The department head decides whether to recommend tenure. If the decision is positive, the department head forwards the dossier (supplemented with external reviews and faculty input), and a recommendation to the dean.
A negative decision can trigger an appeals process.
p1
- The Chair, after considering the dossier, the external letters, the faculty discussion and vote, and the P&T recommendation, will summarize the case and make an informed recommendation to the Dean. The Chair’s recommendation may, but need not, concur with that of the P&T Committee or the faculty vote.
- If the Chair’s recommendation is negative, the Candidate will be informed in writing and may then take action as described in the Faculty Handbook.
- The Chair’s report and recommendation, together with the complete dossier and all related materials, are due to the Dean within six weeks after receipt of the P&T report, or January 25, whichever is earlier.
P2
The letter should include the Chair’s evaluation of the performance of the candidate in each function for which he or she carries responsibility. This should be a thoughtful analysis of the relationship of the candidate to the present and developing mission of the department and College. The Chair should comment on the quality of journals, presses, and other venues where the candidate’s work has appeared. The Chair should also explain the conventions of the discipline related to the listing of author order on publications, in relation to the candidate’s contributions to co-authored publications. The letter should also address how the candidate’s teaching evaluations compare to those of other faculty teaching similar courses. The letter should address any expected changes in responsibilities and explain any problematic or confusing statements that appear in the dossier. The letter should address any matters of serious concern in the file.
The letter should include the date of meeting and vote of tenured faculty, giving reasons for any objections, reservations, or abstentions. The vote should be taken after the tenured faculty have reviewed the full documentation, including feedback from the secondary department, and there has been opportunity for discussion. (Letters from the faculty with their evaluation and the reasons for their vote are to be included in the documentation, see “Faculty Vote.”)
Where there is a joint appointment or obligation to another program, an evaluation and recommendation letter should be included from the Chair or Director of that program. This additional letter also should contain substantive evaluations addressing considerations listed earlier in this document.
P3
Statement to the candidate on the outcome of the review:
The candidate is given a written statement in which the chair summarizes the reasons for the department’s decision. A positive decision will be forwarded to the dean. The candidate may appeal a negative decision following the Faculty Appeal Procedures at the University Faculty website
http://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/handbook/APPENDIX%205.pdf
Chair’s letter:
The chair must supply a covering letter that will accompany the completed tenure dossier. The chair’s cover letter must present the department’s recommendation including
a report of the formal department vote on the case, distinguishing votes cast at the meeting from advisory votes cast by faculty members not in attendance at the meeting. It should summarize the procedures used, noting in particular any special procedures set in place by the department. The letter should summarize the outside referees’ opinions, speak to special circumstances that might have influenced their opinions, give a brief description of their qualifications and standing, and identify any potential conflicts of interest. If a large number of outside letters have been obtained, the descriptions of the qualifications and standing of the referees can be limited to those whose letters are particularly significant. The chair’s letter must provide an overview of the important points that arose in the department’s review.
Before submitting the dossier to the dean, the chair’s letter should be made available to the tenured members of the department for review. The purpose of this review is to allow tenured members to verify that the letter accurately reports the department’s proceedings and deliberations. The letter should not be disseminated in any form to tenured faculty but it should remain in the chair’s office at all times and be made available for viewing there. The chair may then revise the letter in light of comments received from tenured members of the department.
In addition to writing a covering letter for the tenure dossier, the chair is required to provide his or her own judgment on the case. This may be done in an appendix to the chair’s cover letter which is clearly distinct from the chair’s account of the department’s proceedings and deliberations and marked as the chair’s own assessment, or in a separate letter. If it is included with the chair’s cover letter, it should not be made available to the tenured members of the
department for review along with the rest of the chair’s letter.
Submitting the dossier to the dean:
Both positive and negative decisions are transmitted in writing to the dean. The dossier (including all the materials specified in Section 4: COMPILING THE DOSSIER), the letters from faculty received by the chair’s established deadline, and the chair’s letter must be submitted to the dean’s office by the specified date. Letters from faculty will be treated with the same confidentiality as all other letters in the dossier.
If the chair finds that individual faculty letters introduce new arguments, he or she should ask the relevant faculty member(s) to submit new letters omitting the illicit material. Any such material that remains in individual faculty letters when the dossier is submitted should be clearly identified by the chair.
P4
Chair’s office to include a cover page summarizing the list of faculty and their votes. Chair’s office will also include each faculty member’s written vote (on letterhead) and explanation following the cover page.
