ACD 506–02: Key Terms

To define key terms related to types of faculty appointments, types of performance evaluation, faculty responsibilities and required evidence, and organizational structure

Arizona Board of Regents Policy Manual - 201; 6-211

Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost of the University

Faculty

Any person appointed as an assistant professor, associate professor, or professor is either tenured or tenure-eligible as designated by the notice of appointment, except as provided below. Tenure-eligible faculty are also referred to as “probationary” and “tenure-track” faculty.

Any person appointed to a faculty position designated as “lecturer,” “research,” “clinical,” “Professor of Practice,” “visiting,” “adjunct,” or other such titles as may be designated by the university shall not be tenured or tenure-eligible and shall have no expectation of continued employment beyond the end of the current appointment period.

Persons appointed as instructors are not tenure-eligible. New assistant professors who have not finished the required degree receive the initial appointment of “instructor, not on track” as a temporary designation; upon completion of their final degree requirement their title is changed to “assistant professor.”

Annual Performance Review

Annual performance reviews meet the ABOR requirement for an annual assessment of faculty performance that is both formative and summative. They also serve as the basis for allocation of merit-based salary increments and, for tenured faculty, are the first step in the post-tenure review process. Annual performance reviews differ in important ways from probationary, tenure, and promotion reviews. Annual evaluations do not cumulate into tenure, promotion, termination, or release decisions. For probationary faculty, the annual evaluation should not be confused with the probationary review. Annual feedback on progress toward tenure for probationary faculty may occur at the same time and be based upon the same material as the annual performance review, but probationary reviews are prospective and reflect the academic unit’s estimate of the candidate’s future promise. Thus, the procedures and standards used in annual performance reviews are different from those used in retention, promotion, and tenure reviews. Annual performance reviews are retrospective and summative, whereas tenure and promotion reviews are prospective and summative.

Probationary Review

Probationary reviews are formal reviews for renewal of probationary appointments at the department, college, and university levels conducted in the third year for each tenure-track assistant professor to assess progress toward tenure. For tenure-track associate or full professors, the formal probationary review is conducted in the second year. Unit heads will also conduct annual meetings, documented in writing, to provide probationary faculty feedback about progress toward tenure. This review includes feedback from the unit faculty.

Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor Review

Tenure and promotion to associate professor reviews for tenure and promotion to associate professor must be conducted no later than the sixth probationary year. Reviews may be conducted sooner if the faculty member is nominated (and agrees) or self-nominates. For associate or full professors without tenure, the tenure review occurs no later than the fourth year.

Promotion to Full Professor Review

Promotion to full professor reviews for promotion to full professor may occur at any time. Consideration for promotion to full professor may be initiated by nomination (and acceptance) or by self- nomination.

Post-Tenure Review

Post-tenure reviews begin either with annual performance reviews or with program reviews. If a faculty member is found to be “unsatisfactory” in one or more areas of evaluation or on the overall evaluation, the relevant post-tenure review procedures must be followed. (See ACD 506–11, “Post-Tenure Review Process.”)

Program Review

Program reviews are conducted every six or seven years and assess the performance of the entire academic unit (school, department, division, or program). These reviews also cover the contribution of faculty members to their unit. If the program review team raises questions about the quality of a faculty member’s contribution to his or her unit, the procedures of the post-tenure review process must be followed. At ASU, program reviews meet the Board of Regents’ requirement for student and community involvement in the post-tenure review process.

Teaching and Instruction

Teaching and instruction include classroom teaching; mentoring, advising and directing independent study, theses, and dissertations; participating in curriculum development; conducting technologically enhanced courses; participating in extended education and distance learning; and performing learning outcome assessment activities and other instructional or pedagogical innovations appropriate to the unit.

Service

Service encompasses service to the university, service to the academic profession, and public/community service. Service to the university includes the individual’s expected contribution to internal committee work and faculty governance activities, the preservation of a collegial atmosphere at all levels of interaction within the university, the contribution toward departmental and/or university affirmative action goals and minority student recruitment and retention goals, and the practice of ethical/professional behavior as defined in ASU, ABOR, or unit policy. Service to the academic profession includes submitting external reviews for journals, holding offices in academic professional organizations, and pursuing other activities as determined by the unit. Public/ community service is an extension of the faculty member’s research and teaching activity to the larger community outside the university.

Research and Creative Activities

Research and creative activities are defined as intellectual work that advances the disciplines, has its significance validated by academic peers or other appropriate outside authorities, and is communicated to peers or other appropriate persons. Such work in its diverse forms is based on a high level of professional expertise, is original, is documented and validated through peer review or critique, and is communicated in appropriate ways so as to have an impact on or significance for the discipline itself or for publics beyond the university. Research and creative activities encompass all scholarly work, including the scholarship of discovery, integration, application, and instruction.

Places and Administrative Units

Places and administrative units are defined as follows:

1. University refers to the multi-campus entirety of Arizona State University.
2. Campus refers to one of the campuses of the university, including Tempe campus, West campus, or Polytechnic campus.
3. College refers to the administrative units on each campus:
   1. Tempe campus is composed of the Colleges of Design, Education, Law, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Nursing, Public Programs, the Craig and Barbara Barrett Honors College, the Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts, the Division of Graduate Studies, the W.P. Carey School of Business, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University College, and the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.
   2. Polytechnic campus is composed of the College of Technology and Applied Sciences, the Morrison School of Agribusiness and Resource Management, and East College.
   3. West campus is composed of the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, the College of Teacher Education and Leadership, the College of Human Services, and the School of Global Management and Leadership.

4. Academic Unit refers to a department, school, division, or program housed within a college.

Administrative Personnel

Administrative personnel are defined as follows:

1. university provost refers to the title of Executive Vice President and Provost of the University.
2. campus provost refers to the title of Provost at Tempe campus, West campus, and Polytechnic campus.
3. supervising dean refers to the title of Dean in the administrative unit that houses an academic unit.
4. head of academic unit refers to the chair or director of academic unit.

For more information on terminology, see ACD 505–02, “Faculty Membership, Ranks, Titles, Appointment Categories, and Honored Positions.”

For information on probationary appointments, see ACD 506–03, “Probationary Appointments.”

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