MAINTENANCE OF PROFESSIONAL FILE	No. 8-24	Rev.
		Date 7-8-93

POLICY

A professional file will be maintained for the purposes of tenure and promotion for each faculty member in the office of the dean. This file is to be distinguished from the personnel file maintained in the personnel office and will include the following documents:

A. The standard biographical form available from the office of the provost.

B. Certification forms indicating the number of years granted toward rank or tenure to the candidate at the time of the initial appointment or applicable time on leave as approved under PPM 8-21.

C. Records of all action and review proceedings by individuals and committees in the ranking tenure process.

D. Peer evaluation data which assesses all aspects of a candidate's performance and which may include assessment of a candidate's knowledge of subjects taught, quality of course materials used and developed, grading policies and procedures, availability to students, student supervision, maintenance of high academic standards and a personal commitment to improvement.

E. Summaries of student evaluation data which are representative of the candidate's teaching load, with the evaluation instruments attached.

F. Other summarized information consistent with criteria for rank or tenure.

A separate file containing supporting documentation for items "D," "E," and "F" above should be maintained in the possession of the individual faculty member. Materials in this file could include individual student evaluations, copies of publications, awards, certificates and degrees.

It is the responsibility of the faculty member to update the professional file to insure its completeness prior to the beginning of the ranking tenure review process. Materials may not be added to this file after the review process has begun, unless it is at the request of individuals involved in the review process. Other authorized individuals, including department and college peers, former employers, recognized scholars and professionals within the faculty member's discipline and Ranking Tenure Evaluation Committee members may submit items to the department chair for inclusion into the file. The department chair will send the faculty member a copy of all items which have been sent to the office of the provost for inclusion in the faculty member's professional file. The office of the provost will stamp the date of submission on all documents submitted to the file and make an entry of these items into the table of contents.

The removal of any documents must occur as follows:

A. The faculty member must submit a written statement to the department chair presenting the reasons for excluding the item(s) from the file.

B. The department chair must submit a recommendation to the dean concerning the written statement of the faculty member.

C. After receiving the recommendation of the department chair, the dean, in consultation with the provost, will decide whether the challenged material will remain in the file.

D. If the decision is made to delete the challenged material, the removal of the item(s) will be shown in the table of contents as "deleted" and dated.

Professional files will be made available at any time to the candidate upon request or other authorized individuals after obtaining their signatures. The table of contents page will indicate the signatures of all persons who have looked at the file, as well as a record of additions and deletions.

As a candidate updates the biographical form each year, the previous form shall be replaced with the updated form. This procedure for updating the biographical form is not subject to the deletion guidelines stated above.