Appointments with Tenure
Search Committee Responsibility: The committee:
• discusses the specific affirmative action goals for the department with the Dean and the
Office of Institutional Equity;
• drafts an advertisement inviting applications and nominations (containing a description of
rank, beginning date, tenure-track status, teaching expectations, application deadline,
name and address of search committee chair, and Affirmative Action/Equal Employment
Opportunity statements). The advertisement must be approved by the Divisional Dean
and the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and placed in appropriate publications
(see the sample "Position Advertisement" in the Chairs Handbook or in Appendix I
below);
• contacts colleagues in other universities to identify possible candidates;
• contacts promising candidates for expressions of interest;
• when appropriate, interviews potential candidates at professional meetings;
• acknowledges all applications and requests that candidates complete the Equal
Employment Opportunity Form – Self Declaration for Candidates, available in the Chairs
Handbook, Chapter 5, and on the web;
• develops dossiers for candidates under serious consideration. These dossiers include a
current curriculum vitae, the candidate's intellectual development statement, and any
materials such as course outlines or sample course evaluations that are likely to
illuminate the effectiveness of a candidate's teaching. The committee will request other
evidence of professional development and activity, such as significant articles and books
published, papers read before learned societies, and research in progress;
• solicits, whenever desirable, evaluations of specific strengths and weaknesses of the
candidates with respect to research, teaching, rank among peers, and potential. If written
opinions are solicited, use the sample letters in the Provost's procedures; all email
exchanges should be retained and included in the dossier and all telephone conversations
should be fully described;
• narrows the list of candidates and, following the procedures prescribed in department
bylaws, prepares a written report to the department. This report should
5. recapitulate the search process and attach a copy of the published advertisement,
6. give a candidate-by-candidate assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the
candidates on the short list, and
7. justify to the faculty its recommendation for the top candidates;
• the Chair seeks the Dean's approval to invite the candidates for a campus visit. In
addition to all supporting academic documentation, the request to the Dean should
include the EEO Reporting Form for Faculty Positions (see Chairs Handbook, chapter 5);
• with the Dean’s approval, the committee makes invited candidates' dossiers available to
the department, as specified in the department's bylaws, and to all administrative officers
who are to interview the candidates;
• provides an opportunity for candidates to give an oral presentation and to meet colleagues in the department and in related disciplines; • schedules interviews with the Dean of Faculty, the appropriate Divisional Dean, the Dean
of the Graduate School, and with other university administrators as appropriate, and
prepares a written report to the department.
Department Action: When the interviews have been completed, the faculty discusses the
candidates and selects the top candidate to be reviewed for appointment. The Chair forwards the
department's recommendation to the Dean, with an appropriate cover letter, and includes the
nominations for a full tenure-review committee, which should not include the Chair as a voting
member. The Dean reviews the department's request and committee nomination and, if
appropriate, approves the committee, thus authorizing the tenure review to begin.
Review Committee Responsibility: The review committee, using the materials collected by the
search committee where possible, assures that the dossier addresses all those items required by
the Provost's procedures. Appendix II below offers a template for soliciting items from the
candidate.
Department Action: The department discusses in confidence the report of the review committee
and votes on it by secret ballot at a meeting of the appropriate members of the department. The
Chair does not vote except in a tie. It is expected that the required vote on tenure for such
candidates "by secret unsigned ballot of tenured faculty members" will not take place until
after members of the tenured faculty have had an opportunity to study and discuss the
complete dossier, including the review committee's report and the external letters. At least
five tenured Duke faculty must vote on all candidates for appointments with tenure. At least five
tenured Duke faculty at the rank of Full Professor must vote on all candidates for appointments
at the full rank.
(In small departments where the review committee comprises all faculty eligible to vote, the
Chair should be present for all discussions as a non-participating observer so that the Chair's
letter to the Dean is fully informed by the committee discussions, which also double as
departmental discussions. The vote of the review committee on the recommendation should be
by written, secret ballot, with the Chair attending but not voting.)
The numerical vote is to remain confidential among those faculty present at the meeting where
the vote was taken, except as revealed in the Chair's transmittal letter to the Dean; elsewhere it
should be reported only as positive or negative and its nature (split or unanimous) should not be
revealed. Department bylaws should contain a definition of voting rights and of the Chair's
voting role. Departmental voting policy must respect the University's Confidentiality Policy,
which limits access to the file more rigorously for internal promotions than for the vote on search
committee reports in the case of external appointments.
Response to Department Action: If the department's recommendation is unfavorable, the Chair
transmits to the Dean one copy of the complete dossier, which includes the Chair's letter
addressing the items required by the Provost's procedures. (Note: Beginning with the 2009/10
academic year, this copy must be submitted on a CD rather than on paper.)
If the department's recommendation is favorable, the Chair forwards to the Dean three copies of
the complete dossier (one paper and two CD), assuring that the Chair's transmittal letter
addresses the items required by the Provost's procedures. The paper copy should be contained in
ring binder(s) labeled on the spine with the candidate's name, and the CDs should be clearly
labeled. The department should retain a copy of the file. (Note: Beginning with the 2009/10
academic year, paper dossiers will no longer be accepted; three copies of the CD will be
required.)
Department members who so wish may communicate directly with the Dean.
After receiving the department's full written recommendation and candidate's dossier for an
appointment with tenure, the Dean reviews the dossier and checks it for procedural
completeness. The Dean may seek supplementary information to inform his or her
recommendation, which will address those items required by the Provost’s procedures. All such
requests and their responses should be added to the dossier and kept confidential. The Dean
forwards the file (and any late additions) to the Provost.
APT evaluates the dossier forwarded to the Provost, consistent with the standards enunciated by
the Faculty Handbook. In its review, the committee may supplement specific portions of the
dossier by consulting with individual experts and by requesting, through the Dean, additional
information from the originating department. Information gathered by APT is confidential to the
Committee and to those to whom it reports, except in the case of additional external evaluations
it may solicit, which are shared with the Dean only.
APT may feel it is necessary to invite an ad hoc panel of experts to provide additional advice,
following the committee's internal rules.
After its scrutiny, APT makes a recommendation to the Provost, who examines the record and
APT's recommendation, considers departmental needs and University priorities, consults with
the Dean and other administrative officers, and informs the Dean of the decision reached. The
Dean transmits the Provost's decision to the Chair and, if appropriate, prepares an appointment
letter for the candidate's acceptance.