Promotion to the Rank of Professor

Candidates for promotion to Professor shall be reviewed by the Special Subcommittee on Promotions. The Special Subcommittee shall make its recommendation to the Dean of the College by the Wednesday before spring break; the Dean shall make his or her recommendation to the President of the College by the second Wednesday after spring break. Normally at its spring meeting, the President shall recommend for or against promotion to the Board of Trustees, which has the right to approve or disapprove the promotion.

In making a recommendation for promotion, the Special Subcommittee shall review the candidate on the basis of the relevant professional and performance standards (see Academic Freedom and Ranks and Professional Standards for Rank). The subcommittee shall solicit letters evaluating the candidate's work from the Division Chair and from the Associate Dean; it may also request evaluations from the candidate's colleagues and students, and from outside scholars who are in a position to judge the candidate's work. (The Associate Dean does not normally provide teaching evaluation summaries for review for promotion to Professor.) The Division Chair’s evaluation should provide an adequate evaluation of professional achievement. It shall be based on letters from tenured members of the candidate’s program committee and letters solicited from any other colleagues at the discretion of the Division Chair, on a survey by the Division Chair of any other persons at the College who are familiar with the candidate’s work, and on the contents of the candidate’s open file. The Division Chair shall include with her or his letter copies of all letters received from colleagues of the candidate. The Special Subcommittee shall have access to the candidate's open and closed files, and its review shall include consideration of all items therein.