INTRODUCTION AND POLICY

A decision to award tenure allows ODU to retain its best faculty and preserve academic freedom. ODU extends tenure to EVMS Faculty being promoted to the rank of Professor or Associate Professor based on the merit of the EVMS Faculty member and the needs of the EVMS School of Medicine ("SOM") and/or EVMS School of Health Professions ("SHP") in accordance with this Policy. This Policy only applies to "EVMS Faculty" defined as Full-Time Faculty (as defined in the Policies and Procedures Relating to Faculty Appointment, Promotion and Tenure of EVMS Faculty), who provide clinical, teaching, research, or administrative services in the SOM or the SHP. All references to "faculty" herein mean EVMS Faculty as defined in this policy.

TENURE ELIGIBILITY AND CRITERIA

1. Tenure Definition

   Tenure relates to faculty rank and salary and is the status granted to qualified faculty members which is reviewed at five-year intervals and which protects faculty from dismissal, except for Cause as set forth in the Grounds for Dismissal of Faculty Policy.

2. Length of Service Requirements

   1. Initial appointees at the rank of Associate Professor (and EVMS Faculty members promoted to the rank of Associate Professor) may be considered for tenure after three (3) years of service as an EVMS Faculty member at the rank of Associate Professor.

   2. Initial appointees at the rank of Professor may be considered for tenure after two (2) years of service as an EVMS Faculty member at the rank of Professor.

   3. Department Chairs of the SOM, the Dean of the SOM, or the Dean of the SHP at the professorial level may be considered for tenure at the time of initial appointment.

   4. The foregoing probationary periods may be modified or waived upon recommendation of the Departmental Chair of the SOM, with approval by the Dean of the SOM, or for SHP, with the approval of the Dean of the SHP and with the concurrence of the Tenure Committee, the Executive Vice President ("EVP"), the Board of Directors. After the passage of these probationary periods of appointment and review, tenure may be granted or the faculty member may remain on a term contract basis with the institution applicable to all other non-tenured faculty.

   5. Tenure is unrelated to the administrative position of a Department Chair or Program Director.

   6. The terms and conditions of every tenure appointment and any revisions will be stated in writing at the time of the appointment, be provided to the affected EVMS Faculty member, and be made a part of the academic faculty file.

   7. A tenured EVMS Faculty member relinquishes appointment with tenure upon resignation or termination of employment from ODU.

3. Eligibility

   1. Full-time faculty in the Basic Science Departments and School of Health Professions are eligible to be considered for tenure and with full base salary. Full base salary is defined as the current level of compensation (not including incentive or bonus pay) for an EVMS Faculty member, but not to exceed the average salary of the tenured faculty within the relevant rank and department.

   2. Full-time faculty in the Clinical Science Departments at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor are eligible to be considered for tenure. For the purposes of tenure, the base salary for clinical faculty is defined as the current average base salary support provided to the appropriate rank and department in the SOM or SHP.

4. Criteria for Tenure Appointment

   1. EVMS, to encourage all EVMS Faculty members to achieve excellence in major academic activities, may award tenure to EVMS Faculty members at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor, provided a departmental or SHP tenure position is available in the appropriate department or SHP and the Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SHP so recommends.

   2. Tenure decisions are based on rigorous standards of quality of performance. Therefore, all tenure decisions shall involve high academic unit standards and shall also involve comparisons of the qualifications of the candidate for tenure with the qualifications of those faculty who are at a similar stage in their careers and who might be available to the academic unit. Consistent with these guidelines, under which tenure is a privilege that is awarded by the institution in recognition of distinguished performance, the question to be asked when faculty members are considered for promotion to tenure is not whether that have performed adequately or even well during their previous years of their faculty appointment whether they have achieved distinction in their field and show promise of continued professional growth. The criteria used for awarding tenure include a higher level of effectiveness in four (4) areas:

      1. Research/Discovery and publication;

      2. Teaching;

      3. Patient Care; and

      4. Administration/Service.

   3. The applicant must demonstrate excellence in at least two (2) of the foregoing four (4) areas.

   4. The Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SHP must demonstrate that there is a need for the knowledge and skills of the candidate in the departmental/school program, and that such knowledge and skills will enable the department/school to substantially assist the EVMS to achieve its mission.

TENURE APPOINTMENT AND REVIEW

1. Tenure Committee

   The Tenure Committee is charged to evaluate faculty for tenure and post-tenure reviews. The Tenure Committee shall be appointed by the EVP and shall consist of nine (9) tenured faculty members who shall serve for three-year terms.

2. Initial Tenure Review and Appointment Procedures

   1. Each nomination for an initial review of faculty tenure status must originate with a letter of nomination from the Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SHP addressed to the EVP, in care of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development ("FAPD").

      A letter of nomination should contain the following documentation:

      1. Description and evaluation of the candidate's teaching abilities and responsibilities.

      2. Evaluation of the quality, originality, and significance of the candidate's research. A description of work in progress and relevant sources of funding should be included.

      3. Description and evaluation of administrative and other services to the department and ODU.

      4. Description of the role of the candidate in the department's program and the effect of the Institution's long-term commitment to the faculty member on the balance of skills required for a well-ordered department.

      5. Letters from faculty/students of the SOM or SHP knowledgeable of the faculty member's qualifications should accompany the letter of the Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SOM or SHP. In addition, a list of four professional colleagues, external to ODU, knowledgeable of the candidate's qualifications should be provided. The EVP through the office of FAPD will contact at least two of them for recommendation relating to the nominee's candidacy for tenure.

      6. Summation of the grounds on which the recommendation is based.

   2. For EVMS Faculty who are also being nominated for promotion, the nomination package shall be submitted to the Appointments and Promotions Committee first to ensure that faculty nominated for tenure and promotion meet the guidelines for promotion/rank. Promotions will be considered as outlined in the Policies and Procedures for Faculty Promotion.

   3. Promotions approved by the Appointments and Promotions Committee, and nomination packages for eligible faculty without a request for promotion, will be sent to the Tenure Committee for review.

   4. Recommendations of the Tenure Committee will be sent to the Dean of the SOM, if applicable, to the EVP, and if approved, to the President for presentation to the Board of Directors.

   5. If the determination of the Board of Directors is in favor of tenure, the Chair of the Board of Directors shall forward the faculty member's name to the Board of Visitors for final approval.

3. Post-Tenure Review

   1. All tenured faculty will undergo a post-tenure review at five-year intervals for approval of tenure for an additional five-year period.

   2. The Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SHP shall submit a letter addressed to the EVP for submission to the Tenure Committee through the office of FAPD for review that outlines the basis for the original (or previous) award of tenure, the faculty member's accomplishments, and an assessment with documentation of whether the tenured faculty member's performance was consistent with the criteria for tenure. For a Department Chair of the SOM or Dean of the SOM or SHP, such assessment will be done by the EVP.

   3. The Tenure Committee will be notified and will consider in its review any annual reviews with a summary evaluation lower than "meeting expectations."

   4. It is recognized that standards for tenure may change over time. As we improve our quality standards for faculty performance, faculty who may have qualified for appointment, promotion or tenure previously may not meet more current standards. As we state and invoke higher standards, however, we should avoid unfairness to previously appointed faculty member, which might be caused by retroactive application of higher standards without reasonable time and opportunity to meet these standards.

   5. The recommendation of the Tenure Committee will be sent to the EVP for approval.

   6. If the recommendation of the Tenure Committee is that tenure should not be awarded after its post-tenure review, and the EVP approves the recommendation, the faculty will have a grace period not exceeding two years to redress tenure deficiencies. If after this grace period, the faculty member has not successfully redressed their deficiencies as determined by the Tenure Committee and approved by the EVP, contractual obligations for faculty without tenure shall apply.