2025-2026 Tenure and Promotion Process

January 2025

• Dean’s Office notifies chairs who must be a candidate in the next academic year, no later than the end of January 2025
• Chairs determine who must be evaluated for the next academic year. 
• Chairs determine any early tenure promotion cases. 
• Chairs determine “rank review” candidates (Associate to Full Professor, Full to Distinguished). 

February 2025

• Provost’s Office hosts 2025-2026 Tenure and Promotion Workshop.

February/March 2025

• Chairs finalize candidates for 2025-2026 review cycle. 
• Chairs meet with candidates to review and complete Supplemental Form 1 and Supplemental Form 2.
• Chairs discuss appropriate external referees with candidates. 
• Chairs discuss external referees with the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
• Chairs submit External Reviewer Approval Requests to Suneeta Ramaswami, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs via the online portal [External Reviewer Approval Request Process].
• Once the potential referee list is approved, chairs send a preliminary solicitation letter to external referees. Please see sample letter in Appendix G

• Candidate updates Faculty Survey and general initial promotion/tenure paperwork. 

• Candidate gathers supplemental materials to be included in the promotion packet. 
• Dean’s Office creates Box account folders for candidates and review committees.

April 2025

• Chairs send 30-Day Notification Letters to candidates by May 1st. Sample letters can be found here and in Appendix F-1 or Appendix F-2
• Candidate, in coordination with department chair, compile review documents to go to external reviewers. 

May/July 2025

• The department chair must ensure they are in receipt of signed copies of Supplemental Form 1 and Supplemental Form 2 prior to sending out the preliminary solicitation letters.  Chair completes Form 2 and sends to candidate for signature.

• Chairs send formal solicitation letters to external referees using sample solicitation letters. Please note that changes to solicitation letters must be approved by the dean and chancellor. Please see the sample letter in Appendix G-1, Appendix G-II and Appendix G-2.
• Chairs send selected research materials and personal statements, if the candidate desires, to external referees. 
• Dean’s Office will send list of candidates for reappointment, tenure and/or promotion to Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs by June 1. 
• Dean’s Office notifies the chair regarding eligible departmental reviewers for the upcoming year. 
• If applicable, department ad hoc committee members are appointed by the Dean/Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.
• Dean’s Office notifies the candidate who will be on their departmental review committee. 
• Candidates may send a DRAFT Form 1a [DOCX]/Form 1b [DOCX] to the Dean’s Office/University Labor Relations for initial review; PLEASE SUBMIT AS WORD DOCUMENT.  Candidate may be asked to provide revisions at any level of review. Please note that the suggested and preferred method to generate Reappointment/Promotion Form 1A/Form 1B is by updating the Faculty Survey online. Questions regarding the Faculty Survey should be directed to Mr. Tin Lam (848-932-7350 tlam@irap.rutgers.edu). 

August 2025

• Chairs receive confidential letters from the external reviewers.   Chairs obtain the inventoried Supplemental Materials from each candidate as indexed in Appendix H. 
• Candidates receive from the Office for Teaching Evaluation and Assessment Research (OTEAR) will their teaching grids for inclusion in Form 1A [DOCX] /Form 1B [DOCX]. Please include fall semester courses, but leave the evaluation section blank. 
• Candidate finalize applicable Form 1A [DOCX] or Form 1b [DOCX], Form 2, Supplemental Form 1 and Supplemental Form 2 and submits to the Chair. 

September 2025

• Chairs verify that confidential letters are received from external referees prior to the departmental meeting on each case.  
• Chairs complete Form 3 [DOCX] (Report on External Confidential Letters) and Form 3a [DOCX] (Confidential Letter Cover Sheet) for each reviewer.
• Chairs consult with tenured members of the department to determine whether to have a reading committee 
• For joint appointees, the chair will obtain report from secondary department, unit or program, if applicable. 
• Chairs schedule and run departmental meetings. Only faculty who are physically present at the meetings in which the candidate is considered are to be accorded a vote. 
• Chairs write Departmental Narrative (Form 4 [DOCX]) in consultation with department colleagues. 
• Chairs submit Departmental Narrative to the Dean’s Office by Friday, September 12, 2025. 
• Chairs notify candidate, in writing, of the department’s action within 5 working days of department meeting. 

September 13  – September 24, 2025

• A&P Committee reviews candidate’s official packet and may consult with the dean. Only those committee members who are physically present at the A&P meeting in which the candidate is considered shall participate in the review of the candidate. 
• The A&P Committee’s written report and recommendation are due to the dean by Wednesday, September 24, 2025

October, 2025

• Dean’s Narrative (Form 5 [DOCX]) is completed. 
• Dean notifies the candidate within 10 days of final decision on reappointment with tenure, and promotions involving tenured ranks, where both the department and decanal levels are negative, excluding cases being considered under rank review provision. 
• The Dean’s Office sends the packet to the Provost’s Office for final review by October 1, 2025

November 1, 2025 

• One copy of the finalized, original packet is submitted to the Office of the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs by the Dean’s Office.

January (after the start of Spring Semester), February, March, April 2026

• The Promotion Review Committee (PRC) meets on a weekly basis. 
• Supplemental Materials may be requested by PRC. 

April or June 2026

• President makes recommendations to the Board of Governors. 

• April Board: promotions/reappointments involving the initial award of tenure.
• June Board: promotions within the tenured ranks (full and distinguished professors).
• After the board meetings, Chancellor in Camden notifies deans of decisions on promotions of tenured ranks. 
• Dean notifies department chair of decisions.
• Candidates are notified of decision by chair.

General Instructions may be found on the University Labor Relations Website. 

1. External Reviewer Approval Form  External Reviewer Approval Request Process
2. Appendix G (Preliminary Solicitation Letter)
3. Appendix G-1, Appendix G-2, or Appendix G-II (Solicitation Letters) – Note Appendix G-1 and Appendix G-2 include letters for those under the Ten Year rule. All letters also include a COVID-19 update.
4. Supplemental Form 1 – review with candidate; sign the form
5. Supplemental Form 2 – review with candidate; sign the form
6. Form 2 [DOCX] (Criteria Applicable to this Candidate)
7. Form 3 [DOCX] (Report on External Confidential Letters)
8. Form 3a [DOCX] (Confidential Letter Cover Sheet)
9. Form 4 [DOCX] (Narrative Summary of Departmental Recommendation)
10. Appendix H (Sample – Inventory Listing of Materials to be Included in Packets for Reappointment or Promotion) review with candidate; sign the form

General Instructions may be found on the University Labor Relations Website.

1. Form 1a [DOCX] (General Teaching/Research Faculty) or Form 1b [DOCX] (Faculty in the Creative or Performing Arts)
2. Supplemental Form 1 [DOCX] (Excluding teaching evaluations from Spring 2020, Fall 2020 and/or Spring 2021 from evaluation)
3. Form 2 [DOCX] (Criteria Applicable to this Candidate)
4. Supplemental Form 2 [DOCX] (Taking COVID-19 into consideration) 
5. Personal Statement
6. Current C.V.
7. Appendix H (Sample – Inventory Listing of Materials to be Included in Packets for Reappointment or Promotion)
8. Supplemental Materials (including, but not limited to)
   1. Documentation of research accomplishments
   2. Teaching Portfolio (Optional)

For faculty choosing to present a teaching portfolio, the Office of Teaching Evaluation and Assessment Research (OTEAR) has extensive guidance on their website (Office of Teaching Evaluation and Assessment Research).

You may consider keeping two portfolios. A “career portfolio” can be kept for your records. This represents a complete picture of your teaching: your statement of teaching philosophy, peer evaluations, SIRS, student comments, evidence of student success, documentation of teaching awards, teaching-related pedagogy, diversity statement, student assignments, etc.

An abbreviated portfolio should be used for review and/or evaluation purposes.  If submitted, this document will be included in the candidate’s packet for review all levels. It is typically 8-10 pages total. (Supporting documents may be included in Appendices/supporting materials.)

This abbreviated portfolio is a single document that summarizes and integrates the career portfolio.  Typically, it has 3 parts:

1. Teaching responsibilities (the “what”): teaching experiences, modalities, course content, methods
2. Teaching philosophy (the “why”): values, strategies, objectives in teaching; connect these to examples
3. Annotate the evidence: document success in implementing this philosophy, preferably using multiple methods (including from self, others, and student outcomes; consider discussing evidence such as peer evaluations, SIRS, student comments, evidence of student success, etc.)

1. Form 5 [DOCX] (Narrative Summary of Dean’s Recommendation)

1. Form 1-a/Form 1-b (signed, dated)
2. Supplemental Form 1 (signed, dated)
3. Form 2 (signed, dated).
4. Supplemental Form 2 (signed, dated)
5. Form 3
6. Form 3-a
7. Copy of the sample letter used to solicit external confidential evaluations (Appendix G1-GII),
8. External Review Letter that corresponds to form 3-a (date stamped with date received and numbered as listed on form 3)
   1. Repeat 4 and 5 until all of the external review letters and form 3-a have been included
9. Form 4 (signed, dated)
10. Report from the A&P Committee to the Dean
11. Form 5 – Dean’s narrative
12. Personal Statement
13. CV
14. Appendix H – Listing everything that is in the supplemental materials
15. Supplemental Materials (including, but not limited to)
    1. Documentation of research accomplishments
    2. Teaching Portfolio

Please remember that all forms require original signatures. 

External Reviewers:

• For this academic year only, each promotion packet is currently required to have a minimum number of five external confidential arm’s length letters of evaluation from qualified persons. Non-arm’s length letters will not count towards the minimum requirement. These letters must be obtained by the candidate’s department chair and/or by the candidate’s dean. 

Arm’s length letters are defined as those from external referees who are NOT the candidate’s dissertation or thesis chair or mentor, the candidate’s coauthor or collaborator, the candidate’s former professor, a family member of the candidate, or a personal friend of the candidate.  Letters from individuals with whom the candidate has worked closely in the past will not be considered arm’s length.  For instance, co-authored papers, collaborative grants and co-advised students are examples of prior candidate-referee interactions that disqualify arm’s length referees.  If a non-arm’s length letter is included, it must be in addition to the minimum requirement, and the department chair should indicate the reason for soliciting a letter from that individual on Form 3-a.

Required Letters (as defined above):
External referees should be selected on the basis of their standing in the field and the institutions with which they are associated. Explanations of external referees’ area of expertise and suitability to serve as a reviewer should be detailed on Form 3a.

• Promotion to associate professor with tenure: external referees should be at the rank of tenured full professor (or equivalent) or above, but must at least be at the candidate’s proposed rank or equivalent.  Justification for the selection and suitability of these reviewers must be provided on Form 3a.
• Promotion to full professor with tenure: external referees must be at the rank of tenured full professor (or equivalent) or higher.
• Promotion to distinguished professor with tenure: referees should hold equivalent titles to the proposed rank and/or demonstrate distinguished standing in the field.

• External reviewers should be on the faculty at peer institutions or higher
• External reviewers should not be collaborators with candidates (e.g., co-authors)
• Chairs should determine the nature of any professional relationship between candidate and external reviewer (e.g., organized conference together, post-docs in same department or lab)
• The PRC discourages letters from a candidate’s dissertation director and has indicated it will not consider such letters as “independent.”
• Candidates can suggest potential external reviewers (current limit of two)
• Candidates can submit a list of people they do not wish to be contacted for external review
• RU procedures require the chair disclose who identified or suggested each external reviewer—the candidate or the chair or colleagues

External Letters:

• Aim to secure 8-9 external letters (by RU policy, dossiers with fewer than 7 cannot proceed)
• ALL letters (including electronic ones) must be printed on the reviewer’s institutional letterhead
• All letters, including electronic ones, MUST be signed (e-signatures are acceptable)
• Be sure to date- and time-stamp any hard copy letters received
• Be sure that the date-stamp on the hard copy letters matches Form 3

Form 1-a/1-b

• If a section does not apply to you, please add N/A where the answer(s) should go. This will stop us from chasing you down for information that does not exist. If you have put N/A – please double check that is correct and you have not missed something.
• If it is on your CV it should be on your Form 1a – you cannot add it later. When you are sure you have included everything, take a break then go back and check again.
• Works in Progress – make sure to include ALL the projects you are working on. If they are listed on Form 1 you can update them should they suddenly come to fruition; if they are not listed on Form 1a they cannot be added later
• If you have information that does not seem to fit in any of the sections listed under the 3 areas (Scholarship, Teaching, Service), list that under the heading “Other” in the appropriate area (Scholarship, Teaching, Service).
• Remember to include the Fall semester classes you will be teaching, and account for every semester in the teaching grid.
• Remember, Scholarship and Service sections should cover your entire career (no date restrictions); most of the Teaching section will cover the entire period too, except for the teaching grid and question 3 (independent study supervision).

Departmental Review:

• A minimum of six tenured faculty members at or above the rank for which candidates are to be considered for reappointment or promotion are required to vote on the recommendation with respect to each candidate. All must be physically present to vote.

Guidelines related to the inclusion of engaged scholarship in applications for tenure and promotion can be found at: Publicly Engaged Scholarship Guidelines

Please note that these are intended as guidelines, not university policy.

All of the forms and University information pertaining to tenure and promotion may be found on the Rutgers University Labor Relations Website (https://laborrelations.rutgers.edu/faculty/promotions-appointments-and-reappointments) and below:

2025-2026 Academic Reappointment/Promotion Instructions for Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty (Non-Libraries) in the AAUP-AFT Negotiations Unit

2025-2026 T and TT non-libraries Appendices

2025-2026 T and TT non-libraries promotion packet timetable

External Reviewer Approval Form

Form 1a [DOCX] – For General Teaching/Research Faculty

Form 1b [DOCX] – For Faculty in the Creative or Performing Arts

Supplemental Form 1 [DOCX] – Excluding teaching evaluations from Spring 2020, Fall 2020 and/or Spring 2021

Form 2 [DOCX] – Criteria Applicable to this Candidate

Supplemental Form 2 [DOCX] – Taking COVID-19 into consideration

Form 3 [DOCX] – Report on External Confidential Letters

Form 3a [DOCX] – Confidential Letter Cover Sheet

Appendix G – Preliminary Solicitation Letter

Appendix G-1, Appendix G-II, or Appendix G-2 – Solicitation Letters

Form 4 [DOCX] – Narrative Summary of Departmental Recommendation

Form 5 [DOCX] – Narrative Summary of Dean’s Recommendation

Appendix H – Sample Inventory Listing of Materials to be Included in Packets for Reappointment or Promotion

1. AAUP-AFT Union FAQs may be found here.
2. When does OTEAR generate my faculty teaching grid?
   1. Promotions to/within the tenure ranks – Teaching grids will be distributed in August
   2. Reappointments (3^rd year tenure track) – Teaching grids will be distributed in October
   3. NTT promotions/reappointments (proposed rank of Associate or equivalent) – Teaching grids will be distributed in December

• Inserting SIRS Grids into Form-1a

3. Who pays for research materials that will be sent to external reviewers?

1. 1. Typically, the department may utilize their discretionary funds.

4. What is the acceptable format for the external reviewer letters?

1. 1. Original letters with signatures are preferable. However, the following variations may be acceptable.
      1. Email letter, on letterhead with electronic signature
      2. Email letter, on letterhead NOT signed – include 1st page of email after the letter
      3. Email letter NOT on letterhead, but signed – include 1st page of email after the letter
      4. Email letter, NOT on letterhead and NOT signed – include 1st page of email after the letter

If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact the Dean’s Office (856) 225-6097.

Office of University Labor Relations: https://academiclaborrelations.rutgers.edu/
Committee Assignments: https://fas.camden.rutgers.edu/committee-assignments/
FASC Faculty Affairs website: https://fas.camden.rutgers.edu/faculty/faculty-resources/faculty-affairs/
AAUP-AFT Union Website: https://www.rutgersaaup.org/
2022-2026 Faculty Union Contract: https://laborrelations.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/document/Final_AAUP-AFT%20CNA%202022-2026.pdf

Suneeta Ramaswami
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Phone:  (856) 225-6439
Email:  rsuneeta@camden.rutgers.edu

Maria Matteo-Hohing
Assistant Dean III
Phone: (856) 225-2951
Email: mariabu@camden.rutgers.edu

Tin Lam
Faculty Survey Administrator
Phone: 848-932-7350
Email:  tlam@irap.rutgers.edu 

60.5.2 ACADEMIC TITLES AND RANK EQUIVALENCIES FOR TENURED, TENURE-TRACK, AND NON-TENURE TRACK FACULTY 

60.5.10 FACULTY TERM APPOINTMENTS 

60.5.13 ACADEMIC TENURE

60.5.14 CRITERIA FOR ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS, REAPPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS

60.5.15 APPLICATION OF CRITERIA FOR ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS, REAPPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS 

60.5.16 PROMOTION TO ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OR EQUIVALENT RANKS 

60.5.17 PROMOTION TO PROFESSOR, DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, OR EQUIVALENT RANKS