Promotion and Tenure

General Procedures for Faculty

This overview of the promotion and/or tenure review process for faculty is intended to supplement requirements found in the UW Faculty Code Section 24-54, Faculty Code Section 25-41, UW Executive Order 45, and UW Executive Order V. If there is a conflict between this guidance and either the Faculty Code or Executive Order, the provisions of the Faculty Code or Executive Order govern.

Overview

There are 3 key steps in the promotion and/or tenure process:

1. Assembly of the promotion/tenure record
2. Recommendations and the candidate’s opportunity for response
3. Possible outcomes of the promotion/tenure review

Visualization of the Review Process

Appointing units with 3 or more eligible voting faculty

Appointing units with fewer than 3 eligible voting faculty

Due Dates for Submission to Academic HR

See the Promotion and/or Tenure Due Dates page. 

Mandatory Reviews

Titles/ranks requiring mandatory reviews include:

• Assistant professors (tenure-eligible, WOT, research, clinical-dental pathway, APL)
• Associate professor tenure track
• Professor tenure track

All mandatory reviews must be forwarded to the provost, regardless of the recommendation, for final determination.

Faculty with 9-month appointments starting December 17 through December 16 and faculty with 12-month appointments starting January 2 through January 1 are all considered in the same cohort for their mandatory clock. See the clock-managed ranks page.

Schools/colleges/campuses are urged to begin appropriate review activities and collection of documentation during spring quarter of the year prior to mandatory review. Candidates should check with their chair/director/campus dean/dean about local level deadlines.

Faculty in clock-managed ranks may request up to 4 waivers that pause the mandatory clock by one year for situations that lead to significant interruptions to research or scholarship. Read more about promotion and tenure clock waivers.

Non-Mandatory Reviews

Non-mandatory reviews should be conducted in the following circumstances:

• Promotions to associate professor (tenured, WOT, research, teaching, clinical practice, clinical-dental pathway, APL) prior to the mandatory review year
• Recommendations for an award of tenure only to an individual appointed in the WOT track
• Associate professor tenure track or professor tenure track prior to the mandatory review year
• Promotions to professor (all tracks: tenured, WOT, research, teaching, clinical practice, clinical-dental pathway)
• Promotions to associate teaching professor, associate professor of clinical practice, or senior artist in residence.

Provost action is not required on unfavorable non-mandatory reviews. However, any non-mandatory recommendation to deny a promotion/award of tenure to which the candidate submits a written response to the dean/chancellor will be passed from the dean/chancellor to the provost for informational purposes.

Note: Affiliate and Annually-Appointed Clinical Faculty Promotion:

Effective July 2024, faculty in clinical-non-salaried, clinical-salaried, and affiliate titles will not be subject to promotion review by the provost. Rather, a change in rank will now become a local school/college/campus-level (dean/chancellor) decision that is made through the annual reappointment review.

The goal of this change is to acknowledge and leverage the reappointment process for annually appointed faculty as the appropriate mechanism for assessing qualifications for appointment at rank. Leveraging the existing process will save time and effort while maintaining the substantive value of the school/college/campus review.

With the shift to a reappointment process, the unit is responsible for creating clear local processes and procedures for consideration of a change in rank at reappointment, consistent with attainment of qualifications prescribed in Faculty Code Chapter 24-34. Such procedures should be documented and readily accessible by unit faculty and staff. For clinical and affiliate appointees receiving compensation from the UW, a compensation change can coincide with reappointment. Thus, the traditional 10% salary increase that had been available to these populations upon successful promotion can still occur with a change in rank at reappointment.

The Office for Academic Personnel and Faculty (APF) is reworking the reappointment process for affiliate and annually-appointed clinical faculty approved for rank and salary changes and updates and revised web content is coming soon.