Department chairs should be certain that tenure-track faculty are aware of and understand the significance of the following:

a. The essential criteria defining the terms of tenure-track appointments are stated in the Faculty Policies Handbook, section 3.1. While further criteria are found in the statements on criteria and procedures developed by departments and approved by the Dean and in the guidelines for preparing credentials for tenure and/or promotion review, these statements and guidelines must be consistent with the College's criteria and procedures. Should there be apparent or real discrepancies between the Faculty Policies Handbook and the department statements, our efforts to prevent them notwithstanding, the Faculty Policies Handbook prevails.

b. If there are special provisions or conditions for any tenure-track faculty members, they are noted in appointment letters. As far as the changes in responsibilities that occur during the years of a probationary appointment are concerned, section 3.1.25 of the Handbook should be noted: "Evaluation of a candidate for tenure and/or promotion shall take into account the evolution of the candidate's responsibilities as reflected in the assignments made and accepted and in initiatives undertaken by the candidate to accomplish the objectives stated in the criteria outlined below from the date of initial appointment to the time of consideration for tenure and/or promotion. These assignments and initiatives should be reflected in the annual evaluations in the candidate's personnel file."

c. The memorandum the Dean distributes annually to tenure-track faculty (see #2 above) is an elaboration on the Handbook. There is nothing contractually binding in it, and it is always secondary in importance to the Handbook. Should there be apparent or real discrepancies between the Faculty Policies Handbook and this memorandum, the Dean's and chair's efforts to prevent them notwithstanding, the Faculty Policies Handbook shall prevail.

d. Council-approved Guidelines for Preparing Credentials for Tenure and/or Promotion Review are given to all department chairs, first-year faculty, and faculty to be reviewed for tenure and/or promotion in any given year. They are intended to suggest the format and content of materials to be reviewed by department and College committees and the Dean.

e. Consideration for tenure assumes satisfactory reviews each year leading to reappointment. When performance is not satisfactory, terminal appointments are made and review for tenure does not occur. Indeed, review for tenure, as such, occurs only in the year specified in the appointment letter (or in an earlier one if a department decides to move someone ahead of schedule). Until that year, the review concerns reappointment only.

f. The responsibility for establishing warrant for tenure rests with the candidates. In other words, if tenure is denied and the denial is appealed, the University is not obliged to prove that the individual does not qualify for tenure. For tenure to be gained, the candidate must present a record that demonstrates that tenure is warranted.

g. At Drake, as in most universities, the strongest cases for tenure and promotion are typically presented by those who haven't worried too much about "what do I have to do?" or fussed about the criteria and procedures. They simply establish a record of persistent excellence in all aspects of their work, doing the things characteristic of teacher-scholars and teacher-artists who are committed to their disciplines, their students, and the institutions in which they work. Their inner-direction, in Riesman's term, compels them not only to do it, but to establish a life that ensures that they will keep on doing it long after a tenure decision is made.

h. No one underestimates the seriousness of reappointment and tenure decisions. The members of departments making recommendations for reappointment and the Promotion and Tenure Committee of the College approach their responsibilities with full awareness that their decisions affect both individual lives and the well-being of the institution they serve. The committees consistently acts with integrity and honor. Tenure-track faculty can be confident that future committees will act in the same fashion.