The criteria for promotion from associate professor with tenure to professor are excellence and potential in teaching, research, or extension, and a judgment on whether the individual has fulfilled the promise on which tenure was originally granted. In all colleges, a department review is required, and a detailed rationale for the promotion must be submitted to the dean or director along with the vote of the full professors among the faculty.
The department procedures applicable to the promotion to professor are the same as those outlined above for the award of tenure, except that it is the vote of the full professors (tenured, if the candidate is tenured) in the department which is taken and recorded. The documentation need not be as extensive as it is for promotion to tenure, and the setting up of an ad hoc committee is at the dean’s discretion unless the recommendation of the department is negative and the candidate requests such a committee. If research is one of the candidate’s responsibilities, the dean may want to seek the advice of an ad hoc committee, since external opinions should be sought on such a candidate’s accomplishments and promise.
The dean is not bound by the recommendation of the department as expressed by the chairperson. If the dean disagrees with the judgment of the department, he or she will—if this has not already been done—set up an ad hoc committee. If the dean reverses the department decision, he or she will forward all the materials, including the ad hoc committee’s report, to the provost for review. Promotions from associate professor with tenure to professor are made on the authority of the provost.
