Chair’s Review for reappointment (Lecturer-Track, Multi-Year)

Lecturers may be reappointed to a term varying from one semester to three years, and senior lecturers and senior lecturers II may be reappointed to a term varying from one semester to five years, in each case depending on professional accomplishment, development as a teacher, programmatic needs, and available resources. 

Generally, instructional faculty on multi-year terms are considered for reappointment in the penultimate year of each term. The format for these reviews alternates between a full reappointment review (i.e., with a review committee) and a chair’s reappointment review (i.e., with a single reviewer rather than a committee), subject to the following rules: 

1. A faculty member’s first reappointment review must be a full reappointment review.
2. A chair’s reappointment review must be immediately preceded by either a full reappointment review or a successful promotion review.
3. A chair’s reappointment review requires the department chair’s affirmation that the department and candidate are not better suited by a full reappointment review.

Lecturers and senior lecturers with one-year appointments are not required to be reviewed for reappointment for an additional year; however, if the department wishes to undertake such a review, the procedures for a full reappointment review may be followed.

Related Documents

Materials Request Letter - Instructional Chair’s Reappointments

Department Faculty Vote Form

Criteria for the lecturer-track ranks

Contact

For Humanities departments and programs (except English)

John Mangan, Senior Associate Dean

For the Department of English

Jason Zentz, Associate Dean

For Social Science and Science departments and programs

Robert Burger, Senior Associate Dean
Dorottya Noble, Assistant Dean

Process

• TRAC Assessment
  • ​By mid-fall, TRAC completes an assessment of the positions of lecturer-track faculty in the penultimate year of their multiyear appointment, in consultation with department and program chairs. If TRAC identifies sufficient curricular need and available funding for a lecturer’s position, the relevant (senior) associate or assistant dean informs the department or program of approval to conduct a reappointment review, indicating whether the candidate is eligible for a full or chair’s review. 
• ​Review Type Selection
  • ​If the candidate is eligible for a chair’s review, the chair (in consultation with department faculty) determines whether the department and the candidate would be better served by a full reappointment review. If so, the department follows the full reappointment review procedures.
  • If a candidate eligible for a chair’s review believes that they and the department would be better served by a full reappointment review, they may request one. The candidate must make this request in writing not later than November 15 to the relevant (senior) associate or assistant dean, with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu. If a full reappointment review is elected, the chair or their successor, in consultation with department faculty, will decide whether the subsequent review will be a full or chair’s reappointment review. 
• ​Candidate Notification
  • ​Chair (supported by chair’s assistant) prepares and sends the Materials Request Letter.
• Case Creation
  • ​Chair’s assistant creates case in Interfolio, leaving Type blank, selecting the Lecturer/Sr. Lecturer/Sr. Lecturer II template for the relevant division, and selecting YES for candidate being involved with the review. 
  • Chair’s assistant sends case forward to notify the candidate, pasting the text of the Materials Request Letter previously sent via email in the message section.
  • Additional information regarding case creation can be found on the Office of Faculty Administrative Services (OFAS) website.
• ​Departmental Reviewer Selection
  • ​The chair may serve as the reviewer or may designate another eligible faculty member from among those department faculty eligible to vote on the reappointment (see Section IV.F.1 of the Faculty Handbook.)
  • The candidate may request that a department faculty member other than the chair conduct the review. This request should be made in writing to the relevant (senior) associate or assistant dean not later than November 15.
• ​Dossier Submission
  • ​Candiate uploads materials to Interfolio as requested in the materials requested letter. Chair’s assistant reviews for completeness.
  • Chair’s assistant uploads candidate course evaluatoins for the eight most recent semesters (excluding summer terms and terms with no evaluations available) in reverse chronological order. Evaluations should be retrieved through the OCE Faculty Dashboard, selecting OCE TAC Report on the top right-hand corner of the page. All course evaluations should be saved as PDF with the naming convention [LastName]_[CourseNumber]_[Semester][Year]. Contact the Registrar’s Office at evaluate@yale.edu if the chair’s assistant does not have access to the dashboard or OCE TAC Report.
• ​Chair’s Review
  • ​The chair (or their designee) considers course evaluations, reviews the dossier submitted by the candidate, and consults with the heads of other programs and units, as appropriate, on all extra-departmental activities. Classroom observations are optional.
  • Before the end of February, the chair (or designee) meets with the candidate to discuss their performance as a teacher as well as their other accomplishments and goals, with reference to the criteria for the rank. If the review was conducted by a designee, the chair attends the meeting as well.
• ​Departmental Review
  • ​Chair’s assistant sends the case forward in Interfolio to the eligible voting faculty at least one week prior to the scheduled faculty meeting.
  • Eligible faculty review the case in Interfolio, discuss it with reference to the criteria for the rank, and vote via secret ballot. For the case to advance beyond the department, the candidate must receive affirmative votes from a majority of those present and eligible to vote. Absentee ballots may not be accepted, counted, or recorded.
  • Note: The duration of the appointment is not under consideration by the faculty; their decision is only based on whether the candidate meets with criteria for the rank.
  • The chair’s assistant records the vote using the Department Faculty Vote Form and uploads the form to Interfolio, eliminating the instructional pages and setting the access properties to Administrator Only.
• TRAC Review
  • ​Chair’s assistant sends the case forward in Interfolio to the FAS Faculty Affairs Review step, keeping the message checkbox checked to trigger a notification when the case is moved forward.
  • Relevant (senior) associate or assistant dean reviews the case and determines, in consultation with other members of TRAC, the relevant divisional dean, and the FAS Dean as necessary, whether it can be approved without further discussion or should instead be considered by the full TRAC. 
  • TRAC reviews any case that the relevant dean has forwarded, discusses it with reference to the criteria for the rank, and votes via secret ballot.
• Reappointment Processing
  • ​If TRAC approves the recommended reappointment, the relevant (senior) associate or assistant dean consults with the department chair regarding length of term and other conditions of the reappointment.
  • FAS Dean’s Office sends a reappointment letter to the candidate, with a copy to the department chair, department staff, and OFAS.
  • As soon as possible after receiving the letter, chair’s assistant submits the required documents to OFAS at faculty.admin@yale.edu and processes the reappointment in Workday. Workday training guides are available.