The promotion and tenure provisions of department and college bylaws apply to all Bargaining Unit Faculty Members except as allowed in the following provisions based on the August 4, 2003 Memorandum of Understanding between the AAUP-WSU and the University. This side letter shall be in effect for eligible tenured Bargaining Unit Faculty Members through the 2008-2009 academic year.

All references to department bylaws pertain to the college bylaws for Bargaining Unit Faculty Members (BUFMs) at the Lake Campus or in the College of Nursing and Health. Likewise, references to Annual Evaluations conducted by the Department Chair refer to the College Dean in these two units.

Choice regarding criteria and procedures

Each probationary (i.e., untenured) Bargaining Unit Faculty Member whose offer letter predates the approved departmental bylaws (CBA, 13.4.2) shall have the choice of

(a) the P&T criteria and procedures specified in the bylaws, or

(b) the “old” written or unwritten criteria and procedures (past practice).

A candidate does not have the option of selecting bylaws-based criteria and pre-bylaws procedures, nor vice-versa.

• Likewise, each tenured Bargaining Unit Faculty Member below the rank of Professor can select either (a) or (b). However, this choice applies only for six years after the departmental bylaws were approved; after that, (b) is no longer an option. Thus, i:
• If a BUFM’s departmental bylaws received final approval between September 1, 2000 and August 31, 2001, then this BUFM could choose option (b) for P&T in the 2006-2007 academic year but not in 2007-2008.
• If a BUFM’s departmental bylaws received final approval between September 1, 2001 and August 31, 2002, then this BUFM could choose option (b) for P&T in the 2007-2008 academic year but not in 2008-2009.
• If a BUFM’s departmental bylaws received final approval between September 1, 2002 andbefore August 31, 2003, then this BUFM could choose option (b) for P&T in the 2008-2009 academic year but not in 2009-2010.

Any BUFM who receives promotion or tenure or both after her or his departmental bylaws are approved must use (a) for all subsequent promotions. For example, an untenured Assistant Professor who is promoted to Associate Professor with tenure during the 2003-2004 academic year cannot choose option (b) for promotion to Professor.

With respect to option (b), the “old” criteria applicable to an individual Bargaining Unit Faculty Member’s promotion and/or tenure consideration should be consistent with criteria for teaching, scholarship and service that have been applied in recent years to other faculty in that person’s department and college unless the individual’s described faculty appointment is sufficiently different from other faculty in his or her department and college to warrant such unique criteria.

Candidates who choose option (b) should be aware that Department Chairs, Deans, and P&T Committees at all levels have considerable latitude. It is possible, for example that the Department Chair, the Dean, and the college and university P&T Committees may apply criteria that are more stringent than those accepted by the department P&T Committee.

On the other hand, for a P&T candidate under option (a), such latitude is forbidden: the collective bargaining agreement requires each participant in the P&T process to evaluate the candidate against the P&T criteria in departmental bylaws. Department P&T Committees, Department Chairs, College P&T Committees, Deans, and the University P&T Committee cannot impose their own criteria; they must evaluate the candidate according to the criteria in departmental bylaws and no other. Moreover, the criteria in departmental bylaws must be taken as necessary and sufficient. That is, if a candidate meets the criteria established in bylaws, then he or she does merit promotion and/or tenure, and the recommendations of all committees and individuals must be written accordingly. No bylaws criterion can be ignored or dismissed, and no additional criteria can be imposed at any point in the P&T process.

Candidates must declare their choice of (a) or (b) as follows:

• If the candidate initiates the P&T process, he or she must submit a request in writing to the Department Chair with a copy to the Department P&T Committee (CBA, 13.6.1); this request must indicate the candidate’s choice, (a) or (b).
• If the Department P&T Committee initiates the process, it must ask the candidate in writing to specify his or her choice, it must allow the candidate at least two weeks to respond, and the candidate must respond in writing.

Soliciting external letters

The solicitation of letters from external reviewers (CBA, 13.6.3.1) must be consistent with the BUFM’s choice to be considered for promotion and/or tenure under (a) “bylaws” or (b) “past practice.”

For candidates considered according to option (a), Bylaws:

Letters written by the departmental P&T Committee to external reviewers must comply with Section 13.6.3.1.

For candidates considered according to option (b), Past Practice

Letters written by the departmental P&T Committee to external reviewers must be consistent with those written in the recent past for other “past practice” candidates. In particular, the solicitation letter cannot be modified in a way that would prejudice external reviewers either for or against the candidate.