Tenure-Track & Tenured Faculty

Tenure Process

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Tenure Process

What is Tenure?

Tenure is the keystone for academic freedom and excellence, awarded for academic and professional merit. The Board of Regents Policy on Faculty Tenure is the comprehensive institutional code that articulates the formal relationship between the University and its faculty. The tenure regulations were adopted by the Board of Regents in 1945 and continue to uphold "the conviction that a well-defined statement of rules is essential to the protection of academic freedom and to the promotion of excellence at the University of Minnesota. A well-designed promotion and tenure system ensures that considerations of academic quality will be the basis for academic personnel decisions, and thus provides the foundation for academic excellence." (Preamble, Regents Policy on Faculty Tenure)

Tenure Process and Timeline

Process Overview

Most colleges within the University have a six year probationary service period for tenure-track faculty. Some units have longer probationary periods which range from seven to nine years.

The mandatory decision year is the final year of the probationary period, during which an extensive review takes place using the unit’s 7.12 Statement. See the Procedures for information on voting rules (II.C), unit review (II.F), second-level review (II.G), and central review (II.H).

A probationary faculty member may present their tenure case earlier than their mandatory decision year if they meet the requirements for tenure. If a faculty member is interested in early promotion and/or tenure, they should discuss the possibility with the department chair.

Timeline Overview

All Years Prior to the Decision Year:

  • Annual appraisals during the probationary period
  • Work with chair/mentoring/review committee

During the Mandatory Decision Year:

  • April-October: Dossier preparation and external review
  • September-November: Departmental review
  • December: College/Campus P&T Committee
  • February-April: Central administration review
  • May: Provost’s recommendation to the Board of Regents

For more information, see the Procedures for Reviewing Candidates for Tenure and/or Promotion: Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty and the Regents Policy on Faculty Tenure. You might also consider attending a Promotion and Tenure Workshop hosted by the Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs.

Annual Appraisals of Tenure-Track Faculty

Key Links & Due Dates

The annual appraisal is based on the unit’s criteria and standards for tenure and/or promotion (the unit’s 7.12 Statement). The report attached to the UM Form 12 should address the performance of the probationary faculty member in the context of the unit’s 7.12 Statement. After the probationary faculty member is reviewed according to the Procedures document, the chair or head of a unit is responsible for meeting with the candidate and discussing the outcome of the review. The report of this review is recorded on the Form 12, which is signed by both the unit head and the probationary faculty member. The form is then sent to the collegiate dean or to the campus chancellor and finally to the Executive Vice President and Provost. These annual reviews become part of the promotion and tenure dossier. 

An annual appraisal must be completed each year for every probationary faculty member even during an extension of the probationary period.

Annual Review of Tenured Faculty and Post-tenure Review

Post-tenure review refers both to the annual reviews of tenured faculty and to special reviews outlined in Section 7a. of the Regents Policy on Faculty Tenure. All faculty members, including those with tenure, are expected to be reviewed annually; most often, this takes place during a merit review each spring. Each unit has established a set of goals and expectations for performance in the three areas of research or creative work, teaching, and service. One of the goals of post-tenure review (as part of the annual review) is to determine if faculty members have met the goals and expectations established by the unit. It may also provide a means of assisting faculty members who are experiencing difficulties in achieving the goals and expectations of their individual units. Each spring, units are asked to provide their results from annual reviews for tenured faculty from the previous academic year to the Executive Vice President and Provost. These overall results are presented to the Board of Regents each year.

Extension of the Probationary Period for Tenure-Track Faculty

Key Links

According to the Faculty Tenure Policy and the Procedures for Reviewing Candidates for Tenure and/or Promotion: Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty, a probationary faculty member may extend their probationary period for one year at a time for:

  • the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child
  • for caregiver responsibilities
  • for personal illness or injury
  • other

An extension of the probationary period is not a leave; during the extended period, a faculty member continues their teaching, research, and service responsibilities in the unit. The probationary period may be extended for no more than three years total for any combination of the conditions above (excluding pandemic-related extensions).

Note that all probationary tenure system faculty who were in year 1 or later during spring semester 2020 were granted a one-year extension to their probationary clock due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Extension requests must be submitted within 12 months of the date of the event giving rise to the claim, and before the faculty member’s mandatory decision year.

For information about promotion and/or tenure at the University of Minnesota – Duluth, see the UMD Tenure Code. Tenure and promotion processes for UMD differ from those on the other campuses because of their contract with the University Education Association.

Promotional Review of Tenured Associate Professors

Key Links

Reviews of tenured faculty for promotion to professor are governed by the Procedures for Reviewing Candidates for Tenure and/or Promotion: Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty. Although there is no university-wide annual review of associate professors providing them with information about their progress toward promotion to the rank of professor, individual units may specify this procedure in their 7.12 Statements. The unit must review the progress toward promotion of each associate professor with tenure no less than every four years. The four-year review must be reported in writing by the unit head using UM Form 13. The Procedures document provides some guidelines for this review.

Merit Review

It is important for departments to have policies and rubrics for the annual merit review process. The merit review process varies across colleges and departments. Here is a Quick Guide to Merit Review that can help guide you through the process and/or help to refine your existing processes.