Reappointment, Tenure & Promotion (RTP) Resources

University policies and procedures regarding tenure

• Standards, Processes and Procedures for Comprehensive Review, Tenure, Post-Tenure Review and Promotion
• Professional Plan for Faculty
• Campus Administrative Policy Statement: Reappointment, Tenure & Promotion
• Annual Merit Adjustments for Faculty

Comprehensive Review & Promotion to Professor

Any individual who wishes to apply for early comprehensive review or tenure, or for full professor, must inform the primary unit chair and the Dean's Advisory Committee (through the Associate Dean who is ex officio member of the committee) of the intent to do so no later than the first day of the fall semester. This deadline applies to any unscheduled comprehensive, tenure, or promotion review. Optimally, this process should begin the previous spring term, as outlined below.

The following applies to:

• Tenure and promotion review;
• Or review for promotion to full professor.

Also consult Strategies for Success and the campus policy on reappointment, tenure and promotion.

Spring of the preceding academic year

1. Meet with the chair of your department and agree on a set of deadlines for the materials you will put together. Make sure you get a copy of the department’s primary unit criteria.
2. Suggest names for a list of potential external reviewers. Faculty under regular review are allowed at most 2 of their own reviewers, with 4 names selected by the department chair. For promotion to full professor at total of at least 6 letters are required.
3. The department chair will be responsible for contacting potential external reviewers—asking if they are willing to review the faculty member’s research in early fall of the next academic year.

Fall of the academic year of the review

1. Meet with the department chair to review deadlines and to make arrangements to provide materials that go out to the external reviewers. Work backward from the following deadlines for getting the dossier to the Dean's Office when setting time lines:
   • October 15 for Comprehensive Review
   • November 1 for Promotion and Tenure
   • November 15 for Promotion to Full Professor

An RTP department meeting should be scheduled to meet these deadlines.

1. The department chair is responsibile for sending out packets to the external reviewers. These should contain the chair's letter, as well as your vita, research statement, and publications.
2. The department chair will set up research, teaching and service subcommittees chaired by tenured faculty in your primary unit. Each subcommittee chair will write a report evaluating your strengths and weaknesses in the specific area. The research subcommittee report will refer to the external reviewers by letters or numbers and not provide any information in the report that discloses the identity of any external reviewer.
3. The department chair will initiate peer evaluations of teaching, including at least one peer visit to review your teaching.
4. The department chair will hold a faculty meeting in which the tenured members (full professors if promotion to full professor is involved) of the department discuss your RTP case and vote on it. Your Chair will provide you a letter that should specify the number of faculty members present and the vote.
5. Votes on promotion to full professor--at primary unit level only full professors can vote. If there are fewer than 3 full professors in the primary unit, then a sufficient number must be added from cognate disciplines at CU Denver. The Dean should approve the selection of Full Professors outside of the primary unit.
6. You should receive a copy of the Chair's letter and the subcommittee reports on research, teaching and service. You should also expect to receive a summary of the evaluation by external reviewers in such a way that individual identities are not disclosed. The Chair assumes the responsibility to send the dossier to the Dean's Office.
7. When the Dean's Advisory Committee and the Dean have made recommendations on your case, the Dean's office will send you and the Chair copies of the DAC and Dean's letters.

Post Tenure Review

Every five years tenured faculty must undergo post-tenure review. One of two review processes is mandated:

Regular Review

Those faculty members who have received summary evaluations of “meeting expectations” or better on their Annual Performance Rating sheets over the past five years or have received a single “below expectations” evaluation over the past five years undergo “regular review.”

The “regular review” process takes place during the spring semester. The CLAS Dean's office will notify faculty members up for post-tenure review and the Chairs of those departments during March. The post-tenure review files are due in May.

The dossier should be reviewed by the Department Chair, who writes a letter evaluating the faculty member’s productivity and contributions to the University in teaching, research, and service and an assessment of the faculty member's plans for the future described in his/her professional plan. When the Chair of a department is up for review, a senior faculty member should write the letter. The dossier is submitted to the dean's office for a college-level review.

Extensive Review

Faculty members who have received two “below expectations” evaluations must undergo “extensive review” as soon as the second “below expectations” rating is received and the appeals process is completed. Extensive reviews require the creation of a "Performance Improvement Plan" IPIA) specifying what improvements will be made.

Materials Needed for Post-Tenure Review