaching, research/creative activity and service must meet the expectations of the GKSOM and the College, and must be at a level that is commensurate with the ideals of the university. Specific criteria for describing faculty performance that meets these goals are determined by the faculty of the School of Music. In respect to the terminology for evaluation, at the time of promotion to associate or full professor, achievement in all areas must, at the very least, "meet expectations," but that is no guarantee of promotion.
Assistant Professor - Appointment to the rank of assistant professor signifies that a faculty member is well qualified to launch upon a full-fledged academic career. Qualifications include completion of a terminal degree or equivalent experience in the practice of the discipline. Unless the letter of appointment designates one as holding a Special Appointment pursuant to Regents Bylaws 4.4.1, assistant professors will be on both promotion and tenure tracks. In the period between appointment as an assistant professor and promotion to associate professor, terms expressed in the letter of offer, in the position description, and in the annual evaluations provide guidance regarding professional development to the faculty member and to peers and administrators charged with judging progress toward promotion.
Associate Professor - To attain the rank of associate professor, the candidate should be an accomplished teacher, where teaching is an assigned responsibility, have a significant record of scholarly/creative work in keeping with the individual’s job responsibilities, and have a significant record of service. Time-in-rank as an assistant professor is ordinarily at least five years, and typically is six years. Earlier promotion is quite unusual and implies that a candidate has accomplished in the shorter time period what normally would be expected in the longer one. Although it is the objective of the University to have all faculty sufficiently qualified to eventually gain promotion to professor, no time limitations compel faculty to seek the highest academic rank in the University. Associate professors with tenure may stay in that rank for the duration of their careers.
Professor - The rank of professor is the highest academic rank in the University. This rank is reserved for those faculty members whose achievements in research/creative activity (including pedagogy) are sufficient to merit recognition as distinguished authorities in their field and who hold the professional respect of their colleagues in their discipline. Usually, the candidates have been awarded tenure. Although it is the objective of the University to have all faculty sufficiently qualified to eventually gain promotion to professor, no time limitations compel faculty to seek the highest academic rank in the University. Associate professors with tenure may stay in that rank for the duration of their careers. Ordinarily, it is highly unusual for faculty to move from associate professor to professor in less than seven years. To attain the rank of professor, most phases of the candidate’s work must evince a level of sustained accomplishment. Such accomplishment is of the sort that would merit national recognition in appropriate arenas. That does not mean that the subject of the work must be of national character or scope. The subject may well be regional or local, but the importance of the work should be sufficient to merit significant recognition. Peers and administrators evaluating a candidate for professor should review documentation of the entire academic career to date. That record will include outside evaluations. The Director will invite the candidate seeking promotion to recommend the names of possible external reviewers who, in the estimation of the candidate, are well qualified to assess the significance of the candidate’s work, particularly regarding the candidate’s research/creative activities. The office of the Vice Chancellor provides a release form offering confidentiality options with respect to the selected reviewers. For a copy of this form, please see the Director. The record of a successful candidate for professor must show evidence of sustained excellence over an extended period of time. Furthermore, a recommendation for promotion to full professor should be made only if the faculty member’s attainment is not only of sufficient significance, but also indicates the likelihood of continuation after promotion to this rank.
Procedure: All GKSOM faculty members with tenure, and holding an appointment at or above the rank to which promotion is recommended consider recommendation for promotion. The official voting is done by secret ballot following a meeting of the appropriate faculty during which discussion and clarification of each candidate’s file occurs. Tenured faculty members at the appropriate rank can indicate whether or not further information would help in arriving at a decision. The Director submits the faculty’s recommendation and his or her recommendation to the Dean’s office with supporting documents, including teaching evaluations. The Dean’s office submits the faculty’s and Director’s recommendations to the College Executive Committee. The College Executive Committee forwards all materials, previous recommendations, and its recommendation to the Dean for his or her recommendation. All recommendations are presented to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and to the Chancellor. The Board of Regents has final approval. At every step in the process, the faculty member must be given copies of all recommendations and has the right to read and respond to any recommendation forwarded to the next level.