Procedures and Guidelines

Faculty Promotion and Tenure Review

March 2026

These procedures are intended to assist a faculty member to create and submit an application and portfolio for promotion and/or tenure (P&T) using the Watermark Faculty Success Review, Promotion and Tenure System (RPT).

The promotion and tenure portfolio is an organized documentation of the candidate’s professional growth and achievements in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service to her/his field or discipline, component, university, and community.

A promotion and tenure portfolio is expected to contain a focused analysis of the candidate’s work that clearly addresses how the candidate meets or exceeds the university and component’s criteria for promotion and tenure. The narrative and selected examples must clearly illustrate the quality and significance of the candidate’s work in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. At each level of review, a reviewer may request a copy of any of the materials listed on the curriculum vitae or referenced in the candidate’s narrative.

1. This procedure refers to University Regulation and Procedure 02.342 Faculty Promotion and Tenure.
   
   
2. Faculty members seeking promotion and/or tenure will submit their promotion and tenure portfolio using the Watermark Faculty Success Review, Promotion and Tenure System by the deadline posted on the Promotion and Tenure Calendar. 
   
   
3. Personal Information Section: The Personal Information section of the application is completed by responding to a variety of questions and uploading various documents. Throughout the entire application, it is recommended to label your document with clear titles so your reviewer knows exactly what the document contains.
   
   Specific items that may need to be uploaded in the Personal Information section:
   1. Appointment letter from the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost (EVPAA/Provost). This letter will have been provided at the time of initial appointment to Copies can be obtained, if needed, from your academic component, college, or Faculty Affairs. If the applicant was granted an extension of the tenure period, the letter of extension should also be included.
   2. In the instance where a faculty member is assigned by the AC administrator to a position that places a heavier emphasis on teaching, scholarship, or administration, a written description of the assignment provided to the faculty by the AC administrator may be included as an attachment to the self-assessment.
      
      
4. Self-Reflection: The following information is relevant for the preparation of the self-reflection covering teaching, scholarship, and service.
   1. Each faculty member is expected to produce a self-reflection of teaching, scholarship, and The faculty member is to limit the self-reflection to a total of no more than 15 pages, not including attachments, appendices, etc. Appendix A of these procedures provides guidance regarding the content of each section.
   2. The 15 total pages of self-reflection may be divided between and among the three sections (Teaching, Scholarship, and Service) as deemed appropriate by the applicant. The document may also include an introduction and a conclusion section.
   3. The self-reflection should have the following format characteristics: 1” margins on all sides; double spaced; Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana or similar font of 11 point or larger; and Arabic page numbers in a header or footer.
      
      
5. Supporting Documents to be Included:
   1. Current Curriculum Vitae – will automatically be pulled from Watermark
   2. Copies of all Periodic/Annual Reviews for the period under review. The period under review for tenure is the period since appointment as a tenure-track faculty member at TWU, and includes any prior years that were credited toward The period under review for promotion is the time since appointment as a faculty member at TWU (with credit) or since the last promotion, whichever is most recent. For ease of access in review, it is recommended that all relevant pages from a single prior performance review be combined as a single document and clearly labeled. For example, a periodic performance review conducted in 2022-23 would be comprised of the self-assessment, recommendations, and ratings from the PRC, AC administrator, and Dean. All of these pages should be combined into a single document and saved with the file name of “Smith performance review for AY 2023.” Any performance reviews that were conducted in Watermark will automatically be pulled into the promotion application.
   3. Courses taught report for the period under review – will automatically be pulled from Watermark.
   4. Student Course Evaluations – will automatically be pulled from Watermark
   5. The quantitative data from Student Course Evaluations for the review period will be automatically The faculty member may elect to include the qualitative data by checking the “Yes” box on the Student Course Evaluations page. The FPR system will display either all or none of the qualitative data, at the election of the applicant.
   6. Peer Observation Report and AC Administrator Observation Report – optional but not required for 2026-27 applications.
   7. In the Scholarship/Creative Activities section, it will be necessary to provide reviewers with either a copy of any recent articles (or other scholarly materials) or access via a digital link.
   8. If a faculty member’s supporting documentation includes large files, it is recommended the supporting documentation files be made available on an external storage site (e.g., Google Drive). The self-reflection must provide a clear reference to the materials and a working link for access by any reviewer.
      
      
6. External Reviewer Process
   1. Applications for tenure and/or promotion to Associate Professor or Professor require an external review of the candidate’s record of scholarship and service to the profession. This requirement does not apply to faculty seeking lecturer or clinical promotions.
   2. Each candidate will compile a rank-ordered list of three qualified external reviewers and their complete contact information (name, rank, university, email address, phone number, and mailing address). The Peer Review Committee will compile a second rank-ordered list of three additional external reviewers with their complete contact Refer to URP III.12.a Faculty Promotion and Tenure for a list of required qualifications for external reviewers.
   3. Prior to soliciting external reviewers, the AC administrator should discuss any relationships with potential external reviewers with the The AC administrator will then invite a potential external reviewer from each list (a sample letter can be obtained through Faculty Affairs). Should an invited reviewer decline the invitation, the AC administrator will contact another qualified external reviewer from the appropriate list until a reviewer from each list is secured.
   4. On or around the date specified in the P&T calendar, the AC administrator will provide external reviewers with a copy of the following materials in the candidate’s portfolio:
      1. Curriculum vitae
      2. Courses taught report
      3. Examples of scholarship
      4. Self-reflections on teaching, scholarship, and service
      5. Academic component and University promotion and tenure criteria
   5. While external reviewers do not evaluate the quality of teaching, sending external reviewers the teaching self-reflection and teaching reports along with the other specified materials will provide context for review of the candidate’s scholarship and service.
   6. Each external reviewer will be asked to write a letter reviewing the quality, significance, and impact of the candidate’s scholarship and service to the These letters will be placed in the candidate’s portfolio and forwarded to the PRC prior to PRC review of the candidate.
      
      
7. Peer Review Committee
   1. Using the TWU Faculty Performance Review system, the Peer Review Committee will evaluate the portfolios and the letters from the external The PRC will make a recommendation regarding promotion and/or tenure with specific references to the degree to which the application meets TWU and AC criteria. The Chair of the PRC will submit the committee’s recommendation(s), including a rationale for the recommendation(s) and any minority report(s), to the AC administrator by the date designated on the Faculty Promotion and Tenure Calendar. The faculty member will receive an email that the final report, including any minority report(s), is available for review. The faculty member has seven calendar days to acknowledge the PRC’s review before it routes to the next step of the review. Similar acknowledgements are also at each subsequent step of review.
   2. Optional Action - At this time, faculty may upload a response to the recommendation(s), consistent with TWU’s URP 02.342 Faculty Promotion and Tenure. In particular, the section entitled Submission and Review of Portfolio states that the candidate may upload a statement correcting factual errors in the report within seven days of receiving the The statement may not exceed one page. Once uploaded, it will be available in the system for the next level of review.
   3. Should a faculty member need to update the status of an item in the self-reflection (e.g., an article progresses from acceptance to publication), an email may be sent to the current level of review; and a brief statement of the factual change may be uploaded when the review is next acknowledged by the faculty member.
      
      
8. The AC administrator will review the portfolio and the recommendations from external reviewers and the PRC in order to make recommendations for promotion and/or The recommendation(s) must be accompanied by a rationale and submitted to the dean by the date designated on the Promotion and Tenure Calendar. The candidate will receive an email when recommendations are available for review. The faculty member continues to have the opportunity to acknowledge the review and provide a written statement correcting any factual errors.
   
   
9. The dean will review the portfolio, letters from external reviewers, and recommendation(s) from the PRC and the AC administrator. The dean will make recommendation(s) for promotion and/or tenure, and provide a The dean’s written comments will be submitted to the University Promotion and Tenure Committee by the date designated on the Promotion and Tenure Calendar. The candidate will receive an email when recommendations are available for review. Faculty member acknowledgment of receipt and the opportunity to provide a written statement correcting any factual errors are also available.
   
   
10. The University Promotion and Tenure Committee will review the candidate’s portfolio, letters from external reviewers, and recommendations made at each level in order to make recommendation(s) for promotion and/or tenure. Member(s) of a candidate’s AC PRC shall recuse themselves from reviewing the candidate’s portfolio and submitting recommendation(s) at the level of University committee review. The committee shall prepare and submit a final report, including a rationale for its recommendation(s), to accompany the candidate’s portfolio to the EVPAA/Provost. The candidate will receive an email when the University Promotion and Tenure Committee’s recommendation(s) are available for Faculty member acknowledgment of receipt and the opportunity to provide a written statement correcting any factual errors are also available.
    
    
11. The EVPAA/Provost will review the candidate’s portfolio, letters from external reviewers, and recommendations made at each level in order to make recommendation(s) for promotion and/or tenure. The recommendation(s) and a rationale will be submitted to the Chancellor. The candidate will receive an email when the EVPAA/Provost’s recommendation(s) are available for As described above, the candidate has the opportunity to acknowledge receipt of the review and provide a written statement correcting any factual errors.
    
    
12. The Chancellor will review the candidate’s portfolio, letters from external reviewers, and recommendations made at each level in order to make recommendation(s) for promotion and/or tenure which will accompany the candidate’s portfolio to the Board of Regents. The candidate will receive an email when the Chancellor’s recommendation(s) are available for As described above the candidate may acknowledge receipt of the review and has the opportunity to provide a written statement correcting any factual errors.
    
    
13. The Board of Regents will reach a decision regarding promotion and/or tenure for each Following that decision, the candidate, PRC Chair, AC administrator, dean, University Promotion and Tenure Committee Chair, and EVPAA/Provost will receive an email when the Board’s decision is available for review.

Page last updated 2:26 PM, June 15, 2026