Third-year review
It is the policy of the College to review tenure-track assistant professors early in the second semester of their third academic year of appointment. The purpose of the review is to provide you with a timely assessment of performance and constructive suggestions for improvement. The review should also ensure appropriate documentation of performance in the areas of teaching, research and service. Recognizing that two and a half years may not be long enough to determine definitive patterns of performance, the third year is seen as a good point which to evaluate whether you are progressing toward eventual promotion and tenure or whether this outcome seems unlikely.
The review is conducted primarily at the departmental level and consists of two reports:
- A committee of at least three tenured faculty members will prepare a signed report; a copy is kept in your departmental file.
- The department chairman prepares a second synopsis report.
You will then read these reports and discuss with the department chairman your perceived strengths and weaknesses in the areas of teaching, research and service, as well as plans for improving performance in these areas in the near future.
The third-year review is more comprehensive than the annual review by the department, but less elaborate and formal than the full review by a committee for tenure and promotion. If the review reveals the agreement in the two reports that serious deficiencies exist, the chairman will forward the entire report of the committee — along with his or her own — to the dean of the College with a recommendation that the appointment not be continued beyond the fourth year.
