On occasion, the university seeks to hire exceptional tenured faculty members whose credentials have been established through promotion and tenure processes at other research institutions that, like the University of Oregon, rely on peer review through national and international research communities.

Expedited tenure makes it possible to streamline the university’s tenure decisions for external, tenured faculty (either full professors or associate professors who have been in that rank for a minimum of three years) to be brought in at no greater than their current rank. Current associate professor seeking appointments as full professors require the full promotion and tenure process.

Expedited tenure review is not the same as "accelerated tenure," which follows the regular promotion and/or tenure review process, but on an accelerated schedule. 

Expedited tenure is governed by the expedited tenure policy.

Department/Unit: Initial Review 

The process of expedited review starts with the candidate's tenure home unit (referred to as the "department/unit").

The department/unit reviews the candidate's CV, and, by faculty vote, approves an expedited review. If they do not approve expedited review, the case will undergo the regular tenure review process.

• For candidates at the rank of full professor, the department/unit full professors vote on whether the candidate should be granted tenure at the rank of full professor through the expedited review process. 
  • They also may decide to waive the requirement that the full dossier and completed case report be returned to the department/unit for a second vote at the end of the process. 
• For candidates at the rank of associate professor, the department/unit associate and full professors vote on whether the candidate should be granted tenure at the rank of associate professor through the expedited process. 
  • The full dossier and completed case report must be returned to the department/unit for a second vote at the end of the process.

If the department/unit faculty vote to use the expedited process, the department/unit head will report the vote to the dean of the school or college. 

Dean: Review and Referral 

The candidate's CV and the department/unit faculty vote report are then forwarded to the dean, who approves the expedited review or, instead, refers the case for a regular promotion and tenure review. If the dean refers the case for a regular promotion and tenure review, the timeline and process are the same as the normal promotion/tenure case. If the dean approves an expedited review, the dean's office gathers materials for the dossier and forwards the case to the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs (vpaa@uoregon.edu). 

Items for the Dossier for the VPAA and ETRC:

• Documentation of the vote by eligible department/unit faculty in favor of using the expedited process, and documentation of the dean's support for using the expedited process. (An email to the VPAA at vpaa@uoregon.edu will suffice);
• The candidate's signed and dated CV and a brief candidate's statement or the candidate's letter of application;
• A signed and dated waiver letter indicating the candidate's chosen waiver status for the expedited tenure review;
• A sample of relevant research materials chosen by the candidate to represent the candidate's scholarship;
• A brief quantitative assessment of the candidate's work and impact, if available and applicable for the candidate's field's norms (e.g., citation counts, h-index);
• A brief statement of expected duties at UO; please make special note of any conditions of employment that depart from the typical balance of teaching, research, and service responsibilities for tenured faculty members in the department/unit;
• Teaching evaluations (for positions with significant FTE dedicated to teaching responsibilities);
• Expedited tenure cases must have at least five external evaluations. 
  • Three of these external evaluations may be letters from the candidate's application process and evaluators are contacted by the department/unit head and their support staff. 
  • The other two external evaluations can be in letter format or completed via phone call, Zoom call, etc. and these two external evaluators are contacted by a member of the ETRC. 

Expedited Tenure Review Committee (ETRC)

If the case is still proceeding as an expedited case after the external evaluator letters have been solicited and the remaining dossier materials are complete, the dossier is then forwarded to a subcommittee of the Faculty Personnel Committee (FPC) called the Expedited Tenure Review Committee (ETRC). 

As mentioned above, the ETRC obtains a minimum of two external evaluators selected from a list of potential evaluators supplied by the hiring department/unit and the dean and not including any evaluators listed among the candidate's application references. These external evaluators should be provided the following materials.

Items for the Dossier for External Evaluators:

• The candidate's signed, dated CV and candidate statement;
• A sample of relevant research materials chosen by the candidate to represent the candidate's scholarship;
• A letter from the department/unit head with pertinent waiver information included

External evaluators will be contacted in writing via email with the template provided. The evaluation may be submitted via email or conducted by phone call, Zoom, or other direct means of communication by one or more members of the ETRC. If direct communication is utilized, the evaluation must be documented in writing or captured in audio/video format so that it can be included in the documentary record and be made available to the full FPC and the Provost. 

The ETRC deliberates and decides whether the case should be processed as a regular promotion/tenure case or if it can go through as an expedited review case. The ETRC sends the full dossier to the department/unit for final approval (if requested at the outset). 

Department/Unit: Final Approval

The full dossier is sent back to the department/unit for final approval (if requested at the outset). The eligible department/unit faculty members may vote to change their minds and request a standard promotion/tenure review process or may affirm their earlier decision for an expedited review.

• In the case of a faculty member appointed at the rank of associate professor, following the ETRC's vote and recommendation, the VPAA will send the full dossier and its completed case report, which shall include all information upon which the recommendation has been made, to the department/unit.
  • The relevant members of the department/unit, as specified by the department/unit governance documents, shall have five business days after receipt of the dossier to vote again on the use of the expedited process and notify the ETRC about any changes to the department/unit vote. 
• In the case of a faculty member appointed at the rank of full professor, following the ETRC's vote and recommendation, the VPAA will send the full dossier and its completed case report, which shall include all information upon which the recommendation has been made, to the department/unit only if the hiring unit has requested this step. 
  • Departments/units have the discretion to waive this requirement for faculty members appointed at the rank of full professor.
  • Departments/units that elect or are required to review the final dossier will have five business days to notify the ETRC of any change in its vote or its decision to use the expedited tenure process. 

After five business days (and considering any change of vote from the department/unit), the ETRC will either recommend expedited review to the Provost or recommend that the candidate be reviewed by the regular promotion and tenure process.

Provost: Final Decision

If the case is proceeding as an expedited review with the department's/unit's and ETRC's endorsement, the dossier goes to the Provost for a final decision. 

Reporting 

The FPC will include information about the number of all expedited tenure cases considered over the course of the year in its annual report to the University of Oregon Senate.