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Post-tenure Review Criteria and Procedures, Department of Applied Behavioral Science

Policy
Procedure
Purpose: 

To articulate the criteria and procedures for post-tenure review for the Department of Applied Behavioral Science.

Applies to: 

Tenured faculty in the Department of Applied Behavioral Science.

Campus: 
Lawrence
Policy Statement: 

General Principles: In accordance with Board of Regents requirements (II.C.8), Article 7 Section 4 of the Faculty Senate Rules and Regulations, and the University Policy on Post-tenure Review, the Department of Applied Behavioral Science, hereafter referred to as ABS, has adopted these expectations and procedures for conducting post-tenure review. Post-tenure review is a process for periodic peer evaluation of faculty performance that provides an opportunity for a long-term assessment of a faculty member’s accomplishments and future directions in the areas of teaching/advising, scholarship, and service. Post-tenure review must be conducted in a manner that respects the rights of faculty members involved, including academic freedom, tenure, and due process. In addition, all those involved in the evaluation process must recognize that it is a confidential personnel matter and take appropriate steps to protect confidentiality.

Period for Review: Faculty members will be reviewed once every seven years following the receipt of tenure with the review occurring in the unit(s) that conducts their annual evaluation. Post-tenure review covers the seven-year period leading up to the review, including the six prior annual evaluation letters and activities since the last annual evaluation. The cycle is restarted if a faculty member is evaluated for promotion or is awarded a distinguished professorship.  The time period when a faculty member is on medical or familial leave or that would otherwise be excluded when computing time in rank does not count toward this period. In addition, time serving as department chair, program director, dean or associate dean, or other administrative position subject to administrative review is excluded. The review may be postponed if it falls in a year when the faculty member is on leave. Faculty members on phased retirement or whose retirement date has been approved by the university will be exempt from review under this policy. The dean of the College will notify faculty members scheduled for post-tenure review no later than March 15th in the spring semester preceding the academic year of review. 

Unit Expectations: All tenured faculty members must meet academic responsibilities in the areas of teaching/advising, scholarship, and service. Unless otherwise specified by the job description or differential allocation of effort, the ordinary allocation of effort is 40% teaching/advising, 40% scholarship, and 20% service. ABS has defined its standards and expectations for teaching/advising, scholarship, and service in its annual evaluation procedures. The expectations for post-tenure review are consistent with these standards, with overall productivity commensurate to the seven-year period under review. The following specific criteria shall apply for purposes of post-tenure review.

Criteria for Meeting Expectations in Teaching/Advising: The teaching/advising expectations for post-tenure review are those of the ABS Faculty Evaluation Plan for annual faculty reviews, except that the expectations are commensurate with the seven-year post-tenure review period.

Criteria for Meeting Expectations in Research and Creative Activity: The research and creative activity expectations for post-tenure review are those of the ABS Faculty Evaluation Plan for annual faculty reviews, except that the expectations are commensurate with the seven-year post-tenure review period.

Criteria for Meeting Expectations in Service: The service expectations for post-tenure review are those of the ABS Faculty Evaluation Plan for annual faculty reviews, except that the expectation are commensurate with the seven-year post-tenure review period.

Relation to the Annual Evaluation: ABS conducts its post-tenure reviews and its annual faculty performance reviews jointly. Specifically, the ABS Faculty Performance Review Committee conducts the post-tenure reviews and the annual ABS faculty performance review as part of the same process. The difference is that (a) a subcommittee of three tenured ABS faculty members on the Faculty Performance Review Committee conducts the post-tenure reviews, while the Faculty Performance Review Committee as a whole, including the subcommittee, conducts the annual faculty performance reviews for the faculty member undergoing his or her post-tenure review, as well as all the other ABS faculty members. The subcommittee report will be considered as part of the annual faculty evaluation process and the chairperson will discuss the review with the faculty member in conjunction with that process. This discussion should concentrate on the future professional development of the faculty member with an aim toward enhancing meritorious work and improving less satisfactory performance, including adoption of a performance improvement plan, if necessary. Any action on the review that is within the scope of the ABS Faculty Evaluation Plan must be taken under that plan.

Joint Appointments. The faculty member will provide both units with copies of the Faculty Member’s Statement section of the Post-Tenure Review File (reflecting the representative effort in each unit) and a current curriculum vitae. The review goes forward with each unit preparing a separate committee evaluation summary and considerations by each chair and/or director to the dean. Each unit will submit their review materials directly to the College Dean’s Office. In the case of a jointly appointed faculty and unclassified academic staff member outside of the College, the primary unit is responsible for the administrative protocols of engaging the secondary unit in the solicitation and collection of feedback relative to the evaluation of performance expectations in the secondary unit.

Review Committee: Post-tenure review is conducted by a subcommittee of the department’s Faculty Performance Review Committee, which shall comprise three tenured faculty members selected in accordance with the ABS by-laws. No person may serve on the subcommittee if his or her spouse or partner is scheduled for a review. If the chair/director is the spouse or partner of the faculty member under review, the “Chair or Director Evaluation Summary” shall be conducted by the Divisional Associate Dean.   A committee member who believes that there may be a conflict of interest should withdraw from the committee. If a faculty member who is undergoing review believes that there is a conflict of interest, he or she may object to the inclusion of a member. If the member declines to withdraw, the remaining committee members shall consider the basis for the alleged conflict and decide the matter. If a committee member withdraws or is removed based on a conflict of interest, the chairperson will name a replacement.

Preparation of the File: Review will be conducted on the basis of a file that summarizes a faculty member’s teaching/advising, scholarship, and service. In contrast to evaluation for promotion and tenure, copies of publications and original student evaluations are not required. Also, outside reviews of scholarship should not be submitted. Using the Faculty Member Statement, the faculty member under review shall provide a brief narrative statement of his or her accomplishments in teaching/advising, scholarship, and service during the review period as they relate to his or her long-term career path and goals. In addition, the faculty member shall submit a current curriculum vitae and a list of additional activities not covered on the curriculum vitae. The chairperson will furnish copies of the faculty member’s annual evaluation letters for the six years during the review period. In addition to the post-tenure review, the faculty member shall also meet ABS’s requirements for its annual faculty performance review, that is, for submitting his or her portfolio for the previous three years (e.g., curriculum vitae covering teaching and advising, research and scholarship, and service; record of student credit hour production; course and instructor evaluations; narrative describing the forgoing). This makes his or her annual ABS faculty performance review subject to the same criteria as all other ABS faculty members’ faculty performance reviews that year.

Evaluation and Report: The committee will review the file and evaluate the faculty member’s overall performance and his or her contributions in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. Applying the expectations defined above, the committee will determine whether the faculty member’s performance in each area, as well as whether his or her overall performance meets expectations, exceeds expectations, or fails to meet expectations. In making its evaluations, the committee must bear in mind that (1) faculty members have differing responsibilities and make different kinds of contributions to the mission of ABS, the College, and the University; (2) a faculty member’s activities vary over time according to his or her strengths, interests, and career path; and (3) innovative work may take time to reach fruition and may sometimes fail.

Using the Unit Committee Report, the committee will prepare a written report summarizing its evaluation. The report should provide a narrative description of the faculty member’s activities, an explanation of the committee’s ratings, and recommendations or suggestions for acknowledgement of contributions and future development of the faculty member. The committee will provide a copy of the report to the faculty member, who may submit a written response for inclusion in the post-tenure review file before it is forwarded to the chairperson.

Consideration by the Chair/Director: The committee’s report (along with any faculty response) will be provided to the chairperson. Using the Chair/Director Evaluation Summary, if the chairperson agrees with the report, he or she will indicate that agreement in writing to the faculty member and place a copy in the post-tenure review file. If the chairperson disagrees with the committee’s evaluation, he or she shall explain the reasons for any disagreement in writing, with a copy to the faculty member and the committee. The chairperson may ask the committee to provide additional information or reconsider the review. If the chairperson disagrees with a positive evaluation by the committee, the faculty member may submit a written response. The chairperson will forward the file to the dean of the College. Post-tenure review files are due in the College Dean’s Office by no later than noon, on the second Friday of March.

Consideration by the Dean: The faculty member’s post-tenure review file, including the unit committee’s report (along with any faculty response) and the chairperson’s agreement or disagreement, is forwarded to the dean. Post-tenure review files are due in the College Dean’s Office by no later than noon, on the second Friday in March. The dean will consider the report and using the Dean’s Evaluation Summary, express his or her agreement or disagreement in the same manner as the chairperson. Following the completion of review by the dean, if the dean agrees with the report, he or she will indicate that agreement in writing to the faculty member and place a copy in the file. If dean disagrees with the committee’s evaluation, he or she shall explain the reasons for any disagreement in writing, with a copy to the faculty member and the unit committee. The dean may ask the committee to provide additional information or reconsider the review. If the dean disagrees with a positive evaluation by the unit committee, the faculty member may submit a written response. The dean will forward a summary of post-tenure review outcomes and copies of the post-tenure review files to the Provost, to ultimately be placed in the faculty member’s personnel file.

Appeals: Following the completion of the review by the dean, if a disagreement between the committee and the chairperson or dean cannot be resolved or if the faculty member wishes to appeal an evaluation of “fails to meet expectations” in the overall evaluation or any category of responsibility, the matter will be handled as an appeal under ABS’s annual Faculty Evaluation Plan.

Report to the Provost: The dean will provide a summary of the results in the College and copies of the post-tenure review file to the Provost. The post-tenure review file will be placed in the faculty member’s personnel file.

Contact: 

Department of Applied Behavioral Science
University of Kansas
4001 Dole Human Development Center
1000 Sunnyside Avenue
Lawrence, KS 66045-7555
absc@ku.edu

Department Chairperson
785-864-4840

Approved by: 
The faculty of the Department of Applied Behavorial Science
Approved on: 
Friday, June 6, 2014
Effective on: 
Friday, June 6, 2014
Review Cycle: 
Annual (As Needed)
Keywords: 
post-tenure review, seven-year review, faculty performance, PtR, ABSC, ABS,
Change History: 

09/17/2021: Removed broken links.
10/12/2015: Per the Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the following was added to the template under Committee Review: If the chair/director is the spouse or partner of the faculty member under review, the “Chair or Director Evaluation Summary” shall be conducted by the Divisional Associate Dean.  Also added Dean’s review/acceptance under “Rank/Status/Change/History.”
08/25/2015: Added new template language to “Period for Review.”
08/17/2015: Updated links to CLAS PtR Forms
04/24/2015: Updated CLAS PtR forms and added links to each form within the policy statement.
04/02/2015: Fixed broken link to Board of Regents Policy Manual.
02/16/2015: Updated joint appointment to include new boilerplate language.
12/18/2014: Updated to provide the current link to the Board of Regents Policy Manual.
11/21/2014: Updated to provide the current link to the Board of Regents Policy Manual.
06/09/2014: Reviewed and accepted by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office
06/06/2014: Approved by a vote of the Department of Applied Behavioral Science faculty.

Personnel: Faculty/Academic Staff Categories: 
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School/College Policy Categories: 
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