3.1 - Introduction

Kennesaw State University’s mission statement fully captures the character and priorities of KSU as a major public, comprehensive, Carnegie-R2 university within the University System of Georgia. It is highly valued as a resource for educational, economic, social, and cultural advancement. KSU attracts a diverse student body with a wide range of educational goals and maintains strong connections to the communities it serves.

In order to advance the mission of the institution, faculty performance at KSU must be aligned with the University’s mission. While all faculty members in the academic colleges and departments work collectively to advance this mission, the roles and responsibilities of individual faculty can vary widely across the University. Each college and its respective departments may focus on particular aspects of the mission in ways that distinguish their contributions from other colleges and departments. However, the missions of all academic units must be aligned and consistent with the overall mission of the University.

Because department promotion and tenure (P & T) guidelines are discipline-specific and are approved by deans and the Provost as consistent with college and University standards, those guidelines are understood to be the primary basis for promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review recommendations and decisions. Therefore, at all levels of review the rationale for these decisions will be stated in a letter to the candidate with specific and detailed reference to the department review guidelines used to justify the recommendations and decisions that have been made.

Any revisions made to departmental guidelines must include the date of approval/adoption. Revisions to departmental guidelines become effective 12 months following their adoption. However, individual faculty may choose to be reviewed under revised guidelines immediately upon their adoption. A copy of the “Approval Form for Department Promotion and Tenure Guidelines” must be attached as a cover sheet to the department guidelines included in portfolios for Pre-Tenure, Promotion and/or Tenure and Post-Tenure Review.

Performance evaluation of a faculty member is required at KSU. Reviews and evaluations occur regularly in the following ways in accordance with the governing policies of the Board of Regents (BoR) of the University System of Georgia and the policies and procedures established by Kennesaw State University and its colleges and departments:

Detailed annual review of faculty performance;
Pre-tenure review for tenure-track faculty;
Review for tenure by the sixth year for tenure-track faculty with professorial rank;
Post-tenure reviews for tenured faculty with professorial rank after every five years submitted in the beginning of the sixth year;
Reviews for elective promotion for tenured faculty in the professorial rank (optional);
Review for elective promotion for non-tenure track faculty with professorial rank, including clinical and research faculty (optional);
Review for elective promotion for non-tenure track lecturers (optional).

This faculty performance model requires effective and collaborative strategic planning at all levels. When a college focuses on particular aspects of the University’s mission, departments within that college must align the work of their faculty to advance the college mission. The relative emphasis of faculty professional activity in the areas of performance and evaluation at KSU must match the particular focus of their academic unit and be consistent with the mission of the University. The faculty performance model in the KSU Faculty Handbook Section 2 encourages flexible faculty roles across the University, recognizes the rich diversity of faculty talent, and advances the University’s mission by maximizing the strengths and talents of individual academic units and their faculty (Brand, 2000).

These university guidelines set forth policies, criteria, and procedures by which individual faculty member’s contributions to the University will be documented and equitably evaluated. They define terms and levels of review and set the basic structure for all performance review. This section of the KSU Faculty Handbook does not cover the entire breadth of evaluative measures available to colleges and departments. However, in this section, the words “must,” and “will” (and equivalent terms) signify a binding, mandatory requirement that must be followed by colleges and departments, as to substance and procedure, as appropriate. Conversely, the words “may,” “can,” “might,” or “should” (and equivalents) signify a permissive suggestion not binding on colleges or departments. Colleges and departments will establish written guidelines, consistent with the KSU Faculty Handbook, that specify evaluative criteria appropriate to their disciplines. These guidelines will describe the focus of their units within the larger mission and the core values of KSU and delineate which activities will receive emphasis in annual performance reviews, in promotion and tenure recommendations and decisions, and in post-tenure performance evaluation of faculty in their units. The process, guidelines, and revisions to the guidelines must also be approved by the full-time permanent faculty in the department or college, as appropriate, the department chair (for department guidelines), the College P&T Committee, the dean, and the Provost.