For retention, a faculty member must demonstrate effectiveness in all areas of the candidate’s assignment: teaching, scholarship, and service as described in the University Faculty Handbook, “Retention, Promotion, and Tenure: Candidate’s Rights and Responsibilities.” Teaching and scholarship are considered to be of primary and equal value Service, however, is also an important feature of every faculty member’s role.

Faculty members must also demonstrate the integration of no less than two of the following during the review period: teaching, scholarship, and service.

Faculty members must also demonstrate satisfactory progress towards meeting the standards for tenure by the candidate’s tenure review year.

Teaching:

CLS expects faculty to contribute to the general education of Montana State University students, to the educational experience of students majoring in the many central disciplines of the College and where appropriate, to the graduate programs of students pursuing post-baccalaureate degrees. In addition to the university teaching criteria above, the College recognizes other faculty contributions, such as participation in the University Core, the Honors program, direction of independent study, undergraduate research and graduate research, and advising of undergraduate and graduate students.

Academic advising of students is an important component of teaching effectiveness in cases where faculty are assigned this responsibility.

Scholarship:

The diverse nature of the College encourages a wide variety of scholarly activity. All faculty members with research expectations are expected to develop a record of scholarly contributions that is consistently of high quality and sustained over time.

Service:

Service is important to the College of Letters and Science and will vary according to individual departmental and faculty roles.

Section 8.01 Timing of Retention Review

Faculty are reviewed for retention in the academic year specified in their Letter of Hire, unless extended under the Extending Tenure Review Period policy.

Section 8.02 University Standard

The standards for the retention of probationary faculty members are:

  • Effectiveness in teaching, scholarship and service during the review period, and
  • Integration of no less than two of the following during the review period: teaching, scholarship, and service, and satisfactory progress towards meeting the standards for tenure by the candidate's tenure review year.
  • Satisfactory progress towards meeting the standards for tenure by the candidate’s tenure review year.

Section 8.03   Performance Indicators and Weighting

Weighting and performance indicators for teaching, scholarship, and service and integration as described in the University Faculty Handbook, will be specified in Departmental Role and Scope documents.

Teaching:

Effectiveness in teaching shall be demonstrated through evaluation by peers and colleagues within the University through in-depth assessment of teaching performance and curricular enhancement and innovation that draws upon current and/or former students, graduates, colleagues, and/or clients. Candidates shall follow the methods for in-depth assessment of teaching performance established by the department. Standards for weighted teaching and performance indicators will be elaborated by the departments.

Scholarship:

Publication, scholarly productivity, or funding appropriate to national norms in each discipline, as defined by the departments, will serve as the criteria for evaluation.

Service:

In addition to the requirements in the University Faculty Handbook, the dossier should include the candidate’s professional service activities to the University, the profession, and local, national and international communities. This includes information about committee assignments, offices held, editing duties, service to professional organizations, outreach, and other professional tasks relevant to the candidate’s defined role.

Section 8.04 Quantitative and Qualitative Expectations

Consistent with the University Faculty Handbook and the standards below, in light of the diverse disciplines included in the College of Letters and Science, quantitative and qualitative expectations will be specified in the Departmental Role and Scope documents.

Teaching:

Faculty performance in teaching will be judged effective if it is consistent over time and of high quality and meets or exceeds the standards set by the candidate’s department.

Scholarship:

Faculty performance in scholarship will be judged effective if it is consistent over time and of high quality and meets or exceeds the standards set by the candidate’s department.

Service:

Faculty performance in service will be judged effective if it furthers the mission of the department, college, university, or profession, is of high quality, and if it meets or exceeds the standards of the candidate’s department.

Section 8.05 Evidence of Performance Indicators

Teaching:

Student evaluations should be both quantitative and qualitative: quantitative in order to allow comparison with other teachers, and qualitative to enable students to elaborate on their perceptions of strengths and weaknesses of the teacher. Because student evaluations are vulnerable to different types of bias, they should not be the sole measure of teaching effectiveness.

Peer evaluations, instructor-provided materials, and other evidence described in the Departmental Role and Scope document must also be included and considered.

Scholarship:

In light of the diverse disciplines included in the College of Letters and Science, evidence of performance indicators, such as publications, grant activity, and other scholarly products, and the standards and methods that will be used to assess them, will be elaborated in Departmental Role and Scope documents.

Service:

In light of the diverse disciplines included in the College of Letters and Science, evidence of performance indicators in the area of service, such as professional, university, and community service, will be elaborated in the Departmental Role and Scope documents.