Time Period Prior to Review for Promotion to Full Professor
Associate professors with tenure are normally considered for review for promotion to professor in the sixth year of such an appointment. At that time, the chairperson of the department convenes a meeting of the full professors to decide whether a formal review for promotion should be initiated. If the full professors decide not to initiate a review, the chairperson will discuss their decision with the candidate. The candidate may request a formal review at that time, and his or her request will be granted automatically. If the candidate agrees to a postponement, the chairperson will, at the beginning of the following year, consult the full professors and the candidate again, and initiate a formal review unless the candidate requests that the review be postponed. If the candidate has not been reviewed at least once after serving as an associate professor for seven years, the chairperson will consult the candidate at least triennially and will initiate a formal review unless the candidate does not want one. If a department chairperson is an associate professor and is subject to a review, it is the responsibility of the dean to conduct the discussions or to assign the responsibility to a senior member of the department.
If a candidate has received a formal review that has not culminated in a recommendation of promotion, the candidate may, after two or more years have elapsed, request a second review, and this request will be granted. (If the first review was unsuccessfully appealed, the two years are measured from the time of the appeal committee’s decision.) There is no upper limit to the time a faculty member may serve in the rank of associate professor.
Review Process for Promotion to Full Professor
The criteria for promotion from associate professor with tenure to professor are excellence and potential in teaching, research, or extension, and a judgment on whether the individual has fulfilled the promise on which tenure was originally granted. In all colleges, a department review is required, and a detailed rationale for the promotion must be submitted to the dean or director along with the vote of the full professors among the faculty.
The department procedures applicable to the promotion to professor are the same as those outlined above for the award of tenure, except that it is the vote of the full professors (tenured, if the candidate is tenured) in the department which is taken and recorded. The documentation need not be as extensive as it is for promotion to tenure, and the setting up of an ad hoc committee is at the dean’s discretion unless the recommendation of the department is negative and the candidate requests such a committee. If research is one of the candidate’s responsibilities, the dean may want to seek the advice of an ad hoc committee, since external opinions should be sought on such a candidate’s accomplishments and promise.
The dean is not bound by the recommendation of the department as expressed by the chairperson. If the dean disagrees with the judgment of the department, he or she will—if this has not already been done—set up an ad hoc committee. If the dean reverses the department decision, he or she will forward all the materials, including the ad hoc committee’s report, to the provost for review. Promotions from associate professor with tenure to professor are made on the authority of the provost.
Procedures for appealing a negative decision on promotion to full professor are attached as appendix six or may be located on the University Faculty website https://blogs.cornell.edu/deanoffacultydfs/PROMTOFULLPROF.pdf.
