Policy on Letters Solicited for Promotion and Tenure (Revised 2006, 2012, 2018, 2021)
- The College expects departments to seek qualified external reviewers with expertise in the specific disciplines or interdisciplinary areas of candidates under consideration for tenure and promotion. For all tenure and promotion cases, two lists of six names each, one from the candidate and one from the department (compiled independently), should be submitted to the Dean's office by a specified date in the spring. The names should be identified further by institutional affiliation and accompanied by a declaration of any personal or professional relationship between the candidate and each potential reviewer, as well as a brief account of each reviewer's achievements and their relevance to assessment of the candidate. In compiling their respective lists, both candidates and departments should carefully consider the professional stature and suitability of potential reviewers. Achieved rank is an important indicator of professional stature, and campus policy is explicit that external reviewers should "hold at least the rank that the candidate is applying for, or its equivalent, and be well-recognized and established members of their field(s) employed at peer institutions." Where the matter of suitability is concerned, however, rank itself not a sufficient indicator of qualification. Candidates and departments should also consider the relevance of a potential reviewer's scholarly specialization, the currency of their knowledge of the state of the field, and the value potential reviewers' diverse perspectives on the profession bring to the evaluation of the candidate's professional accomplishments and contributions. Ultimately, the selection of reviewers should be governed by the need to provide a full and fair evaluation of the candidate's work. Reviewers should not have had a close relationship with the candidate. Whenever possible, multiple reviewers from a single institution should be avoided.
- The Executive Dean or appropriate Divisional Associate Dean acting as delegate approves the reviewer lists. In approving the lists, the Dean will work with the Chair to ensure that the standards described above are met before requests for letters are sent. The Dean may provide a priority ranking dictating the order in which reviewers should be used if this is deemed merited by the Dean.
- Once the lists have been agreed upon, the department then solicits all letters on behalf of the Executive Dean. The same number of letters shall be solicited from the candidate and department lists. In accordance with campus policy, departments shall obtain a minimum of six external review letters for tenure or promotion, with at least three from the candidate list and three from the department list. Because all letters that are received must be included in the dossier and made available to faculty who participate in departmental tenure or promotion decisions, chairs are encouraged to solicit additional letters only as potential reviewers decline their invitations.
- This policy is applicable to the core divisions of the College only