Tenure-Track Faculty

Appointment, Evaluation and Promotion

1. Mission

1.1 The mission of the School of Journalism is to advance the profession of journalism, as explicated in the Mission Statement for the School of Journalism. The school educates people for the profession by guiding them in the acquisition of a broad liberal education, by providing them the techniques and skills necessary to practice the profession, and by instilling a critical understanding of journalism’s principles and traditions. The faculty of the school are to be dedicated to advancing the profession through research and scholarship, media analysis and criticism, and the exemplary practice of journalism. The faculty educates future scholars, teachers, and practitioners of journalism.

2. Content

2.1 The school’s teaching mission is carried out in the context of daily competitive journalism practiced through the school’s media. Experienced faculty supervisors work side by side with students in the production of news stories and advertising and in the scholarly study of the media. The context gives the Missouri system of journalism education its strength.

2.2 It also provides the foundation on which the school’s extensive continuing education program is built. The program identifies and honors excellence in many areas of journalism practice. The school also raises the level of skill and understanding of working journalists by conducting workshops and other training programs.

2.3 To accomplish its mission, the school has found it essential to hire different types of faculty for the school’s pedagogical, scholarly, creative and service activities. Some have extensive journalism experience. Some have extensive scholarly experience. Some have extensive experience in both scholarship and journalism.

2.4 The School of Journalism enjoys an international reputation for excellence, and the faculty aspires to continue that level of quality. A superior faculty is the surest guarantee of continued excellence. Toward that goal, the journalism faculty established the following procedures and criteria for appointing, evaluating, tenuring, and promoting members of the faculty.

3. Types of Appointment

The school will continue to hire faculty with excellent professional credentials for its tenure track faculty. Such faculty will be expected to produce an impressive body of scholarly or creative products, of a quantity, although not necessarily of the same kind, comparable to that expected of a traditional research scholar in order to gain tenure. In addition, the school will hire professional practice faculty, primarily for the media that serve as teaching laboratories for the school and other positions requiring the extensive use of professional skills. Professional practice faculty will be expected to devote most of their time and their energies to becoming expert teachers and to advancing the practice of journalism through professional seminars, workshops and similar activities. Professional Practice standards and procedures are contained in “Policies on the Appointment of Non-Regular Faculty and the Appointment, Evaluation and Promotion of Non-Regular Faculty (Professional Practice) in the School of Journalism.”

3.1 Two broad categories of faculty contribute to the mission of the school: non-regular faculty and tenure track faculty. The category shall be determined at the time of employment. In cases of appointment to the tenure track, only candidates who show potential for intellectual and professional development and long-term employment should be considered. Selection of new faculty members shall be made only after a national search. The School’s Promotion and Tenure Committee shall be consulted before any formal offer of fulltime appointment is made and shall recommend to the dean the appropriate rank and tenure status for each appointment.

3.2 Non-regular faculty without the “professional practice” designation are appointed with no expectation of long-term employment by the university. Those pursuing an advanced degree at the university automatically fall into this category. Others, with the approval of the relevant faculty chair and the dean of the school, may be hired as non-regular faculty members for temporary positions. The chief expectation of non-regular faculty members is that they will be excellent teachers.

4. School Promotion and Tenure Committee

4.1 The School Promotion and Tenure Committee shall consist of nine faculty members: seven tenured faculty elected at large and two professional practice faculty at a rank of associate or full professor, elected at large. Terms shall be three years, and the terms shall be staggered. The Policy Committee shall conduct the election before the end of the spring semester.

4.2 The Promotion and Tenure Committee shall select its chair annually in the fall.

5. Procedures for Tenure Track Faculty

5.1 Annual Reviews.

5.1.1 The dean’s office shall provide faculty chairs with a list showing all faculty members in the department, whether they have tenure, the year in which a tenure decision will be mandatory, their years of service at Missouri, their academic rank and their years in that rank. The performance and activities of each non-tenured faculty member on the tenure track shall be reviewed annually by the faculty chair. Each year the chair will submit to the dean: A written detailed commentary on the faculty member’s progress and a recommendation to the dean for reappointment, non-reappointment, promotion, tenure, or a terminal appointment for the following year. Written annual reviews will be maintained by the School. It shall be the faculty member’s responsibility to update the file each year with an addition that records accomplishments since the last evaluation.

5.1.2 The faculty member shall be given a copy of the faculty chair’s evaluation and shall have the right to request, within 30 days of receipt of the evaluation, a meeting with the chair to discuss points in the evaluation with which the faculty member disagrees. Both the evaluation and any written reaction submitted by the faculty member shall be added to the file.

5.2 Mid-Probation Review of Non-Tenured Faculty.

5.2.1 Chairs, the associate dean for graduate studies, and the School Promotion and Tenure Committee will each conduct an especially intensive review of tenure-track faculty members at the mid-point of their probationary periods (e.g., in the third year of a six-year probationary period; in the second year of a four-year probationary period). Chairs and the School Promotion and Tenure Committee should use these evaluations to decide whether the faculty member being evaluated shows enough promise, on the basis of his or her productivity so far, of achieving tenure. Each evaluation shall conclude with a written recommendation either that the member be retained on the tenure track, with suggestions for continuing activities that will strengthen the faculty member’s tenure dossier, or that the member not be retained, with reasons for that recommendation. Chair and the associate dean for graduate studies evaluations shall be reviewed by the School Promotion and Tenure Committee, which shall make its own written recommendation to the dean with reasons for that recommendation. A recommendation that the member be retained does not constitute a guarantee that tenure will be granted. Rather, it should reflect the committee’s and the chair’s best judgment as to whether the member has a good possibility, with additional activities, of achieving tenure at the end of the probationary period.

5.2.2 In addition, written reviews of tenure-track faculty in the years other than the mid-probation review will be conducted by a three-member committee composed of tenured faculty not serving on the School Promotion and Tenure Committee or in administrative positions. The Policy Committee shall appoint the three-member committee each spring after consultation with the chair of the School Promotion and Tenure Committee.

5.3 Criteria for Promotion and Tenure. The school expects its tenure track faculty to be excellent teachers and advisors, and to work continually to improve the education offered the school’s students. The school also expects its tenure track faculty to demonstrate expertise in their fields by their scholarship or creative achievement. The expectation is that the faculty member will produce intellectual products of both breadth and depth, and of a kind that demonstrate sustained effort over a long period of time. The school further expects its faculty to contribute to the school, the university, the public or the profession through service activities. The evidence to be considered shall include but not be limited to the following:

5.3.1 Teaching

Assessment of course syllabi, assignments and examinations; monitoring of subsequent courses in which the student is expected to build upon an already acquired proficiency.
Assessment of student evaluations of teaching effectiveness, through standardized evaluation instruments.
Development of new courses or revision and enrichment of established courses.
Efforts to enhance teaching through work in professional positions or through participation in seminars, workshops and campus teaching-improvement programs.
Receipt of awards or grants for teaching-related activities.
Chairing of or membership on graduate student committees.

5.3.2 Scholarship and Creative Activities.

5.3.2.1 Traditional academic scholarship. In descending order of importance:

Articles in national refereed journals and nationally significant juried exhibitions.
Research-based books from major publishers.
National refereed monographs.
Receipt of awards or grants for research-related activities.
Regional refereed journals appropriate to the faculty’s area of research.
Papers presented at scholarly meetings.
Textbooks.
Joint authorship will be credited in proportion to the candidate’s contribution.
General books from recognized publishers.
Textbooks.
Analyses or critical articles on professional subjects published in national or international recognition for their merit.
The same work as in (3), but at the regional level.

5.3.2.2 Creative activities. In descending order of importance:

Meritorious work of a demanding nature in professional positions in journalism or advertising during summers or leave time, provided a detailed report and critique of the activity is prepared by the candidate for the candidate’s dossier.

Development and management of meritorious seminars and workshops for professional journalists.

Joint authorship will be credited in proportion to the candidate’s contribution. In no case shall a tenure or promotion be granted solely on the basis of the activities listed under 4, 5 and 6 below.

5.3.3 Service.

5.3.3.1 Various types of service are valued at the School:

School, campus, system committee and administrative work.
Consulting, journalistic or strategic communication efforts that benefit the general public.
Service to professional associations.
Judging professional competitions.
Contributing to professional workshops.
Service on editorial review boards.
Service as ad-hoc reviewer for journals.

5.4 Procedures for Tenure Recommendations.

5.4.1 No later than the spring semester prior to the fall semester in which the chair plans to forward a recommendation on tenure, the chair shall begin an intensive review of the candidate’s qualifications. The Associate Dean for Graduate Studies will provide a written evaluation of the candidate by the beginning of the fall semester. The School Promotion and Tenure Committee will begin its review in the fall semester.

5.4.1.1 As part of the review, the faculty chair must solicit letters of evaluation of the candidate’s work from outside this institution. The evaluators must be academics or professionals of national reputation. The candidate may submit up to six names for this process, of which the chair will select three. The chair will solicit letters from three additional evaluators not named by the candidate. The evaluators should be asked to comment on the candidate’s scholarly or creative accomplishments, the candidate’s national reputation, and the candidate’s comparative standing with peers in the discipline. The chair will adopt the provost’s requirements for external reviews and will normally solicit these evaluations in the spring semester prior to the fall semester in which the chair plans to forward the recommendation. The School Promotion and Tenure Committee will consider both the quality and productivity of the candidate’s scholarship along with the external evaluations.

5.4.1.2 The Associate Dean for Graduate Studies will provide a written evaluation of the candidate by the beginning of the fall semester, which will be included in the candidate’s materials to be evaluated by the School Promotion and Tenure Committee. The Associate Dean may ask for and evaluate any or all portions of the candidate’s record.

5.4.1.3 The School Promotion and Tenure Committee will evaluate the candidate’s research, teaching, and service. This review will include the external evaluations, and the evaluations written by the chair and the Associate Dean.

5.4.2 The same procedures shall be used to develop a recommendation on an application for promotion from associate professor to full professor, except that only committee members holding the rank of tenured full professor may vote.

5.4.3 Action by the School Promotion and Tenure Committee on tenure and promotion recommendations.

Disqualification. A member of the Promotion and Tenure Committee whose own promotion recommendation is under the committee’s consideration shall be disqualified from deliberations and voting on his or her own case. The committee shall select a replacement from the tenured faculty at the appropriate rank.

The School Promotion and Tenure Committee shall review the dossier of materials on candidates for promotion and/or tenure and vote on the recommendations. The committee can request additional information from the nominee, faculty chair, and others. The nominee has the right to appear in person before the committee.

Discussions of the committee are confidential. The chairperson is empowered to summarize the decision of the committee, particularly as they relate to negative recommendations.

Voting shall be by ballot. Only tenured associate professors or full professors on regular appointment may vote on applications for promotion to associate professor. Only tenured full professors on regular appointment may vote on applications for promotion to full professor.

Only the following recommendations will be made by the committee: “recommend approval,” or “do not recommend approval.”
If fewer than five members of the school committee are eligible to vote on promotion to full professor, the Policy Committee shall appoint temporary replacements who shall serve only for the cases for which the School Promotion and Tenure Committee does not have at least three qualified members.

5.4.4 The dean shall forward to the campus level all recommendations (positive and negative) of the Promotion and Tenure Committee along with his or her recommendations and comments. Copies of the school’s criteria for promotion and tenure shall accompany the recommendations of the dean to the campus level.

5.5 Hearings and appeals. Faculty members shall be immediately informed by the faculty chair of the School Promotion and Tenure Committee’s recommendations. The candidate for tenure or promotion shall have the right to a hearing for reconsideration before the faculty body voting on tenure or promotion applications. The candidate shall also have the right to appeal a negative recommendation to the School Promotion and Tenure Committee and to the dean and to such other appeals as may be provided for by campus policy.

6. Conferral of Tenure

6.1 The conferral of tenure is an important step for both the individual and the university. Tenure shall be granted only to faculty who have demonstrated competency over a period of years and who can be expected to continue to make significant contributions to the mission of the school. Tenure normally is granted only after the full probationary period specified in the university academic tenure regulations has been served. The criteria used to evaluate a faculty member’s qualifications for tenure are those criteria for promotion to associate professor. Normally, a recommendation for promotion to that rank will accompany a recommendation for the granting of tenure if the candidate was hired at a rank below that of associate professor.

7. Promotion from Assistant to Associate Professor.

Candidates should have demonstrated continued professional growth and a high level of competency that would be expected of a permanent member of the journalism faculty. A person should only be appointed or promoted to an associate professorship if he or she has achieved national recognition for scholarly or professional activities and shows promise of becoming a leading figure in the discipline. Further, candidates should have demonstrated that they are excellent teachers and should have demonstrated significant service.

8. Promotion from Associate to Professor.

The position of professor is the highest academic rank. This rank must be earned by demonstrable achievement. Promotion to professor shall be granted only to those who have achieved national reputation based on their excellence in scholarly or professional activities. Further, candidates should have demonstrated that they are excellent teachers and should have demonstrated exemplary service.

9. Other Evaluation.

In addition to all of the review and evaluation procedures described above, all faculty members shall be evaluated annually by their chairs even if they are not under review, according to the above procedures, for retention, promotion and tenure.

9.1 The evaluations will be used by the administration to help determine appropriate salary decisions.

9.2 As part of the evaluation process, modifications may be made in the focus of responsibilities as appropriate to the interests of the school and the faculty member. Such modifications should be as explicit as possible and retained in the faculty member’s file.

9.3 During the course of the academic year, the activities of each faculty member should be documented when possible by placing information in his/her file. The documentation is primarily the responsibility of the faculty member.

9.4 In the School of Journalism, each tenured faculty member shall, prior to the end of each academic year, negotiate with the chair of her or his faculty a work plan for the following year. The plan will specify the goals for work in teaching, research and service. This plan shall be signed by both the faculty member and the chair. The work plan becomes the reference point for the annual evaluation performed by the chair. When the tenured faculty member is due for a five-year review, the work plans and annual evaluations form the basis of the review.

10. Post-Tenure Review.

At five-year intervals after tenure is granted, a tenured faculty member will resubmit the following to their faculty chairs: annual reports and evaluation statements for the past five years, with a concise summary statement of research, teaching, and service activities for the five-year period, and a current curriculum vitae. The first five-year review will be done five years after the tenure decision or the last formal review of the faculty member for promotion to associate professor/full professor. Faculty hired with tenure will be reviewed five years after they are hired.

10.1 Based on the five-year report, the chair will evaluate the faculty member’s overall performance for the five-year period as “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory.” The faculty member will receive this information in a written evaluation in which the faculty chair notes the specific reasons for a “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” recommendation. The five-year evaluation process will be complete with a satisfactory evaluation. If the evaluation is unsatisfactory, then the five-year report with chair’s evaluation will be sent to the School Promotion and Tenure Committee.

10.2 In the event of an unsatisfactory evaluation by the chair, the School Promotion and Tenure Committee will perform its own full review of the performance of the faculty member over the five-year period, based on the standards described below. An unsatisfactory decision by the School Promotion and Tenure Committee will require a two-thirds majority vote. The faculty member will receive this information in a written evaluation. The five-year evaluation process will be complete if the School Promotion and Tenure Committee does not reach an unsatisfactory decision. In the event that the School Promotion and Tenure Committee concurs with the chair’s judgment of unsatisfactory performance, the School Promotion and Tenure Committee’s written evaluation will describe in detail its rationale for the unsatisfactory evaluation, and the subsequent process, specified in the UM Collected Rules and Regulations 310.015, will be followed.

10.3 The criteria by which a chair, School Promotion and Tenure Committee, and/or Dean, will evaluate a faculty member are the same criteria listed in sections 8 and 5.3 of this document in the areas of teaching, research, and service.

Adopted April 1995
Revised May 2006. AEC.

Revised/Approved October 2008, EAH.

Revised/Approved May 2010, EAH.

Revised/Approved July 2011. EAH