Guidelines for University Promotion and Tenure Committee Deliberations

Approval of promotion and/or tenure requires an affirmative vote from a majority of committee members present, eligible to vote on a case, and voting.  Members must be present to vote, and no substitutes or alternates for committee members are permitted.  All votes for approval of promotion and/or tenure are by secret ballot. Deliberations of the committee and all statements made by individual committee members are confidential. The written statements explaining the basis for the committee's reversal of earlier recommendations, however, are not confidential.

2125.2.1.

At least one week before the committee meets, the provost sends each Committee member a confidential preliminary ballot containing the names of all of the candidates up for review for whom that member has a vote.

• A “yes” response on this ballot is a vote to approve the requested promotion and/or tenure without any discussion of the case.
• A “no” response on this ballot may be a vote to deny the promotion and/or tenure, or it may be a vote to delay the decision until after the committee has discussed the case.

2125.2.2.

The preliminary ballot is returned to the provost by the day prior to the meeting of the committee so that the results of the preliminary balloting may be tabulated and presented to the committee when it meets.

2125.2.3.

In addition to the voting members of the University Promotion and Tenure Committee only two other persons will be present: a tenured Professor selected by the provost and a tenured Professor selected by the AAUP-WSU. These Professors will attend the committee meeting(s), will share the clerical duties of counting votes, and will be available, as needed, to interpret the collective bargaining agreement and respond to procedural questions from committee members.

2125.2.4.

At the committee meeting, the provost will distribute copies of the preliminary ballots with the tabulated votes indicated.

• Those who received 75% or more “yes” votes on the preliminary ballot will be presented as a group to the committee for a collective approving vote.  The table below outlines the number of "yes" votes, based on the number of eligible voting members, needed to be included in the collective approving vote.

Number of eligible committee members voting	Minimum Number of "Yes" votes to meet approving vote %
20	15
19	15
18	14
17	13
16	12
15	12

If the motion passes by a majority vote, then all will be approved by the vote in the preliminary ballot.

If the motion fails to receive a majority vote, then each candidate who did not receive a unanimous vote (100% "yes" vote) will be discussed and voted on individually at least once and no more than three times during the meeting.

• Those who did not receive a unanimous “yes” vote (100%) on the preliminary ballot will be discussed individually and then voted on at least once and no more than three times during the meeting.
• A second vote on a given case may be requested by any voting committee member at any time during the meeting. A third vote may be requested after all cases have been voted on at least once. In the case of multiple votes, the last vote taken will be recorded as the committee's official vote.

2125.2.5.

The normal sequence for consideration of candidates for promotion and tenure is reflected in the preliminary ballot. The ballot is arranged in descending order by rank with promotion only nominations for each rank listed first followed by nominations for promotion with tenure. Within each category, nominees appear in alphabetical order by college/school and within each unit by name of the candidate. The normal order is summarized below:

1. associate to full professor  (where tenure is not a consideration)
2. associate to full professor  (where tenure is a consideration)
3. assistant to associate  (where tenure is not a consideration)
4. assistant to associate  (where tenure is a consideration)
5. special considerations for tenure only