2.15.8 Review for Award of Tenure

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2.15.8.1 Departmental and School or Library Committee Review 

Review for the award of tenure begins with a departmental committee or, in its absence, a school-wide committee. Committees must be formed in accordance with procedures outlined in this Handbook. The faculty member shall take whatever action is required to begin the initial review. The recommendation of the departmental committee, together with the recommendation of the department chair, shall be forwarded to the dean who must refer it to the appropriate school, college, or UAB Libraries committee for review. The school, college, or UAB Libraries committee shall forward its recommendation to the dean.

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2.15.8.2 Review and Decision of Dean

The dean shall notify the school, college, or UAB Libraries committee, the department chair, the department committee, where appropriate, and the faculty member of their decision.

If the dean's decision is recommendation for tenure, the recommendation with supporting documentation will be sent to the Provost. The provost review is based on the criteria from the academic unit in which the faculty member is based. If the Provost does not concur, the Provost shall notify the appropriate dean who shall, in turn, notify the appropriate parties.

If the dean's decision is not to recommend tenure, the faculty member may appeal according to the process outlined in this Handbook (2.17).

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2.15.8.3 Notification of Faculty Member

The Provost shall notify in a timely manner each candidate recommended by the dean concerning the award of promotion and/or tenure. Appropriate deadlines will be set by the Provost to allow each department or school adequate time for consideration, including actions by the President. Each involved faculty member shall receive prompt official notification prior to the release of public information concerning promotion or the award of tenure. The dean shall inform the faculty member in writing of the reasons for not awarding promotion and/or tenure if the dean did not forward a positive recommendation to the Provost. The Provost shall inform the faculty member in writing of the reasons for not awarding promotion and/or tenure if a negative decision is made by the Provost. If the Provost recommends awarding promotion and/or tenure, the President will notify the faculty member in writing.

A denial of tenure serves as a one-year notice of non-reappointment of a faculty member for whom there are no further opportunities to apply for tenure pursuant to Section 2.15.4. In such cases, the last day of employment shall be the last day of the candidate's terminal year as provided in section 2.15.4. Depending on the academic unit and subject to budget and unit and/or departmental priorities, in some circumstances the faculty member may be eligible for a change of tenure-earning status as described in Section 2.15.6.

Faculty have access to a variety of resources to prepare for discussions in connection with a negative recommendation, including the UAB Ombuds, counseling provided through the employee relations unit of Human Resources, and other faculty development resources available on the Office of the Provost website.

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2.15.8.4 Non-award of Tenure Because of Changes in Program Priorities

Although an individual faculty member may meet the criteria for the award of tenure, a decision to deny tenure may be based on considerations of curriculum, enrollment, finances, or other program factors not prevalent or predictable at the time of original appointment.

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2.15.9 Consideration of Substantial New Evidence During Terminal Year

If a faculty member who has been denied tenure but during the terminal year believes that there is substantial new evidence in support of a reconsideration of an award of tenure, then the candidate may present such evidence following the same department and school, college or UAB Libraries processes including all steps of approval that were used for the prior tenure application (Sections 2.15.8.1 and 2.15.8.2). This review is not a de novo review and shall be based primarily on new evidence associated with the original application that resulted in the denial of tenure. If following the review, the recommendation of the dean supports that the denial of tenure should be reversed, the dean will forward the recommendation to the Provost, whose decision shall be final. No separate appeal to the Provost pursuant to Section 2.17 shall be available for a reconsideration of a denial of tenure. If the tenure reconsideration process exceeds the terminal year (2.15.4), the terminal year may only be extended to accommodate the tenure reconsideration process, if offered, to a maximum of September 30th.

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