Policies and Procedures 4.15
Presidential Review of Nominees for Tenure or Promotion:
The laws of the State of Kansas provide that, subject to policies approved by the
Board of Regents, the President shall appoint employees and administer the affairs
of Wichita State University. In matters of tenure and promotion, the President has
delegated the authority to make recommendations to certain faculty committees and
administrators. However, the President retains the authority to make the final decision
on the tenure and promotion of faculty members.
A person dissatisfied with committee or administrator recommendations concerning
his/her tenure or promotion may, after exhausting the procedures and appeals in the
tenure and promotion review process, petition the President of Wichita State University
for a favorable decision on tenure or promotion.
4.17 Tenure and Promotion - Outline of Process of Review
Any faculty member may nominate himself or herself for review for tenure or promotion.
Nominations may also be made by the chairperson. For faculty members with probationary
appointments, review for tenure must occur during or before the year prior to the
last year of the probationary period. No review for tenure will occur during the last
year of a faculty member's probationary period.
The process of review for tenure and promotion involves these steps:
1. Nomination for review.
2. Departmental review of nominees by the departmental committee and by the chair.
3. In favorable or appealed cases, college/school/University Libraries review of
department nominations by the college/school/University Libraries tenure and promotion
committee, and by the college/school/University Libraries dean.
4. In favorable or appealed cases, University review of college/school/University
Libraries nominations by the Tenure and Promotion Committee.
5. In favorable or appealed cases, review of recommendations by the University President
for final decision.
Procedures have been established for appeal in the case of an adverse tenure or promotion
recommendation at the department and at the college level.
4.18 Appeal of Decisions Related to Tenure or Promotion:
A candidate may make only one appeal during the entire review process. The appeal
is made to the next higher level. No hearing is provided, and the appeal must be written.
Some typical reasons for appeal are violation of academic freedom, failure to follow
procedures concerning time periods or committee operations, inadequate consideration,
discrimination, etc.
The committee to which the appeal is made will give full consideration without prejudice
to the case in that the committee will review it in the same manner as favorably recommended
cases and will apply similar standards.
After an appeal, if an unfavorable recommendation is made at the next level, the candidate
may petition the president for a favorable decision on tenure or promotion. In such
cases the dossier is forwarded directly to the President without review by the University
committee.