03.240 Postponement of Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion and Post-Tenure Review

Chancellor

Revised October 15, 2021; Revised November 2, 2009; Revised and Reformatted August 17, 2007; Adopted November 2004.

Policies on Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure, Section IV.B.1.

• RTP policy (Faculty Handbook)
• Policy 08.227 Faculty Disability and Family Medical Leave Salary Continuation
• Post-Tenure Review Policy (Faculty Handbook)
• Postponement Form

Provost's Office

Policy Details:

1. Purpose

   The university has well-defined policies setting minimum and maximum probationary periods and stating the effects of formal leaves of absence with regard to Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion (“RTP”) and Post-Tenure Review (“PTR”). There are, however, compelling circumstances in which faculty members may not be able to make the progress they normally would toward RTP or PTR. This policy provides allowances for the postponement of mandatory RTP and PTR decisions.

2. Scope

   This policy applies to all tenure-track faculty and tenured faculty.

3. Definition

   Probationary service is defined in the UNCW Faculty Handbook, Chapter IV: Faculty Employment; Article IV: Policies on Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure; Section c. Probationary Service.

4. Policy for Individual Postponement Related to Medical or Disability Leave

   1. For a faculty member who is on disability leave or salary continuation status, the tenure clock or post-tenure review will be postponed and will extend the term of

      the current appointment automatically for one year. This action is automatic unless the faculty member declines or modifies the length of the postponement and indicates so by completing the Postponement of Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion or Post-Tenure Review form.

   2. The individual postponement may be up to a maximum of two (2) years if circumstances relating to the health of the faculty member or a documented family-related matter are likely to impede the faculty member’s normal progress toward RTP or PTR. In all cases of individual postponement, the maximum duration of probationary service shall not exceed eight (8) years, thereby making the ninth (9) year the terminal year for faculty whose applications for tenure are denied. [Note: This eight (8) year maximum does not apply to campus-wide postponement as described in Section VI. below.]

   3. One (1) year shall be granted for each separate set of circumstances or events that require the faculty member to invoke the faculty disability and faculty salary continuation policy.

   4. The faculty member must complete and sign the Postponement of Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion and Post-Tenure Review form and forward the form for signatures to the department chair, the appropriate dean, and the provost’s designee.

   5. The faculty member retains the option to stand for RTP or PTR at a date earlier than indicated for the mandatory personnel action as long as the two-year probationary service at rank is met (described in UNCW’s Criteria for Reappointment, Promotion, and Award of Tenure, Section IV.A.).

5. Policy for Individual Postponement Unrelated to Medical Leave

   1. A faculty member may petition for up to a one-year postponement of RTP or PTR due to exigent circumstances beyond the faculty member’s personal control that are either ongoing or severe enough to delay the faculty member’s expected yearly progress in research or scholarship.

   2. The faculty member must make the request prior to the academic year in which the personnel action is to take place.

   3. The faculty member must first seek approval from the department chair and a majority of the departmental senior faculty members (as defined by their home department). If the department members support the request, the department chair shall write a letter of support that the faculty member forwards to the dean along with a petition explicitly specifying the exigent circumstance with documentation provided.

   4. If the department does not support the petition, the department chair must provide a rationale. The faculty member may appeal to the appropriate academic dean by providing the department’s rationale and a petition for postponement.

   5. If the dean supports the petition for postponement, he or she shall provide a written recommendation to the provost’s designee for approval.

   6. If the dean or provost’s designee does not support the petition for postponement, he or she shall provide a written response to the faculty member. The faculty member may appeal the decision to the provost, whose decision shall be final.

6. Policy for Campus-wide Postponement Related to Collective Circumstances

   1. The provost, in consultation with Faculty Senate, may determine that compelling collective circumstances (such as prolonged campus closure due to weather- related disasters or extended health and safety concerns) exist for all faculty progressing toward RTP or PTR. As such, at the provost’s designation, the RTP decision will be automatically postponed, thereby extending the current appointment term by one (1) year. The extension applies only to the current contract term, but when taken, subsequently extends all mandatory decisions accordingly.

   2. The campus-wide process is automatic and does not require submission of a form or other action on behalf of the faculty member.

   3. Faculty members are not required to extend their timeline by one (1) year. They retain the option to stand for RTP or PTR at a date earlier than indicated for mandatory personnel action, as long as the two-year probationary service at rank is met (as described in UNCW’s Criteria for Reappointment, Promotion, and Award of Tenure, Section IV. A.).

   4. Campus-wide postponements are not factored into the maximum eight (8) year probationary term as described in Section IV. B. of this policy.

7. General Guidelines

   1. In all cases, the maximum duration of probationary service for individual circumstances (Sections IV. and V.), shall not exceed eight (8) years. Campus- wide postponements (Section VI.) are automatic extensions and are not factored into the eight (8) year maximum probationary service limits.

   2. Extensions can be used only for the review cycle in which they are granted; unused extensions cannot be applied to future review cycles.