Criteria and Procedures for Promotion to Specific Ranks Promotion to specific ranks may occur at any time during a particular appointment period. In order to attain promotion, faculty performance in the areas of teaching and service must meet the expectations of the School of Music 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 GKSOM. In respect to the terminology for evaluation, at the time of promotion to Associate or Full Professor of Practice, achievement in all areas must, at the very least, "meet expectations," but that is no guarantee of promotion.
Assistant Professor of Practice Appointment to the rank of assistant professor signifies that a faculty member is well qualified to launch upon an academic teaching career. Qualifications include completion of a terminal degree or equivalent experience in the practice of the discipline and demonstrated success in academic or professional instruction.
Associate Professor of Practice To attain the rank of associate professor, the candidate should be an accomplished teacher, where excellence in academic or professional instruction is evidenced e.g. by student evaluations, portfolio, peer review, and student outcomes. The candidate must also demonstrate evidence of leadership in instructional activity that has had significant impact on the department, college, or University.
Professor of Practice This rank is the highest academic rank in the University. It is reserved for those faculty members whose contributions to instruction in the field are sufficient to merit recognition as distinguished authorities and who hold the professional respect of their colleagues in their discipline. Qualifications for promotion to this rank include excellence in academic or professional instruction, as evidenced e.g. by student evaluations, portfolio, peer review, and student learning outcomes; a very high performance standard in the candidate’s discipline; and an expectation of national visibility for the candidate’s instructional activities and/or practice, achievable, for example by:
grant funding for instructional activities or innovations 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: Faculty and administrators evaluating a candidate for Professor of Practice 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 candidate's file will be made available for a specified period to all qualified faculty members, who will meet on a specified date to discuss the file and to vote for, or against, promotion. 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.