Tenure and Promotion

Issue No. 03 

Effective Date: June 1, 2025 

Next Review: June 1, 2030 (E5Y) 

Senior Reviewer: Dean 

POLICY STATEMENT 

This document states the criteria of the College of Liberal Art for tenure and promotion and sets forth policies and procedures used in the annual tenure/promotion cycle. 

01. RELATED UNIVERSITY POLICIES 

01.01 In addition to this College policy, the following documents are also relevant, and candidates should review them carefully. 

a. The Academic Department’s Tenure and Promotion Policy 

b. AA/PPS No. 04.02.01 Development and Evaluation of Tenure-Track Faculty 

c. AA/PPS No. 04.02.20 Tenure-Line Faculty Tenure and Promotion Review 

d. Texas State University Faculty Handbook 

02. PREPARING THE APPLICATION PACKET 

02.01 Candidates for tenure and promotion prepare a packet to document their accomplishments in teaching, scholarly/creative activity, and service. Candidates must prepare an updated Texas State Vita. Candidates should use the Activities tab in Faculty Qualifications to report their credentials, activities, and achievements. The required reports will be automatically generated and attached to a candidate's submission in the system, including Administrative Information, Teaching, Service, Scholarly/Creative/ Research, and the Texas State Vita. 

03. TEACHING 

03.01 The Personnel Committee and department chair evaluate candidates’ teaching based on scholarly preparation, peer evaluation (through class observations), and review of a teaching packet. Teaching is understood to include not only classroom performance but also such factors as preparing syllabi and other course materials; remaining current in the discipline; using appropriate testing and grading methods; supervising or mentoring thesis and dissertation students; providing academic or career counseling; and improving curricula. The College Review Group and Dean base their evaluations of teaching on the department’s assessment and on an independent review of the teaching packet. 

03.02 In preparing the teaching packet, candidates for tenure and promotion to associate professor should include material collected since the initial date of employment. Candidates for promotion to professor should include material collected since the latest promotion. All candidates must include the following. 

a. A statement (no longer than two pages) summarizing teaching accomplishments 

b. A. summary of student evaluation results from all classes that evaluated the candidate using departmental forms 

c. Sample course syllabi and assignments/examinations 

d. Documentation of any other achievements relevant to teaching, such as awards, funded teaching grants, or curriculum development, written statements and/or letters from colleagues who have observed their classes 

04. SCHOLARLY/CREATIVE ACTIVITY 

04.01 The Personnel Committee and department chair evaluate the scholarly/creative activity of candidates based on department and college criteria. Each department establishes appropriate criteria, approved by the Dean, submitting those criteria with candidates’ packets. Minimum college expectations for refereed scholarly publication are spelled out in sections 02.04 and 02.05. Departments may establish quantitative minimums that exceed those of the College. The College Review Group and Dean apply departmental and college expectations when evaluating scholarly/creative activity. With approval of the Dean, departments may establish alternatives to scholarly articles or books that are appropriate to their disciplines (e.g., novels, law review articles). Additionally, upon the recommendation of the department, the College Review Group and Dean may recognize other exceptional achievements. 

04.02 All candidates must include in their packet a statement summarizing their accomplishments in scholarly/creative activities. The statement should be no longer than two pages and must indicate the significance/importance of the candidate’s work in the field. 

04.03 Only scholarship or creative work that is “in-print” or documented as “accepted, forthcoming, or in-press” will be counted and should be hyperlinked in Faculty Qualifications for review. For any accepted, “forthcoming, or in-press” scholarship or creative work, a candidate must provide documentation (i.e., letters of acceptance from publishers or journal editors listing the date of publication), to be included in Faculty Qualifications System. Written work that is “in-progress, submitted, under review, under contract, or being revised or resubmitted” will not count and should not be listed under "Works in Print" (section III.A.) of the Texas State Vita. Such work should be listed instead under the appropriate headings in section III.B.5. (“Other Works Not in Print”). 

04.04 Other information relevant to scholarly or creative work can be included in the "Supporting Documents (optional)" file/folder in the Faculty Qualifications System for tenure of promotion. 

04.05 For tenure and promotion to associate professor, the College of Liberal Arts requires a minimum of five refereed scholarly works—which may include articles, book chapters, and comparable electronic projects—or a scholarly book. In addition, candidates may include achievements in other categories of scholarly/creative work listed in the Texas State Vita, such as externally or internally funded research grants and refereed papers presented at regional or national meetings. 

04.06 For promotion to professor, the College of Liberal Arts requires a minimum of five refereed, scholarly works since the latest promotion—which may include articles, book chapters, and comparable electronic projects—or a scholarly book. In addition to refereed scholarly publications, candidates may include achievements in the other categories of scholarly/creative work listed in the Texas State Vita, such as externally or internally funded research grants and refereed papers presented at regional or national meetings. 

04.07 In addition to the minimum quantitative requirement (which is intended as a standard of eligibility, not a guarantee of tenure and/or promotion), there is an important qualitative component involved in assessing the scholarly/creative work of candidates. The department chair and a representative of the Personnel Committee of each candidate’s department provide a written assessment of the quality of the candidate’s work based on such factors as acceptance rates of journals, citation record, prestige of publishers, prestige of organizations to which papers were presented, prestige of granting agencies, and opinions of experts outside the University. These assessments should describe the scholarly and creative work of each candidate in its totality and assess its impact on the expansion of knowledge in the discipline; the assessments are particularly critical for promotion to full professor (§04.01a AA/PPS No. 04.02.01).  

04.08 In addition, the department chair and Personnel Committee representative should fully develop a rationale for recommending the candidate, leaving no doubt about the candidate's suitability and importance to the future development of the department or school. The department chair and the Personnel Committee representative record their assessments in Faculty qualifications as will the Dean and a representative of the College Review Group. 

04.09 All candidates' packet must include a minimum of four external reviews of their scholarly/creative work (§03.03e AA/PPS No. 04.02.01). External reviewers must hold the terminal degree appropriate to the discipline and be employed at Carnegie R1 or R2 institutions. For promotion to associate professor external reviewers must be tenured associate professors or tenured professors. In cases of promotion to professor, external reviewers should be tenured professors. Every effort should be made to avoid conflict of interest between a reviewer and a candidate. To minimize bias, external reviews should not be solicited from thesis advisors, co-authors, former students, or former professors. 

04.10 Reviewers are selected according to the following procedures: The candidate proposes a list of at least six experts in the field who might serve as external reviewers, subject to endorsement by the department chair and the Personnel Committee. The department chair and the Personnel Committee may recommend additional potential reviewers based on their credentials and expertise to be added to the list, subject to approval of the candidate. The department chair then selects reviewers from the list and sends them at copy of the candidates Texas State Vita and copies of the candidate's scholarly/creative work.  

04.11 Reviewers should be informed that the content of the tenure/promotion packet is open to the candidate. To assist referees in writing their evaluations, the department chair’s invitation to submit a review should include a brief statement about the mission of the university and the department, including an indication of teaching load and research expectations. Referees should be asked to indicate the nature of their professional contact with and knowledge of the candidate, and to provide an assessment of the significance and quality of the candidate’s scholarly and/or creative contributions to the discipline. 

04.12 As reviews are received, the department chair adds them to the candidate’s packet in Faculty Qualifications.  

05. LEADERSHIP/SERVICE 

05.01 Candidates must prepare a summary statement no longer than two pages documenting their activities and achievements in service. 

05.02 The College of Liberal Arts defines leadership/service as any professionally related activity, other than teaching or scholarship, that contributes to the wellbeing of the university, both in its internal and external aspects. A faculty member is expected to demonstrate contributions—related to their field of expertise—in one or more of the following areas: department, college, university, profession, or community. Examples of leadership/service are holding office in professional organizations; department chairing sessions at professional meetings; serving on departmental, college and university committees; and in general, any other activity that advances the best interests of the university. The quality of leadership/service is more significant than the quantity (e.g., a long list of committee memberships). 

05.03 Leadership/service includes collegiality and to the positive functioning of the department and the university (§01.02 AA/PPS No. 04.02.01). In its "Statement of Professional Ethics," AAUP addresses collegiality as follows: “As colleagues, professors have obligations that derive from common membership in the community of scholars. Professors do not discriminate against or harass colleagues. They respect and defend the free inquiry of associates. In the exchange of criticism and ideas professors show due respect for the opinions of others. Professors acknowledge academic debt and strive to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues. Professors accept their share of faculty responsibilities for the governance of their institution.” 

05.04 On the Texas State Vita, and when reporting in the Faculty Qualifications System using the Activities tab, candidates should list their leadership/service to the department, college, university, profession, or community. They may include copies of correspondence, descriptions of projects, or other evidence to document effective leadership/service. An outstanding record of leadership and service is normally expected for promotion to professor; a sustained level of effective service is necessary for promotion to associate professor (§04.01a AA/PPS No. 04.02.01). 

06. LIST OF REVIEWERS OF THIS LAPPS 

06.01 This PPS has the following reviewers and cycle. 

07. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT 

This LA/PPS has been approved by the following in their official capacities and represents College of Liberal Arts policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded. 

Liberal Arts Council 

Dean, College of Liberal Arts