7.3 Philosophy

Faculty advancement in rank is conferred through a process including faculty peer review and instructional administration review. The goal of the College is to provide the best possible education for its students. Fundamental to this responsibility is the retention of excellent faculty members. This is accomplished, in part, by providing professional advancement for excellence in teaching, professional development, and institutional engagement. A universally accepted recognition of performance in the academic world is promotion to a higher rank, with the honor, prestige and financial benefits that accompany the promotion. Promotion to a higher rank is neither an unqualified right nor an automatic consequence of having completed a certain period of employment. The College grants advancement, after the appropriate number of years in rank, strictly on the basis of merit. Promotion or continuation of a faculty member is never to be presumed. The faculty member being evaluated must demonstrate clearly, with strong supporting evidence, the ways in which they have attained the level of excellence at the current rank they hold. Advancement in rank is a sign of the College’s confidence in the individual faculty member’s capability for greater achievement and for assuming greater responsibilities.

Teaching excellence, institutional engagement, and professional development are essential for rank advancement. Each advancing rank anticipates cumulative knowledge, skills, and responsibilities from the previous rank. Evidence of criteria fulfillment may be demonstrated in student evaluations, peer evaluations, self-evaluations, supervisory evaluations, and portfolio for promotion. Performance expectations and fulfillment of criteria should be assessed annually as part of an open, ongoing dialog between faculty and supervisors.