Tenure and Promotion
JSOM Promotion and Tenure Guidelines
JSOM Promotion and Tenure Timeline
Promotion, Tenure, and Reappointment
Since most faculty do not come to Indiana University at the rank of full professor with tenure, nearly every member of the faculty is affected by the promotion, tenure, and reappointment process. The aim of these procedures is to ensure the highest standards of excellence for the faculty and to provide them with just and consistent treatment in an atmosphere of academic freedom.
Faculty ranks in the Jacobs School of Music are: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor. Lecturer/senior lecturer appointments are tenure-ineligible and encompass responsibilities in the areas of teaching and service, but not research/creative activity. School policy strictly limits the number of full-time tenure-ineligible appointments.
At each of these ranks, individuals may have part-time or visiting appointments. In the case of tenure-track positions, an individual with a terminal degree (or equivalent experience) in his or her field will normally be appointed initially as an assistant professor with seven years until tenure. The tenure decision is made in the sixth year, after which the faculty member has either one final year as a member of the faculty (in the case of a negative decision), or one more year until being tenured (in the case of a positive decision). Promotion to associate professor is usually made at the same time as tenure.
Promotion, tenure, and reappointment are based on excellence of activities in three categories: research/creative activity, teaching, and service. Specific campus procedures and guidelines for promotion, tenure, and reappointment at Indiana University are available in the Guidelines for Tenure and Promotion published by the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty & Academic Affairs.
Since all of these procedures depend greatly upon information supplied by the faculty member, it is most important that careful documentation of all professional activities be maintained with a view to the preparation of the dossier. Promotion and reappointment are based on activity in rank, while tenure is based on activity throughout a career. Therefore, it is important that programs, reviews, books, book reviews, articles, recordings, documentation of participation in commissions, national offices held, and all other professional activities be carefully kept by the individual. While the office of the associate dean for instruction will assist with the preparation of the dossier, it is the faculty member's responsibility to maintain an accurate and complete curriculum vitae, to write an effective personal statement, and to supply the necessary documentation.
Each faculty member who has not achieved tenure or rank of full professor can expect an annual review in verbal or written form, conducted by the department chair and/or members of the Administrative Committee of the Jacobs School of Music, highlighting positive achievements and areas of concern. It is important for individuals to be in contact with department chairs for evaluation of teaching and research/creative activity as well with a view to promotion and tenure.
In addition, prior to the tenure decision all tenure-track faculty receive a departmental reappointment review in the spring of each year, starting in the second year of their initial probationary appointment (normally three years) and ending in the spring semester before the tenure dossier is due. This review is conducted by the tenured members of the department under the direction of the department chair.
Faculty in full-time tenure-ineligible ranks also receive departmental reappointment reviews, usually starting in the second year of the initial probationary appointment (normally a three-year period), and repeated in the next-to-last year of each subsequent appointment period (normally a three-year period).