MIS Department Tenure and Promotion Policy

I. General Statement on Tenure and Promotion

The Tenure and Promotion committee will consider a candidate's previous record of performance and future potential with regard to teaching, intellectual Contributions, and professional activity/service. Teaching is the main mission of faculty in the College of Business. High quality teaching is expected of every faculty member. Performance in other areas cannot substitute for successful teaching. Teaching is a sine qua non for tenure and promotion.

Credentials

Candidates for tenure or promotion will generally have demonstrated professional competence by the completion of a PhD in MIS, CIS, or related areas. In exceptional cases, outstanding professional experience in business computing will substitute for the graduate degree.

Burden of Proof

Candidates for tenure or promotion must demonstrate their worthiness by providing the Tenure and Promotion Committee with documentation of their successful work in teaching, intellectual contributions, professional activities, and service. The documentation is described more fully below in the section entitled "The Candidate's Portfolio." The burden of proof for demonstrating performance rests entirely with the candidates for tenure and promotion.

Collegiality

In addition to the performance in the three categories mentioned above, the MIS department also requires its faculty to fully participate in the joint efforts to achieve the department's mission and objectives. Therefore, it is an inherent requirement for the granting of tenure and promotion that the candidate demonstrate the ability to work within a collegial framework to accomplish these shared objectives.

II. Components of Faculty Performance

A. Teaching:

The MIS department places its highest priority on teaching, i.e., on preparing MIS majors for professional careers in MIS. High quality teaching as defined below is a necessary condition for the award of tenure and promotion. The evaluation of faculty teaching performance is qualitative, but not subjective. The learning outcomes prescribed for each course permit the committee to study how well the MIS course objectives have been met. The evaluation must therefore focus on the development and continuous improvement of courses.

In addition to the MIS curriculum, the College is increasingly requesting the MIS faculty to participate in graduate programs and contribute to integration efforts with other departments of the College. Consistent with the MIS approach for its majors, other classes taught by MIS faculty will be evaluated on meeting explicit learning outcomes enunciated by the faculty.

1. Learning Outcomes / Course Objectives

Each course in the MIS curriculum is specifically designed to contribute to the overall objectives of the department's curriculum by addressing one or more of the competencies described in the MIS objectives.

Each instructor would be responsible for developing and continually improving a course "portfolio" which would present a complete description of the course objectives in terms of the learning outcomes (specific skills and concepts) which would be taught. The portfolio would also include a syllabus, course policies about evaluation, and samples of the tests or evaluative techniques. The course description, syllabus and tests would be evaluated in terms of supporting the achievement of the objectives. Since multiple instructors teach each course, the portfolio will often be a joint effort.

MIS faculty will be evaluated in terms of how well the students demonstrate their mastery of these objectives. This approach is more objective than evaluating teaching techniques; it places the priority on learning outcomes (content), while diminishing the subjective evaluation of the instructor's teaching style.

2. Course Development

Given the rapid changes in hardware, software, and business processes, it is essential that the MIS curricula be continuously revised to support the best current business practices. This places an unusual and often unappreciated burden on the MIS faculty to keep up with the evolution of the field and to redesign the course portfolio as needed. Course development would be evaluated in terms the quality of the portfolio and how well the portfolio supports the overall mission and objectives of the MIS department. Courses for the EMBA, MBA, and other programs, which often require specialized preparation, will be evaluated in the same way as MIS classes.

B. Intellectual Contributions:

Intellectual activity will be evidenced by published work authored by the candidate is his/her area of expertise. Intellectual contributions should indicate continuing efforts by the candidate to upgrade his/her knowledge of the field and, especially, to expand the knowledge-base supporting the MIS curriculum. In accord with AACSB's new guidelines, three types of intellectual contributions are fully acceptable as defined below:

• Basic -- advances the MIS discipline with new theories, approaches, insights.
• Applied -- describes / explains how current technology is best applied to business situations.
• Instructional -- advances the MIS instructional methodology or evaluates / advocates MIS instructional approaches.

Publications, then, include books, textbooks, (published) software and manuals, articles in refereed journals, articles in trade publications, and relevant case studies. Presentations that appear in proceedings will be considered as publications; all other presentations will be considered professional activities. Class manuals will be regarded as part of teaching and not counted as publications. Both the quantity and the quality of intellectual contributions will be considered. The candidate may submit information about the quantity and quality of the intellectual contributions to help the committee make informed decisions.

Only works that have actually been published or works contractually accepted for publication will be considered as demonstration of intellectual contributions. Works submitted but not either accepted or rejected will be taken as a demonstration of future potential, but not counted. The candidate must promptly report any change in the status of publications.

C. Professional Activity / Service:

Professional Activity will be evidenced by the establishment of significant on-going relationships with MIS professionals in business: consulting with businesses, placement activities with business, fund raising, training, Beta testing with software vendors, etc. Professional Activity will also include presentations at MIS professional meetings, serving on the board of professional associations, serving as a session chair, serving on the editorial boards of trade publications or academic journals. Grant-writing activities on behalf of the MIS department, college or university are also included as professional activity. Work in progress, which is indicative of future performance, can also be included in this category.

Service implies any contributions (in addition to teaching) by the candidate in support of the MIS Department, College, University, or community. The service area includes administrative tasks like being chair of the department, head of a task force, serving on committees, participating in student recruitment or student placement, student advising, alumni relations, advisor to student organizations, and service to the local community.

III. Criteria for Tenure

The candidate's portfolio should demonstrate consistent high performance or a steady record of improvement during the probationary period. Throughout the probationary period specified in the initial contract, the candidate for tenure must demonstrate high quality teaching performance. During that period, the candidate must also develop one new upper division course or significantly upgrade an existing course. The candidate must also have a high level of performance in the other two areas -- intellectual contributions, and professional activity/service.

The Tenure and Promotion Committee will review the performance of probationary faculty every year and inform them about their progress toward tenure.

IV. Criteria for Promotion

A. To Assistant Professor

The candidate must demonstrate a high level of performance in teaching and acceptable performance in intellectual contributions and professional activity/service. The candidate must also have a minimum of one year of service in the department as Instructor or Lecturer.

B. To Associate Professor

The candidate must demonstrate a high level of performance in teaching, intellectual contributions, and professional activity/service. The candidate must also have completed two years of service in the department.

C. To Professor

The candidate should have a cumulative record of high quality activities demonstrated by his/her portfolio and should demonstrate a sustained high level of performance in teaching, intellectual contributions, and professional activity/service. The candidate must also have a minimum of two years of full-time service in the department at the rank of Associate Professor.

V. Procedures

• A copy of this Policy will be given to each faculty member prior to his or her acceptance of the initial teaching contract.
• The Tenure and Promotion Committee of the MIS department will be made up of all tenured faculty in the department (excluding the Chair) plus one representative from another COB department. The Committee will normally consider both tenure and promotion cases during the first weeks of Winter Quarter. At the first meeting, the Committee will select a chairperson who will from that time forward be the sole spokesperson for the Committee.
• The Committee will elicit the names of faculty to be considered for tenure or promotion from all members of the department.
• Each candidate will furnish all relevant documentation to the Committee by December 31.
• Either the candidate or the Committee may request an interview to supplement the written materials. The Committee will also elicit comments from other faculty members.
• Faculty members who are under consideration for promotion will absent themselves during Committee deliberations about their own candidacy. Similarly, faculty members may not initiate nor participate in departmental decisions concerning another member of his or her family. (see Faculty Handbook)
• All deliberations of the Committee will be confidential. The members of the Tenure and Promotion Committee will vote by secret ballot on each candidate's tenure or promotion. A simple majority vote in favor is considered a positive decision.
• The chairperson of the Committee will forward recommendations to the chairperson of the MIS department by February 8th. The Committee chair will communicate denials of promotion to the candidate, explaining the denial in terms of shortcomings in the three areas being evaluated.
• A copy of the MIS chairperson's written recommendations to the dean (February 15th) will be given to the members of the Committee and the candidate at the time of transmission.
• Every non-tenured Group I faculty member will be evaluated every year by the Committee which will formally evaluate progress toward tenure. The evaluation will be communicated in writing to each affected faculty member and a copy placed in his or her file.
• Every quarter the committee will review teaching evaluations from the previous quarter and give each faculty member and the department an appraisal of the faculty members teaching. This appraisal, along with the numerical and written evaluations from students will be kept in the faculty member"s file for use in annual performance evaluations and future tenure and/or promotion decisions.
• The Tenure and Promotion Committee will be consulted about the terms of employment for new tenure-track faculty members.
• During April of each year, this document will be reviewed for possible revision. If the majority of Group I faculty feel the need for revision, the document will be revised by the Tenure and Promotion Committee. Revisions will become effective in the subsequent September of the same year.

VI. Calendar of Events: