2.31 An Expression of University Values

The granting of tenure to faculty members at Syracuse University supports several values at the core of our academic enterprise. First, the values of faculty excellence should be demonstrable in the activities and strengths of the tenured faculty. Second, tenure is an integral part of sustaining the University’s commitment to the concepts underlying academic freedom. Third, tenured status establishes the mutual expectations of the continued pursuit of excellence on the part of both the faculty member and the institution.

The importance of tenure for the academic quality of the University means that the granting of the status is neither automatic nor a function of years of service. The earned privileges of tenure simultaneously convey a vested interest in the University, the expectation of continuous service as a faculty member, and the obligation to render continuing service to the University in pursuit of knowledge and impact. The presentation by the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer to the Board of Trustees of the granting of tenure should be a culmination of a multi-level review process that embodies these core academic values.

The following statement is the policy of Syracuse University with regard to tenure for instructional, research, and administrative personnel. This statement of tenure policy is also intended to include any persons who have served as full-time faculty members, regardless of their specific titles.

Faculty

The title Emeritus or Emerita is an honor that may be conferred upon faculty upon retirement from the University. Recommendations and supporting evidence of distinction and service to the University proceed through a process that commences with a faculty nomination, followed by a recommendation from the tenure and promotion committee of the candidate’s college or school; endorsement by the dean; endorsement of the Senate Committee on Appointments and Promotions, endorsement of the Vice Chancellor and Provost, and final approval by the Senate and the Board of Trustees.

This title may accompany any rank. Emeritus and Emerita faculty members are continuing members of the University community and have a distinguished record of outstanding contribution to the University over a substantial number of years. Privileges exercised by emeritus and emerita faculty include listings in University publications; using University libraries; participating in academic processions; receiving notices of all University events; receiving a University staff identification card and discount privileges at the University Bookstores; and participating in academic, professional, or social activities of the faculty and staff.

The title Emeritus or Emerita may be conferred posthumously, upon faculty recommendation, in those cases in which death precedes the possibility of retirement or within one academic year after retirement.

Academic Administrators

In special cases, the title Emeritus or Emerita may be conferred upon a person retiring from an academic administration position at Syracuse University, including the positions of Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and Provost, and academic dean, at the end of academic administrative service or at the time of retirement from the University.

Emeritus or Emerita designation for academic administrators is not routine upon resignation or retirement. It is a distinction reserved for those who have made special contributions over a period of at least 5 years. In the case of academic deans, recommendations should include evidence of a distinguished record of contributions to the University while serving in the role of dean. Recommendation and supporting evidence of a dean’s record of distinguished contributions commence with a nomination from a member or members of the faculty of the respective school or college followed by a recommendation from the tenure and promotion committee of the candidate’s college or school. Recommendations then proceed to the Senate Committee on Appointments and Promotions for endorsement, endorsement of the Vice Chancellor and Provost, the Chancellor, and final approval by the Senate and the Board of Trustees.

Updated April 17, 2024

Promotion of rank is available for non-tenure-track faculty under certain situations and at the discretion of the school/college.

Assistant and Associate Teaching Professors typically may request promotion after at least five years of service in rank. Promotion to Associate Teaching Professor is based on evidence of excellence in teaching and pedagogy and may include the record of service to the department, school, college, or University, as appropriate. Teaching excellence may be shown through classroom teaching, contributions to the design, syllabi, and organization of departmental course offerings, and applications or development of pedagogy in the field. Contributions to pedagogical advances will vary from field to field and may be demonstrated by, but not limited to, developing independent or team-taught courses, creating teaching materials and methodologies, administrating or maintaining laboratory or clinical settings used for pedagogy, training other instructors, or holding supervisory responsibilities for course offerings. Promotion to Teaching Professor is based on continued excellence in teaching and pedagogy, as well as leadership in the field of teaching, where such opportunities exist. The dean, with the concurrence of the faculty, is responsible for determining appropriate qualifications for each rank, which may vary by subfield or department.

Teaching Professors and Associate Teaching Professors may be hired at rank if they have appropriate qualifications and teaching experience. Appointments of Teaching Professors and Associate Teaching Professors are for periods of no more than five years and are renewable. Appointments of Assistant Teaching Professors are for periods of no more than three years and are renewable. Teaching professors will be evaluated on a regular basis, according to the policies of their school or college. Evaluation prior to contract renewal must be done in accordance with standard faculty renewal processes, including review by a committee drawn from the relevant faculty, and must cover all aspects of the assigned duties.

Promotion from Assistant to Associate and from Associate to Teaching Professor is subject to oversight by a committee formed by the department chair or college dean and drawn from the faculty. These committees should include at least one Teaching Professor, in addition to tenured members of the relevant department(s). The recommendations of the committee and relevant faculty will be transmitted to the dean of the school or college, who will make the final decision on promotion. Candidates for promotion have the right to review all materials, excluding confidential material like solicited letters, related to their promotion and to meet with the committee and the department chair as part of the review process. Promotion is neither necessary nor sufficient for contract renewal.

Updated April 17, 2024

Each college or school is responsible for maintaining in writing a clear and unambiguous set of promotions procedures approved by a faculty majority. These procedures also must be approved by the Senate Committee on Appointment and Promotions initially and after each substantial modification. In the event of disapproval, the Senate Committee on Appointment and Promotions decision may be appealed to the full University Senate.

School and College promotions committee membership will be determined in the following manner:

• Members should be selected according to procedures approved by the faculties of the respective schools and colleges. It is recommended that about one-third of the membership of any committee be carried over to the next year for continuity.
• Chairpersons of college and school promotion committees are elected by the committees themselves.

Individuals seeking promotion during the term in question will not be eligible for election to the committee.

Criteria for promotion to the various ranks should be prepared in writing and made a part of the promotions procedures in each school or college. Qualitative, if not quantitative, written statements should clearly express the requirements for promotion to the various ranks, including discussion of the various activities in which faculty members engage and their relative importance in each school or college. The normal minimum years in rank for promotion to the next higher rank are stated in Section 2.23.

The operation of school/college promotions committees includes the following:

• Provision must be made for peer contribution to members of the committees; student and faculty members will consult with other students, faculty members, and administrative personnel.

• Ample written notice of meetings must be given to committee members.

Each school/college promotions committee will maintain a record of the following activities, in case of future appeal:

• The times and locations of all meetings.
• The list of attendees at each meeting.
• The duration of each meeting.
• Significant actions taken at each meeting.
• Copy of the letter to each candidate indicating approval or denial of application for promotion.
• Solicitation of external reviews and other feedback.

  Updated April 17, 2024

 

 

 

 

The academic-year begins one week prior to the first day of classes of the fall semester and ends with Commencement. Typical faculty appointments are for this academic-year period. Vacation periods for faculty members with academic year appointments are the summer break and the intercession periods occurring during the academic year.

If the University chooses to use the services of faculty members in any time period or activities outside the academic-year appointment, the details of the appointment will be provided in writing. Such contracts will specify the compensation for extra service, which may or may not be the academic-year base salary rate.

Certain faculty members are appointed on a 12-month basis. They receive four weeks of vacation each year, plus 5 additional days after 20 years of service. Deans, directors, and some others are usually appointed on this basis. Except by special arrangement, they do not receive extra compensation for special or summer work of any kind.

Departmental chairs have duties and responsibilities extending throughout the year, even when they hold only an academic-year appointment. For this reason, and depending upon the duties involved, they may receive higher salary increments or lightened teaching loads, or both as determined by the dean of the school or college.

Updated April 17, 2024

Promotion to Associate Professor: Unless a candidate is already appointed at the rank of associate professor or above, consideration of promotion to associate professor will occur coincidentally with consideration of indefinite appointment with tenure. The process should follow that outlined in 2.3 ff.

Promotion to Professor: Promotion to Professor should follow the criteria and standards set by schools and colleges for satisfactory levels and recognition of achievement in the appropriate field(s), consistent with university-wide principles and in accordance with disciplinary, professional, and other academic norms.

Procedures for review and recommendation may vary across schools and colleges but should conform to the general principles set forth in this document.

Promotion to professor will proceed with the same sequence of evaluations and actions as the University tenure process: Recommendations flow from department (if appropriate) to the school/college committee to the dean for his/her independent evaluation. The accumulated dossier and all recommendations will be forwarded to the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer for a decision, which will be transmitted to the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees for their concurrence. The Provost will communicate in writing to the deans and the school/college committees, the rationale for promotion decisions that differ from the committee’s recommendation.

Candidates for promotion to professor have the right to withdraw their candidacy for promotion at any time during the process and may resubmit on the timetable set out in the school/college rules.

Action unfavorable to the candidate by the school or college promotions committee or the University may be appealed to the Senate Committee on Appointment and Promotion by either the candidate or the department, provided the grievance pertains to procedural matters; or to the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Professional Ethics (AFTPE) if the grievance pertains to denial of academic freedom or violation of professional ethics. The recommendations from either of these committees, upon their review of an appeal, will be communicated to the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer, as well as to the academic unit in which the action is being appealed. Candidates for promotion to professor whose applications are withdrawn or denied also may reapply for promotion, without pursuing any appeal process, on the timetable set in the school or college.

Because the promotion dossier should contain extensive evaluative documentation, as well as the presentation of materials, the candidate is not responsible for assembling the dossier in its final form or transmitting it to the Office of the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer, although it is expected that the candidate will work closely with the academic unit to provide high-quality materials.

The process for selecting the membership of department and School/College promotion committees should be set out clearly in the department/School/College bylaws. Those bylaws should respect three principles:

a. The deliberative bodies should be independent across levels (i.e., no individual should actively participate or vote in two levels of the process, such as at both the department and School/College level, for any single individual).

b. Committees for promotion should exclude individuals with potential conflicts of interest. In these committees, potential conflicts of interest occur when individuals who may directly or indirectly derive a personal benefit are in a position to influence a decision (e.g., promotion of a spouse or partner). Individuals may also recuse themselves from service in cases in which participation or voting might pose a substantial conflict with the performance of their primary duties in the University.

c. The process of evaluation, deliberation, and voting leading to academic-unit recommendations regarding promotion is the responsibility of tenured full professors in the unit. At the departmental level, the voting body should be composed only of tenured full professors. All schools and colleges should provide a description and justification of unit practices regarding voting to the Vice Chancellor, Provost, and Chief Academic Officer before May 15, prior to any academic year in which a candidate for promotion is expected to be presented.

It is the responsibility of the appropriate unit head to fulfill all established professional responsibilities appropriate to the position for all promotion candidates, including helping the candidate make the strongest possible case for promotion, given accomplishments to-date, talent, and promise. It is the candidate, however, who bears responsibility for providing information about their academic accomplishments, using the Form A document, which includes two parts: (1) Outline of Professional Experience and (2) Candidate’s Professional Statement.

The appropriate unit head (department/School/College) is responsible for providing a detailed executive summary of the evaluative processes and statements made by individuals and committees. The unit head should then include their own evaluative comments, addressing and clarifying any conflicts in materials presented; adding information that would be helpful in subsequent evaluative processes; and addressing any negative aspects of the candidate’s record or the external reviews and explaining any mitigating factors that should be considered.

The use of external evaluators and critics is an essential feature of a thorough promotion review process. Reviewers should be chosen from the relevant publics and audiences for the candidate’s achievements. Reviewers should be of sufficient rank, status, and accomplishment to make the judgments asked of them. Those qualities should be assessed by such factors as institutional affiliation, academic rank, prestige in a non-academic enterprise, or membership and knowledgeable participation in a relevant community of experts. Outside reviewers will be selected as appropriate to, and in accordance with, the conventions of the candidate’s discipline(s) and School/College(s). For example, in the professional schools, it is not unusual for some outside evaluators to be non-academic professionals and some to be senior-rank academics in comparable professional schools. In the liberal arts and sciences, it is more typical that all or most outside reviewers be senior-rank academics. Generally, reviewers’ programs or departments should be of at least comparable quality to the candidate’s program/department. The reasons for selecting all reviewers should be explained in the dossier, and any divergence from the conventions of the academic discipline should be explained. The candidate should be given the opportunity to nominate external reviewers, and that list should include sufficient names to allow choice for the committee and anonymity for the final roster of reviewers. The committee should nominate its own separate list of potential reviewers, and the final roster of outside evaluators should feature a majority of reviewers from the committee’s list. To minimize conflicts of interest, letters from close colleagues/collaborators, former professors or graduate advisors, or other similar individuals are discouraged. If such individuals are included in the roster of reviewers, their presence and impartiality must be explained in the dossier. At each level in the promotion process, all information generated by the appropriate evaluative bodies, including any formal votes, should be transmitted to subsequent evaluators.

Updated April 17, 2024

As a research university, Syracuse University expects that faculty members will be actively engaged in an intellectual and creative life that enhances the knowledge base or otherwise extends the boundaries in their chosen areas of concentration. The University also has a tradition of permitting various allocations of effort across research and teaching. Schools and colleges are expected to provide guidance to all faculty regarding allocations of effort. In particular, schools and colleges must provide guidelines for those individuals whose teaching, research, and service do not sharply divide into distinct categories so that they can present integrated dossiers and accounts of activities.

Teaching
Syracuse University recognizes success in teaching among its faculty to be of vital importance and values innovation and intellectual pursuit embedded within teaching. Teaching involves the art and skill required for the diffusion of knowledge and guidance toward its effective and independent use. The successful teacher, among other things, instructs in consonance with the school/college mission, has knowledge of subject matter, skillfully communicates and contributes to student learning and development, acts professionally and ethically, and strives continuously to improve. Quality teaching includes providing substantive feedback to students, revising curriculum to reflect developments in the field, and mastering appropriate pedagogical approaches. In addition to the instruction of individual courses, activities under the heading of teaching may include supervising independent study projects; advising; arranging and supervising internships, clinical placements or student research; serving on graduate examination committees and thesis, dissertation, dossier, and portfolio review committees; providing professional development for teaching assistants; involving students in community engagement projects; and instructing non-SU students or community members in a variety of venues.

Research/scholarship/creative accomplishment
Faculty members belong to scholarly and professional communities and are expected to advance these communities by contributing to knowledge through research or other forms of creative work. The Syracuse University faculty is strong in part because it engages in scholarship that comprises a spectrum of excellence from disciplinary to cross-disciplinary, from theoretical to applied, and from critical to interpretive.

Scholarship means in-depth study, learning, inquiry, or experimentation designed to make contributions to knowledge as appropriate in or across specific fields or relevant disciplines. Scholarship, as measured by peer recognition of its originality, impact on, and importance to the development of the field(s) or relevant disciplines, is demonstrated most typically by refereed publications—in journals, high-quality books, or other influential venues. It also can be demonstrated by placement of work in high-quality venues, as judged by peers. Scholarship and research accomplishments are also demonstrated by the design and execution of basic or applied research in the laboratory or in the field; through the presentation of papers at organized scholarly meetings, usually at the national or international level; through the attraction of external support or competitive fellowships and awards appropriate to the faculty member’s field(s) of study or relevant disciplines; through such activities as editing, translation, the acquisition of significant patents, the compilation of information, and the development of materials that make information more accessible to researchers, other scholars, practitioners, and the public; and lecturing in professional and other public forums. (See Section 2.34)

For promotion to the rank of professor, accomplishments in research, scholarship, and creative work should have impact that is broad and deep, whether in a single discipline or across disciplines, among the significant audiences inside and outside the academy.

Service
Syracuse University asserts the importance of faculty service for the vitality of its academic community, for the professions it represents, and for society at large. Service includes membership or leadership on committees at the program, department, school/college, or University levels as appropriate to the faculty member’s rank, as well as administrative functions or other leadership roles. In addition to formal assignments of duties, faculty individually can prove valuable in efforts such as recruiting and mentoring students, faculty, and staff. Service also includes contributions to professional societies, governmental and academic institutions, and the community at large when these contributions reflect faculty members’ professional expertise or standing. Service activities should be of high quality.

Updated April 17, 2024

Candidates for promotion will normally not be considered until they have completed the following minimum time in rank at Syracuse University:

• for promotion from instructor to assistant professor, one completed year;
• for promotion from associate professor to professor, four completed years.

Except in those cases where a faculty member is already at the rank of associate professor or higher (due to initial hiring at that rank or promotion before the effective date of this section), the granting of tenure should coincide with promotion to associate professor regardless of time in rank. Other variations from these minimum time requirements will be considered under appropriate circumstances.

Each school and college will have a process memorialized (consistent with all other provisions of 2.2ff.) to provide expedited promotion to professor in response to time-sensitive requests for review, using similar standards of evidence of merit to regular submissions.

No one is entitled to advancement solely because of length of service. It should be emphasized that accomplishment, and not time in rank, is the essential criterion for promotion.

Updated April 17, 2024