10.1 Board of Regents Policy

10.1.1 Promotion--FAC 6C-5.113

(1) Definition: (a) General Faculty promotion--The assignment of a General Faculty member to a higher academic or equivalent rank.; (b) Administrative and Professional employee promotion--The assignment of an Administrative and Professional employee to another Administrative and Professional class having substantially increased responsibilities and/or a higher pay grade, or a permanent assignment of substantially increased responsibilities for the existing classification. Assignment of a higher pay grade to a position may constitute a promotion or merely a reslotting of the position, at the discretion of the president or president's designee, or the Chancellor or Chancellor's designee for Board Office employees.
(2) Criteria and procedure for promotion: (a) General Faculty -- The criteria for promotion of General Faculty members shall include meeting the minimum qualifications for appointment to the rank or position, increased skill in the performance of duties, increased knowledge in the field of specialty, increased recognition as an authority in his/her field, and potential for professional growth. Procedures for faculty participation in the development of promotion recommendations and other procedures and criteria for promotion may be specified by the university.; (b) Administrative and Professional employees--The criteria for promotion of Administrative and Professional employees shall include exemplary performance of duties in the employee's present position and satisfaction of the minimum qualifications contained in the class specification for the position to which promoted. A qualified Administrative and Professional employee may be promoted in the employee's current position based on a substantial increase in responsibilities. Procedures for promotion consideration shall be specified by the university for university employees, or the Chancellor or Chancellor's designee for Board Office employees.

10.1.2 Tenure--FAC 6C-5.225

(1) For General Faculty members who are members of the general faculty bargaining unit and represented by a bargaining agent, the provisions of this rule are supplemented by the BOR/UFF Agreement.

(2) Definition of Tenure of the Faculty

(a) Preamble--Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good. The common good depends upon the unfettered search for truth and its free exposition. Academic freedom and tenure exist in order that society may have the benefit of honest judgment and independent criticism. The meaning of tenure in the academic community in the United States is simply a guarantee of annual reappointment for General Faculty members until voluntary resignation, retirement, removal for adequate cause, or layoff in accordance with procedures specified by the Board of Regents in this Chapter and in the BOR/UFF Agreement. Tenure is that condition attained by the General Faculty member through highly competent teaching and research, or other scholarly activities, service, and contributions to the university and to society. It assures the General Faculty member security of employment and immunity from reprisals or threats due to an intellectual position or belief which may be unpopular.

(b) Tenure--Tenure shall be held as a ranked General Faculty member in an academic department or other equivalent academic unit and shall not extend to administrative appointments in the General Faculty or Administrative and Professional Classification Plan. A General Faculty member who has been granted tenure by the Board of Regents shall have the status of permanent member of the General Faculty and be in the continuing employment of the institution until he or she:

1. Voluntarily leaves the employment of the university;

2. Voluntarily retires;

3. Is dismissed for cause under the provision of university rules or the BOR/UFF Agreement which governs the termination of General Faculty employment;

4. Is discontinued pursuant to the layoff provisions in 6C- 5.125 and the BOR/UFF Agreement; or

5. Dies.

(3) Tenure-earning Appointments

(a) General Faculty appointments to the ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, and professor, which appointments do not include the appointment status modifiers "acting," "adjunct," "joint," "provisional," "visiting," "research," "clinical," "courtesy," or "honorary," or "affiliate" (see 6C-5.105(5)) are tenure-earning. Appointments which include the appointment status modifiers "joint," "provisional," "visiting," or "research," "clinical," or"affiliate" may or may not earn time toward tenure, as determined by the university at the time of appointment.

(b) If a General Faculty member is initially appointed to the rank of instructor or to a rank including an appointment status modifier described in (3)(a) determined by the university not to be tenure-earning, and is subsequently appointed to a tenure-earning position, all or a portion of the General Faculty member's prior service in such non- tenure-earning title may be counted toward tenure, provided the university agrees in writing to credit such service.

(4) Eligibility for Tenure Nomination

(a) Only those General Faculty members serving in tenure- earning appointments as described in (3)(a), above, are eligible to be nominated for tenure. Universities may, by rule, make assistant professors ineligible for tenure.

(b) Except for General Faculty members who, by virtue of prior tenure-earning service credited at the time of their appointment are eligible for consideration earlier, a decision whether to nominate a General Faculty member for tenure shall normally be made during the fifth year of continuous full-time service or equivalent part-time service in a tenure-earning position, or at the option of the General Faculty member and with the concurrence of the appropriate administrative officials, during the sixth year of continuous full-time service or equivalent part-time service in a tenure-earning position. Continuous employment for the purpose of tenure eligibility consideration for full-time service shall normally mean employment during at least 39 weeks of any twelve month period. Continuous employment for the purpose of tenure eligibility consideration for part-time service shall normally mean employment during at least one semester of any twelve month period. Part-time service of an employee employed at least one full semester in any twelve month period shall be accumulated. For example, two semesters of half-time service shall be considered one-half year of service for purposes of tenure eligibility.

(c) The number of years of previous tenure-earning service at other institutions of higher education which the president may agree to recommend as credit toward a General Faculty member's eligibility for tenure shall be agreed upon in writing at the time of employment, subject to the following restrictions for service at other than SUS institutions: the president may approve credit for not more than two years of tenure-earning service for a General Faculty member hired as an assistant professor, not more than three years for a General Faculty member hired as an associate professor, and not more than four years for a General Faculty member hired as a professor. The amount of prior State University System tenure-earning service creditable toward tenure at another university may, by agreement, be all or part of such service. In the absence of such agreement, all such service shall be credited.

(d) Time spent by a General Faculty member under joint appointment or exchange within or without the State University System, on a duly established personnel exchange program of the university, or on a special assignment for the benefit of the parent institution or for the University System, shall be counted toward the fulfillment of eligibility for tenure. In all such cases, the General Faculty member shall be so informed in writing at the time leave is granted. Time spent away from the university for other purposes shall not be counted toward the fulfillment of eligibility for tenure.

(e) Time spent on uncompensated leave shall not be credited as time earned toward tenure, except by agreement of the General Faculty member and the president or president's designee. In deciding whether to credit uncompensated leave toward tenure eligibility, the president shall consider the relevance of the General Faculty member's activity while on such leave to the General Faculty member's professional development and the field of employment, the benefits, if any, which accrue to the university by virtue of placing the General Faculty member on such leave, and other appropriate factors. Time spent on compensated leave shall be credited as time earned toward tenure, unless the General Faculty member and the president or president's designee agree in writing that such leave is not to be credited.

(5) Granting of Tenure

(a) By the end of six years of continuous full-time, or equivalent part-time service in a tenure-earning position in a State University System institution, a General Faculty member shall be recommended for tenure or given notice that further employment will not be offered. The notice shall be accompanied by a statement of reasons by the president or president's designee why tenure was not granted.

(b) Upon nomination by the president, review by the Chancellor, and approval by the Board, tenure shall be granted. Each nomination for tenure shall be acted upon with careful consideration being given to the qualifications of the General Faculty member, including evaluation by colleagues and the immediate superior. In making judgments pertaining to the decision to award tenure, evaluation of research and other creative activities by qualified scholars in pertinent disciplines both within and outside the university should be sought. When one of the duties of the General Faculty member being nominated is service to public schools, judgments pertaining to the decision to award tenure shall include the General Faculty member's service to public schools. Further, when one of the duties of the General Faculty member being nominated is teaching, the quality of the General Faculty member's teaching shall be gauged by the procedures outlined in these rules, the BOR/UFF Agreement and the university policies which govern faculty evaluation and improvement. The General Faculty member considered for tenure normally shall hold the terminal degree in the appropriate academic field. Nomination of a General Faculty member for tenure shall signify the president is satisfied the candidate will continue to make significant professional contributions to the university and the academic community generally.

(c) Tenure; may be granted by the Board at the time of initial appointment. Also, the Board may approve tenure at an earlier time than specified in (5)(a), above, if it is recommended with sufficient justification by the president with the concurrence of the Chancellor.

(6) Transfer of SUS Tenure--Transfer of tenure of General Faculty members serving in bargaining unit positions is governed by the BOR/UFF Agreement. Transfer of tenure for General Faculty members serving in non-bargaining unit positions shall be at the discretion of the university to which the employee is transferring; the agreement to grant the transfer of tenure shall be in writing at the time of appointment.

(7) Procedure for Tenure Decisions---Each university shall adopt rules governing procedures for nominating eligible General Faculty members for tenure, criteria for tenure decisions, and notification of final action taken on the nomination.