Bringing a Faculty Member to UIC with Tenure

As mentioned on the previous page, for such hires the department must put together a portfolio to be submitted to the Dean of LAS.  This portfolio is to include:

• The candidate’s CV.
• At least three external letters from members of relevant professions or disciplines who have not had a close personal relationship to the candidate (e.g. advisor, colleague, collaborator) which attest to the candidate’s qualifications.
• The Executive Officer’s endorsement of the hire, along with a description of the departmental review process and the outcome of the departmental tenure vote.

Please note that since there will be an abbreviated tenure review in these cases the department will need to provide a vote on whether the candidate should be granted tenure in the department in addition to whatever vote is taken on whether or not the candidate should be hired.  The tenure vote should include only those eligible to vote for tenure and/or promotion to the proposed rank under university statute (See Voting Rights & Privileges - Promotion & Tenure Guidelines Part I, pg. 12).

These materials will be reviewed by the Dean and, if approved by the Dean, by the LAS Executive Committee.  The portfolio, along with the Executive Committee Vote and Dean’s endorsement will then be forwarded to Faculty Affairs, where it will be reviewed by the Dean of the Graduate College and the chair/co-chair of the Campus Promotion and Tenure Committee and the Provost, who will consult on whether to approve the appointment.

While every effort is made to turn these reviews around as quickly as possible, this process takes time and, depending on circumstances, may take up to several weeks.  When seeking to make a hire with tenure Executive Officer’s should thus keep the following in mind:

• It may be advisable to start a search for a position which will include tenure somewhat earlier than for a junior appointment in order to allow for the additional time to process the appointment. This is especially so if you have a clear start date in mind.
• Ultimately it will be necessary to have three letters from referees who would qualify as being without conflict of interest in a regular tenure case in order to make an appointment with tenure. In most instances, the references submitted in the original search do not meet this criterion. It is helpful to assess the letters of finalists and be aware of whether, and how many, additional letters you may need to ask a candidate to get in order to move the appointment on for review. You will also want to ask the candidate to provide names of additional referees, qualified for the purposes, as soon as you have selected a candidate.

Campus policies and guidelines for hiring with indefinite tenure can be found online.