Loyola University Chicago

1.   CHARGE and COMPOSITION of the University Rank and Tenure Committee

After the appropriate review by the school or college rank and tenure committee and the dean, the University Rank and Tenure Committee evaluates and makes recommendations to the Senior Academic Officers on individual petitions for tenure and promotion.  The Committee also reviews candidates for Endowed Chairs and Professorships.  This committee is also responsible for reviewing any proposed changes in tenure and promotion guidelines by individual departments, schools, or colleges.

The University Rank and Tenure Committee shall be composed of full time tenured full professor's elected from and by the tenured and tenure track faculty of each of the following ten groups:

• The faculty of the School of Business
• The faculty of the School of Education 
• The faculty of the School of Law 
• The faculty of the clinical departments of the School of Medicine 
• The faculty of the basic science departments of the School of Medicine
• The faculty of the School of Nursing 
• The faculty of the School of Social Work, the School of Communication, and the Institute of Pastoral Studies
• The humanities and arts faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
• The social and behavioral sciences faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
•  The natural sciences and mathematics faculty of the College of A&S
  

2.    ELECTION of the University Rank and Tenure Committee

For the purposes of voting on the membership of these committees, every full time member of the University faculty not in one of the groups listed above but who is otherwise eligible to vote for members of a given committee shall be assigned to an appropriate grouping. Terms of elected membership shall be three years, with approximately two-thirds of the members continuing each year and one-third completing their terms. Terms of at-large members (if any) shall be for one year. Elections will be conducted at the beginning of each Academic Year by the Provost and the Vice President of Health Sciences. The election process and the results are subject to audit and review by the Faculty Affairs UPC at its discretion.
In order to assure the diversity and gender equity of the committees the Provost and the Vice President of Health Sciences may jointly appoint up to two additional qualified faculty members as voting members at- large to each of these committees.

3. CHAIR SELECTION, VOTING, and RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The initial meeting of each committee for the year will be convened jointly by the Provost and the Vice President for Health Sciences.  At that meeting questions of procedures and processes shall be reviewed. At or before that meeting the Provost and the Vice President for Health Sciences will announce their appointment of one of the elected members of each committee to serve as the chair of that committee for the year. Although serving as Chair, this person shall continue to have full rights of voice and vote in all committee deliberations. All deliberations of these committees shall be confidential.
2. All voting members of a committee who are present when a vote is taken must vote positive or negatively on the matter at hand; abstentions shall not be permitted. Members from the departmental affinity group of a person whose case is being considered may neither discuss nor vote on that case. (Their vote, if any, shall have been made at the first review level at which they had the right to participate, typically that is at the departmental or affinity group level.) Members who are recused from the committee's deliberations for any reason are not replaced. This may happen if the member is a candidate for something the committee is considering, e.g. the member is a candidate for promotion and the R&T Committee is reviewing those petitions.
3. In making their recommendations on specific cases the committees will report the vote of the members and will provide a brief summary of the reasons or considerations that were deemed decisive.
4. The files of all candidates who are members of the graduate faculty or who are persons whom the Chair or School Dean wish to petition to become members of the graduate faculty are reviewed by the Graduate Dean, who forwards his/her recommendation to the University R&T Committee. In cases where the candidate does not fall under the authority of a school or college, the Graduate Dean will appoint an ad-hoc committee to review the candidate's application and forward its recommendation to the University R&T Committee.

4.  PROCEDURAL NOTES OF CLARIFICATON

1. In addition to reviewing and recommending on the merits of each candidate's petition, the University R&T Committee shall inquire into and report to the Provost or Vice President for Health Sciences on any significant procedural or technical problems as may come to its attention with regard to handling of any candidate's case at any lower level of review.
2.  The guidelines and standards of significance for the University Rank and Tenure Committee are those published in the Faculty Handbook (2009).

5.   COMMITTEE SCHEDULE FOR 2009-10

Sep 16: All candidates for tenure and for promotion must have their complete petition and files to their department Chairs or their Deans (in schools without Departments).

Dec 2: Dean of School/College forwards full file, in electronic format, to the Office of Faculty Administration, for delivery to the University Rank and Tenure Committee.  The file must contain recommendations from the departmental R&T committee (if applicable) and school level R&T committee, as well as the personal recommendations of the departmental chair (if applicable), the dean of the home school or college and the dean of the graduate school.  In cases where the candidate does not fall under the authority of a school or college, the Graduate Dean will appoint an ad-hoc committee to review the candidate's application and forward its recommendation to the University R&T Committee.

Feb 15: University Rank and Tenure Committee adds its recommendation and delivers the files to the respective Senior Academic Officers

Mar 15: Decisions are communicated to candidates.