4.13 Tenure Appointments

Tenure is a means of ensuring academic freedom and of providing sufficient security to make the academic profession attractive to people of qualification and dedication. The College will offer renewal of a tenured faculty member's appointment until the faculty member retires, subject to other provisions of the Ithaca College Policy Manual and state and federal statutes. Along with the rights conferred, a tenured faculty member has duties to the College and its students as described in the Ithaca College Policy Manual and other College documents as listed above.

Because tenure is a long-term obligation on the part of the College, it is not conferred automatically. Both the qualifications of the individual faculty member and the long-range curricular and staffing needs of the College will be considered carefully in the decision to grant tenure. The tenure decision is based on evidence of past accomplishments and, consistent with those achievements, promise of continued attainment in the areas of teaching, scholarly/professional activity, and service to the College.

Tenured faculty may be terminated for cause or due to extraordinary circumstances occasioned by financial exigencies in the institution or changes in educational programs. (See sections 4.7.4.9 and 4.15 of Volume IV of the Ithaca College Policy Manual.)

4.13.1 All-College Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee

4.13.1.1 MEMBERSHIP

The Committee comprises seven tenured associate or full professors, including at least one member from each school and at least two members from Humanities and Sciences.

New members of the committee are appointed by the president from a list of candidates selected and reviewed in the following manner. In the School of Humanities and Sciences the faculty of the school shall elect four candidates if there are no continuing members of the committee from the school, three candidates if there is one continuing member from the school, two candidates if there are two continuing members from the school, and one candidate if there are three continuing members from the school. In each of the other schools the faculty of the school shall elect two candidates if there are no continuing members from the school and one candidate if there is one or more continuing members from the school.

Once this pool of candidates is elected by the faculties of each of the schools, the provost & vice president for academic affairs and the Executive Committee of Faculty Council (with any non-tenured members replaced by tenured council members chosen at large) review the list and recommend the appropriate number of candidates to the president for appointment. If there are no candidates from a school or if the elected candidate(s) could not, for some reason, carry out the prescribed duties, then the provost and the Executive Committee work with the dean and the faculty of the school to try to ensure that the school is appropriately represented in the pool. Should the president believe that a candidate is unacceptable, the president discusses the reasons with the provost and the Executive Committee.

The review and recommendation by the provost & vice president for academic affairs and the Executive Committee strives to achieve among the members of the committee a mix of academic and governance experience, time at the College, and disciplinary perspective, and strives to reflect the demographic diversity of the faculty. In electing candidates the faculty should bear in mind that the committee has large and important tasks, which must be performed thoroughly, punctually, and confidentially.

The provost & vice president for academic affairs convenes the committee, provides logistical support and may meet with the committee upon invitation. The committee elects its own chairperson.

4.13.1.2 TERM OF OFFICE

As revised by the Ithaca College Board of Trustees 5/14/2005 and 10/07/09.

Members serve for three-year terms staggered so that two or three members are selected each year. In the case of a resignation, sabbatical, or leave of absence, a replacement is selected as described above (on a one-year basis for a sabbatical or leave of absence).

Following their three-year term of regular service on the committee, members become part of a pool from which they may be selected to serve as alternates in the case of recusal of a regular member of the committee. If the recused member is from the candidate’s school or division, the member of the pool from the same school or division as the recused member will be chosen.

The pool member chosen in this manner serves only for those candidates for whom a recusal has been made. The replacement committee member is chosen by the chair of the Tenure and Promotion Committee.

4.13.1.3 COMMITTEE DUTIES

The committee reviews the file of each candidate for tenure and/or promotion and makes recommendations as described below.
1. The committee is responsible for thoroughly reviewing the documentation submitted by the candidate, department/planning unit and/or school personnel committee(s), department chair, and dean regarding a recommendation on tenure and/or promotion.
2. The committee determines:
  1. Whether recommendations have been processed in accordance with the published personnel policy standards and procedures of the College, school, division, planning unit, or department concerned; and
  2. Whether the recommendations are fully supported by appropriate documentation.
3. The committee evaluates the recommendations.
4. The committee uses the following procedures:
  1. The committee deliberations are held in strict confidence.
  2. From the time a faculty member and the committee receive a copy of the dean's recommendation on tenure and/or promotion, the faculty member and the members of the All-College Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee have three (3) working days respectively to allege that some member(s) of the All-College Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee is unable to reach an impartial decision. (A member of the committee may also raise concerns about the member's own ability to be impartial.) Such allegations should be made to the provost & vice president for academic affairs and Executive Committee of Faculty Council. If such an allegation is made, the provost and Executive Committee of Faculty Council consult the person making the allegation, and they determine as quickly as possible what role, if any, the challenged member(s) should have in the case.
  3. The committee may not deliberate without a quorum of five members.
  4. The committee takes a preliminary vote immediately following the review and discussion of each candidate. The committee may reconsider its preliminary vote on a candidate at any time during its deliberations.
  5. If any portion of a candidate's file needs clarification, the committee invites to meet with it any member of the faculty, including the candidate, and/or any member of the administration who may provide clarification.
  6. As approved by the Ithaca College Board of Trustees 5/20/2011.
    
    In the event that the committee's preliminary recommendation differs from any of the decisions at the previous levels (chair, department/planning unit and/or school tenure and promotion committee(s), or dean), then a representative from each of them is invited to discuss the recommendation with the committee. A written notification of this discussion is made jointly by the committee and the representative(s) to the candidate and the provost & vice president for academic affairs.
  7. The committee first takes a vote and then prepares a written report to the provost & vice president for academic affairs which summarizes the committee's discussion, recommendation, and numerical count of the vote on the candidate. If the decisions at previous levels were not in agreement, then the committee's report must explain why it agreed with the decision it supports. If the decisions at previous levels were in agreement, but the committee disagrees with these decisions, then the committee must provide its justification for the recommendation. A copy of this report will be delivered to the candidate.
5. The following are available to all faculty in the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and all deans' offices:
  1. The school and All-College Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee time table.
  2. Internal procedures of the All-College Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee.
6. The provost & vice president for academic affairs may refer to the All-College Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee any departmental or school personnel standards and procedures for the committee's advice on their fairness and appropriateness across the College. In conducting such a review the committee shall consult with the faculty and the dean of the appropriate unit.

4.13.1.4 Authority to Which the Committee is Responsible

The All-College Faculty Tenure and Promotion Committee is responsible to the provost & vice president for academic affairs.

4.13.2 Faculty Personnel Appeals Committee

As revised by the Ithaca College Board of Trustees 2/16/2006.

The Faculty Personnel Appeals Committee is established to conduct reviews of a candidate's concerns with the tenure and/or promotion process. (See section 4.13.3.3.)

4.13.2.1 MEMBERSHIP

One professor or associate professor is elected by the faculty of each of the respective schools of Ithaca College.

The committee shall elect its own chairperson.

4.13.2.2 TERMS OF OFFICE

Members shall serve for staggered two-year terms. (If at any time more than three members are elected, then by lot three of these shall be chosen to have two-year terms and the rest shall have one-year terms.)

4.13.2.3 COMMITTEE DUTIES

This Committee is responsible for:

Ensuring that any candidate's concerns with the candidate's tenure or promotion review process are addressed;
Ensuring adherence to the procedure for these reviews;
Correcting immediately any violations of procedure before continuing further with the review process.

4.13.2.4 PROCEDURES

Appeals may be made, on procedural grounds only, after a recommendation at any level. It should be noted that the appropriate process includes full and responsible consideration of the candidate's file. This consideration should include the appropriate use of published departmental criteria in the evaluation of the candidate's file by the recommending person, committee, or group. Judgments concerning the quality of candidates are the responsibility of other persons, committees, or groups, not of the appeals committee.
Appeals must be in writing and timely.
1. The candidate must make written notice of intent to appeal to the Faculty Personnel Appeals Committee (hereafter the FPAC) within three (3) working days (College business days) of receipt of the recommendation being appealed.
2. The candidate must file a formal written appeal with the FPAC within ten (10) working days (College business days) of receipt of the recommendation being appealed.
3. Any procedural aspects of previous recommendations that are wholly or partially a cause for a subsequent negative recommendation, can be appealed at the time of the negative recommendation, if the previous recommendation had not been appealed.
4. The candidate will send a copy of both the notice of intent to appeal and the formal written appeal to all persons and/or groups that have taken part in the review process.
The appeals process is designed to protect the candidate and the College from an improper review. The FPAC will review procedural appeals that in its judgment may result in an improper review process. Applications for appeal based on incidental or insignificant violations of procedure may be ruled ineligible by the FPAC. Applications for appeal must state specifically the alleged procedural violation(s) upon which the request for appeal is based.
A faculty member filing an appeal may at that time object for cause to the participation of a member of the FPAC. In the event of such an objection, the faculty member should submit the appeal to the Office the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs instead of the FPAC. The chair of the Grievance Committee, in consultation with the provost, will decide within two working days whether to remove the member from participation in the appeal. This decision will be made before the FPAC receives the appeal.
The FPAC will decide on the eligibility of an appeal within three (3) working days (College business days) from the receipt of the formal written appeal. The FPAC will notify the appellant in writing of its decision to the recommending person, committee, or group. The communication will include an explanation of each negative decision. To continue the appeals process, the FPAC need find only one charge of procedural violation eligible.
The FPAC has a maximum of ten (10) working days (College business days) to investigate and report on the alleged procedural violations, once such alleged violations have been found eligible for review.
1. The faculty member's tenure or promotion file will be made available to the FPAC upon its request.
2. The FPAC will meet jointly and attempt mediation and fact finding with the candidate and the recommending person, committee, or group. This requirement does not preclude separate meetings with each of the parties.
The FPAC will reach one of the following two decisions. The FPAC will communicate its decision to the candidate and the recommending person, committee, or group and to all preceding recommending persons, committees, or groups, as well as to the provost & vice president for academic affairs.
1. The review process was in order, the resultant recommendation was procedurally valid, and the review process should continue.
2. The review process was not in order and the resultant recommendation was not procedurally valid.
  1. If the FPAC determined the review process was not in order and the resultant recommendation was not procedurally valid, the FPAC will include in its written report a determination as to which part(s) of the review process must be done over, modified, or completed to reach a valid recommendation.7 In such a case the report and the application for appeal will also be sent to the appropriate administrator.8 If the administrator objects to the remedy to correct the procedural violation, the administrator shall meet with the FPAC and shall strive to reach a mutually acceptable remedy. If a mutually acceptable remedy cannot be found, the chair of the FPAC and the administrator shall meet with the provost & vice president for academic affairs (or the president if the administrator is the provost) to attempt to reach a mutually acceptable remedy. If none can be found, the provost (president) will make a determination as to which part(s) of the review process must be done over, modified, or completed to reach a valid recommendation.
  2. If a case requires further review by the recommending person, committee, or group in order to reach a procedurally valid recommendation, the FPAC may require adherence to reasonable deadlines for completion of the additional review.
  3. The administrator will communicate the final disposition of the appeal(s) to the members of the FPAC.
Annually, the chair of the FPAC will report to the provost & vice president for academic affairs and to the chair of Faculty Council any recommendations for changes in tenure and promotion policies or procedures that the committee deems necessary.

4.13.2.5 AUTHORITY TO WHICH THE COMMITTEE IS RESPONSIBLE

The FPAC reports to the provost & vice president for academic affairs.

7 A modification of the review process may include reconstituting a committee if the FPAC determines the process has been so tainted as to be biased.

8 If the appeal is against a recommendation by the provost & vice president for academic affairs, the appropriate administrator is the president. If the appeal is against the recommendation by the dean or an all-College review committee, the appropriate administrator is the provost. If the appeal is against the recommendation of a department's chairperson or a school or department committee, the appropriate administrator is the dean of the relevant school.

Last Updated: May 25, 2021