Departments are strongly encouraged to refer to FPP 7.07 for specific details of this process.

Departmental recommendations for reappointment of probationary faculty should be sent to the Dean.  A copy of the report of the departmental review committee on the individual (or summarized evidence concerning performance on which the recommendation is based) and a current curriculum vitae should accompany the recommendation. Draft reappointment letters for probationary faculty members should accompany the request and must be reviewed in advance by Joyce Helt. These reappointment letters should include any indications of concern about the individual's performance (please see sample letter).  To summarize, the following materials should be sent to the Dean:

Appointment Letter Contents

For tenure-track assistant professor appointments, we require you to send two documents. We have included samples of these: (a) a personal letter of offer, which provides specific appointment dates, starting salary, and Graduate School support; (b) a "Statement of Terms and Conditions of Employment" which provides information of a more general nature. These two documents together constitute the official terms of offer. You may wish to revise the second to include specific departmental policies and benefits. If so, we will need to approve the revision.

A checklist of points to be covered in offer letters, including the terms and conditions, follows:

1. Position title.
   
2. a.    Percentage of time of appointment.
   b.    Beginning and end dates of the appointment
   c.    Probationary period.
   
3. Reference to the possibility of reappointment.
   
4. Full-time salary rate, and salary amount if appointment is less than full time.
   
5. Reference to fringe benefits.
   
6. Indication that the offer is contingent upon verification of the appropriate identity and work authorization documentation as required by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Use the following language:

   This offer of employment is contingent upon verification of your identity and work authorization as required by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Please see the attachment for the explanation of the Form I-9 documents that must be presented in person, on or before your date of hire. If you do not have the originals of the necessary documents, you must present a receipt, e.g., a copy of letter or form requesting the documents, within three days, and you must present the required document itself within 90 days of your employment begin date. The law prohibits the University from employing or continuing to employ an individual who has not provided the required documents within the relevant time period.

7. Reference to the need for an identification card to be obtained once employment has begun.
   
8. Request for written response to the offer by a specified date.
   
9. Reference to moving expense requirements.
   
10. For untenured faculty members, a statement of expectations regarding reappointment and/or tenure, as follows:

    Beginning with the second year of a three-year initial probationary appointment, non-tenured faculty members in the College of Letters and Science are reviewed annually by the executive committee (the tenured faculty) of their department for possible reappointment, promotion, or non-renewal. After the initial appointment, reappointment at the non-tenured level is for one year at a time, with the decision made at least a year in advance of the expiration of the current appointment. Reappointment or promotion to tenure is based on performance in teaching, scholarly research, and service, and on institutional need. A recommendation for promotion to tenure is possible at any time, and a final decision concerning tenure must be made before the end of the sixth probationary year. While our standards for the awarding of tenure are high, the University of Wisconsin-Madison does not have tenure quotas or a fixed number of tenured faculty positions. Every assistant professor is eligible for promotion, and each of our initial appointments is made with the hope that the individual will warrant promotion to tenure at a later date.
    

10. If the prospective assistant professor has not yet completed the Ph.D. or other appropriate terminal degree by the date of offer, a statement indicating that if all degree work is not complete by the start of the appointment, it will be for one year at the rank of Instructor at a salary $500 less than the rate to be offered that individual at the rank of assistant professor. NOTE: It is the responsibility of a chair to ascertain the degree status of new faculty members and to initiate appropriate personnel and payroll forms reducing the title and salary when appropriate. It is also the responsibility of the Chair to initiate promotion to assistant professor when the appropriate degree work is completed. Subsequent completion of the degree work will normally bring routine promotion to the rank of assistant professor immediately, but the restoration of some or all of the lost salary differential will ordinarily be made only if the Ph.D. is completed within the first month on the University payroll (on any sort of funding), and in any event will depend on a case-by-case review by the departmental executive committee and the Dean.
    
11. A specification, if appropriate, of how any prior service will count against the probationary period. This must be discussed with and approved by the Dean at the time of initial appointment.
    
12. For tenured faculty members, the following paragraph from the joint statement of the University Committee and the Office of the Chancellor on the contractual implications of tenure:

Tenure involves a contractual commitment to the faculty member from the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, and is awarded under authority granted to the Board by Chapter 36, Wisconsin Statutes. It is an express and binding commitment for an indefinite period, limited only by retirement, dismissal for cause, termination for reasons of financial emergency, or voluntary resignation. The appointment is subject to the lawful procedures of the Board of Regents as found in Chapters 1-7, Wisconsin Administrative Code, and the Faculty Policies and Procedures of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

FACULTY REAPPOINTMENT, PROMOTION, AND TENURE REVIEW

Previous post-Ph.D. employment of one-half time or greater at a faculty rank at another institution may be counted as part of a non-tenured faculty member's probationary service here, up to a maximum of three years. A determination as to what prior employment will be included as part of the individual's maximum probationary period at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be made by the department and the Dean prior to the start of employment here and the information must be included in the letter of offer. Faculty legislation states that departments are expected to establish written procedures and criteria governing tenure review which should be provided to each probationary faculty member at the time of his or her appointment (Chapter 7, Faculty Policies and Procedures). Primary responsibility for the annual evaluation of a probationary faculty member shall be assigned to an oversight committee consisting of one or more members of the departmental executive committee. It is desirable that the faculty member(s) assigned this responsibility remain the same throughout the probationary period unless the probationary faculty member requests a change. However, membership of the oversight committee may change from year to year at the discretion of the department.

The College expects its new non-tenured faculty members to have completed their Ph.D. or other appropriate terminal degree work before beginning their employment. Letters of offer to individuals not already having that degree should state that if all degree work is not completed prior to the start of the appointment, it will be for one year at the rank of instructor at a salary $500 less than the rate to be offered that individual at the rank of assistant professor. Subsequent completion of the degree work (defined as having completed the final oral examination and obtaining certification of completion of all Ph.D. requirements from the degree granting institution and department) will normally bring routine promotion to the rank of assistant professor immediately.  Although this action is routine, Departments must notify the Dean to request a title change and must also request approval to restore the $500.  The restoration of the remainder of some or all of the lost salary differential will ordinarily be made only if the Ph.D. is completed within the first month on the University payroll (on any sort of funding), and in any event will depend on a case-by-case review by the departmental executive committee and the Dean.

Departmental executive committees should begin the review process for non-tenured faculty early in the academic year, being careful to follow the notice and other requirements of Chapter 7 of the Faculty Policies and Procedures. (A probationary appointment begun in a spring semester may necessitate different review deadlines; consult with Joyce Helt.) Note the requirement to provide advance written notice (normally in the semester preceding the review) inviting the faculty member to submit relevant material for consideration by the executive committee. (See sample letters referring to reappointment/review, the follow-up and reminder notifications of the executive committee meeting.) Reviews and recommendations involving tenure should follow the guidelines of the Divisional Committee which will review the case and should include independent evaluations of the candidate's scholarship by outside referees. Recommendations for tenure must be submitted with supporting materials to the Dean for initial review before submission to the Divisional Committee.  Please allow five working days for the Dean to review recommendations for tenure.  Departments should complete their reviews by February or early March at the latest, in order to allow ample time for review of their tenure recommendations by the Dean and Divisional Committees or for appeal and reconsideration of a decision not to recommend reappointment or tenure.

Evaluation of teaching:  The teaching performance of faculty should be reviewed regularly by departmental executive committees, making use of materials that include course evaluations by students. Regent policy requires student evaluation of the teaching of all faculty at least once every three years, and also requires that these evaluations be considered by departments in their merit and promotion recommendations. Standing policies also state that student evaluations of teaching for all non-tenured faculty members should be obtained each semester, for use in advising them on how to become more effective teachers and as part of the review of their teaching performance in considering them for reappointment and in recommending them for promotion and tenure. The four Divisional Committees also require detailed evidence of teaching performance, including student evaluations, in the materials submitted in support of tenure recommendations. Some L&S departments require student evaluations of every course each semester; many also arrange to have senior faculty members visit the classes of non-tenured faculty to evaluate and assist them in their teaching strategies. Departmental chairs should review student evaluations and other evidence of teaching performance, and deal with situations where corrective action seems advisable.

Divisional executive committees expect to consider all promotion cases from a department at the same time. Accordingly, we ask that you submit all recommendations for promotion involving tenure to the Dean at one time. Both the review by the Divisional Committee and the appeal of a negative decision at any level have notice requirements that involve considerable blocks of time, and both need to be resolved before the end of the academic year. We ask also that departmental recommendations for promotion to full professor be forwarded to the Dean at one time.

Recommendations to the Dean for reappointment of a non-tenured faculty member should be accompanied by a copy of the report of the departmental review committee or a summary of the record on which the executive committee based its recommendation. A draft letter informing the faculty member of the Dean's decision on reappointment should be attached to the request. A decision by a departmental executive committee not to recommend reappointment of a non-tenured faculty member should be reported promptly to the Dean as well as to the faculty member, following the provisions specified in FPP, 7.07 and 7.08.

Reviews and recommendations to the Dean for possible promotion from Associate Professor to the rank of Full Professor are normally conducted by the full professors in the department; however, unless the Executive Committee has delegated to its full professors the authority to make recommendations for promotions to the rank of full professor (see Handbook I.13, or refer to FPP 5.22.B), an Associate Professor who serves on the Executive Committee may, technically, attend the meeting at which her/his own promotion is considered.    Contrary for consideration for tenure, an Associate Professor does not have the right to request an open meeting when his or her promotion to Full Professor is under consideration, nor is there a requirement to notify the Associate Professor whose promotion is under consideration that the meeting will be held.  Associate Professors with more than five years in rank must be reviewed annually for possible promotion; however, an Associate Professor may request a review for promotion at any time.

Recommendations for promotion, with supporting materials, should be submitted to the Dean for review not later than March of each year for promotions intended to take effect in the following budget year which begins July 1.

Decisions about promotion to full Professor are made by the Dean and do not require review by the Divisional Committee. However, the departmental review and supporting documents should be similar in intent, though not necessarily in length, to those employed in a tenure recommendation. Documentation sent to the Dean should include:

Note that outside letters of reference are not required.

Department chairs are encouraged to consult with the appropriate Associate Dean about possible promotions before the formal documentation is sent to the Dean. This is especially true in cases where a candidate has fewer than five years in rank, or in cases where additional documentation may be deemed appropriate. Promotion is not based on seniority, but the earlier the promotion, the greater is the department's burden to make the case that the candidate's record in rank justifies promotion.