The Well Prepared Candidate Jim Germida, Vice-Provost Faculty Relations

The University Review Committee Who is the University Review Committee? Nine tenured or continuing status employees nominated by the Nominations Committee of Council and approved by Council with the length of their term specified to ensure a reasonable turnover of membership The Provost and Vice-President Academic, or designate is the Chair Two Faculty Association representatives who serve strictly as observers with voice, but no vote

The University Review Committee Reviews College recommendations for the renewal of probation from College renewal and tenure committee and all college recommendations for the award of tenure and Promotion to the ranks of Professor and Librarian, and approves them if they are not inconsistent with the standards of the department, college and university. [Article (v)]; [Article (vi)] Provides “second level review” of recommendations for tenure, renewal of probation and promotion to professor for non-departmentalized colleges Receives and adjudicates on appeals from faculty denied renewal of probation, tenure and promotion to professor

The University Review Committee Now has the ability to recommend a 2-year extension to the probationary period if the appeal is unsuccessful. Only one extension of probation will be permitted. The extension can be granted by either URC or the Renewals and Tenure Appeal Committee. [Article (vii)] Submits to the President for transmission to the Board its recommendations for renewal, tenure and promotion. [Articles (viii)/ (viii)]

Some URC Statistics: 2014/15 Renewal of Probationary Period: 36 cases 36 positive recommendations 0 negative recommendations No appeals Tenure & Continuing Status: 42 cases 39 positive recommendations 1 negative recommendation 1 successful appeal 2 extensions of probationary period Promotion to Full Professor: 24 cases 20 positive recommendations 4 negative recommendations 0 successful appeal  Total Cases: 102

Roles and Responsibilities Deans and Department Heads Mentor and guide faculty for successful career progress; provide direction, and feedback to faculty as they prepare their case files Manage case files to ensure sufficient and appropriate data is collected and cases thoroughly documented Create awareness of, and adherence to, Department, College and University Standards Provide leadership in the interpretation and consistent application of the standards; focus on evidence and what it takes to be a tenured and promoted member of our academic community Enforce deadlines and adhere to procedures

Communication Colleges and Departments In several of the case files last year, it was apparent that the Department Renewals and Tenure Committees’ overall support was not shared by the College Review Committees’ These differences, were typically apparent in the areas of interpretation of the Standards, and, evaluation of a candidate’s scholarly record When such situations arise between a Department Renewals and Tenure Committee and the CRC, it is the dean’s responsibility to communicate the concerns to the department heads Subsequently, it is the department heads responsibility to communicate these concerns to the candidates

Shared Responsibilities Selecting Referees : Selecting Referees : The University Standards state that “the Department Head or Dean, in consultation with committee members, should provide at least half of the names on the list”. Teaching Evaluations : Teaching Evaluations : Both student and peer evaluations are a mandatory part of the case file. The requirements are a “series of evaluations, over a period of time”.

Best Practices Leading the Process Mentorship: Mentorship: Showing new faculty the ropes Guide them towards tenure & promotion Advise on distribution of their time & efforts Help in selecting graduate students and their supervision Be a sounding board; be a constructively hard critic New Research Mentorship Program for Faculty began July 1, 2012 We spend time and effort to recruit the best people we could find – let’s spend a few moments to help them survive the system and help us build the university.

Best Practices Completing Forms Forms The votes need to add up - For tenure and promotion cases, a negative vote in any one category should translate to a negative vote for the case All categories should be accurately filled out to reflect the total number of voting members present Frequently the rationale provided by a department is reiterated by the college, which suggests the CRC did not undertake their own assessment Too often departmental and college committees provide only cryptic arguments in their rationale for the judgments they are making, leaving URC to intuit the unspoken reasoning Even when the argument is more fully developed, there is frequently inadequate reference to the precise language of the Standards

Best Practices Procedures The Process Guide the discussion at the department level Statements of rationale Must indicate the quality and significance of the candidate’s work and how it was assessed Must explain the decision at the department level and include both majority and minority views Must address all of the categories of assessment Must be directly and clearly linked to the appropriate standards. Direct references to additional requirements in department and college standards must be included

Voting “each member of a Committee, including the chair, shall have one vote”. Members may vote on a particular candidate only if they have taken part in the committee’s deliberations” “a quorum shall be two thirds of the members of a committee taken to the next highest integer. Employees on leave or excluded because of conflict of interest shall not be counted in order to determine the size of committee if a meeting has a quorum. However, an employee on leave who is a member of a committee may, if present, participate and vote in the meetings of the committee” “the decision on tenure shall be by simple majority of those voting. The vote of any member abstaining shall not be counted in support of either the affirmative or negative view. A tie vote means the motion is lost” [Articles /16.5.2] Best Practices Procedures

The numerical scoring for student evaluations needs to be defined, and the data should be summarized into an evaluative conclusive statement Provide the department average score for similar classes as a benchmark in the summation What courses were evaluated? How were student and peer assessments conducted? Issues raised in the student evaluations need to be addressed in the department’s rationale statement Best Practices Assessing Teaching

Best Practices Research This is creative, intellectual work which is in the public realm and which has been subjected to external peer review Evaluation… at all ranks will address the quality and significance of the work An assessment of the candidate’s current and potential program of research and scholarship or artistic work within the context of the discipline An indication of the quality of journals, other publications or venues An assessment of the adequacy of research funding support (if required)

Best Practices Professional Practice For Category 5: the 2002/11 University Standards state: Two components: Professional Practice; Scholarly Work “The evaluation should reflect the balance between the two components” “Professional practice means mastery of the professional skills associated with the discipline and their effective use in a discipline-appropriate setting.” Examples of professional practice are to be provided by the college

Best Practices External Referees External reviewers “must be sufficiently at arm’s length from the candidate so as to provide an objective assessment of performance…” There should be a clear concluding statement indicating whether or not the referee was recommending the promotion or tenure action A clear statement of the period under review must be in the letter to external referees The minimum requirements are three letters. Four letters are recommended. In the event that the URC must set aside a letter for any reason, the minimum requirement is still met to avoid the case being unnecessarily delayed The rationale from the department and the college should contain an accurate evaluation of the letters, or, justification in the rationale if the committee disagrees with, or, decides to disregard the opinion of one of the writers

Key Elements of A Successful Case File The Curriculum Vitae Standardized c.v. using the form for faculty available at For promotion – only include information up to June 30 th of the academic year. (Submissions in fall of 2015 should only include material up to June 30, 2015) For tenure, include all information up to and including the date of submission

Teaching Include a statement of your philosophy of teaching A record of teaching roles should include both graduate and undergraduate courses, practical or other field work and information on your graduate students If your c.v. contains a complete record of your teaching roles (Item 9 in the Standard c.v.) it is not necessary to repeat that here; simply reference the appropriate sections of the c.v. You should have a summary statement of your understanding of the results of the student and peer evaluations You should have a statement outlining your response to the results of the teaching evaluations

Undergraduate Course Evaluation Tool Q#Question/Faculty memberABCDEFGH1 UG AVG OVERALL 1 Course intellectually challenging and stimulating Learned something valuable Subject interest increased because of course Learned and understood subject materials Instructor enthusiastic about teaching course Instructor dynamic and energetic in conducting course Instructor enhanced presentations with use of humor Instructor’s style of presentation held interest during class Instructor’s explanations were clear Course materials well prepared and carefully explained Proposed objectives agreed with those actually taught Instructor lectures facilitated taking notes Students encouraged to participate in class discussions Students invited to share their ideas and knowledge Students encouraged to ask questions and were given meaningful answers Students encouraged to express own ideas and/or questions to instructor Instructor friendly to individual students Instructor made students welcome by seeking help/advice in/outside class Instructor had genuine interest in individual students Instructor adequately accessible to students during office hours or after class Instructor contrasted implications of various theories Instructor presented background or origin of ideas/concepts developed in class Instructor presented points of view other than his/her own Instructor adequately discussed current developments in field Feedback on examinations/graded materials was valuable Methods of evaluating student work were fair and appropriate Examinations/graded materials tested course content Required readings/texts were valuable Readings, homework, laboratories contributed to appreciation and understanding of course Total Avg first 29 questions Compared with other instructors at U of S, rate this instructor Overall instructor rating Total Avg questions

Average overall = 4.92

Average overall = 4.84

Scholarly Work The primary and essential evidence in this category is publication in reputable peer-reviewed outlets, or, in the case of performance or artistic work, presentation in reputable peer-reviewed venues The statement should state the nature of the candidate’s research and future plans. It should address the quality and significance of the work It should include an explanation of the candidate’s role in joint publications, presentations, research grants

Scholarly Work Cont’d Specify percentage contribution; preferably correspondence from other co-authors confirming this Discipline specific authorship order and involvement of graduate students Candidates should annotate their CV and their contributions

Professional Practice A balance between the Professional Practice and Scholarly Work suggests an assessable volume of work, or productivity, in each area There should be compelling evidence that the candidate has a sustained high level of performance in the practice of the profession and established a reputation for expertise in the field, AND, the candidate has made a contribution to the creation and dissemination of knowledge through scholarly work” The successful candidate will demonstrate and provide evidence of leadership in the establishment and execution of a clearly defined program of scholarship and a positive indication that the candidate will maintain activity in scholarly work and professional practice”

Administration and Public Service Be specific; indicate role, contributions and degree of effort Explanation should identify purpose and impact of contributions Ensure you are familiar with your units standards on the necessity for Administration & Public Service

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