DEPARTMENT LETTERHEAD
To:Name of tenure candidate
Academic Unit(s)
From:Chair
Committee A member
Committee A member
Date:
Re:Progress Toward Tenure
Section 1: Faculty Data
Appointment date and length of probationary period (e.g., 8/15/15, six years):
Semester when dossier will be submitted (e.g., SP19):
Nature of split appointment (if any):
Section 2: Introductory Paragraphs
Inform the faculty member that this progress-towards-tenure letter provides an assessment of his/her cumulative performance (from date of initial appointment to current semester) in the areas of teaching, research and creativeactivity, and service. Describe the faculty member’s distribution of effort for each of the categories. Clarify the extent to which the unit will be considering any work that was completed before the faculty member started at OU.State the number of years remaining in theprobationary period and the timeline for consideration for tenure. Describe whose input was considered for this letter. While the letter will be written by Committee A, units may seek input from all faculty members who are eligible to vote on the tenure recommendation.
Refer the faculty member to Section 3.7.4 of the Faculty Handbook for thethe university’s general tenure guidelines and attacha copy of the unit’s tenure and promotion guidelines (do not cut and paste either guideline into the letter). Forfaculty members with a split appointment, attach the relevantMemorandum of Understandingthat guidesthe faculty member’spromotion and tenure considerations.
Section 3: Evaluation of Cumulative Performance
In three separate sections, evaluate the faculty member’s cumulative performance inthe areas of teaching, research and creative activity, and service while noting thedistribution of effort invested in each category. Explicitly statethe extent to which the faculty member is progressing toward the unit’s expectations for tenure in each area.
Research and creative activity:Brieflydescribe all factors (based on your unit’s tenure and promotion guidelines) that are considered for evaluating research and creative activity. These factors should include quantity and quality of research and creativeactivity, including: publications, external/internal funding effort andsuccess, demonstrated effort and success in leading/serving oncollaborative research projects,professional development activities related to scholarly activities, andnotable awards or recognitions. Summarize the faculty member’s researchand creativeactivityaccomplishments, and then close with a specific statement addressing whether the candidate is meeting or not meetingthe unit’s expectations for research and creativeactivity.
Teaching:Briefly describe all factors that are considered to evaluate teaching performance.This must include discussion of student feedback on instructor’s effectiveness and peer evaluations (if required by your unit). A brief discussion on professionaldevelopment activities to improve teaching performance, coursedesigns/revisions, efforts to assess student learning, and undergraduate andgraduate research supervision could also be included in this section. Summarize the faculty member’s teaching accomplishments, and then close with a specific statement addressing whether the candidate is meeting or not meetingthe unit’s expectations for teaching.
Service:Briefly describe service expectations for faculty members during their probationary period. Describe participation in international, national, regional,university, college, and unit level activities and in what ways this activityadds value to the department, college, or university. Summarize the faculty member’s service accomplishments, and then close with a specific statement addressing whether the candidate is meeting or not meetingthe unit’s expectations for service.
Section 4: Summary Statement
Close with a summary statement thatexplicitlystates whether the candidate is making satisfactory or unsatisfactoryprogress toward tenure based on the unit’s tenure and promotion guidelines.Clearly describe any areas ofconcern and provide specific steps for addressing those concerns.