Tenure and Promotion

Department of Chemistry Guidelines and Clarifications for Award of Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor and for Promotion to Professor

Adopted: July 22, 2020

I. General Considerations

  1. The awarding of tenure and/or promotion within the Department of Chemistry is not simply a reward for past accomplishments, but rather is based upon the expectation and promise of continued excellence exemplified by (1) a record of high achievement of excellence in research; (2) contributions that indicate a high level of teaching effectiveness; and (3) significant service contributions.
  2. All faculty members put forth for tenure and/or promotion in the Department of Chemistry are expected to be effective teachers as a minimum condition for consideration. Effective teaching by itself, however, will not lead to tenure; and, ineffective teaching will lead to denial of tenure. In evaluating effectiveness of teaching it is expected that tenure candidates’ teaching experience will have included a level of diversity of courses consistent with that which they will be expected to encounter during the course of their careers in the Department. Moreover, evidence of a sustained commitment to excellence in teaching is also expected. There is no overriding metric of teaching, but elements than can be used to demonstrate teaching effectiveness and commitment to excellence are often drawn from faculty peer evaluations,  contributions to Department and/or University curriculum, student evaluations, effective pedagogical innovation or modernization, mentorship of undergraduates, the candidate’s teaching statement and recognition of teaching.
  3. All faculty members put forth for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor or promotion to Professor will have participated in the administration of the department through committee and administrative assignments. The role of such assignments, however, will be relatively less for Assistant Professors, with such responsibility growing with increased rank and tenure on the faculty. Candidates for promotion to Professor are expected to show evidence of service contributions not only at the departmental level, but also at broader institutional and/or professional levels. All faculty members who are nominated for promotion and/or tenure will have abided by the rules and procedures established by the department, college and university.
  4. Subject to the above considerations, tenure and promotion requires excellence in research. The evaluation procedure is multifaceted. Nonetheless, scholarship in chemistry research is usually demonstrated through rigorous, high impact, and innovative research articles published in refereed journals and extramural grant and contract support that ensures continuation of research programs. Scholarship may also be demonstrated through book chapters, the development of intellectual property, plus invited talks at national or international scientific meetings and at other universities. Achievements in the area of research scholarship shall be evaluated by five or six letters of evaluation from objective external expert colleagues. The list of external letter writers will exclude the candidate’s PhD and postdoctoral research advisor(s) as well as collaborators and colleagues with whom the candidate has worked within the past five years.

II. Procedures

  1. All University and College guidelines and clarifications will be met.
  2. Eligible faculty members have the right to initiate the application for promotion and or tenure at their discretion (a determination made by the faculty member in consultation with the Chair).
  3. The Chair will initiate consideration of tenure for all of its untenured members before the end of the tenure probationary period.
  4. Though candidates have the right to initiate promotion and or tenure at their discretion, they may want to seek advice from the Department Merit Committee well in advance of the application deadline. The role of the Merit Committee is to help the candidate craft the strongest case. To obtain a Merit Committee review, candidates should provide a current detailed CV, to which has been added information on service and teaching. The Merit Committee will provide a report with comments for the Chair’s use during consultations with candidates. The Department Chair can also initiate a Merit Committee review. The report and the opinions of the Merit Committee will not be used or solicited during the open faculty meeting of those eligible to vote on the case. To help the candidate, this process works best if consultations begin a year or more before applying. Multiple reviews as promotions approach allow mentoring faculty and the Chair to provide input on how to develop promotion cases to make them as strong as possible. The Merit Committee normally performs these assessments in the Spring semester, at the same time as evaluating annual activities reports.
  5. The Department will solicit letters of evaluation from objective expert colleagues to include in promotion packets in accordance with UF and College guidelines. In general, three letters will be sought from a list of seven referees nominated by the candidate. After consulting with the candidate, the Department Chair will appoint a faculty member as Case Coordinator to handle the promotion application and the remaining three letters will be sought from a list of up to eight referees compiled by the Case Coordinator in consultation with other appropriate members of the Department. The candidate will be allowed to examine an expanded list of suggested names and make comments as to the suitability of potential letter writers. A final list of up to fifteen potential letter writers will be reviewed by the Department’s Merit Committee to provide input and guidance to the Department Chair, who will then choose the individuals comprising the final list of five or six.
  6. All promotion and tenure cases for which complete application packets have been assembled will be considered at an open faculty meeting of those eligible to vote on the case, unless the candidate chooses to withdraw. Candidate packets will be available for viewing by eligible faculty members before the meeting and up until the time of voting. Each case will be presented with a brief review of the candidate’s record in an impartial manner by the Case Coordinator. The faculty member giving the review should consult with the candidate to get feedback on the materials to be presented (minus letters of evaluation).
  7. A secret ballot will then be conducted to obtain the votes of the faculty for each tenure/promotion case.
  8. It is the responsibility of the candidate working with the Case Coordinator and the Department Chair’s office, to complete all documentation necessary for promotion and or tenure. This documentation, together with the Chair’s letter, will be forwarded to the college according to college procedures.

Department of Chemistry Guidelines and Clarifications for Promotion to Senior Lecturer and for Promotion to Master Lecturer

Adopted: July 22, 2020

I.  General Considerations

  1. Promotion to Senior or Master Lecturer within the Department of Chemistry is not a reward for past accomplishments. Rather such decisions are based upon the expectation and promise of continued excellence by the candidate in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service for the remainder of their career.
  2. All faculty members put forth for promotion in the Department of Chemistry will be effective teachers as a minimum condition for consideration. Moreover, it is expected that there will be evidence of a sustained commitment to excellence in teaching. There is no overriding metric of teaching, but elements than can be used to demonstrate teaching effectiveness and commitment to excellence are often drawn from faculty peer evaluations, contributions to Department and/or University curriculum, student evaluations, effective pedagogical innovation or modernization, mentorship of undergraduates, the candidate’s teaching statement and recognition of teaching.
  3. All faculty members put forth for promotion will have participated in service activities, which can include to varying degree administration of the department through committee and administrative assignments, and service to professional and local communities. The extent of such assignments and administrative responsibility will be minor for beginning Lecturers, but is expected to develop further for Master Lecturer candidates.
  4. Distinction in scholarship is demonstrated by various pursuits, including items such as on-going training in teaching methods, contributions to the development of teaching materials (e.g., laboratory activities, new online or face-to-face courses), publications (e.g., teaching materials, education research, or basic science as a contribution to teaching and/or scientific research), grant writing or collaboration on grants (educational or basic science), professional leadership in the development of Department and University curricula, and contributions to improvements in pedagogy (including teacher training). Involvement in scholarship related activities is expected to grow with successive ranks.
  5. For promotion to Senior Lecturer there must be evidence of consistent meritorious achievements in teaching, and growing involvement in scholarship and service. Candidates for promotion to Senior Lecturer are expected to contribute primarily at the departmental level and to show evidence of developing contributions at other levels.
  6. For promotion to Master Lecturer, in addition to the above, there should be evidence of more extensive scholarly endeavors and superior achievements in teaching. Candidates for promotion to Master Lecturer are expected to show evidence of service contributions not only at the departmental level, but also at broader institutional and professional levels.

II. Procedures

  1. All University and College guidelines and clarifications will be met.
  2. Eligible faculty members have the right to initiate the application for promotion at their discretion (a determination made by the faculty member in consultation with the Chair).
  3. Though candidates have the right to initiate promotion and or tenure at their discretion, they may want to seek advice from the Department Merit Committee well in advance of the application deadline. The role of the Merit Committee is to help the candidate craft the strongest case. To obtain a Merit Committee review, candidates should provide a current detailed CV, to which has been added information on service and teaching. The Merit Committee will provide a report with comments for the Chair’s use during consultations with candidates. The Department Chair can also initiate a Merit Committee review. The report and the opinions of the Merit Committee will not be used or solicited during the open faculty meeting of those eligible to vote on the case. To help the candidate, this process works best if consultations begin a year or more before applying. Multiple reviews as promotions approach allow mentoring faculty and the Chair to provide input on how to develop promotion cases to make them as strong as possible. The Merit Committee normally performs these assessments in the Spring semester, at the same time as evaluating annual activities reports.
  4. The Department will solicit letters of evaluation from objective expert colleagues to include in promotion packets in accordance with UF and College guidelines.  Letters from within or external to the university should reflect the range of teaching, service and scholarship activities described in the packet. In general, three letters will be sought from a list of seven referees nominated by the candidate. After consulting with the candidate, the Department Chair will appoint a faculty member as Case Coordinator to handle the promotion application and the remaining three letters will be sought from a list of up to eight referees compiled by the Case Coordinator in consultation with other appropriate members of the Department. The candidate will be allowed to examine an expanded list of suggested names and make comments as to the suitability of potential letter writers. A final list of up to fifteen potential letter writers will be reviewed by the Department’s Merit Committee to provide input and guidance to the Department Chair, who will then choose the individuals comprising the final list of five or six.
  5. All promotion cases for which complete application packets have been assembled will be considered at an open faculty meeting of those eligible to vote on the case, unless the candidate chooses to withdraw. Candidate packets will be available for viewing by eligible faculty members before the meeting and up until the time of voting. Each case will be presented with a brief review of the candidate’s record in an impartial manner by the Case Coordinator. The faculty member giving the review should consult with the candidate to get feedback on the materials to be presented (minus letters of evaluation).
  6. A secret ballot will then be conducted to obtain the votes of the faculty for each tenure/promotion case.
  7. It is the responsibility of the candidate working with the Case Coordinator and the Department Chair’s office, to complete all documentation necessary for promotion and or tenure. This documentation, together with the Chair’s letter, will be forwarded to the college according to college procedures.