Personnel Policy

English Department Policy Statement on Personnel

PREAMBLE

In all personnel matters, the English Department follows all-college procedures specified in the 三亿体育官网 Faculty Handbook. This document, 鈥淓nglish Department Personnel Policy,鈥� is intended as a supplement to all-college procedures. It is intended to ensure a fair and equitable review process in our department, to guide faculty through their careers, and to provide key information related to both personnel review and labor conditions and expectations.

Two committees assist the Chair in conducting personnel business. The Personnel Committee is a standing committee charged with review and implementation of personnel policy and the review of candidates for reappointment, tenure, and promotion. A Search Committee engages in the hiring process for a particular tenure-track position or a position as Writer-in-Residence.

THE PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

Function: To advise the Chair on personnel decisions, especially those requiring a recommendation to ATC, Promotions Committee, and/or the Dean of the Faculty. Discussions on this committee should remain confidential.

Composition: Four elected full-time tenure-track members of the department, each to serve a two-year renewable term. Ideally, terms of office will overlap to ensure continuity: two members will be in their second year of service when two new members come to the committee. The committee will whenever possible include faculty with diverse perspectives and from diverse backgrounds, including women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. No more than one untenured faculty member shall serve in any given year. A committee member shall not participate in deliberations about their own case or about the case of a domestic partner or family member.

SEARCH COMMITTEES

Function: To read applications for tenure-track positions, Writer-in-Residence positions, and positions subject to a national search; select candidates for interviews; participate in interviews; select candidates for campus visits; and advise the Chair on hiring decisions. The Chair and/or Search Committee members will convey information to the department in a timely manner throughout a search, including sharing the names of interviewees.

Composition: Search committees will consist of at least three members and will, whenever possible, include faculty with diverse perspectives and from diverse backgrounds, including women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Committees will be chosen through a process of election and selection. Eligible faculty will vote from among those who express willingness to serve. The Chair will balance the election results with other factors, including, but not limited to, diversity; field/expertise; rank. All tenure-track faculty and Writers-in-Residence are eligible to serve on search committees. Though three is the minimum number required to comprise a committee, the Chair may appoint four or more members in the interest of balance and range.

PROCESS AND CALENDAR FOR REVIEWS OF FACULTY ON TENURE-TRACK APPOINTMENTS

In assessing a candidate鈥檚 credentials, the department applies the criteria for teaching, scholarship, and service specified in the Faculty Handbook. All faculty should familiarize themselves with the Faculty Handbook. The department Chair, in consultation with the Personnel Committee, will assist the individual candidate in understanding the specific expectations derived from the Handbook criteria. Mentoring and guidance from the Chair for both developmental and evaluative purposes will be steady and regular. A 鈥淪tatement of Expectations鈥� will be communicated in writing through evaluation letters supplied by the Chair annually to pre-tenure candidates. The 鈥漇tatement of Expectations鈥� will be shared with members of the department whenever procedures call for their participation in a review.

The Personnel Committee will provide the department with the names of all candidates for reappointment or tenure at the start of the academic year, along with the due dates for letters of recommendation to be forwarded to PC and/or ATC/Promotions Committee.

N.B. Years designated below refer to a standard six-year tenure clock, and may not coincide with actual years of employment at 三亿体育官网.

Third-year Reappointment:

The Chair and the Personnel Committee will hold an informational meeting for candidates for reappointment that follows the timing of ATC鈥檚 annual informational meeting (usually held in March).

Third-Year Reappointment: The Chair will invite full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty in at least their third year of service, and those on renewable half-time appointments, to indicate clearly support or lack of support for reappointment in letters that will be forwarded to the PC and the Chair. These letters are not forwarded to the Dean鈥檚 Office. The PC conducts its review, informing the Chair of its support or lack of support, and the Chair writes a consensus letter, which is made available for eligible faculty to review and sign. This letter is due to the appropriate Associate Dean of the Faculty on or before January 15* of the appointee鈥檚 third year, and must be made available to department faculty to read and to sign prior to that date. Faculty who do not wish to sign the Chair鈥檚 consensus letter for any reason must submit an individual letter of recommendation to the appropriate Associate Dean of the Faculty on or before January 15*. (*Specific date determined by ATC each year and published in its Annual Calendar.)

Files for candidates in their third year must normally be completed by November 1. The precise date will be set each year by the Chair, in consultation with the Personnel Committee, and communicated in a timely fashion to the candidate(s). Student evaluations for the current semester will be added after they are collected.

Candidates for reappointment will be notified of decisions by the Dean of the Faculty/Vice President for Academic Affairs on or before March 1 (see FHB Part One, VIII.D.1.a.v & vi).

Tenure Review:

The Chair and the Personnel Committee will hold an informational meeting for tenure candidates and newly reappointed faculty that follows the timing of ATC鈥檚 annual informational meeting (usually held in March).

Tenure candidates will submit to the Chair, according to the deadline established by the ATC calendar (typically May of the candidate's fifth year), two lists of names of external referees: 1. reviewers external to the college who speak primarily to the candidate鈥檚 scholarly and/or creative profile, and 2. 三亿体育官网 faculty and/or staff outside the department who speak primarily to the candidate鈥檚 college service and/or teaching. The Chair writes directly to all referees to solicit letters.

Additionally, after informing candidates, the Chair or the committee may elect to consult other referees, particularly experts in the candidate's field of interest. In these cases, the list of potential outside referees from which letters may be requested will be compiled by the Chair and the Personnel Committee in consultation with the candidate. The Chair will apprise the candidate of the final list of outside referees from whom letters will be requested.

Files for tenure candidates must be completed by the date set down in the current ATC calendar.

The Personnel Committee will review the previous year鈥檚 PC observations based on fifth-year class visits.

All department faculty who are not on leave and are defined by the Faculty Handbook as sources of information on tenure candidates shall meet as a group to discuss and exchange evaluations of tenure candidates at the start of the fall semester. Faculty on sabbatical or research leave are invited but not expected to attend these meetings. During that meeting, the Chair will offer a preliminary assessment of each candidate from the Personnel Committee, including their perceptions of class visits that occurred during the candidate鈥檚 fifth year (per #4 under 鈥淕uidelines for Class Visits鈥�). Following that meeting, the Chair will ask eligible department faculty to indicate clearly support or lack of support for the candidate in written statements that will be forwarded to the Personnel Committee and to ATC according to the committees鈥� respective deadlines.

Candidates for tenure will be advised of ATC procedures and deadlines by the Chair of that committee. Eligible members of the department will receive invitations to write recommendations by the Chair of the department. All written recommendations in tenure cases are delivered to the Dean of the Faculty by the Chair of the department.

Candidates for tenure will be notified of the President鈥檚 recommendation to the Board of Trustees according to the ATC calendar. The Chair of the department will have no communication with candidates regarding the department鈥檚 recommendation until that time.

Tenure Expectations for Scholarly/Creative Work

Expectations for Tenure: Literary Scholarship

For tenure candidates in literature, the English department expects a significant record of scholarly publication. There is no requirement that this record include a 鈥渢enure book.鈥� A significant record of publication could be demonstrated in one of the following ways:

A book published by, or a completed manuscript under contract with, a scholarly or commercial press that employs peer review. The importance of peer review is in keeping with the Faculty Handbook: 鈥渟cholarship in particular invites the critical scrutiny of peers鈥� (Part One.VIII.A.2).
Publication of 4 or more essays in peer-reviewed journals, or in edited collections by presses that use peer review.
Publication of fewer than 4 peer-reviewed essays, combined with a book manuscript at an advanced stage of development or another substantial scholarly effort (such as editing a collection of essays, publishing a translation or edition of a primary text, or creating a digital archive). Admittedly, this scenario comes with the greatest uncertainty: The lower the number 鈥渇ewer than 4,鈥� the greater the risk the candidate is accepting.

Other work, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, editorial work at a journal, and essays for a popular audience, is relevant, but will not substitute for peer-reviewed scholarly publication. This is also true for conference papers, invited talks, book reviews, and committee work for professional organizations.

Given that delays in publication are frequent and often beyond the candidate鈥檚 control, work that has received final acceptance from the publisher will be treated as if it were published. In addition, recognizing changes in modes of publishing, the department makes no distinction between digital and print publication.

Work published before 三亿体育官网 is relevant and will be considered for tenure, but successful candidates鈥� files will show a consistent, ongoing record of productivity after arrival.

None of the above scenarios obligate the department to recommend tenure based on quantity of production. In all cases, the department (assisted by the external reviewers) must judge the quality of the work and the reputation of the publication venue to be sufficiently high in order to recommend tenure.

Since it is possible to imagine acceptable records of publication different from the ones outlined above, we urge all candidates for tenure to consult with the Chair. And, per our procedures, the Chair and the Personnel Committee will hold informational meetings for tenure candidates that follow the timing of ATC鈥檚 informational meeting.

Expectations for Tenure: Creative Writing

For tenure candidates in creative writing, the English department expects a significant record of publication. There is no requirement that this record include a 鈥渢enure book.鈥� A significant record of publication could be demonstrated in one of the following ways:

A book (short story collection, novel, essay collection, nonfiction work, or poetry collection) published by, or under contract with, a university, commercial, or respected small press.
Publication of 5 or more stories or novel excerpts, 5 or more essays or other nonfiction excerpts, or 20 or more poems of substantial length in nationally and/or internationally distributed reputable journals or in edited collections published by university, commercial, or respected small presses.
Publication of fewer than 5 stories or essays, or 20 poems, combined with a book manuscript (short story collection, novel, essay collection, other nonfiction, or poetry collection) at an advanced stage of development. Admittedly, this scenario comes with the greatest uncertainty: The lower the number 鈥渇ewer than 5 stories or essays, or 20 poems,鈥� the greater the risk the candidate is accepting.

Other work, including self-published and hybrid 鈥渃o-operative鈥� publications, scholarly essays and conference presentations, as well as items such as encyclopedia entries and brief book reviews, is relevant, but will not substitute for the required creative work. This is also true for readings, invited talks, and committee work for professional organizations.

As with scholarly work, creative pieces accepted will be treated as if they were published. In addition, recognizing changes in modes of publishing, the department makes no distinction between digital and print publication. In both cases, the reputation of the venue must be established by the department (assisted by external reviewers).

Work published before 三亿体育官网 is relevant and will be considered for tenure, but successful candidates鈥� files will show a consistent, ongoing record of productivity after arrival.

None of the above scenarios obligate the department to recommend tenure based on quantity of production. In all cases, the department (assisted by the external reviewers) must judge the quality of the work to be sufficiently high in order to recommend tenure.

Tenure Expectations for Teaching and Service

The English Department is guided by the Faculty Handbook in evaluating Teaching and Service in personnel reviews.

The Handbook cites 鈥渉igh-quality teaching [as] the principal criterion鈥� in tenure decisions and defines excellence in teaching in broad terms, specifying course design, mentoring, the fostering of student learning, and faculty expertise as four categories in which faculty may demonstrate success. Evidence of effective teaching may include (but is not limited to): syllabi; exams, essay prompts, and other course handouts; products of student research or creative work; a teaching statement; and student evaluations. Co-curricular activity such as advising and directing independent study is also understood to be part of a faculty member鈥檚 facilitation of students鈥� 鈥渋ntellectual or artistic development,鈥� and may be included as part of a teaching portfolio. Peer evaluation is expected by the College and required by current department policy as detailed in our Personnel Policies. (See FHB VIII.A.1)

The Handbook defines service as 鈥渁pplying one鈥檚 time, talents, and energy to perform or assist others in performing the necessary work of advising; faculty governance; departmental or programmatic administration; oversight of adjunct faculty and other personnel; development, assessment and oversight of curriculum; and other extra-curricular activities such as attending community events.鈥� Participation in traditional committee work is only one way that faculty may demonstrate community engagement. The Handbook understands service in multiple ways: service to students, service to the department or other academic programs, service to the College (which includes service to communities beyond the campus), and service to the academic profession. As the Handbook explains, faculty may 鈥渁ssume responsibility for the common life of the institution in ways that are commensurate with their interests and roles and with the institution鈥檚 purpose and needs,鈥� including 鈥渃ontributions that directly stimulate the intellectual atmosphere of the college鈥� and 鈥渆xchanging ideas and debating issues of common concern.鈥� (See FHB VIII.A.3)

Promotion Review:

Department policy on time of review for promotion is as follows: for the rank of assistant professor, in the year of or immediately following completion of the Ph.D. or its equivalent; for the rank of associate professor, normally in the sixth year of service as an assistant professor at the time of tenure consideration. For the rank of professor, faculty may request to stand for promotion at their discretion. Service in a professional rank at other institutions may be considered in determining the time of review. Review does not imply recommendation: promotion at 三亿体育官网 is granted on the basis of merit and not guaranteed by years of service.

Members of the department may request review for promotion by the committee and the Chair in any year.

Files for candidates applying for promotion to Full Professor must normally be completed in early December. The precise date will be set each year by the Chair, in consultation with the Personnel Committee and to align with the Promotions Committee鈥檚 calendar for that year鈥攁nd communicated in a timely fashion to the candidate(s). Student evaluations for the current semester will be added after they are collected.

Candidates for promotion to Full Professor will be notified of the President鈥檚 recommendation to the Board of Trustees according to the Promotions Committee calendar. The Chair of the department will have no communication with candidates regarding the department鈥檚 recommendation until that time.

FULL-TIME NON-TENURE-TRACK EMPLOYMENT [this section is under review]

This is a non-tenure track position renewable indefinitely in three-year periods upon the recommendation of the Department Chair and the approval of the Dean of the Faculty. When possible, the position will be filled through a national search, conducted according to our procedures for tenure-track and Writer-in-Residence searches. If a national search isn't possible, the Chair will consult with the PC during the hiring process.
Hiring, reappointment, and teaching assignments will be based on departmental need, as well as the candidate's experience and qualifications.
Non-tenure-track faculty are not required to serve as faculty advisors or to participate in other forms of departmental service, including the direction of independent student work.
The teaching load for non-tenure-track faculty is determined by the Dean of the Faculty, and is currently 20 hours per academic year.
During the initial three-year appointment, the Personnel Committee shall conduct second- and third-year reviews by procedures analogous to those observed for reappointment candidates on the tenure track, as set forth in the Faculty Handbook, the English Department Policy Statement on Personnel, and the ATC calendar, with two exceptions: a) the second-year review will be conducted entirely by the Personnel Committee, with no letters required from the department, and b) the standards for advancement are specific to non-tenure-track employment. Excellence in teaching is the primary criterion for reappointment. Expectations for professional involvement (i.e., writing, publication, participation in the discipline, etc.) will be shaped by the structural differences between non-tenure-track and tenure-track appointments, and will be communicated to candidates in annual letters from the Chair.
In the third year of each subsequent contract cycle, the Department Chair and the Personnel Committee shall review stude