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Pre-Tenure Review (Pre-TR)

UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA POLICIES

BOARD OF REGENTS POLICY MANUAL: 8.3.5 Evaluation of Personnel (8.3.5.1 Faculty)

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS HANDBOOK: 4.4 Faculty Evaluation Systems; 4.8 Evaluation of Faculty

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of the third-year pre-tenure review is to provide a rigorous analysis and detailed feedback of the faculty member’s body of work in the areas of teaching, student success activities, professional development, research/scholarship, and service towards tenure. Faculty should embed student success activities and professional development within their teaching, scholarship, and/or service.

Pre-Tenure Review Eligibility

Faculty who are employed on an annual tenure track contract will undergo Pre-TR in their third year of appointment. Persons hired with prior credit for service are evaluated at approximately the mid-point of their probationary period. The results of the review are to be used only for the purpose of providing the tenure-eligible colleague with a peer review of the progress made thus far toward tenure and promotion. Tenure-eligible non-tenured employees of GC are subject to evaluation. Administrators are subject to Five Year Review of Academic Administrators as defined by Regents’ and institution’s policies, including department chairs, are exempt from Pre-TR.

It is the responsibility of the Office of Academic Affairs to notify tenure-eligible individuals in the fall of the third year of service or at the midpoint of the probationary period in which they are required to submit documents for Pre-TR. The immediate supervisor should be included in the notification. 

Relation of Pre-Tenure Review to the Annual Evaluation

The results of the Pre-TR are to have no bearing on departmental determinations of faculty merit. The faculty member undergoing Pre-TR also submits an Individual Faculty Report to their immediate supervisor (e.g. Department Head, Unit Head, Dean, etc.) at the beginning of the calendar year in which Pre-TR is set to take place and the supervisor conducts a Department Chairperson’s Evaluation of Faculty Performance (DCEFP). The Pre-TR does not replace the annual evaluation. Prior annual evaluations are included in the required materials listed below and a contributing factor, but not the sole source of documentation in the Pre-TR process.

Limitations

Obtaining a favorable Pre-TR does not bind the university to recommend the non-tenured individual for promotion or tenure when the requisite years in rank or requisite years of probationary service have been achieved. Likewise, an unfavorable result via the Pre-TR process will have no bearing on subsequent tenure and promotion decisions. 

Pre-Tenure Review Committee

The Pre-TR Committee/Tenure and Promotion Committee within the faculty member’s home department or unit is charged with the responsibility of conducting the evaluation and providing a written report to both the individual faculty member and the immediate supervisor. The “Rating Form 1 for Pre-Tenure Review” will be used for this purpose. The Pre-TR committee, the composition is based on a process established with the department/college, will consist of at least three tenured individuals from the home department if possible or from discipline related departments, if necessary. Pre-TR Reviews will utilize the common Likert scale and be documented using the Common Likert Form.

It is important that all members of the committee practice circumspection when evaluating a colleague’s performance. It is equally important that appraisals of “Exemplary,” “Exceeds Expectations,” “Needs Improvement,” or “Does Not Meet Expectations” be applied judiciously. In particular, an appraisal of “Does Not Meet Expectations” must be reserved for those cases in which problems related to the colleague’s performance are sufficiently clear to constitute grounds for dismissal. “Needs Improvement” implies that the faculty member performance in a particular area is considered grounds for rejection of an application for tenure. The criteria used to evaluate an untenured faculty member must be consistent with the mission of the university, college, and department and the criteria must be consistent with the faculty member’s official duties. Feedback from the Pre-TR committees should be returned to the faculty member and the immediate supervisor no later than March 1. 

Confidentiality of the results of all Pre-TR reviews is the ethical responsibility of the members of the Pre-TR committee. The results are to be shared only with the non-tenured individual and their immediate supervisor. It is to be understood by all parties that the results of the Pre-TR are to be used for department purposes only. Therefore, the results of the Pre-TR must not be included in the faculty member’s personnel file. 

Pre-Tenure Review Process

  1. The overall evaluation must indicate whether the faculty member is making satisfactory progress toward tenure and promotion (BOR 8.3.5.1).
  2. The faculty member is responsible for providing documentation and materials for the third-year Pre-TR, as outlined in GC’s guidelines.
  3. The appropriate supervisor and the chair of the Pre-TR committee will discuss with the faculty member in a scheduled conference the content of that faculty member’s third year Pre-TR. A written report of the faculty member’s progression towards achieving future milestones of tenure will be provided to the faculty member after the conference.
  4. The faculty member will sign a statement (Pre-Tenure Review form 1) to the effect that they have been apprised of the content of the third-year Pre-TR evaluation.
  5. The faculty member will be given a specific period (10 working days) to respond in writing to the third-year written evaluation, with this response to be attached to the evaluation.
  6. The appropriate supervisor will acknowledge in writing receipt of the response, noting changes, if any, in the annual written evaluation made because of either the conference or the faculty member’s written response. The specific time period for this response is ten (10) working days from the faculty member’s rebuttal/response. This acknowledgement will become a part of the official records and is not subject to discretionary review.
  7. If the performance in any of the categories is judged to be not successful/not satisfactory (Does Not Meet Expectations/Needs Improvement) the faculty member must be provided with a Performance Remediation Plan (PRP). The appropriate supervisor will develop the PRP in consultation with the faculty member with feedback from any committee that participated in the third-year review. The PRP must be approved by the Dean of the academic unit. The faculty member will have one year to accomplish the goals/outcomes of the PRP. This will become part of the official personnel records.

Pre-Tenure Review Materials

The following items must be submitted:

  • Copies of the immediate supervisor’s evaluation of job performance and Individual Faculty Report during all previous years of service at Georgia College.
  • A summary of major accomplishments achieved at Georgia College thus far in the areas of teaching, research/creative/scholarly/practitioner-based endeavors, and service to the university, college, department, profession, and community. Note that student success activities and continuous professional growth and development will be integrated within the criteria and evaluated individually.
  • Results obtained via student, chair, unit head, and/or peer evaluation (normally included as part of #2, non-teaching faculty, Unit head, and peer evaluations and other appropriate tools are required.
  • A current curriculum vita.
  • Departments and colleges may require additional materials. 

Forms/Materials

The following forms can be found on the MyGCSU Academic Affairs page (Evaluative Forms) under Tenure & Promotion Forms/Documents:

  • Pre-Tenure Review form
  • Pre-Tenure Review form 2 (request for faculty development funding)
  • Pre-Tenure Review form 3
  • Common Likert Form

Links updated 08.16.2023