300.205.2 Procedures to apply for Tenure
Tenure is awarded by the Board of Regents following peer review and recommendation by the Chancellor, President and the Commissioner in accordance with Board of Regents policies and procedures established by the institution.
The granting of tenure shall be based on a combination of institutional needs and professional performance of the individual.
Institutional faculty needs require that the Institution maintains a balance of faculty with respect to subject areas, and in some cases, specializations within a subject area; a balance of faculty within a program in relation to the number of faculty in the Institution; and a staffing pattern which meets changing student enrollment patterns.
Providing that an individual fits within the institutional needs and the quality of current professional performance and the promise of future performance warrants, a faculty member shall be awarded tenure based upon policies adopted by the Board of Regents of Higher Education of the State of Montana (see BOR 706.1).
Faculty members seeking tenure shall prepare a summary evaluation portfolio according to the criteria given in the Departmental Performance Standards or, in the case where no departmental standards have been developed and approved, the criteria in General Performances for Evaluation of Portfolios, and submit it, together with supporting documentation, to their respective Department Head.
A faculty member may not be evaluated for tenure while on leave from Montana Tech. If a faculty member is on leave during the year in which tenure evaluation would normally occur, then the evaluation shall be postponed until the next year.
Midterm Tenure Evaluation
During the third year, or in the second year if two or more years are awarded towards tenure, the evaluation portfolio shall be evaluated at each administrative level including the Collegiate Evaluation Committee and forwarded to the Chancellor. The Chancellor shall give feedback to the faculty member on his/her progress towards tenure.
Peer/Colleague Review of Faculty Performance
On or before March 1, the tenured members of each academic program shall be requested by the Department Head to provide an assessment of the progress toward tenure of each probationary faculty member with teaching responsibilities within that program using the form attached as Appendix B to the Handbook. The Department Head shall present a summary of those assessments to the appropriate faculty member each year of probationary service. The faculty member may include these statements of assessment in his/her formal application for tenure at the end of the normal period of probationary employment.
On or before March 15, the Department Head shall present a summary of those assessments to the appropriate faculty member each year of probationary service. The faculty member may include these statements of assessment in his/her formal application for tenure at the end of the normal period of probationary employment. In unusual circumstances (e.g., a program with no tenured faculty members or a Department Head who is not tenured), the assessment proceedings shall be conducted by the Dean in appropriate consultation with the members of the Department and its Department Head.
Responsibilities of the Faculty Member and the Administration
The faculty member is responsible for assembling a file, which contains items to support the criteria being evaluated as well as the results of student ratings for the previous six semesters, and presenting this material to the respective Department Head during the sixth year of creditable service at Montana Tech. For deadlines see Section 205.5: Evaluation, Tenure and Promotion Deadlines. At any stage during the evaluation process, additional information may be requested by the school/college Dean, the Collegiate Evaluation Committee, the Provost/EVCAA, the Chancellor or the President.
The Department Head, or the Dean, in the event the Department Head is non-tenured, is responsible for his/her statement of evaluation (see Appendix C of the Handbook), as well as obtaining a written evaluation concerning the award of tenure from each of the tenured members of the department and submitting the total file and statements to the Dean. Upon completion of his/her critique, the portfolio shall then be submitted to the Collegiate Evaluation Committee and then forwarded to the Provost/EVCAA.
The Provost/EVCAA reviews the total file and the prior annual evaluations and prepares a written statement on tenure and adds it to the file. The total file is then transmitted to the Chancellor. The Chancellor shall complete his/her evaluation of the faculty member and send an abstracted file to the President with a recommendation. The abstracted file shall consist of the faculty member’s cover letter, current Curriculum Vita, and all letters of recommendation or assessment.
The final recommendation on tenure is made by the President based upon the total file and the results of previous annual evaluations. A copy of the President’s recommendation on tenure to the Board of Regents shall be provided to the candidate for tenure.
A faculty member may appeal a negative tenure recommendation to the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee within 15 days of receipt of notification of the President’s proposed action. The Committee shall make an inquiry and prepare a formal report to the President that shall be transmitted through the Chancellor. The President’s recommendation and the Committee's report shall be forwarded to the Commissioner of Higher Education if agreement is not reached on campus. The individual may appeal the President’s decision to the Commissioner of Higher Education within 30 days of the President’s final decision. The conditions for such an appeal are listed in BOR Policy 203.5.2.