Guidelines

Please note: These policies are currently under review.  

Reappointment and Promotion of Teaching/Clinical Faculty 

The criteria for reappointment and promotion noted herein advance the goal of offering a first-rate undergraduate education at a research university (“T1 at the R1”). To realize this goal, the College of Arts and Sciences views teaching or clinical faculty and tenure-track faculty as critical partners in setting the criteria for the professorate of the future. 

Interfaces Among Campus, College, and Unit Policies 

This document follows the information contained in the “Titles, Roles, Appointment, Evaluation and Promotion of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty in Teaching and Librarian Positions,” which was approved by the Provost on Feb. 11, 2022. 

Teaching 

Assessment of teaching for reappointment and promotion should take into account multiple measures. The Office of Faculty Affairs has prepared guidance on multiple measures of teaching and the Quality Teaching Initiative in the College of Arts and Sciences offers a robust set of resources on teaching.

Criteria for Reappointment  

1. The primary unit must establish written criteria for successful reappointment, which should include criteria for teaching and other duties performed by teaching professor, instructor-track or clinical faculty in the unit. The components of an individual’s evaluation—e.g., teaching, leadership or service, clinical duties (if applicable)—are defined by the annual merit formula in the letter of appointment. 

2. Primary unit criteria must define what constitutes "meritorious" and "excellent" performance in each appropriate component of evaluation (e.g., teaching, leadership or service, clinical duties, scholarly or creative work). Teaching professor, instructor-track or clinical faculty members are generally expected to demonstrate excellence in teaching, and at least meritorious performance in the other components of their annual merit formula. 

3. The reappointment of a teaching professor, instructor-rank or clinical faculty member will be based on their performance and the instructional needs of the units they are serving. Such reappointments should be recommended by a vote of the regular faculty of a unit. The maximum reappointment period is 5 years under the following policy: A&S 5-Year Contracts for Teaching Professors.  

4. The final authority over the reappointment of instructor-rank faculty, including scholar-in-residence and artist-in-residence appointments, rests with the Dean of Division (or appropriate supervising administrator) in concurrence with the Dean of the College.

Criteria for Promotion  

The primary unit must establish written criteria for promotion within the teaching professor, instructor track and/or clinical track, as appropriate to the unit. These should include criteria for teaching, for leadership or service, and for scholarly or creative work (if applicable) typically performed by teaching professor, instructor-track or clinical faculty in the unit.  

5. The criteria for promotion from teaching assistant professor or instructor to teaching associate professor or senior instructor or from clinical assistant professor to clinical associate professor should include criteria for meeting the standard of “excellent” in teaching. Teaching “excellence” typically carries the expectation that the individual has made significant contributions to pedagogy, curriculum and student learning in the classroom and for the primary unit.  

6. The criteria for promotion from teaching associate professor or senior instructor to teaching professor or principal instructor or from clinical associate professor to clinical professor should include criteria for a record of distinction. A “record of distinction” carries the expectation that the individual has made a major impact in the disciplinary unit (e.g., on pedagogy and curriculum) and its students, typically one that extends to considerable impact on the campus generally and a role in national or international discussions related to the individual’s focus of teaching or related to curriculum and/or pedagogy. Units can interpret the mix of “campus” and “beyond campus” contributions in ways that reflect the nature of the unit or discipline and the work the candidate has been asked to perform. 

Multiple Measures of Teaching  

The review for promotion should include a rigorous accounting of the faculty member’s teaching record, using at least three distinct measures of excellence, effectiveness and performance: an evaluation of the faculty member’s service; an evaluation of any other duties specified in the faculty member’s letter of appointment; and a demonstration of the faculty member’s continued currency in the field.  

In its policy on teaching or clinical faculty reappointment and promotion, the Office of Faculty Affairs notes the following measures of teaching can include, but are not limited to:  

7. A record of classroom teaching, including the following:  

  • Faculty Course Questionnaire (FCQ) summary (required) 
  • FCQs, including student narrative sections (required) 
  • Plus two or more of the following: 
    • Peer evaluations of teaching  
    • Class interviews with students  
    • Randomly solicited letters from students in classes  

8. Contributions to course and/or curriculum development  

9. Successful teaching innovations  

10. Student outcomes (e.g., Quality Teaching Initiative)  

11. Engagement with students, as evidenced, for example, through mentoring of students and/or service on thesis or dissertation committees  

12. Letters solicited from students mentored or advised  

13. Efforts to incorporate diversity and inclusion in teaching  

14. Contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning, including the following:  

  • Contributions to local or national workshops on teaching  
  • Relevant publications such as textbooks, lab manuals, articles on pedagogy, etc.  
  • Work that improves teaching across multiple units 
  • Papers, posters, or presentations on pedagogical topics delivered at conferences, invited talks, online, etc. 

15. Practitioner experience that supplements a teaching career 

16. Participation in pedagogy workshops (e.g., Center for Teaching and Learning, Arts & Sciences Support of Education Through Technology (ASSETT, etc.) 

Service 

College of Arts and Sciences' units should adopt a capacious understanding of service. Service extends far beyond keeping a seat warm at a committee meeting. Service for teaching and clinical faculty is often curricular in nature, consisting of instructionally related activities. Service can also include service to the discipline through creative work and/or scholarship. Service is central to the value, role and identity of teaching and clinical faculty, and allows them to maintain and further develop their professional currency in their field, and service contributes enormously to the mission of the college and the university. 

In its policy on teaching or clinical faculty reappointment and promotion, the Office of Faculty Affairs notes examples of measures of service that include, but are not limited to: 

17. Leadership and service that have an impact on the unit, school or college, campus and/or national or international communities. 

18. Outreach to communities and partners beyond the university, including non-profits or historically marginalized groups, that draws upon the faculty member’s expertise. 

Dossiers/Portfolios 

A dossier for reappointment and/or promotion will typically include the following items, and may be supplemented as appropriate, given the faculty member’s duties and expertise: 

19. A letter from the chair and, as appropriate, from the PUEC 

20. One to six supporting letters (which may be from outside the unit or campus)—only needed for promotion cases  

21. A C.V.,  

22. A teaching statement,  

23. A service statement,  

24. A scholarship/creative work statement (if applicable), and 

25. A teaching portfolio that speaks to multiple measures of exemplary performance (see Multiple Measures of Teaching) 

A dossier for reappointment should focus chiefly on accomplishments and activities during the most recent contract period under review, and thus the teaching portfolio may be more “modest” than what would be submitted for a promotion. Dossiers for promotion to teaching or clinical associate professor and to teaching or clinical professor, while highlighting recent work, can address the full range of accomplishments during the faculty member’s career. Thus, the teaching portfolios for promotion will likely become more expansive than those for reappointment, given the arc of that career: a “full” portfolio for promotion to teaching or clinical associate professor, and “significant” for teaching or clinical professor.  

Please use this checklist as the first page in your promotion dossier. 

Supporting Letters for Promotion Cases 

The faculty member can send a list of potential reviewers to their chair or director, and the unit can supply their own list. Please use the A&S letter template in order to solicit external letters of evaluation. The request for letters comes from the unit, usually from the chair/director or the chair of the PUEC. 

26. For promotion to teaching or clinical associate professor, the dossier must include one to three supporting letters from members of the unit (letters from the campus or beyond are optional but encouraged).  

27. For promotion to teaching or clinical professor, the dossier must contain three to six supporting letters from the unit, the campus and beyond.  

Classroom Observation or Interviews 

Among the multiple measures for assessing teaching in a dossier, peer observation of classroom teaching is a frequent (but not strictly required) component in a dossier. (Such observations may vary in nature according to disciplinary norms: for example, clinical faculty need to observe HIPA requirements.) In conducting classroom observations or interviews, faculty should draw on the resources of ASSETT (Arts & Sciences Support of Education Through Technology) and the Center for Teaching and Learning.  

28. For a regular (non-expedited) reappointment, the dossier should typically include one or more classroom observations and/or interviews by faculty members in the unit who are at or above the rank of the faculty member under review.  

29. For promotion to teaching or clinical associate teaching professor, the dossier should typically include two or more classroom observations and/or interviews by faculty members in the unit who are at or above the rank of the faculty member under review.  

30. For promotion to teaching or clinical professor, or for nomination for the honorary title of Teaching or Clinical Professor of Distinction, classroom observations and/or interviews of multiple courses over multiple semesters are highly encouraged. These observations or interviews should come from both faculty members in the unit and faculty members outside of the unit, at or above the rank of the faculty member under review. Some observations or interviews by tenure-track faculty are highly recommended but not strictly required.

Expedited Review 

For information on the Expedited Review process, please see the Expedited Review webpage. 

Matching Criteria to the Job 

In reappointment and promotion dossiers assembled for consideration by the unit and college, the materials (e.g., chair or director letter and the PUEC report) should articulate the duties and activities that the faculty member has undertaken during the evaluation period, as those duties and activities may vary from faculty member to faculty member, vary across units of the college, and likewise vary across the career trajectory of that faculty member. The PUEC and chair or director should refer to the faculty member’s teaching and service statements for information concerning their duties; some faculty members have an MOU attached to their offer letter which articulates their work expectations. 

Illustrative Examples of Criteria 

To help faculty better understand and meet the stated criteria of their unit, the college provides the following examples. These examples are illustrative, not exhaustive. In articulating unit-level criteria, units should likewise provide examples of how faculty can meet reappointment and promotion criteria that reflect disciplinary activities and expectations. Criteria can relate to pedagogical activities and/or activities related to the faculty member’s area of teaching. 

OFA 9.b.i.2 policy states: The criteria for promotion from senior instructor to principal instructor or from clinical associate professor to clinical professor should include criteria for a record of distinction. A “record of distinction” carries the expectation that the individual has made a major positive impact in the disciplinary unit and on its students (e.g., on pedagogy and curriculum), typically one that extends to considerable impact on the campus generally and a role in national or international discussions related to the individual’s focus of teaching or related to curriculum, librarianship and/or pedagogy. 

College and Campus Impact Examples: 

  • Active participation in college or campus governance bodies; 
  • Active participation on committees, working groups, or task forces that extend beyond the unit (related to pedagogy, curriculum, or the area of teaching); 
  • Active participation in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion activities (e.g., Diversity Summit); 
  • Active participation at professional development workshops/seminars (e.g., ASSETT, Center for Teaching and Learning); 
  • Authoring of materials, reports, and white papers whose circulation extends beyond the unit; 
  • Mentorship of the next generation of teaching/clinical faculty; or 
  • Reviewer of grants and/or award submissions. 

University System/State/Regional/National/International Impact Examples:  

  • Presentations or attendance at disciplinary conferences; 
  • Publications; 
  • Authoring of materials, reports and white papers whose circulation extends beyond the campus; 
  • Active participation in organizations extending beyond the campus (e.g., active role in disciplinary listservs; engagement with the Colorado Guaranteed Transfer Program, engagement with the Colorado Council of Foreign Language Teachers); 
  • Involvement in national disciplinary conversations; 
  • Authoring of materials whose circulation extends beyond the campus, whether related to pedagogy or the area of teaching; 
  • Peer review for academic journals and/or for publishers of textbooks; 
  • Active role or leadership in system/state/regional/national committees and professional organizations; 
  • Disciplinary outreach projects; 
  • Mentorship of the next generation of teaching/clinical faculty; and/or  
  • Reviewer of grants and/or award submissions. 

 

 

Reviewed 1/26/2024