Review for promotion from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer

By mid-fall, TRAC will complete an assessment of the positions of those lecturer-track faculty in the penultimate year of a multiyear appointment in terms of the ongoing, demonstrated need for teaching in the lecturer’s area of instruction and the availability of resources as authorized by the FAS Dean’s Office to support the position. TRAC will also assess the positions of those lecturer-track faculty not in the penultimate year yet whose departments have put them forward for consideration for promotion. The department chair will be consulted in the course of these assessments. If the ongoing need for the position is affirmed, TRAC will inform the department chair that the promotion review may go forward.

By Thanksgiving, the department chair appoints a committee to review any lecturer who is being considered for promotion to senior lecturer. For lecturer candidates, the review committee is composed of at least three members, including:

• at least one member of the department’s ladder faculty
• at least one senior lecturer or senior lecturer II from the department (if none is available, then a senior lecturer or senior lecturer II from another department)
• a third member drawn from the department’s ladder faculty, or instructional faculty at a higher rank than the candidate
• as needed, other faculty from the above categories; where necessary or appropriate, faculty from other Yale departments and programs are eligible to serve

The review committee membership must be pre-approved by the FAS Dean’s Office. The department/program chair submits a review committee proposal to the relevant senior associate or assistant dean, with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu. The FAS Dean’s Office works with the department/program chair to approve the review committee, and sends an approval email to the department with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu.

The review committee schedules classroom observations and considers student teaching evaluations. Chairs’ assistants may retrieve course evaluations through the OCE Faculty Dashboard, where they should select the OCE TAC Report on the top right hand corner of the page, type in the candidate’s name in the Instructor field, wait for the Term box to be filled in (it automatically selects the most recent fall/spring terms, up to 8), and click Search. For each course in the list, click the course number link, and save that course’s evaluations page as a PDF. If a chair’s assistant does not have access to the Dashboard, the department chair should contact the Registrar’s Office at evaluate@yale.edu to request access for the chair’s assistant.

The review committee also requests from the faculty member under review a curriculum vitae, all syllabi from the past five years to which the candidate has substantively contributed, and a brief report on accomplishments, activities, and goals, using the Materials Request Letter. The committee consults with the heads of other programs and units, as appropriate, on all extra-departmental activities. Finally, the committee requests and considers reference letters from at least three appropriate faculty either within or outside the University, depending on the candidate’s experience, using the Referee Letter Template. Note: members of the departmental review committee may not serve as internal referees.

Voting in the promotion process occurs in two stages:

• Stage one: review committee vote. By the end of March, the review committee votes to determine its candidate recommendation, and then submits it as well as the Departmental Committee Report to the department chair. All members of the review committee vote in this stage.
• Stage two: department-wide vote. As in all such cases, the department conducts a secret ballot vote on the proposed promotion, using the Department Faculty Vote Form. All ladder faculty are permitted to vote. Consistent with department practices, instructional faculty at or above the rank to which the candidate is being considered for promotion, may be permitted to vote. For a promotion to be approved, 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. The department chair notifies the FAS Dean’s Office of the outcome of the vote.

If the department has voted not to promote, the department chair discusses that outcome with the FAS Dean’s Office before conveying the decision to the candidate. The FAS Dean’s Office drafts a letter for the candidate for review by the chair, indicating the department’s decision and noting the end-date of their current appointment. Before the letter is sent, the department chair meets with the candidate to convey the decision. As applicable, the chair will inform the candidate when they will next be (i) reviewed for reappointment as lecturer, and (ii) eligible for review for promotion to senior lecturer. The chair informs the FAS Dean’s Office once the meeting has taken place. Following approval of the letter, which must be co-signed by the chair and a relevant dean, the FAS Dean’s Office sends it to the candidate, with copies to the chair and OFAS.

If the department has voted in favor of promotion, before the end of March, the department submits the following materials as a single PDF document to TRAC for  final review. The PDF should be sent to the relevant senior associate or assistant dean, with a copy to fas.dean@yale.edu, with the subject line: TRAC Promotion Dossier, [Candidate’s Name]:

1. Departmental Committee Report
2. Department Faculty Vote Form
3. Candidate’s CV
4. Candidate’s report on accomplishments, activities, and goals
5. 3 Letters of Recommendation

For recommended promotions in arts practice for an appointment of three years or longer, TRAC will review such recommendations from the perspective of teaching resources, and the Creative Arts Advisory Committee (CAAC) will make the final decision on the promotion.

If TRAC approves the recommended promotion, the department chair consults with the FAS Dean’s Office regarding length of term, salary, and other conditions of the appointment. Appointments vary in duration from one semester to five years, depending on the candidate’s professional accomplishment, development as a teacher, programmatic needs, and available resources. The FAS Dean’s Office drafts a letter of promotion for the candidate for review by the chair. Following approval of the letter, which must be co-signed by the chair and a relevant dean, the FAS Dean’s Office sends it to the candidate, with copies to the chair and to OFAS.

The department’s chair’s assistant (or equivalent) processes the candidate promotion in Workday (referring to the Workday Training website), and submits the supporting documents to faculty.admin@yale.edu according to the FAS Chart of Required Documents.