Below is text that the majority chair would use to request the minority chair’s letter regarding Joint Appointment Procedures for Tenure and Promotion Review.
Senate policy indicates that “Under no circumstances will an individual be considered, either simultaneously or sequentially, for tenure by more than one academic unit.” (Appendix I, Section 5.4.1). Prof. X, with a joint appointment between our two units, is being considered this year for promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, with tenure. I am writing to seek your input to the evaluation process, in your position as the chair of the minority unit.
As part of our evaluation process, the [majority unit name] would appreciate your answers to the following questions:
1. What is your assessment regarding Prof. X’s teaching quality and/or effectiveness?
2. What is your assessment of the quality of Prof. X’s scholarly contributions pertaining
to the discipline of the minority unit? [Please do not comment on Prof. X’s overall scholarly output]
3. What is the nature and quality of Prof. X’s university service contributions in
[minority unit name]?
4. What is your assessment of Prof. X’s external professional service contributions,
both nationally and internationally, pertaining to the discipline of the minority
unit? [Please do not comment on Prof. X’s overall external professional service contributions]
The [unit name] and I appreciate your contribution of time and effort on Prof. X’s
behalf, and thank you in advance for your well-considered opinions. We recognize that
the four questions place significant restrictions on the nature of your comments.
Nevertheless, we feel that a more open-ended response would effectively amount to
“simultaneous consideration” by more than one unit, which is not allowed under the
university tenure and promotion policy.
Again, many thanks for your help.