Promotion & Tenure

Faculty Promotion and Tenure

The promotion and tenure procedure is a parallel structure allowing for faculty proposal, evaluation and appeal, as well as administrative evaluation at each level of organization of the University.

This document governs the University process of review at every level. Departments, units, and colleges may make additions to and clarifications of this document to address their special circumstances. These elaborations, which must be approved by the University Committee on Promotions and Tenure and by the Provost, will constitute the departmental document.

Departmental documents should also include the procedure for choosing the departmental promotion and tenure committee and should specify required levels of achievement for each rank, such as excellence in research or teaching or in both. Appropriate modes of scholarly publication may also be specified. Faculty candidates for promotion and/or tenure will be evaluated based on the criteria in their department's approved promotion and tenure guidelines appropriately weighted for their workload for the period under review. (Rev. 3/4/08)

The promotion steps appear in the chart below.

The ultimate objectives of promotion policies at the University of Delaware are faculty excellence and procedural fairness. In order to preserve and enhance its reputation as an institution of higher education, the University must establish and maintain high standards of teaching, scholarly and artistic activity, and service. At the same time, it must treat each faculty member with decency and respect. Thus, these procedures seek to promote the individual's welfare and professional development while at the same time fostering the University's growth toward excellence.

The process rests firmly on peer evaluations, for the faculty itself is best able to establish and apply promotion criteria. Furthermore, the promotion system recognizes the uniqueness of the disciplines that comprise the University faculty. Indeed, departments have the major responsibility for establishing and administering guidelines and making initial promotion and tenure recommendations.

Such departmental decisions affect the University as a whole, and consequently, college and University committees, together with appropriate administrators at each level, also play an important role. They insure that policies and decisions serve the interests of the University and are roughly comparable across its many divisions. (Note: this version of the policy was approved by the Faculty Senate on April 7, 1997. Faculty hired prior to that date may obtain a copy of the previous version of the policy from the Faculty Senate Office. The application procedure and deadlines will be as detailed below for all faculty applying for promotion and tenure). (Note revised 9/14/98.)