Tenure or permanency is granted to faculty members who meet the requirements for the position to which they are being appointed after a probationary period, in accordance with the rules and standards set by the University.
Tenure is the right of a faculty member to continuous employment until the faculty retires, voluntarily leaves the University, or is dismissed for cause.
Tenure is a pact between the University and the faculty member, in which the University agrees to guarantee the academic freedom and economic security of the faculty member, and to provide a place of work for teaching and scholarly activities, while the faculty member agrees to undertake these functions as best as they can and to fulfill other institutional responsibilities.
Tenure is the start, not the end, of an academic career. It is a responsibility, not an achievement that exempts the tenured faculty member from periodic evaluation. Tenure does not insulate the faculty member from a fair and periodic review of academic performance.
Tenure aims to: (a) foster and safeguard the academic freedom of faculty; (b) enable the University to attract and retain the best faculty; and (c) protect the faculty from dismissal or termination of employment without cause.
Tenure-track positions are those that can lead to tenure, namely: Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. However, tenure is not given at the Instructor rank.
A non-tenure track position may be a full- or part-time faculty appointment as: substitute faculty, Lecturer (Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Professorial Lecturer), Visiting Professor, or Adjunct Professor. A non-tenure track faculty member has the same rights and responsibilities as tenured faculty except on the matter of tenure. However, lecturers and part-time faculty are not assigned to committee work nor required to attend meetings.
Tenure grants the following privileges to a faculty member: (a) employment until retirement, resignation, or dismissal for cause; (b) economic security that ensures that their salary, rank, and benefits are not reduced during the period of employment, except for cause; and (c) continued University support for teaching and scholarly or creative work, including reasonable teaching assignments and reasonably adequate facilities (classroom, library, laboratory, office, and equipment). [UP-OVPAA. 2004. Shaping Our Institutional Future: A Statement on Faculty Tenure, Rank, and Promotion. p. 4]
The grant of tenure carries responsibilities for both the tenure-track faculty member and the tenured faculty who recommend tenure.
The possibility of tenure behooves the tenure-track faculty member to:
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(1) |
Develop their field of learning and research or creative work by producing scholarship of the quality and quantity expected of tenure-track faculty and by demonstrating capacity to sustain research or creative work activities over time; |
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(2) |
Contribute to the learning of students through competent and effective teaching, which the faculty member demonstrates by: (a) meeting all scheduled classes on time and being available for consultation; (b) preparing seriously for class and teaching competently as best they could; and (c) striving constantly to improve teaching performance, keep up with new developments and teaching materials in the discipline, and update pedagogy and teaching content to reflect these developments; |
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(3) |
Be committed to the University as an intellectual community by: (a) upholding academic freedom against abuse and respecting the academic freedom of others; (b) participating in the life of the University; (c) performing in a productive professional manner so as to deserve faculty status; and (d) conducting oneself ethically in all dealings with students, colleagues, staff, and persons outside the University; and |
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(4) |
Render service to the University and the larger community, specifically by: (a) engaging in activities that enrich the University’s academic life; and (b) undertaking public service projects that improve the quality of life, address contemporary problems of society, or generally raise the welfare of the community at large. |
The tenured faculty who recommend tenure should see to it that the recommendation is consistent with the University’s mandate of academic excellence. Specifically, the tenured faculty must:
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(1) |
Uphold academic freedom, which requires that faculty appointments are made solely on academic grounds – that is, based on performance in teaching, research or creative work, and extension; potential to contribute to the discipline; and ethical conduct of the profession; |
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(2) |
Apply stringent standards in evaluating the qualifications and accomplishments of the tenure-track faculty; |
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(3) |
Create an intellectual environment that supports open and free inquiry, including the freedom to differ, in the spirit of learning and scholarship; and |
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(4) |
Satisfy – and preferably, exceed – the minimum expectations of tenured faculty members. |
The criteria for tenure set by the University ensure that each faculty member satisfactorily performs teaching duties as well as contribute to the pool of knowledge in one’s chosen field or discipline. The inextricable link between teaching, on the one hand, and research, creative work and extension, on the other, must be reflected in the grant of tenure.
[UP-OVPAA. 2004. Shaping Our Institutional Future: A Statement on Faculty Tenure, Rank, and Promotion. pp. 9-11; UPD Faculty Manual Update 2005, p. 23]
A faculty member who is to be recommended for tenure must have the appropriate credentials and experience in teaching, research or creative work, and extension.
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(1) |
For Assistant Professor rank, this means at least a master’s or equivalent degree or a professional degree, satisfactory or better teaching performance, and sole or lead authorship of at least one refereed journal article (local or international) or academic publication by a recognized academic publisher or literary publisher in the case of literary work; or in the field of visual arts, creative work that was exhibited or presented, and juried, or a similar requirement in music and other performing arts. |
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(2) |
For higher ranks, this means greater evidence and body of work of sustained scholarship (quantity and quality of publications or equivalent creative work) and teaching excellence, as determined by the department or preferably the college as a whole. (See Chapter 13 for minimum qualifications for initial appointment at Associate Professor and Professor ranks.) |
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(3) |
In addition, the faculty member must have a record of service to the University and the larger community. Departments expect tenure-track faculty to engage in committee work and extension service. |
Implicit in the evaluation of tenure-track faculty at lower ranks is the promise the faculty member holds for further scholarly and professional development.
Given the range and type of journals, the quality (academic worth) of the faculty’s publication or creative work must at all times be judged by tenured peers. Moreover, pursuant to the Research Guidelines discussed in Chapter 6, the faculty member and their unit should see to it that the publications and creative works are published/presented in legitimate (i.e., not “predatory”) journals, conferences, and other venues.
In general, units that offer only graduate programs must have more rigorous requirements than units that offer only undergraduate programs.
Units may impose higher requirements[i] provided these are approved by the College, the Chancellor, the President, and the Board of Regents. Units are, however, advised to put their procedures and requirements in writing so as to guide tenure-track and tenured faculty alike, ensure that policies are followed, minimize conflict, and facilitate the review and improvement of policies and processes. [UPD Faculty Manual Update 2005, pp. 21-22]
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i In its 1017th meeting on 8 December 1988, the BOR clarified that a college may, with the approval of its faculty, adopt higher standards or requirements for the grant of tenure. The clarification was given in light of the decision of some units, including the College of Science, to adopt stricter tenure requirements.
Table 17 summarizes the standards for tenure in light of the provisions discussed in this section. Tenure rules, however, should be reviewed periodically and upgraded in the interest of academic excellence.
Initial appointment as regular faculty is probationary in character. The period of probation (temporary appointment) varies according to the rank of the faculty member under probation, as follows [ii]:
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(1) |
For the rank of Assistant Professor, the probationary period is three years. |
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(2) |
The Associate Professor may be given tenure within two years from the date of appointment as Associate Professor. |
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(3) |
The Professor may be given tenure within a year from the date of appointment as Professor. |
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ii Revised Section 5.4.1 of Article 177, UP Code, as amended (Criteria for Tenure: Instructor), 1142nd BOR meeting, 20 May 2000; Article 178, Criteria for Tenure: Assistant Professor; Article 179, Criteria for Tenure: Associate Professor; Article 179A, Criteria for Tenure: Professor.
The actual length of the probation period may be shortened by taking into account the following factors:
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(1) |
Outstanding performance as teacher and scholar in the initial years of appointment; and |
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(2) |
Prior service at an academic institution at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher. |
Within the probationary period, the faculty member is appointed yearly. During the probationary period, the tenure-track faculty members must be able to show why they deserve to be reappointed as faculty or to receive tenure. (See Chapter 13 for guidelines on renewal of faculty appointment).
A faculty member who wishes to appeal the non-award of tenure or non-renewal of appointment must present proof that (a) a violation of academic freedom contributed to the decision of the recommending or approving authority, i.e., that other than academic grounds were used to arrive at the decision; or that (b) insufficient consideration was given to the merits of the application. Academic grounds include professional ethics, intellectual honesty, and other values central to academic life.
Two rights are at stake in the event described above: (a) the right of tenured colleagues to make a qualitative judgment on the candidate’s performance and record, and (b) the right of temporary faculty to expect fairness, both in the process by which the tenure decision is reached and in the substance of that decision. The appeal procedure should take into account both these rights.
Non-renewal is different from termination or dismissal of faculty. In the first, the burden of proof lies with the tenure-track faculty to show why they ought to be reappointed. In the second, the burden shifts to the University to show why, if at all, the faculty member should be dismissed.
A good tenure decision is imperative for institutional excellence. Units must therefore treat tenure decisions seriously; the future reputation of the unit rests on the quality of its academic staff.
Units are encouraged to adopt the practice of having tenure-track faculty apply for tenure just as temporary faculty have to apply for reappointment. By asking tenure-track faculty to apply for tenure, the department sends a clear signal that: (a) tenure is not automatically granted, and (b) the burden of proof of merit rests on the faculty member who applies for tenure.
The tenure-track faculty member is entitled to a fair evaluation of their record but may not presume an entitlement to tenure simply by virtue of being on tenure track. Tenure decisions are individually determined in light of the University’s minimum standards and those of the unit where the faculty member serves.
Only tenured faculty members of the department may recommend tenure. In departments where the tenured faculty members are too few, the Dean shall, in consultation with the College Academic Personnel Committee, recommend the composition of the department APC to the Chancellor for approval. Such members may come from any unit of the college.
The initial recommendation emanates from the unit’s Council of Tenured Faculty and proceeds through channels: from the Council of Tenured Faculty, to the Chair and Department APC, to the Dean and the College APC or equivalent body, and then on to the counterpart committee at the level of the constituent university (CU), chaired by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs/Instruction (called Academic Personnel and Fellowships Committee or University Academic Personnel Board). The CU committee then endorses its recommendation to the Chancellor.
The Chancellor endorses recommendations for tenure to the President. All recommendations for tenure are acted upon by the Board of Regents, upon the recommendation of the President.
Each unit shall have guidelines for tenure evaluation that specify the following:
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(1) |
How the evaluation is to be conducted: the procedure to be used and the faculty members tasked to carry it out. |
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(a) |
In most units, members of the department APC are elected by all faculty members, tenured and non-tenured faculty alike. |
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(b) |
In national institutes that have their own governing rules, there are specifically approved procedures. |
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(c) |
In other departments, the tenured faculty act as a Committee of the whole while in some, the tenured faculty act on the recommendation of the APC. |
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(d) |
The Chair acts as a member of the collegial review body (the department APC or tenured faculty). Should s/he differ with the evaluation and recommendation of the review body, the Chair shall put his/her views in writing for consideration by the next level of the review. |
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(e) |
Access to evaluation documents (e.g., minutes of APC/tenured faculty meeting, transcripts of interviews with candidates) shall be clarified. |
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(2) |
Criteria to be used to assess progress towards tenure |
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(a) |
In addition to the minimum criteria for Instructor and Assistant Professor ranks, the department may have other expectations, some of which relate directly to the discipline. The unit shall specify these requirements and make them clear to tenure-track faculty from the outset. |
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(b) |
The department shall also specify tenure requirements for higher ranks (Associate Professor and Professor). These requirements must be more stringent than those for the lower ranks |
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(c) |
If the department’s requirements for tenure at lower ranks exceed the minimum requirements with respect to the graduate degree and publication record of candidates, the department must obtain the approval of the College, Chancellor, President, and Board of Regents. |
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(3) |
Frequency of the evaluation: when and how often The evaluation shall be completed well before the 60-day rule for informing faculty of non-award of tenure. |
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(4) |
How the tenure-track faculty’s individual improvement plan, if any, is to be incorporated into the review process |
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(5) |
How the candidate will be informed regarding progress toward satisfying the standards for tenure in that unit |
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(5) |
Voting rights of faculty regarding tenure |
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(a) |
The mechanism must be such that tenure decisions are made solely by tenured faculty. |
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(b) |
Voting faculty shall be able to explain their vote to their colleagues. |