Academic Affairs Calendar
Personnel
Tenure Management
Tips for Chairs
Web Links
Your primary point of contact for many issues will be your Dean’s office. The list below identifies other offices and individuals that can assist you with specific issues.
| Issue | Office | Contact(s) |
| Disabilities | Disability Services for Students Personnel Services EAA Office System Legal Counsel |
Jim Joque, ADA Coordinator Bob Tabor, Director Mai Vang, Director Legal Deskbook |
| Employment Discrimination | Equity & Affirmative Action | Mai Vang, Director |
| Ethics | Academic Affairs System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants
Legal Deskbook |
| Family and Medical Leave Acts | Personnel Services System Legal Counsel |
Bob Tabor, Director Legal Deskbook |
| FERPA (Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act) | Academic Affairs Records & Registration System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants Dan Kellogg, Registrar Legal Deskbook |
| Open meetings | Academic Affairs System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants Legal Deskbook |
| Open records | Academic Affairs System Legal Counsel |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants Legal Deskbook |
| Sexual harassment | Equity & Affirmative Action | Mai Vang, Director |
| Issue | Office | Contact(s) |
| Academic Staff Hiring | Academic Affairs (permission to hire) Personnel Services (Hayes-Hill titling) Equity & Affirmative Action (hiring procedures) |
Jeff Morin, Interim Provost Bob Tabor, HHTAC Secretary Mai Vang, Director |
| Classified Hiring | Academic Affairs (permission to hire Personnel Services (hiring procedures) |
Jeff Morin, Interim Provost Bob Tabor, Director |
|
Faculty Hiring |
Academic Affairs (permission to hire) Equity & Affirmative Action (hiring procedures) |
Jeff Morin, Interim Provost Mai Vang, Director |
| Faculty and academic staff contracts | Academic Affairs | Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants
Paulette Rogers, PA |
| Academic staff retention, annual & supplemental review, and indefinite status | Academic Affairs Personnel Office |
Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants Bob Tabor, Director |
| Faculty retention, promotion and tenure | Academic Affairs | Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants Libby Raymond, UA |
| Post-tenure review | Academic Affairs | Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants
Libby Raymond, UA |
| Mental health, drug or alcohol problems | Employee Assistance Academic Affairs | Robert Oertel, EAP Director Mick Veum Associate VC, Personnel, Budget & Grants |
| Issue | Office | Contact(s) |
| Assessment | Academic Affairs | Greg Summers, Associate VC, Teaching, Learning & Academic Programs |
| Getting a new course through faculty senate | Faculty Governance | Curriculum Committee Chair |
| Program review | Academic Affairs Faculty Governance |
Greg Summers, Associate VC, Teaching, Learning &
Academic Programs Program Review Committee Chair |
| Student credit hour production (SCH) | Records & Registration | Dan Kellogg, Registrar |
| Issue | Office | Contact(s) |
| Advising | Academic Advising Center Career Advising Center |
Angela Kellogg, Director, Career Services & Academic Advising |
| FIGs | Residential Living | FIG Director |
| Discipline (cheating, disruptive behavior) | Student Development & University Centers | Executive Director, Campus Life |
| Mental health issues | Counseling Center | Robert Oertel, Director |
For a complete schedule of due dates for faculty retention and tenure recommendations, consult the current Academic Affairs Calendar. When doing so, note that the number of years of employment referred to in the calendar are not always the actual number of years at UWSP. For retention and tenure purposes, these years refer to the years toward tenure. For example, for an individual hired with two years toward tenure, the first year at UWSP would be considered the third year toward tenure and this individual would follow the retention schedule for individuals in their third year of employment. Also note that the final decision on retention through the 4th year contract is made at the college level.
The following pattern of retention decisions would be typical for probationary faculty members with no performance concerns:
Specific due dates for academic staff retentions are identified in the current Academic Affairs Calendar.
There are basically three different types of Academic Staff appointments. Each has its own renewal rules.
Fixed-term, no-intent-to-renew
Many Category B, teaching academic staff, are on fixed-term no-intent-to-renew contracts and therefore do not receive retention notification.
Fixed-term, renewal notification
Some Category B, teaching academic staff and some Category A academic staff are on fixed-term renewal notification contracts. It is a good idea to maintain a spreadsheet to track notification of these individuals as there may be times, as in the seventh year, when you will need to make two recommendations in one year, but will only be notified by the Office of Academic Affairs about the first recommendation. The following general rules apply:
Probationary
A few Category A academic staff with appointments in the departments or colleges are on probationary appointments. (Most of the these appointment occur in student affairs and business affairs.) These appointments are similar to probationary faculty appointments. The following notification schedule applies:
Check the current Academic Affairs Calendar for specific due dates.
Faculty Promotions
Recommendations for faculty promotions are normally due to the Dean’s office in November.
Faculty applying for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor must have completed five years (seven years part-time) of college teaching. Typically, the promotion decision occurs, therefore, in the sixth year at the same time as the tenure decision.
Faculty applying for promotion to the rank of Full Professor must have completed ten years (13 years part-time) of college teaching.
Departmental personnel guidelines should clearly delineate additional expectations for promotion.
Category B (Teaching) Academic Staff Promotions
Recommendations for teaching academic staff promotions are due to the Dean’s office in November.
There are no University or System minimums for promotion of Teaching Academic Staff (Category B). The University Handbook, Chapter 4B, Section 5 states, “Appointment to or eligibility for promotion to a specific prefix in the instructional professional title series is … dependent upon experience and performance. Minimum expectations are described in each department’s personnel guidelines.”
Category A Academic Staff Promotions
Recommendations for Category A academic staff promotions are due to the Dean’s office in January.
The Operational Policies and Procedures for the Hayes-Hill Titling Advisory Committee state that Category A academic staff in the profession title series are “first eligible for promotion from Associate to No Prefix when 1.5 years of experience have been accumulated before January 1 in the year the application for promotion is submitted …[and are] first eligible for promotion from No Prefix to Senior when 6.5 years of experience have been acquired by January 1 in the year the application for promotion is submitted.”
Promotion files must include results of a supplemental review completed within the last 12 months.
If you have questions about Category A promotions consult with the Associate Vice Chancellor for Personnel and Budget or with the Director of Personnel Services.
Each tenured faculty member must undergo review every five years. At least one interim meeting must be held with the faculty member, the department chair and one member of the review committee.
Academic staff with indefinite appointments must also undergo review every five years with at least one interim meeting with the supervisor.
Deans must notify the Vice Chancellor’s office in June of tenured faculty reviewed that year. Check with your Dean’s office for the date notification is due to the Dean.
The rules for evaluation of Category B, teaching academic staff, are similar to those for faculty. The rules for evaluation of Category A and C academic staff are quite different.
Category B
Category B, teaching academic staff on fixed term appointments must be evaluated annually. Those with indefinite status must be evaluated at least once every five years. A progress review should occur midway between evaluations. Student and peer evaluations of teaching must be included in the review. Department personnel guidelines should delineate the complete evaluation process for teaching academic staff in a manner consistent with Chapter 4B, Section 5 of the University Handbook.
Category A and C
Category A and C academic staff must be reviewed annually by their supervisor. In the 2nd and 5th years and every five years thereafter, they must also undergo a supplemental review. These reviews are not the same as the retention reviews, though when the timing of the two is reasonably close, they can be done together. The procedures for these reviews are spelled out in Chapter 4B, Section 5 of the University Handbook.
Merit points may only be distributed within the employee classification. In other words, merit points generated by faculty must go to faculty, those generated by Category B academic staff must go to Category B academic staff and those generated by Category A academic staff must go to Category A academic staff.
Department and Chair point assignments are normally due to the Dean’s office in February
Faculty
Each faculty member in a department generates 14 merit points. Ten of these 14 points are distributed to the department to be allocated according to departmental procedures. The remaining 4 points are distributed among the department chairperson (1 point), the dean of the college (2 points), and the vice chancellor (1 point) to be allocated according to the appropriate procedures for each. In order to receive the full pay plan increase, a faculty member must earn 14 total merit points.
Procedural guidelines for merit distribution for faculty can be found in the University Handbook, Chapter 4B, Section 3, under Evaluation of Faculty by Students and Peers.
Category B Academic Staff
Each Category B academic staff member in a department generates 14 merit points. Ten of these 14 points are distributed to the department to be allocated according to departmental procedures. The remaining 4 points are distributed among the department chairperson (1 point), the dean of the college (2 points), and the vice chancellor (1 point) to be allocated according to the appropriate procedures for each. In order to receive the full pay plan increase, a faculty member must earn 14 total merit points.
Category A Academic Staff
Each Category A academic staff member in a unit generates 10 merit points. Any points not assigned to the academic staff member who generates them are returned to a central university pool and distributed in “Step 2” merit to other Category A academic staff.
Procedural guidelines for merit distribution for faculty can be found in the University Handbook, Chapter 4B, Section 5, under Evaluation of Category A Academic Staff.
Outside of the department, there are three offices on campus that play a role in hiring: the Dean’s office, the Academic Affairs office and the Equity and Affirmative Action office. If there is a tenurable position available for hire, as determined by the Academic Affairs office, the Dean’s office decides whether a department may initiate a search for a new probationary faculty member is made at the college level. After the department receives permission to hire, the department follows the hiring guidelines identified in Chapter 3 of the University Handbook and works with the Equity and Affirmative Action office to assure that all required steps and forms are completed. Forms may be accessed at Outlook://Public Folders\All Public Folders\University Offices, Services and Governance\Chancellor’s Office\Equity and Affirmative Action Office\Hiring Forms.
Provide a copy or the department personnel guidelines at the time of hire or as soon as the new faculty member comes to campus.
Meet regularly with new faculty. Topics of discussion may include:
Provide a department “manual” that includes key contact people or offices, information on basic department processes, types of services and equipment provided by the department, etc.
Provide samples, with permission, of recent, successful retention and tenure files.
Limit the number of different class preparations during the first two years if possible.
Assign courses within the new faculty member’s area of expertise.
Adjust the new faculty member’s schedule to allow blocks of time for scholarship and course preparation.
Avoid giving overloads to faculty in their first several years.
Provide training in advising for second year faculty in September of October.
The University’s approach to tenure management is designed to assure that a tenure decision will be based on the qualifications of the probationary faculty member and not on whether there is room for another tenured member in the department. Therefore the tenure management formula is designed to predict the tenure density of each department five years in the future. The goal is 90 percent density to allow for some flexibility in staffing and to avoid overstaffing if there is a reduction in FTE or reduced budget allocations from the state. The following steps are used in determining tenurable FTE available for hire in the upcoming academic year.
The Tenure Management Report is prepared by the college each summer and includes the first five steps described above. The Office of Academic Affairs determines the tenurable positions available for hire as described in the last step and reports this number back to the colleges in mid-August. The Provost checks this number before signing off on Position Announcement Forms. Normally, a department will not be allowed to initiate a search for a probationary faculty member if there is no tenurable position available. However, tenure management is only one factor in determining the decision to allow a department to hire.
Advice to New Chairs from Experienced UWSP Chairs
http://www.roanoke.edu/accaffairs/deptchairhandbook.htm
Good for: job description; qualities of a good chair and department planning
http://www.kansaschairs.org/Department.html
Advice on pertinent issues and questions department chairs ought to ask
http://www.acenet.edu/resources/chairs/index.cfm
An American Council on Education (ACE) site with lots of short papers on: The Chair as Leader; The Chair and Faculty; Resource Management; Legal Issues