1. Purpose

“Excellence without Excuse” is the continuing standard for all academic programs at North Carolina Central University. The strength and vitality of the faculty is the essence of the university’s commitment to excellence in teaching. Accordingly, as mandated by the UNC Board of Governors, Post-Tenure Review (PTR) will examine performance of tenured faculty relative to the mission of NCCU, as well as the mission of their respective colleges/schools and departments. This will help assure the continuation of a strong and productive faculty whose services meet and exceed standards of excellence.

This policy provides a clear plan and timetable for improvement of tenured faculty found deficient; and for those whose performance remains deficient, it provides for the imposition of appropriate sanctions. Such sanctions may, in the most serious cases, include a recommendation for discharge. The PTR is a faculty peer review process that is designed to guide and reinforce the continued development of tenured faculty who, by virtue of their experience, growth, and professional standing, are expected to set the performance standards for scholarly productivity for the academic units.

Criteria to be utilized in conducting this review shall be fair and reasonable expectations consistent with the criteria and standards used in other reviews of faculty related to teaching, research, and service.

The criteria must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate faculty with differing responsibilities, to recognize that faculty members may contribute in different ways to the institution’s mission over time, and to consider the cumulative impact of the faculty member’s career as well as performance during the previous five years.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all tenured faculty.

3. PTR Policy & Process

This PTR Policy serves to provide guidelines to ensure that tenured faculty members have a clear set of expectations regarding their professional development and contributions in the areas of teaching, research and service. Although the policy holds tenured faculty accountable for their continued contributions to the University community, it is not intended to be punitive, but rather positive and instructive. The PTR process identifies the specific areas of strength among tenured faculty as well as areas requiring more concentrated development. The PTR process will rely on a summative, retrospective view of five (5) years of the professor’s areas of work responsibility that may underscore trends not immediately obvious in the customary annual faculty evaluation process.

Each unit (department or college/school if there are no departments) shall be responsible for developing its PTR guidelines, which must be approved by the department’s tenured and tenure-track faculty. These guidelines must include metrics for teaching, research, and service. Once approved on the departmental level, the guidelines shall be submitted to the dean for review. Any change on the part of the dean will result in the guidelines being returned to the department for approval. Following the dean’s approval, all PTR guidelines shall be forwarded to the Office of the Provost for final approval.

3.1  The PTR Policy will not supplant but will extend and build upon existing university rules governing appointments, reappointments, tenure, and promotions.

3.2  For PTR purposes, the term “faculty” refers to all tenured faculty members at the University.

3.3  Upon the conferral of tenure, the faculty member shall develop a long-term workplan in consultation with the unit chair that will serve as his/her five-year plan upon which the post-tenure review will be based.

3.4  PTR is required of all tenured faculty members whose primary responsibilities (51% or more) are teaching and/or research and/or service. Any exception for reasons such as phased retirement can be made at the discretion of the provost.

3.5  It shall be the responsibility of the dean to notify unit administrators and affected faculty when to complete the PTR document. When a department chair is scheduled for a PTR, it shall be the responsibility of the dean to generally manage the PTR process.

3.6  The faculty member shall assemble a portfolio for submission to the PTRC consistent with the schedule prescribed by the University. A checklist of required items will be provided to faculty undergoing post-tenure review. If a faculty member fails to submit his/her portfolio, the PTRC may proceed with evaluating the faculty member based on the information that is available to the PTRC, including, but not limited to, documentation in the faculty member’s personnel file and information in the faculty member’s annual reviews and self-evaluations.

3.7  Training will be provided for all persons involved in the post-tenure review process, including the PTRC, department chairs/unit heads, and deans. The provost shall certify that the required training has been conducted. Training should be consistent with that mandated by the Office of the President (UNC System).

4. Establishment of the Post-Tenure Review Committee and Role of the Unit Chair

For the purposes of PTR, department chairs will establish a standing Post-Tenure Review Committee (PTRC) that will be comprised of tenured faculty in their respective units. One member of the PTRC, for any given faculty member, must be external to the University and competent to make a professional judgment in the faculty member’s discipline. The candidate shall provide the names and curriculum vitae of four possible External Reviewers to the department’s PTRC and to the department chair. From the names submitted, the PTRC will recommend two of these persons to the chair for their selection of the External Reviewer.

Each PTRC must have three members, all of whom must have at least three years of teaching experience. The External Reviewer is a not a voting member of the PTRC. In the instances where units do not have the requisite number of faculty qualified to sit on a PTRC, the unit chair must recruit enough qualified persons from related academic areas.

4.1  The faculty members in the department nominate five tenured faculty members to serve on the Post-Tenure Review Committee (PTRC) no later than September 10th of each academic year.

4.2  Faculty members to be reviewed are not permitted to serve as a member of the PTRC.

4.3  The unit chair selects three members from the five persons nominated and gives the charge to the committee by September 30th.

4.4  The chair of the PTRC is selected by the membership of the committee.

4.5  Evaluation of the faculty member’s portfolio shall be consistent with departmental PTR guidelines. Upon request, faculty members will be provided the opportunity to meet with the PTRC.

4.6  The PTRC writes its recommendations based on the faculty member’s performance with respect to her/his work responsibilities. The faculty member’s performance will be rated as exceeds expectations, meets expectations, or does not meet expectations as defined in UNC Policy 400.3.3. The report must include a summary of the vote on the portfolio (e.g., 2 votes “meets expectations” and 1 vote “does not meet expectations”), and an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the portfolio. Each member of the PTRC must sign the report signifying: (1) the person read the portfolio, (2) the person voted on the portfolio, and (3) the report accurately portrays the PTRC’s assessment of the candidate’s portfolio.

4.7  The chair of the PTRC sends the findings of the Committee to include its recommendation to the unit chair for review.

4.8  The unit chair shall communicate the result of the review in writing (including the PTRC’s written report) to the faculty member and to the dean for evaluation and appropriate action.

4.9  The Dean’s evaluative review shall include the PTRC report, chair’s evaluative review and the faculty member’s portfolio.

4.10  In case of a deficient report, i.e., did not meet expectations, the unit chair will review the report, consult with the dean, and then make a recommendation to the faculty for improvement in the form of a Faculty Success Plan as defined in UNC Policy 400.3.3.

4.11  The report also must include a statement to the faculty member’s primary responsibilities and specific descriptions of the deficiency as they relate to the faculty member’s assigned duties.

4.12  The report will include the sanctions that will result if the terms of the plan are not realized.

4.13  In the event the unit chair is being reviewed, the report of the PTRC will go directly to the dean for review and response.

5. PTR Evaluation Timetables, Procedures, and Processes

5.1  Faculty for whom PTR is required shall undergo a review no later than February 15th of the fifth academic year after conferral of tenure status or their prior post-tenure review.

5.2  Exceptions:

5.2.1  A period when a faculty member is on leave from professional duties shall not be included as part of the five years mandatory review events. In such cases, the five-year clock stops with the leave and resumes when the faculty member resumes her/his teaching duties.

5.2.2  PTR is not required of a faculty member who is officially set for an irrevocable retirement, termination from the university or resignation within the next 12 months.

5.3  Post-Tenure Review does not replace a review for purposes of promotion. Rather, successful evaluations for the purpose of promotion after being tenured can satisfy the requirement of post-tenure review.

5.4  The dean will initiate the process with written notification to the appropriate unit chairs and the tenured faculty to be reviewed. The dean will provide notice during the spring term for evaluation to be conducted during the ensuing fall term. The notice will request that the faculty to be reviewed begin to assemble a five-year portfolio for the purpose of post-tenure review.

5.5  The PTRC will review portfolios containing documents consistent with departmental PTR guidelines. The documents will include the faculty member’s self-assessment. In instances where unit chairs are to be reviewed, the deans or their designees (who must be the most senior tenured member of the unit) will assume the duties of the chair of the PTRC.

5.6  The evaluation will be performed by the unit-specific Post-Tenure Review Committee. All tenured faculty members must be reviewed at five-year intervals. Faculty who do not comply with the requirements of the post-tenure review process, regardless of intent or circumstances, will receive a single written warning from the Provost before the end of the semester.

5.7  Post-tenure considerations will be discussed during the faculty member’s Annual Performance Evaluation with the department chair.

6. Results of Post-Tenure Review

6.1  All PTRs should begin no later than February15th and the final reports will be submitted to the Provost’s office no later than March 1st of any given calendar year.

6.2  The PTRC is advisory to the chair, dean, and Provost. The PTRC can make one of three recommendations: (a) meets expectations, (b) exceeds expectations, or (c) does not meet expectations. The PTRC submits its recommendation to the chair. Its findings should include the rationale for its recommendation to include any strengths and weaknesses.

6.3  All faculty members whose PTR is assessed as “exceed expectations” shall receive:

6.3.1  a letter of commendation from the Provost,

6.3.2  recognition at the Faculty Institute,

6.3.3  other considerations by the Provost such as a course release, monetary award, or professional development grant.

6.4  A faculty member whose PTR is assessed as “does not meet expectations has ten (10) calendar days to submit to the department chair a response to the finding of by the PTRC. The department chair shall submit the response to the respective dean.

6.4.1  The dean shall review the PTRC report and the chairs report along with the faculty member’s annual evaluations.

6.4.2  Should the dean concur with the finding of “does not meet expectations” a Faculty Success Plan will be required.

6.4.3  The faculty member will draft a Faculty Success Plan in consultation with the department chair or designee within thirty (30) calendar days.

6.4.4  The dean shall review all related material prior to the final decision. The findings will be reported to the Office of the Provost.

6.5  Should a faculty member found to “not meet expectations” disagree with the final decision of the dean, the faculty member may file a grievance consistent with the procedures in Section 3.10 of the Faculty Handbook regarding faculty grievances.

7. The Faculty Success Plan

The faculty who has deficiencies in the report will draft a Faculty Success Plan in consultation with the department chair that should include the following:

7.1  Specific steps designed to lead to improvement and specific timelines to eliminate the deficiencies outlined in the written report from the unit chair, including what improvements the faculty member must make.

7.2  A clear statement of consequences should improvement not occur within the allotted timeline.

7.3  The faculty member shall select and secure a mentor having the rank of senior faculty to assist in implementing the first year of the development plan.

7.4  The Faculty Success Plan must be submitted by the unit chair to the dean for approval.

7.5  The unit chair, the faculty member and the dean must meet at least semi-annually to review the progress of the Faculty Success Plan.

7.6  The plan will indicate when the faculty member is to be reviewed again by an appointed PTRC. The faculty member will be given a period of not less than two years and not more than three years to demonstrably remove the cited deficient performance areas.

7.7  If the PTRC concludes that the deficiencies have not been corrected after the end of the Faculty Success Plan, the faculty member must be seriously sanctioned in conformity with the terms of The Code (see Sections 602, Academic Tenure; and 603, Due Process). Before implementation of any serious sanction against a member of the faculty, the Provost will consult with the PTRC.

8. The Role of the Dean

The dean shall be responsible for the following:

8.1  Review and approval of PTR departmental guidelines.

8.2  Submission of names of faculty to undergo post-tenure review two years in advance of review to the Office of the Provost.

8.3  Conduct an evaluative review of the faculty member’s Post-Tenure Review portfolio as well as the recommendations of the PTRC and the chair.

8.4  Annual report of faculty members reviewed by PTRC and their outcomes i.e., meets expectation, exceeded expectations, or did not meet expectations. In cases where the faculty member exceeded expectations some level of recognition should be considered.

8.5  Monitor progress of faculty who are following a Faculty Success Plan and submit an annual summary to the Office of the Provost.

9. The Role of the Provost

The Provost shall be responsible for the following:

9.1  Certifying on an annual basis, that all aspects of the post-tenure review process and training have been completed for involved persons in compliance with UNC Policy 400.3.3.

9.2  Conducting an annual review of progress reports involving faculty with a negative post-tenure review outcome.

9.3  Coordinate the development of a metric to differentiate PTR outcomes, i.e., meet expectations, exceed expectations, and do not meet expectations.