Review & Reappointment

Please note that many policies governing faculty affairs at BU Wheelock are currently undergoing revision. Because of this, we ask you to consider these pages “under construction” and all content within them unofficial.

Clinical Faculty & Lecturers

Clinical Faculty and Lecturers at Wheelock receive from the Dean a contract for employment. In the penultimate year of a non-terminal contract, lecturers and clinical faculty will apply for reappointment. Wheelock has a process for faculty reappointment that provides lecturers and clinical faculty with the opportunity to inform colleagues about their work and elicit the input of colleagues in the decision about reappointment. The intent of these procedures is to improve the overall transparency of the process and to encourage faculty voice. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and the Chair of the Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure Committee work together on the organization and oversight of cases. For details about this process, please refer to the Policies and Procedures folder on the Wheelock server site or contact the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (or their designee).

Tenure Track Faculty: Mid-Tenure Review

Tenure-track faculty at Wheelock undergo a mid-tenure review (MTR) in the third year of their initial contract. The MTR is intended to assist tenure-track junior faculty members in their progress toward achieving tenure at BU.

The Purpose of the MTR

This review procedure is meant to be helpful in two ways. First, it orients the junior faculty member to the requirements that must be met in a full tenure review. Second, senior faculty members, who can offer advice to better prepare the candidate for full tenure evaluation, work individually and in concert to guide the candidate in improving the case for tenure. The MTR is best described as formative assessment, a process that is designed to reveal the candidate’s strengths and needs in order to inform a plan for the years leading to the tenure review. The plan builds on the candidate’s strengths and provides guidance on specific ways to build a stronger case in the areas where progress is warranted in advance of the tenure review.

A review committee is formed consisting of the candidate’s Program Director or the Department Chair, the ADFA, and another tenured faculty member of the candidate’s choosing. This mid-tenure review committee helps the candidate put together a dossier. The dossier consists of the candidate’s C.V.; Statement of Research, Teaching, and Service; the CV Part II (downloaded from the Provost’s website); sample syllabi; and selected research articles.

After the committee works with the candidate to organize and optimize his or her materials, the committee reviews the dossier and writes a report regarding the junior faculty member’s teaching, scholarship, and service. This report and the dossier are then presented to the faculty member, who is given the opportunity to address in writing the committee’s questions or concerns, if such are indicated in the report. The faculty member’s response is then shared alongside the committee report and the dossier with all of the tenured faculty at Wheelock. After a discussion and vote of all tenured faculty is held, organized by the ADFA, the ADFA summarizes the case and reports the vote in a “Chair’s letter”. The chair’s letter and the full dossier is then provided to the School Appointments, Promotions & Tenure Committee, and to the Dean of the School, who writes the “Dean’s letter.”

Results of the MTR

Candidates who successfully pass the MTR receive a contract renewal. They are also eligible for a Junior Scholar Leave of one semester. For details about the MTR process, please refer to the Policies and Procedures folder on the Wheelock server site or contact the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs.