Guidelines for and Promotion and Tenure
African American Studies Program
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
May 2011

• GENERAL STATEMENT

The promotion and tenure standards for the African American Studies Program (AFS) are supplementary to the College and University documents governing reappointment, tenure, and promotion. In the case of any conflict, the College and University documents take precedence.  This document provides fulltime AFS teaching faculty with specific promotion and tenure criteria regarding the evaluation of their teaching, research and creative activity, service, and directed professional activity.
Because AFS faculty regularly engage in a variety of disciplines and employ research methods and approaches that often combine different fields of study, whether as individuals or in collaborations with others, the Program will follow the University and College guidelines regarding the evaluation of interdisciplinary, intra-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary and collaborative work.  As noted in the College guidelines, “Interdisciplinary work will be encouraged and supported, and will meet standards of reviewers in each of the contributing disciplines.  Collaborative work will also be rewarded, if it receives positive reviews, if the candidate can demonstrate a coequal or unique contribution to the field.”  The value of collaborative, creative, or co-written work for the purposes of promotion and tenure will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, including these guidelines, the Program Director, and the judgment of the faculty.  Candidates are expected to request verification from collaborators of their role in joint-authored scholarship.

II. CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION FROM ASSISTANT PROFESSOR TO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND TENURE

a. Teaching
The African American Studies Program requires candidates for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor to demonstrate their accomplishments as teachers and their continual efforts to improve their teaching.  The candidate’s record should demonstrate a commitment to and effectiveness in teaching, the most essential feature being effective performance in the classroom.  Effective teaching alone, however, is insufficient grounds for promotion.  Poor teaching may constitute grounds for denial of promotion and tenure.
Viewed more broadly, the category of teaching may not only include instruction in assigned courses but also any of the following: advising and supervising students; curriculum design and program development; directing individual student research projects; developing and implementing local, national, or international teaching and learning activities; participating in workshops and institutes; developing instructional technology and innovative pedagogies; preparing instructional materials; seeking or receiving grants or other types of internal and external funding to support instruction; and developing bibliographic or information systems.  Commitment to and effectiveness in teaching may also be validated by honors and recognitions from university and student groups, professional organizations and institutions.
The minimum quantitative expectation of a candidate’s classroom instruction is the teaching load, as defined in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).  Evaluation of the quality of the candidate’s teaching will also be measured by a variety of instruments, including peer and student evaluations; letters from students solicited by the Program; unsolicited comments sent to the candidate from peers or students; and self-appraisals of one’s professional goals, development, and achievements in teaching. 
The University understands that in the interest of research, faculty are allowed to buy themselves out of teaching. In such cases, the candidate would need to include a MOA, which outlines the evaluation and assessment of teaching.  

b. Research Scholarship and Creative Activity
For promotion to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure, the African American Studies Program requires clear and significant evidence of continuing and successful research, scholarly or creative activity beyond the dissertation.  A candidate must demonstrate “a sufficient quantity and quality of original, significant, peer-reviewed, publicly disseminated, recognized and sustained scholarship” ("CAS Guidelines," p. 2).  High quality, originality, and significance of contribution are more important than either the volume or type of scholarship represented.  Because African American Studies is interdisciplinary, the Program recognizes the different venues in which its faculty disseminate research and creative activities.  Therefore, AFS requires each candidate for reappointment, promotion and tenure--including promotion to Full professor--to demonstrate significant continued annual progress in original research and scholarship.  Demonstration of such progress may include publication of a single-authored book with a nationally recognized university, independent, or commercial press; a co-authored book, an edited collection of academic essays, a critical edition, or a sustained series of peer-reviewed articles on a coherent topic, if the volume or the articles have been published by a nationally recognized press or journal. A record of research or creative activity may also comprise textbooks, digital archives and editions, other types of electronic publications, exhibits, relevant artistic performances, or other products of public history scholarship; and external and internal grants and awards related to scholarly or creative activity. Generally, this activity may be undertaken through a variety of methods, which may be interdisciplinary, collaborative, or community-engaged, and is expected to be primarily in the field in which the candidate was hired.  This research is empirical, theoretical, applied, or community engaged scholarship, and must reflect an organized intellectual agenda and subject to external peer review.
Where journal articles are the typical venue to disseminate research, our expectation is that a candidate will have published the equivalent of one article per year, which would amount to a minimum of five articles before coming up for consideration in the sixth year. Nonetheless, judgments are not based solely on the number of publications, as the prestige and selectivity of the publications are significant and may be established through impact ratings and citation indexes. Articles should be placed in both interdisciplinary African American Studies journals and the candidate's area of specialization.   Work accepted for publication but not yet published will count toward promotion and tenure, but proof of acceptance from the publisher is required. Candidates will suggest a list of reviewers, but the Program may solicit counsel from persons other than those suggested by the candidate. 
The African American Studies Program also accepts Community-engaged scholarship, if this form of scholarship also produces such products as publications and exhibitions.  This research must be grounded in theory, applicable to other contexts, and demonstrates methodological rigor in terms that give it disciplinary or interdisciplinary status.  It must be undertaken in collaboration with community partners who help set research questions, determine methodology, join in creating research projects, and/or engage in other activities that bridge the researcher's academic and the community context of the partner(s).  African American Studies acknowledges community-engaged scholarship as distinct from traditional University service.
 A candidate may also be able to count work done before coming to UNCG towards tenure; however an agreement about which work, the nature of such credit and how it alters a candidate’s timeline for engaging the tenure process MOA must be reached with the Dean and the Program director prior to employment in their current position and in the Program. Without such a standing agreement in place, only work published during the candidate’s tenure at UNCG will be considered.  The candidates overall scholarly or creative agenda must show promise for a successful full professorship review.

c. Service

African American Studies recognizes service as an important element in the professional life of faculty.  Typically, service is defined in three areas: to the institution, the profession, and the community, including government agencies, industry, and public schools. Candidates for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor must perform service responsibilities satisfactorily, but service alone does not constitute a basis for granting tenure and promotion.  Failure to perform adequate service may constitute grounds for denial of promotion and tenure. Evidence used to evaluate a candidate's service will include assessment of a range of documentation, including letters solicited by the Program from committees or organizations to which service has been rendered. Candidates are encouraged to keep an on-going file of letters from chairs of service committees or organizations

1.  Candidates for promotion and tenure in the African American Studies Program are encouraged to be involved in all three areas of service; however involvement in all three areas is not a requirement for promotion and tenure. Service to the Program is required of all members and will be assessed and evaluated during the annual review process.  If College and University service opportunities become available, the candidate is encouraged to document such service.  This documentation can include letters of appointment or appreciation of service from administrators and/or committee chairs.

2. Service to the profession:   Faculty are encouraged to maintain membership/professional ties with their academic profession, but service to the profession is not required for promotion and tenure.  Service to the profession might include membership on the committees or executive boards of academic or professional organizations; on selection committees of external granting agencies; on the editorial boards of academic, professional or scientific journals; as well as organization of professional conferences or workshops.

 3.  Service in the public sphere:  The Program recognizes the importance of developing partnerships with the Triad community and values highly public service. There could be a variety of recognizable ways of providing service to the community.  These include presenting knowledge to the general public through articles in the popular press and public speeches, developing professional relationships with organizations, businesses, and public agencies; developing and participating in outreach programs beyond the confines of the University; developing and participating in partnerships (such as internship programs) between the Program and external agencies; serving on community boards.  While public service is encouraged, it is not required for promotion and tenure.

d. Directed Professional Activity
The African American Studies Program recognizes that in some cases, candidates for promotion may also be evaluated in the additional category of Directed Professional Activity, which UNCG defines as activity whose contribution is sufficiently distinctive that its significance is diminished when embedded in either of the three categories of teaching, research and creative activity, and service ("UNCG Guidelines," Section II.D.).  Achievements in this category supplement but do not replace the expected achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service.
Ideally, Directed Professional Activity would be restricted to candidates for promotion to full professor.  However, the African American Studies Program recognizes that in rare cases, candidates for promotion to Associate Professor and tenure, including the Program director, may also be evaluated in the additional category of directed professional activity.   For tenure and promotion to Associate Professor, Directed Professional Activity is normally a supportive or additive category of evaluation, with teaching, scholarship, and service remaining the primary basis for evaluation.
In the AFS Program, Directed Professional Activity may include, but is not limited to developing grant proposals and obtaining extramural funding; developing international affiliations; developing interdisciplinary programs for students; developing and/or directing formal community outreach activities that promote continuous learning in the University or community at large; designing and directing faculty development activities; participating in recruitment and retention activities; and directing special programs, directorship; and heading a research institution or collaboration.
Such contributions will be explicitly outlined and identified in a MOA at the point of hire, or spelled out in a MOA at the point of transition when the Directed Professional Activity begins to become a distinct category of Program effort and achievement.  In the case of promotion and tenure, this category of work must be documented no later than the candidate’s third year review. The candidate along with the Program director and Dean will discuss how the Directed Professional Activity will be evaluated and this information will be documented in the MOA, which must be endorsed by a majority of the tenured, senior faculty in rank to the candidate.
Evaluation of the quality of the candidate’s directed professional activity will be measured by a variety of instruments, which may include:  written description of the scope of the project and participation; analyses of the work accomplished; official documents and reports resulting from the activity; published articles, reports, or monographs; grants applied for and/or obtained; evaluations by peers, participants, administrators, and other constituents; new programs and initiatives resulting from the activity; honors and awards; degree to which the activity brings positive visibility to the University; and self-appraisal of the candidate’s career goals, development, and achievements in directed professional activity. 
e. Promise    There are five criteria: (a) teaching, (b) research, (c) service, (d) Directed Professional Activity, and (e) promise.
The record of a candidate for promotion to Associate Professor and tenure shows promise of achieving a level of distinction that will eventually lead to promotion to the rank of Professor.
Successful candidates ordinarily document a trajectory of scholarship that extends into the future rather than concluding it at the end of the probationary period. 

Joint Appointments

When the tenure home is African American Studies, a candidate's publications, exhibits, and performances would be evaluated as outlined above.
Both units have input into the tenure and promotion process for jointly held faculty. The
chair(s)/director(s) must agree well in advance on the review procedure and this should be outlined in the candidate’s MOA no later then the second year of appointment. Once settled, the procedure must be communicated expeditiously to the candidate.  A fundamental goal of the review procedure is to ensure that the candidate’s interdisciplinary work is taken into account fully in each unit’s review.

III.  EARLY PROMOTION FROM ASSISTANT TO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

The College’s Guidelines state that Assistant Professors are normally reviewed for promotion to Associate Professor with permanent tenure in their sixth year of employment.  However, the review for promotion to Associate with tenure may occur before that time if:  1) it is deemed appropriate by the Program director in consultation with the  Dean and tenured program faculty:  2) or written provision for early review was agreed to as part of the original contact of employment.  Following the "College’s Guidelines on Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion" the African American Studies Program allows early promotion to be granted in cases of “exceptional accomplishments,” defined as completion of all the criteria for promotion to Associate Professor with tenure before the sixth year.

Associate professors without tenure and no provision for early review in the original contract may apply for early review either by requesting such a review or by being nominated by the Program director.  In either case, the candidate must provide both a self-evaluation statement covering each of the three categories (teaching, scholarship, and service) and appropriate documentation of their accomplishments (e.g., books, articles, teaching evaluation summaries, supporting letters).  Candidates for early promotion should be reminded that if promotion and tenure is denied by the Chancellor, they cannot be re-nominated at a later date. 

IV. CRITERIA FOR PROMOTION FROM ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TO PROFESSOR

a. Teaching
The African American Studies Program requires that candidates for promotion to the rank of Professor demonstrate a substantial and sustained record of effective teaching of undergraduate and graduate students and a demonstrated commitment to teaching.  Promotion to the rank of Professor is based upon achievement, distinction, and the impact of one’s contributions, not duration of employment.  However, time in rank may be a salient consideration to the extent that the impact of certain contributions accumulates and gathers force over time.  Effective teaching alone, however, is insufficient grounds for promotion.  Poor teaching may constitute grounds for denial of promotion.
Viewed more broadly in its institutional context, the category of teaching may also include not only instruction in assigned courses but also any of the following: advising and supervising students; curriculum design and program development; directing individual student research projects; developing and implementing local, national, or international teaching and learning activities; participating in workshops and institutes; developing instructional technology and innovative pedagogies; preparing instructional materials; seeking or receiving grants or other types of external funding to support instruction; and developing bibliographic or information systems.  Commitment to and effectiveness in teaching may also be validated by honors and recognitions from appropriate professional organizations or institutions.
The minimum quantitative expectation of a candidate’s classroom instruction is the teaching load, as defined in the MOA.  Evaluation of the quality of the candidate’s teaching will be measured by a variety of instruments, which may include: student evaluation forms; peer observation and evaluation; letters from students solicited by the Program; unsolicited comments sent to the candidate from peers or students; self-appraisals of one’s professional goals, development, and achievements in teaching.

b. Research Scholarship and Creative Activity
Because African American Studies is interdisciplinary, the Program recognizes the different venues in which its faculty disseminate research and creative activities. Candidates for promotion to Professor must provide evidence of a sustained pattern of research, publication, and scholarly activity that includes evidence of ongoing research and national recognition. Demonstration of progress may include publication of a single-authored book with a nationally recognized university, independent, or commercial press; a co-authored book, an edited collection of academic essays, a critical edition, or a sustained series of peer-reviewed articles on a coherent topic, if the volume or the articles have been published by a nationally recognized press or journal. A record of research or creative activity may also comprise textbooks, digital archives and editions, other types of electronic publications, exhibits, relevant artistic performances, or other products of public history scholarship; and external and internal grants and awards related to scholarly or creative activity. Generally, this activity may be undertaken through a variety of methods, which may be interdisciplinary, collaborative, or community-engaged, and is expected to be primarily in the field in which the candidate was hired.  This research is empirical, theoretical, applied, or community engaged scholarship, and must reflect an organized intellectual agenda and subject to external peer review.
The significance of the candidate’s work can be demonstrated by reviews of their scholarship or creative activity, external letters of evaluation, and national and/or international invitations for lectures and readings. While the scholarship is essential for promotion, the Program also requires effective teaching and adequate service. 

The quality of scholarly productions must be assessed by at least three outside reviewers in African American Studies and/or other areas relevant to the candidate’s area of scholarship, the program’s Tenure and Promotion Committee, and the Program’s Full Professors.  Candidates will recommend a list of reviewers, but the program may solicit counsel from persons other than those suggested by the candidate.
c. Service
A candidate’s service contributions will include Program service, as well as evidence of service to the College and University, the profession and where possible, the community. With increased rank and time at the University, the AFS faculty is expected to continue significant service at the Program level while also engaging in College, and University level service opportunities.  With increased time in the profession candidates for promotion to professor will demonstrate substantial involvement with their professional organizations, as well as accept opportunities for community service as more become evident. 

d. Directed Professional Activity
The African American Studies Program recognizes that in some cases, candidates for promotion to the rank of Professor may also be evaluated in the additional category of Directed Professional Activity.  UNCG defines this category as activity whose contribution is sufficiently distinctive that its significance is diminished when embedded in either of the three categories of teaching, research and creative activity, and service ("UNCG Guidelines," Section II.D.).  Achievements in this category supplement but do not replace the expected achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service.
Directed Professional Activity in the AFS Program may include, but is not limited to developing grant proposals and obtaining extramural funding; developing international affiliations; developing interdisciplinary programs for students; developing and/or directing formal community outreach activities that promote continuous learning in the University or community at large; designing and directing faculty development activities; participating in recruitment and retention activities; and directing special programs, serving as Program director, and heading a research institution or collaboration. Such contributions will be explicitly differentiated from contributions in the three expected categories, and identified in a MOA at the point of hire, or spelled out in a MOA at the point of transition, when the Directed Professional Activity begins to become a distinct category of effort and achievement.  For a candidate for promotion to the rank of Professor, this category of work must be included and documented no later than three years before the candidate is considered for promotion.
For promotion to Professor, Directed Professional Activity is normally a supportive or added category of evaluation, with teaching, scholarship, and service remaining the primary bases for evaluation.  However, in the case of promotion to Professor, the Directed Professional Activity MOA may allow for more credits in relation to the other three requirements, although it may in no way completely supplant or replace any of these three. Where applicable, the candidate’s record must show evidence of substantial additional contributions, as described in the MOA. 
Evaluation of the quality of the candidate’s directed professional activity should be included in the MOA and will be measured by a variety of instruments, which may include  written description of the scope of the project and participation; analyses of the work accomplished; official documents and reports resulting from the activity; published articles, reports, or monographs; grants applied for and/or obtained; evaluations by peers, participants, administrators, and other constituents; new programs and initiatives resulting from the activity; honors and awards; the degree to which the activity brings positive visibility to the University; and self-appraisal of one’s career goals, development, and achievements in Directed Professional Activity. 
e. Balance of Teaching, Research, and Service   
A candidate’s record represents a unique balance and combination of teaching, research or creative activity, and service.  Where applicable, an individual’s achievements in Directed Professional Activity may contribute to the record as defined by the MOA.
The candidate is expected to have substantial and sustained achievement in each area.  There must be an overall outstanding record of achievement, which may be accomplished primarily by the record of contributions in a single area or by a more balanced aggregate of contributions across the three (or four) areas.

V. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROMOTION AND TENURE COMMITTEE
Committees will be appointed by the Program director in consultation with the candidate and the tenured faculty.  For candidates seeking promotion to Full Professor, consultation will be with the Program’s Full Professors.
a.  Promotion and Tenure Committee Selection Schedule:
Mentors
In consultation with the Program director, candidates for promotion and tenure are encouraged to identify a mentor(s) who can provide him/her with guidance in the areas of teaching, research and creative scholarship, and service.
Reappointment Committee
For every candidate for promotion and tenure, the Program director will appoint a Reappointment Committee consisting of three faculty members who will serve through the reappointment process, after which changes may be made to this committee.  All new members will remain on the committee through the tenure process to insure consistency, efficacy, and continuity to the candidate.
Promotion and Tenure Committee:
For every Assistant Professor, the Program director will appoint a Promotion and Tenure Committee consisting of three faculty members who may be the same members selected for the Reappointment Committee or may consist of new members.  Doing this is in the best interest of the candidate, since it maintains consistency and continuity in the membership of his/her committee.
Promotion Committee
For Associate Professors seeking promotion to Full Professor, a Promotion Committee will be appointed in the spring semester prior to the candidate making his/her application for promotion and tenure.

b.  Duties of the Promotion and Tenure Committee
Assistant Professors will meet at least once a year with the chair of their Reappointment Committee and Promotion and Tenure committee to review progress and receive guidance.  
Mentors
The research mentor should have serious talks with the candidate not only about progress in research and creative activities but also about other aspects of their professional career, including presenting conference papers, writing journal articles, and realistically balancing production of a manuscript with other projects.   At the beginning of each semester, the teaching mentor should  review the previous year’s review with the candidate.  The teaching mentor will be encouraged to observe at least one class a year and visit all levels of the candidate's  teaching. 
c.  Procedures and Schedules for Promotion and Tenure Actions
The AFS program will follow the College of Arts and Sciences Regulations on Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion (approved by the College Assembly, 8 November 2010) in terms of the procedures and schedules for all promotion and tenure actions.
During the spring semester preceding the academic year in which a review for reappointment, tenure, or promotion is scheduled, the Program director shall establish a timetable for the Program’s review process which ensures that all phases will be completed prior to the date when all materials must be sent to the Dean.  The Program director will also provide the candidate, in writing, with a timetable along with a clear statement of what information the candidate must provide and the dates when each item is due.  

VI.  Tenure and Program Timeline

January of the year before the scheduled review," The Dean informs the Program director of the candidates to be reviewed in the following fall, and all parties should review the University Promotion and Tenure Forms for the College of Arts and Sciences.  The Program director also reviews with the candidate "New Guidelines on Promotion and Tenure" and "Best Practices in Promotion and Tenure."  The candidate should clarify any questions with the Program director. Document the review by having both parties sign.  The candidate begins collecting and organizing all relevant materials for the dossier. A tentative timetable is below.
Tenure and Promotion (Mandatory) Review (Years 5-6)

Fall of 5th year:

• The Dean informs the Director  of the candidates to be reviewed in the following fall.
• All parties review the following; the candidate clarifies any questions with the Director:
• University Promotion and Tenure Forms
• CAS Guidelines on Reappointment, Tenure, & Promotion
• CAS Regulations on Reappointment, Tenure & Promotion
• Best Practices in Tenure & Promotion   

• The candidate begins collecting and organizing all relevant materials for the dossier.

Early February of 5th year:

Director establishes a timetable for review and distributes it to candidates undergoing review as well as to senior faculty who will be involved in the review along with a clear statement of what information the candidate must provide and the dates when each item is due

September of review year (in accordance with calendar established by Director in February)

• Review committee meets to discuss and review candidate’s dossier. The Director recuses her/himself. The faculty elected Chair ensures a thorough deliberation of the dossier, keeps detailed notes on the discussion, records the secret vote for and against, and ensures that all faculty sign the T & P Form. The Chair’s vote is recorded with the faculty vote. (See CAS Regulations, Section VIII for complete description of Committee and Committee Chair responsibilities)
• The committee Chair immediately reports the vote to the Director
• Within four days the Chair distributes a draft of the committee report to committee members for review and editing
• At least ten days prior to the date when materials must be forwarded to the Dean of the College the Chair must provide to the Director a signed written summary of the deliberations and the final vote. The Director reviews the dossier and writes an independent evaluation. The Director’s evaluation must be available to the voting faculty and the candidate no later than three business days prior to the date when all materials are due to the Dean.

Dissenting Opinions (See CAS Regulations, Section X)

Candidate must be allowed at least four business days to complete and forward his/her written comments in response to any aspect of the dossier to the Director.  Commentary is optional.

Early October of review year:

All sections of the Promotion dossier are completed, and the dossier is submitted to the Dean’s office.  Candidates are permitted to make additions to their dossiers until such time as the dossier leaves the African American Studies Program. For rules regarding late submission of materials, see CAS Regulations, Section IV. Detailed information about assembling the portfolio/dossier can be found in the University Promotion and Tenure Forms and  the CAS Best Practices in Tenure and Promotion.

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