Continuing Contract and Promotion

The Continuing Contact and Promotion (CC&P) Committee is responsible for reviewing faculty CC&P applications. Each CC&P Committee Member is responsible for:

• Serving on up to 3 CO3s. CC&P Committee members will be assigned to Committees of Three (CO3) by the Chair of the CC&P Committee, who will ensure that, whenever possible, these members are not from the same department as the candidate. 
• Participating in the formal interview and letter-writing process with the other members of the CO3. Collecting the official version of each of the Candidate’s Applications and presenting them to the full CC&P Committee when it meets in February.
• Ensuring they do not meet one-on-one with the Candidate to discuss their Application and only meet in the presence of the other two CO3 members.
• Serving on the committee for 2 years.

CO3 Meetings 
As mentioned, individual members of the CC&P Committee participate in up to 3 CO3s per year. CC&P Committee members have the opportunity to offer an outside perspective on what the candidate has done to fulfill primary and secondary responsibilities and offer feedback on the application. The CC&P Committee member will then participate in the official interview and the subsequent CO3 vote and recommendation letter for or against the candidate. The CC&P Committee member will then present their candidates’ applications to the full CC&P Committee for a final vote before the application proceeds to the Administrators’ Committee. If any of the previous votes for a Candidate have been negative, the CC&P Committee may request information from the candidate. The CC&P Committee reviews all disagreements and then makes a final recommendation.

CC&P Committee Work Process
In early fall (September), the Chair of CC&P committee contacts eligible candidates and assigns each committee member to applicants to serve as the CO3 representative. CO3 members serve as an additional mentor and review the application prior to the final submission due December 1. The applications are saved in the DSC shared drive for the entire committee to review. Applicants are responsible for setting up the CO3 interview prior to the end of January. The CO3 representative completes the recommendation report template by January 31. In February and March, after the committee has received the department chair recommendation letter, the CO3 recommendation report, and the department votes for each candidate, the committee meets to discuss each application and make committee recommendations. The CO3 representative provides a detailed presentation for each assigned applicant during the meeting prior to discussing and making recommendations. 

CC&P Applicant Evaluations
The CC&P chair will assign applications to review at each meeting. CO3 members will present applicant recommendations, and open the floor for discussion. The committee will participate in anonymous votes for each applicant. The chair will compile and report the votes to the provost after all the applications are reviewed. At the final CC&P committee meeting, the committee will make recommendations for the Mentor Model Committee (if applicable), vote in new CC&P chair, and vote in new committee members. 

CC&P Committee Work Timeline
Fall: Each committee members will:

• Contact assigned applicants
• Review application drafts
• Remind applicants to submit final draft by December 1
• Attend the CO3 Interview
• Write the CO3 recommendation report (see template)
• Send the report to the CC&P committee chair

Spring: each committee member will:

• Review all applications in the shared drive prior to meetings
• Prepare a summary presentation of assigned applicants
• Attend weekly meetings in February and March
• Vote and make recommendations for all applicants

The Chairperson’s main duties in the CC&P process include the following: 

• Coordination: The Chair helps coordinate the distribution of CC&P Committee members onto CO3s, making sure that none serve on a CO3 from their own departments. The selection for CC&P Committee members to each CO3 must be completed by November. 
• Training: The Chair is also in charge of the training for the system letting candidates, CO3 members and supervisor know about the deadlines for the system as well as the system’s requirements. The Chair also serves a mentor for faculty going through the CC&P process. 
• Contact: Third, the chair serves as contact person for the college in regard to the Mentor Model. As such they must also keep all paperwork and a running tally of who is on what which CO3, etc., including a master excel sheet documenting the following for each faculty member:
  • Name
  • Rank
  • Time in Rank
  • Secondary Responsibilities
  • CO3 Members
  • Chairs
  • AVP

• Scheduling: Fourth, the Chair is ultimately responsible for ensuring that all Candidates and CO3s have a formal interview scheduled during Spring Planning or shortly thereafter. Chairs are also responsible for scheduling a candidate's Department Vote. 

The Committee of Three Interview and Recommendation

The Committee of Three (CO3) is a group of advisers at the core of the process.  This group guides, encourages, and eventually evaluates each faculty member participating in the continuing contract and promotion process.  One member is selected by the chair, one member by the faculty member, and one member by the College-Wide Continuing Contract and Promotion Committee.

The CO3 Interview

Once a candidate has formally submitted his or her Application, they can call for a formal interview by the CO3.  It is the candidate's responsibility to organize and hold this meeting before the deadline of January 31st.  The candidate should bring supporting documentation for major evidence included in the Application to the interview.  Additional information or documentation of activities may be requested from the candidate after the meeting. Candidates must be granted a minimum of forty-eight hours to satisfy a CO3 request, and additional time may be granted by the CO3 as long as time permits.

The CO3 Recommendation

After the Interview and the review of any additional documentation requested, the CO3 will collaboratively create a consensus recommendation, verifying that the candidate has or has not met all criteria for both the Primary Areas of Responsibility and the Secondary Areas of Specialization for Continuing Contract and / or the rank being sought.  If the candidate has not met the criteria for Continuing Contract, the CO3 may still recommend an additional year for the candidate to correct any deficiencies.  The CO3 may choose to write a letter or use the CO3 report templates, which were developed by the Mentor Model Committee.  The CC&P chair will compile and report the votes to the provost after all the applications are reviewed. All CC&P recommendations and all supporting documentation are made available to the Chief Academic Officer (Provost or Vice President) as part of the CC&P process.