Promotion and Tenure

Information on this page addresses the promotion processes and policies for both tenure-track and tenured faculty and professional track faculty. Use the navigation to the left to find the information you need.

Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty

The University guidelines for appointment, promotion and tenure are linked here and on the menu to the left. The Guidelines, maintained by the Office of Faculty Affairs, are updated on an as-needed basis, so we recommend that you bookmark this link, rather than downloading a copy of the Guidelines. If you should need to reference an older version of the Guidelines, please contact our office.

Forms and Templates

Linked below are various forms, templates and examples that will be helpful as you progress through the APT process. Several of these forms and templates have changed recently, as a result of changes to the University’s APT policy.

Tenure Delay

There are two applications of the University's Tenure Delay Policy: Birth or Adoption of a Child, or Personal or Professional Circumstances other than Parenthood. Click here to log in to the online Tenure Delay Notification and Request System.

Birth or Adoption of a Child

Tenure-track faculty who become parents through birth or adoption of a child while employed at the University are automatically granted a tenure delay. A second automatic extension for the birth or adoption of another child will also be granted. To notify the department and other administrators, the faculty member logs in to the Tenure Delay website and indicates on the Tenure Delay Submission Form that he or she seeks a tenure delay due to childbirth or adoption. The appropriate administrators receive an automatic notification of the tenure delay.

Personal or Professional Circumstances

Tenure-track faculty may also request an extension of time for tenure consideration, based on personal or professional circumstances which are other than parenthood. Such a request must be approved by the faculty member's department chair and dean, as well as by the Provost.

• Personal circumstances are individual or family situations (other than the birth of a child) that substantially impede normal professional development of the faculty member.
• Professional circumstances are individual, departmental, or facility related situations that are beyond the control of the faculty member and substantially impede normal professional development of the faculty member. See the Frequently Asked Questions for a few examples.

The procedures for requesting a tenure delay follow. (Note that the request should be made no later than the end of the Spring semester prior to the year in which the individual is slated to be reviewed.)

1. The tenure-track faculty member should initiate the request by discussing the request with his/her Chair. The Chair's support is necessary to continue with the Tenure Delay Request process. The faculty member then logs in to the Tenure Delay website and indicates on the Submission Form that he or she seeks a tenure delay due to personal or professional circumstances.
2. To approve the request, the Chair logs in to the Tenure Delay website, indicates his or her support of the request, and provides detail and documentation as necessary.
3. The Dean must also approve the request, by logging in to the Tenure Delay website, indicating approval, and providing detail and documentation as necessary. Note that along with their approvals, both Chair and Dean should indicate their strong support of the candidate's request for a tenure delay, including additional detail and documentation as appropriate or necessary.
4. After a decision is reached by the Provost, the Office of Faculty Affairs will notify the Provost, Dean, Chair, faculty member and the Office of Personnel and Budget, which will make the actual change of tenure review year in the University's database systems.

For additional information, see the University policy, Extension of Time for Tenure Review Due to Personal and Professional Circumstances. Also see below for FAQs and more information about tenure review dates for mid-year hires.

Tenure Delay FAQ

The following Frequently Asked Questions were gathered by the ADVANCE Program and are intended to address topics of general interest to faculty at the University of Maryland at College Park. For further information about the University of Maryland ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence and our activities, please see advance.umd.edu. See below for more information about tenure review dates for mid-year hires.

How long do I need to be employed at the institution in order to be eligible for tenure extension due to childbirth or adoption?

An extension of the tenure clock due to childbirth or adoption is available immediately upon employment with the University.

How do I receive an extension of the tenure clock for childbirth or adoption?

Any tenure-track faculty member who becomes the parent of a child by birth or adoption will automatically be granted a one-year extension of the deadline for tenure review, provided that they notify their unit head and complete the requisite paperwork.

What paperwork do I need to submit in order to obtain an extension for childbirth or adoption?

Faculty members must submit a Notification of Delay of Mandatory Tenure Review 
Due to Childbirth or Adoption, to the Office of Faculty Affairs. Normally this process should be initiated within a month of the expected arrival of the child.

How many times can I receive an automatic extension?

A second extension of the tenure clock due to the birth or adoption of another child will be granted automatically, so long as the faculty member receives no more than a total of two extensions (including those granted for reasons other than the birth or adoption of a child).

If my spouse/domestic partner is also a tenure-track faculty member at UMCP, does she/he also receive an automatic one-year extension of time for tenure for childbirth or adoption?

Yes.

Can I receive an extension of the tenure clock for situations OTHER than childbirth/adoption?

Tenure Clock Policy

In an effort to create a more rational and fair system for determining the tenure review date for mid-year hires, the following change was made, beginning in academic year 2012-2013.

The majority of newly appointed tenure-track faculty arrive on campus between July 1st and August 23rd. The tenure clock begins immediately for these faculty members: their mandatory tenure review year is six years hence (three years for Associate Professors without tenure). Previously, October 1st started the new tenure-review year (i.e., candidates initiating their appointments October 1st or later have their tenure clocks start the following year). Commencing in the academic year 2012-2013, this “beginning date” changed from October 1st to January 1st of the following year.

Below are examples to illustrate the change:

• Candidate starts her employment on August 23, 2012 and begins her tenure clock immediately. Thus mandatory review would occur in the sixth academic year, 2017-2018.
• Candidate starts her employment on October 1, 2012, also beginning her tenure clock immediately, and is slated for a mandatory review in 2017-2018.
• Candidate starts her employment on January 15, 2013, so her tenure clock does not start until the 2013-2014 academic year. Hence her mandatory review year is 2018-2019.

Other Resources

Workshops

Workshops regarding the promotion process are offered annually by the Office of Faculty Affairs. Presentations from each of the 2017 workshops are linked below.

• Presentation for Candidates for Tenure
• Presentation for Candidates for Promotion
• Presentation for APT Administrators
• Presentation for APT Staff

Current APT Committee Members

Annual Report

Each year, the Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs presents a report of the details of the APT Committee’s work to the Provost and the Senate. Reports from 2011 through 2017 are linked below.

Professional Track Faculty

In April 2015, the University Senate passed, and the President subsequently approved, campus-wide guidelines for the Appointment, Evaluation, and Promotion (AEP) of Professional Track (PTK) faculty. The guidelines are linked to the left.

• All appointments and promotions are initiated by the appointing unit according to the criteria in the unit PTK-AEP policy.
• Unless otherwise governed by a college policy, appointments and promotions to the lowest level in PTK ranks (e.g. Lecturer, Assistant Research Scientist) are reviewed and approved at the unit level.
• Appointments and promotions to the middle level in PTK ranks (e.g. Senior Lecturer, Associate Research Scientist) begin at the unit level and are reviewed and approved at the next administrative level, which is the college for departmentalized colleges or the Office of Faculty Affairs for non-departmentalized colleges.
• Appointments and promotions to the highest level in PTK ranks (e.g. Principal Lecturer, Research Scientist) begin at the unit level, proceed through the college within departmentalized colleges, and are ultimately reviewed and approved by the Provost. For cases to be reviewed by the Provost, dossiers must be submitted, through the online AEP dossier management application, by March 1 of a given academic year promotion cycle.

College Level Plans

As required by the campus guidelines, colleges submitted their AEP policies to the Senate's Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) for review and approval during the 2015-2016 academic year. Departments in departmentalized colleges, as well as research institutes and centers, are also required to develop unit-level AEP policies and have them reviewed and approved through the college's dean's office. Faculty should contact their unit heads to learn about unit-level policies.

Forms and Templates

Linked below are various forms, templates and examples that will be helpful as you progress through the APT process. Several of these forms and templates have changed recently, as a result of changes to the University’s APT policy.