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Faculty Retention Review

A page within Academic Affairs

The information below provides a short description of the expected contributions from the candidate, the department, and the Dean for retention reviews for ranked faculty.

The candidate submits two Digital Measures electronic reports to their department (note the reports represent different date frames - one annual and one since date of hire)

  1. The report titled "INDIV: Activities Report (Annual Faculty/IAS; Merit; Post-Tenure)" for the most recent academic year (June 1 - May 31).
  2. The report titled "INDIV: Personnel Report (Faculty/IAS Promotions/Retention/Tenure)" for all years at UWL since date of hire until date that report is drawn.
    -Department by-laws determine the requirements regarding narratives and use of evidence for teaching, scholarship and service. The Provost's Office and Deans highly recommend that probationary faculty align the development of retention portfolios to promotion guidelines. Retention/tenure and promotion are separate processes at UWL; however, the development of an effective portfolio for retention aids in the development of an effective portfolio for promotion. 

    Note: Reports must be submitted in PDF format, and all attachments should be uploaded to Digital Measures in PDF format.

The department submits one Digital Measures report entitled "DEPT: Personnel Supporting Materials" to the Dean that contains hyperlinks to the following materials that the department must upload:

  1. Department letter of recommendation that includes:
    • The option selected for the retention decision (one of the four options listed below), which would generally be used as the motion the department votes on and records.
      • Recommendation for a two-year contract
      • Recommendation for a one-year contract (also used if the tenure vote is within one-year rather than two)
      • Recommendation for tenure
      • Recommendation of a non-retention
    • The actual retention/tenure vote showing the number of Yes votes, No votes, and any abstentions.
  2. Teaching Assignment Information (TAI) for each candidate covering from date of hire.  Student Evaluation Information (SEI) information should be included for individual courses through Spring 2023. 
  3. Merit evaluation results (since date of hire).
  4. Descriptions of the merit procedures and the departmental definition of scholarship.

The Dean's Office uploads the following materials to the appropriate Canvas site and notifies HR and the Provost's Office by email when this is complete:

  • The two reports from the individual under consideration. 
  • The department's Digital Measures report with the items listed above.
  • Dean's letter of recommendation, identifying which of the retention options is being supported.

Retention and tenure processes reflect UW System's Unclassified personnel rules (Chapter 3 in particular).

NOTE: Tenure stoppage and retention
Faculty that request a tenure stoppage receive an additional period of time in which they may be considered for a tenure recommendation – it extends the tenure decision past the original date. This stoppage does not also stop the retention decisions of faculty. Retention decisions continue on their normal review cycle; however, if the tenure stoppage is due to a medical or disability-related event, the faculty member should speak to Human Resources about the possible impact regarding their retention decisions.