In order to secure permission to negotiate with an external candidate for possible appointment to a senior rank (Associate Professor or Professor), a dossier must be compiled that is comparable to those upon which internal promotion decisions are based. Specifically, the Dean must seek the advice of an ad hoc Review Committee before permission to negotiate can be authorized for any appointment at the rank of Associate Professor with tenure or Professor with tenure, and may seek such advice for appointments at the rank of Associate Professor without tenure. Keep in mind that this process takes additional time and that it is extremely difficult to accomplish such appointments because:
- The Tenure Council Selection Committee must meet with the Dean and assist in the selection of the members of the ad hoc Review Committee.
- The members selected for the ad hoc Committee must be invited to serve.
- Once the Committee is assembled, a mutually agreeable meeting time has to be found, and the Review Committee must be given time to assess the dossier before the meeting.
- Following the meeting (at which the Department Chair or his/her designated representative presents the case), the Committee's written report must be prepared.
- Upon receipt of the Committee's recommendation, the Dean must prepare a formal request to the Provost for permission to negotiate with the candidate, based on the complete recruitment file.
- The Provost must review the file before she will authorize negotiations with the candidate.
A dossier should be prepared for the Dean's review and the documents must be uploaded into OneDrive and shared with Jennifer Bates (jem39@pitt.edu). The dossier must include:
- Chair's cover letter to the Dean
- At least six letters of recommendation from external referees, along with a brief statement on each referee's qualifications, why they were selected and by whom (candidate or department). No more than three of these letters should be from referees suggested by the candidate, and the remaining referees must be at arm's length from the candidate. In many disciplines more letters may be required to build an effective case for appointment. For all tenured appointments the referees should be asked to compare the candidate with others by name at a similar stage of professional development or with others who have tenure at institutions comparable to ours
- A personal statement by the candidate on her/his research and teaching
- The candidate’s Diversity Statement
- A representative set of the candidate's reprints, preprints, manuscripts, and teaching materials must be submitted, the same as in any dossier presented for tenure.
- Appropriate evidence of the candidate's effectiveness as a teacher
- Written ballots that record the vote of the tenured faculty. Please note that only tenured faculty members may vote on the possible award of tenure during departmental deliberations concerning appointments at a senior rank. Similarly, only Professors of full rank may vote on possible appointments at that rank
Updated March 23, 2022