CON Standards and Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure for Academic Rank

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Appendices

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER COLLEGE OF NURSING
Standards and Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure for Academic Rank	Subsection: Appendix A1
Section - Appendices	Originating Date: May 1997
Responsible Reviewing Agency: Promotion & Tenure Committee	Revised: May 2001 Revised: February 2005 Revised: February 2006 Revised: February 2007 Revised: November 2010 Reviewed: February 2013 Revised: May 2015 Revised: November 2018 Revised: September 2020 Revised: November 2023 (changes)
Related documents: 4.4.6 (1) Promotion and Tenure for Academic Rank Promotion and Tenure webpage Section 4.3 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents AACN (2018) UNMC Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for Submitting Academic Promotion and Tenure Recommendations

Introduction

This document provides guiding principles to assist the faculty in preparing their documents for promotion and/or continuous appointment (tenure). Included are the criteria the committee uses in its process of reviewing the faculty documents and forming a recommendation to the dean. The criteria in this document are areas of evidence that the faculty will demonstrate as their accomplishments in the narratives. The committee anticipates that faculty members will have different accomplishments to cite in the topic areas. There is a Promotion and Tenure webpage on the College of Nursing’s website that provides a link to the UNMC Promotion and Tenure guidelines and additional information regarding completion of the application (e.g., application deadlines, coaching assistance, request for reviewer, examples of narratives for the application).

Promotion in academic rank is available for doctorally prepared faculty members holding a special appointment or health professions appointment (HPA). Tenure is only available to those on with HPA. Faculty members on a special appointment may request a transfer to a health professions appointment if they wish to seek tenure.

If an individual has a HPA or a special appointment academic rank and wishes to seek an appointment for a clinical rank, the faculty member will need to request a change from a HPA or special appointment on an academic rank to a clinical rank special appointment. Consideration of transfer between ranks represents a major career decision and is pursued only after serious consideration of the implications of such a change, and careful deliberation between the faculty member and appropriate division assistant dean. If mutually agreeable, and an HPA line is available, a one-time, one-way transfer is allowed between a special appointment and an HPA appointment.

The College of Nursing (CON) Promotion and Tenure (P&T) committee has developed these guidelines to assist you during your preparation of the application. Submission deadlines must be met in order to apply for promotion and/or tenure. All CON P&T materials can be found on the Promotion and Tenure webpage. All applicants must follow academic Rank promotion guidelines and policy 4.4.6 (1) for the preparation of their documents. Documents that do not follow all of the guidelines will not be reviewed.

Checklist

1. As a first step, faculty members should meet at least annually with their assistant dean or supervisor to discuss expectations and accomplishments (teaching, scholarly activities, patient care if applicable, professional service) for each area under review.
2. Faculty are encouraged to collect the required documents and carefully review the specific requirements for the preparation of an application. These are listed on the Promotion and Tenure webpage. Please note: An electronic copy of the promotion and/or tenure document must be provided to the dean’s office and chair of the P & T committee.
3. The most important of the required documents are the personal narratives and the Curriculum Vitae (CV). The personal narratives describe your accomplishments in the three areas of teaching, scholarly activity, and professional service.
4. As a starting point, faculty should review these guidelines for the College of Nursing. Included in these guidelines are examples of activities related to each of the areas of emphasis organized into levels of expanding scope of accomplishments.

General Issues

1. The division assistant dean or supervisor has the responsibility to assist every new faculty appointee in determining the amount of emphasis (percent of effort) to place on each area of academic endeavor in accordance with Section 4.3 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. This selection should be compatible with activities required to achieve the long-term goals of tenure and eventual appointment to the rank of professor.
2. It would be expected that each faculty identifies a promotion and tenure goal to be discussed at the annual evaluation. A summary of progress toward promotion and tenure across the years since last appointment be provided and reviewed with the division assistant dean or supervisor on an annual basis. It is recognized that circumstances may make change in professional emphasis necessary.
3. Applicant can identify someone who can provide guidance or help with promotion and tenure process. Contact the Promotion and Tenure Committee chair.
4. It is recognized that not all faculty will fit unified or predefined profiles and that each candidate will come forward with a unique blend of activities supporting, in different areas and extents, the mission of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the College of Nursing. It is a primary responsibility of the candidate, through written narrative(s) and the division assistant dean or supervisor through an accompanying letter, to clearly describe the significance of the candidate’s contributions and define how the candidate contributes in the chosen areas of emphasis to the mission of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the College of Nursing.

CON Academic Promotion and Tenure Deadline Dates

1. Faculty members will notify P&T chair in writing (hard copy or email) of the intent to apply for promotion by April 15 in the year prior to when action regarding promotion or tenure will be deliberated. This should have been discussed with their supervisor and acknowledged on the form prior to submission. Be specific on exactly what you are seeking; e.g. associate professor. Please indicate your level of accomplishments in each of the areas. For example, associate professor rank must be able to demonstrate a sustained record at Level II for two areas and Level I for one area. For example: My 2 areas for level two are ________ and the area for level one is ________.
2. Faculty members will complete the Contact Information for External Reviewer Form (See Promotion and Tenure webpage) for each of the seven potential external reviewers and submit to the P&T committee chair by May 15. Suggested external reviewers must be outside the University of Nebraska system. External reviewers must be outside the University of Nebraska system and cannot be a recent or current collaborator, consultant, mentor or someone with whom the faculty member has another close professional or personal relationship. For reviewers in academia, reviewers must be at the requested academic rank higher that the applicant’s current level or equivalent if at professor rank.
3. The External Reviewer Waiver Form (See Promotion and Tenure webpage) must be signed and submitted along with the Contact Information for External Reviewer Forms to the P&T committee chair by May 15.
4. The P & T Committee will meet to select external reviewers by June 15. The committee will use the applicant’s list but reserves the right to ask other nationally known experts in the applicant’s field to serve as an external reviewer. The applicant will not be told who the external reviewers are for the applicant’s document. The P&T Committee chair will contact the selected external reviewers and secure their willingness to serve by July 15.
5. Faculty will follow application guidelines for electronic submission of documents by August 15 to the dean’s office and to the P&T chair. Three written narratives (see Narrative Guidelines) that a) include all relevant and important evidence to support the promotion and/or tenure, b) be consistent with the applicant’s CV, and c) be written so individuals outside of the CON understand the significance. Applicants are encouraged to work closely with their division assistant dean or supervisor in preparing the narratives and assuring that they are congruent with their CV.
6. CON faculty members promotion and/or tenure documents accompanied by the assistant dean’s letter of recommendation must be received in the dean’s office by August 15 in order for duplicating and mailing of the document to the external reviewers by August 30. All policies and guidelines must be followed or documents will not be reviewed.
7. Letters from the external reviewers will be requested back by October 15. These will be added to the applicant’s document and the P&T Committee review will be scheduled. The P&T Committee review will be completed by January 15 with recommendations forwarded to the Dean of the College of Nursing by February 15.

Areas of Accomplishments

In order to achieve the missions of the College and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), faculty members strive to achieve excellence in the three areas of teaching, scholarly activity, and professional service. Since faculty members’ responsibilities are different within the college, individual faculty accomplishments will reflect these differences. Three areas are:

• Teaching - Teaching activity recognizes significant accomplishments in classroom, clinical, and research supervision.
• Scholarly Activity - Scholarly activity recognizes significant accomplishments that follow research activities and those that relate to teaching or professional service. Nursing scholarship is defined by the AACN (2018) as: “the generation, synthesis, translation, application, and dissemination of knowledge that aims to improve health and transform health care”.
• Professional Service - Professional service recognizes significant accomplishments for the university, professional organizations, and in practice arenas.

Different illustrations of the combination of areas that the faculty member may consider when applying for promotion are listed below:

Associate Professor: The UNMC Guidelines and CON Guidelines emphasize demonstration of accomplishments during the last 4-6 years or since the last promotion date.
      1) Level II teaching and scholarly activity and Level I professional service
      2) Level II teaching and professional service and Level I scholarly activity
      3) Level II scholarly activity and professional service and Level I teaching

Professor: The UNMC Guidelines and CON Guidelines emphasize demonstration of accomplishments during the last 5-7 years or since the last promotion date.
      1) Level III teaching and scholarly activity and Level II professional service
      2) Level III teaching and professional service and Level II scholarly activity
      3) Level III scholarly activity and professional service and Level II teaching

Accomplishments according to academic rank:

Criteria for accomplishments defined by this document do not specify any set number that should be demonstrated for continuous appointment or promotion to a specific rank. Expected accomplishments for each rank and continuous appointment for the College of Nursing were derived from the UNMC Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for Submitting Academic Promotion and Tenure Recommendations. Accomplishments are arranged in areas for the academic rank and illustrate advancing achievement across the ranks. The document should reflect accomplishments during the last 4-6 years for promotion to associate professor or during the last 5-7 years for promotion to professor or since the last promotion date.

Required Accomplishments For Promotion to Academic Rank and or Tenure
Associate Professor	One area at assistant professor rank	Two sustained areas at associate professor rank
Professor		One area at associate professor rank	Two sustained areas at professor rank

Required Accomplishments For Tenure (Continuous Appointment)
Tenure	Competent in one area	Sustained in two areas

 

The following table identifies EXAMPLES of accomplishments for the corresponding rank.

TEACHING
Assistant Professor	Associate Professor	Professor
Has an educational and clinical background that uses content knowledge and skills for effective classroom and clinical teaching. Contributes to the development and improvement of innovative teaching and/or educational programs (e.g., e-learning modules, simulation activities). Utilizes theory and evidence with innovative methods and technology to effectively facilitate student learning. Guides students’ scholarly activities. Mentors students in professional development	Demonstrates effective teaching in several courses within area of expertise. Initiates the development and improvement of innovative teaching and/or educational programs. Directs student’s scholarly activities resulting in professional dissemination. Receives formal recognition at local or regional level for effective teaching. Mentors junior faculty and students in professional development.	Assumes a leadership role in curriculum/course development, implementation and evaluation. Mentors colleagues in professional development. Supervises students in the development of scholarship and professional service. Receives recognition at the national level for effective teaching Recognition and documentation as Master Teacher
SCHOLARLY ACTIVITY
Assistant Professor	Associate Professor	Professor
Demonstrates focused program of scholarship with external funding potential. Demonstrates scholarly productivity, including publication of peer-reviewed manuscripts and regional, national, and/or international presentations. Demonstrates regional and beginning national recognition for expertise and accomplishments in area of scholarship. Mentors students in scholarly activities	Secures external funding for scholarly activities. Maintains a focused program of scholarship with sustained scholarly output. Demonstrates national recognition for expertise and accomplishments in area of scholarship. Serves as a mentor of students in scholarly activities. Mentors junior faculty (instructor, assistant professor) and students in scholarly activity	Demonstrates ability to sustain external funding. Is recognized as a national expert for scholarly achievement. Sustains a record of dissemination of scholarly work with scientific and clinical impact. Mentors colleagues' and students' scholarly activities. Leads activities at the national level to discover or translate nursing/healthcare science.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Assistant Professor	Associate Professor	Professor
Participates in professional organizations. Participates as a contributing member of College of Nursing committees and/or task forces. Participates in local or regional activities to address health care issues. Engages in faculty practice, if applicable.	Provides leadership on College of Nursing, practice partner committees, university committees, councils or task forces. Leads regional (beyond state) or national professional organizations. Serves as an expert on regional (beyond state) or national panels, review committees/councils, or journal editorial boards. Develops patient care focused programs for a targeted population with community organizations	Demonstrates sustained national or international recognized service activities consistent with areas of excellence. Provides professional leadership at national level. Consults regionally and nationally for development of patient care focused programs for a targeted population.

 

Continuous appointment (tenure) - Granting of continuous appointment may or may not occur at the same time as promotion in rank. Continuous appointment is an ongoing commitment for continuation of service between the University and the faculty member. In order to be considered for continuous appointment, a faculty member needs to demonstrate two sustained areas of accomplishment for the academic rank held by the faculty member and sustained in one area at the lower rank with evidence of progressively advancing scholarship.

Guidelines for Submitting Academic Track Promotion Document

Each year a set of guidelines is published by the UNMC that describes the types of documentation and set limits for the length of narrative to be included in the recommendation document. A faculty member seeking promotion or continuous appointment should refer to the current UNMC guidelines document and dates for submitting materials.

CON Procedure for Submitting Academic Promotion and Tenure Document
The following summary provides procedural descriptions to assist faculty with developing their Academic Track Promotion document. The five sections of the document are: 1) UNMC Transmittal Form (Appendix A UNMC Guidelines), 2) Division Assistant Dean/Supervisor’s Letter, 3) Curriculum Vitae, 4) Narratives and 5) External Letters of Support. See Guidelines for Submitting Application below.

1.   UNMC Transmittal Form: This is the form found in Appendix A of the UNMC Guidelines. The faculty member is encouraged to discuss promotion with their immediate supervisor. The supervisor (i.e., division assistant dean) must make a recommendation and sign this form.

2.   Division Assistant Dean/Supervisor Letter: There must be a letter of recommendation following a comprehensive evaluation of the applicant. The letter reflects the division assistant dean/supervisor recommendation on the UNMC transmittal form. When the applicant is being recommended for tenure, associate professor or professor, the division assistant dean’s letter should identify the areas of academic endeavor (i.e., teaching, scholarly activity, and/or professional service) upon which the recommendation is based. The division assistant dean/supervisor’s letter should contain a summary of teaching evaluations by professional students and graduate students.

In the case of a faculty member who also holds an administration position and is seeking promotion and/or tenure, the chair of the P&T Committee will determine in consultation with the Dean of the CON, an appropriate individual to write the letter of support. It is not the applicant’s decision to select who will write their letter.

3.   Curriculum Vitae: All candidates must submit a current curriculum vitae in the specified format in Appendices B and C of the UNMC Guidelines for P&T along with the summary narratives of accomplishments. Appendix B details the categories and order for the vitae that should be consistent with your current CON curriculum vitae. Appendix C states that you are to include for the last two calendar years the following information:

1. Listing of lectures given in team-taught courses (include number of lectures)
2. Listing of courses for which you were coordinator/supervisor
3. Listing of courses (course number and name, only) taught by you giving the total number of hours involved in course/courses.
4. Information on teaching of graduate students, especially as pertains to supervision of thesis and dissertation research. (Doctoral dissertations, master’s theses or projects, pre-doctoral fellowships sponsored (e.g., F31, T32), Post-doctoral fellowships sponsored (e.g. F32, T32, K01).
5. Information on teaching activities related to those in residency training (medical, pharmacy, etc.)
6. Listing of continuing education lectures/courses given
7. Course/lecture/training evaluation materials and outcome assessments

4.   Narratives: The narratives must summarize the accomplishments for each of the 3 areas: teaching, scholarly activity, and professional service. The 3 separate narratives should not exceed two pages for each area of accomplishment. See below for the guidelines for developing the narratives.

5.   Potential External Reviewers: The applicant must complete a Contact Information for External Review Form for Academic Rank P&T for seven individuals who have expertise in their areas of strength. This form can be found at the Promotion and Tenure webpage. Each of the seven forms must be completed by the applicant and submitted to the chair of the CON P&T by the specified deadline date. Suggested external reviewers must be outside the University of Nebraska system and cannot be a recent or current collaborator, consultant, mentor or someone with whom the faculty member has another close professional or personal relationship. For reviewers in academia, reviewers must be at the requested academic rank higher than the applicant’s current level or equivalent if at professor rank. The applicant must also sign the External Letters of Review Waiver For Faculty Promotion to indicate whether they waive or retain the right to review external review letters. (Waiver form can be found at Promotion and Tenure webpage)

6.   Copies of Publications. Candidates for promotion should submit copies of not more than five (5) of the most important publications which that are published or accepted for publication since their last promotion. Candidates for tenure also should submit copies of not more than five (5) of the most important publications. If these publications serve as the basis for excellence in scholarly activity, these should be a primary focus of the written narrative on scholarly activity.

Guidelines for Developing the Narrative Part for Academic Promotion and Tenure Application

Preparation of Narratives: Prior to developing your Narratives you need to discuss rank, tenure, and your specific areas of accomplishments (teaching, scholarly activity, professional service) with your supervisor. Also if you would like a coach for the promotion and tenure application process, contact the Promotion and Tenure Committee chair.

Promotion and tenure application includes a two page prose description of the evidence supporting your accomplishments in each of the three areas. This is where you must really highlight your accomplishments to assist others reviewing your application to understand the significance of your contributions to the college, university, and profession. The narratives focus on the last 4-6 (associate) or 5-7 (professor) years, not your entire career. As you prepare your narrative, be concise and state specifically your accomplishments and the impact you have had in the areas of focus (teaching, scholarly activity, or professional service). Prepare the narrative in chronological order to illustrate how one activity leads to the next so that any reviewer will be able to clearly see the sustained contributions or outstanding record.

The following are trigger points for you to consider when developing your narratives according to the three areas of evidence. Use Appendix A1 listing of behaviors as guides that represent the level of achievement. Not all behaviors are required but the application for associate professor rank must demonstrate a sustained record of excellence and for professor there must be national recognition and outstanding achievements.

Teaching

Describe your contributions for identified courses and curriculum. Include innovative strategies (e.g. simulations, e-learning modules) to deliver the course/clinical experience and impact on curriculum. You may include a summary of student evaluations and/or statements that describe the quality of teaching. If there are some areas that the student evaluations identify as areas for improvement, state how you are trying to change these categories.

Research mentoring of DNP and/or Ph.D. students (your role/include number/ activities)

Honors and teaching awards (e.g. UNMC Interprofessioinal Educational Academy of Educators)

Note: Information for developing a teaching portfolio is available and detailed on the UNMC Academic Services website: http://www.unmc.edu/academicservices. A teaching portfolio is not required, it is intended to help with documenting teaching activities that can be helpful for annual evaluations and in the development of the two-page narrative on teaching activities for Promotion and Tenure Committee review. . The Teaching Portfolio is Optional and is not submitted with promotion application materials.

Scholarly Activity is not limited to only basic or clinical research achievements but reflects the applicant’s contributions to the profession. Nursing scholarship is defined by the AACN as “the generation, synthesis, translation, application, and dissemination of knowledge that aims to improve health and transform health care” (AACN 2018) http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/position/defining-scholarship.

Grants should demonstrate the sustained growth from seed to small intramural to extramural funding. Include your role or contribution to each grant. Outcomes or publications are expected to be generated from grants and are the supportive evidence of the scholarly activity accomplishments. Grants that have been submitted but not funded may be included to show the early development and discuss the changes based on the grant evaluation comments.

Presentations (paper or posters) may be an intermediate step for dissemination of findings but published articles with you as first author are preferable.

If your focus of scholarly activity changes over time — describe this change to demonstrate how one area lead to the next area or what you are contributing to the next area based on expertise (e.g. computer technology for data collection may have been expanded in a second project to include intervention delivery). Making connections between different projects will support a sustained or outstanding record.

Scholarly activities can be connected with a professional organization in terms of development or revisions of practice guidelines or organizing symposiums/conferences.

Professional Service includes service to the CON, the university, and professional organizations.

CON: Description of committee functions and your specific role, scholarly outcomes from committee work or impact on the organization. Appointments to a task force or ad-hoc committees are included and describe the outcome from the committee in relation to the CON’s mission/vision and to university as a whole.

University Medical Center/the Nebraska Medical Center Hospital/University of Nebraska: Identify the committee, contribution you made as a member or leader of the committee, and any specific outcome that was a important to any of the listed entities. It may be appropriate to connect the committee to strategic plan objective or new enterprise development

State of Nebraska: Identify the committee, the contribution you made as a member or leader of the committee, and any specific outcome that was important to any of the listed entities. Include the significance of the committee’s function to the citizens of Nebraska.

Professional Organization: Local, state, regional and national professional organization (appointed or elected) service is important to demonstrate sustained or outstanding contributions to the organization. Describe the significance of the committee to the organization and any recognition associated with the committee’s participation.

Practice: Individuals who engage in practice as part of their professional service will provide a description of exemplary contributions. Describe your practice include population served, role, and members of the team providing service (interdisciplinary). Describe any consultations and/or program development that exemplifies contributions to patient care focused programs for a targeted population.