The post-tenure review process shall support the further career development of tenured faculty members as well as ensure accountability and continued strong performance from faculty members after they have achieved tenure.

Each tenured faculty member shall participate in a post-tenure review within five years following the award of tenure and again at least once every five years thereafter. The first post-tenure review shall assess the tenured faculty member’s performance since the award of tenure, and subsequent post-tenure reviews shall assess the performance since the most recent post-tenure review.

A tenured faculty member may voluntarily choose to participate in a post-tenure review sooner than five years. If this voluntary review is successful, then the faculty member’s next scheduled post-tenure review will take place five years after this voluntary review. In addition, a tenured faculty member whose performance is evaluated as unsatisfactory or not meeting expectations – whether overall or in any particular area – in an annual review process will be provided with a remediation plan. If the faculty member’s performance is evaluated as unsatisfactory or not meeting expectations – overall or in a particular area – again the next year, the faculty member shall then undergo a corrective post-tenure review. That review will not alter the timing of the faculty member’s regularly scheduled five-year post-tenure review thereafter.

Each tenure-granting institution must create its own specific policies for implementing this post- tenure review policy. Each institution’s policies shall be developed in consultation with the institution’s faculty and shall include appropriate due-process mechanisms. Institutions will have flexibility in their implementation to create a process appropriate to the campus context. Prior to implementation, institutions must submit policies and evaluation criteria to the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee(s) for approval. The Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee(s) will provide institutions with more specific guidelines for their post-tenure review policies and procedures.

Consistent with those guidelines and institutional policies, post-tenure review shall include evaluation of instruction, student success activities, research/scholarship, and service as is appropriate to the faculty member’s institution, school or college, and department. The post-tenure review will also incorporate findings from the faculty member’s annual reviews from the years since the last post-tenure review. The faculty member shall provide review materials and additional information, as provided for in the institution’s guidelines, to aid the review process.

The post-tenure review will include, at a minimum, feedback from the faculty member’s department chair and a committee of faculty colleagues. The results of the post-tenure review shall be conveyed to the faculty member. The results of the post-tenure review shall be considered in subsequent decisions on promotion, merit pay, and other rewards.

If the results of the post-tenure review are unfavorable, then a performance improvement plan shall be created by the applicable department chair and dean in consultation with the faculty member. The necessary elements of such performance improvement plans will be described in the guidelines provided by the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee(s) as well as in each institution’s post-tenure review policies.

If the faculty member successfully completes the performance improvement plan, then the faculty member’s next post-tenure review will take place on the regular five-year schedule. If the faculty member fails to make sufficient progress in performance as outlined in the performance improvement plan (or refuses to engage reasonably in the process) as determined by the department chair and dean after considering feedback from the committee of faculty colleagues, then the institution shall take appropriate remedial action corresponding to the seriousness and nature of the faculty member’s deficiencies. The President will make the final determination on behalf of the institution regarding appropriate remedial action. An aggrieved faculty member may seek discretionary review of the institution’s final decision pursuant to the Board Policy on Applications for Discretionary Review.

Remedial actions may include, but are not necessarily limited to, suspension of pay, salary reduction, revocation of tenure, and separation from employment. The institution must give the faculty member notice of the possibility of such remedial actions when the performance improvement plan begins. The determined remedial action will be imposed in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee(s) as well as the institution’s post-tenure review policies. The institution’s imposition of such remedial action will not be governed by or subject to the Board Policy on Grounds for Removal or Procedures for Dismissal.

Each institution shall also develop and implement procedures to conduct post-tenure reviews with tenured faculty members who hold administrative positions. These procedures shall address the distinctive nature of administrators’ work and leadership roles, include constituent feedback, and reflect that tenure is held in faculty positions not in administrative positions. Each institution shall compile and submit an annual report on post-tenure review activity to the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee(s).

Each University System of Georgia (USG) institution shall establish clearly-stated promotion criteria and procedures that emphasize excellence in teaching and involvement in student success activities for all teaching faculty, which shall be submitted to the USG Chief Academic Officer for review and approval.

The minimum criteria are:

1. Excellent teaching and effectiveness in instruction;
2. Noteworthy involvement in student success activities;
3. Noteworthy professional service to the institution or the community;
4. Noteworthy research, scholarship, creative activity, or academic achievement; and,
5. Continuous professional growth and development.

Noteworthy achievement in all of the above areas is not required, but should be demonstrated in at least three areas. A written recommendation should be submitted by the head of the department concerned setting forth the reasons for promotion. The faculty member’s length of service with an institution shall be taken into consideration in determining whether or not the faculty member should be promoted.

Each University System of Georgia (USG) institution, with the exception of GGC, shall establish clearly- stated tenure criteria and procedures that emphasize excellence in teaching and involvement in student success activities for all teaching faculty, conform to the requirements listed below, and are approved by the USG Chief Academic Officer. The requirements listed below are the minimum standard for award of tenure, but shall be sufficiently flexible to permit an institution to make individual adjustments appropriate to its mission. While the Board of Regents has delegated authority for tenure decisions to institution presidents, if an institution is not carrying out its faculty review process in a sufficiently rigorous manner the Board of Regents may move the authority to award tenure to the Board level until institutional processes have been remediated.

Tenure resides at the institutional level. Institutional responsibility for employment of a tenured individual is to the extent of continued employment on a 100 percent workload basis for two out of every three consecutive academic terms until retirement, resignation, separation as remedial action related to post-tenure review, dismissal for cause, or release because of financial exigency or program modification as determined by the Board of Regents.

Only assistant professors, associate professors, and professors are eligible for tenure. Normally, only faculty who are employed full-time, defined as service on a 100 percent workload basis for at least two out of three consecutive academic terms, by an institution are eligible for tenure. Faculty members holding these professorial ranks who are employed by a USG institution on less than a full-time basis and who are assigned by the USG institution to or hold an appointment at a non-USG corporate or governmental entity shall, subject to the approval of the Chancellor, be eligible for promotion and the award of tenure by the institution President.

The award of tenure is limited to the above academic ranks and shall not be construed to include honorific appointments such as adjunct appointments. Faculty with non-tenure track appointments shall not acquire tenure.

Minimum for All Institutions in All Professorial Ranks

The minimum criteria for tenure are demonstrating:

1. Excellence and effectiveness in teaching and instruction;
2. Outstanding involvement in student success activities;
3. Academic achievement, as appropriate to the institution’s mission;
4. Outstanding service to the institution, profession, or community; and,
5. Professional growth and development.

Noteworthy achievement is required in at least two of the above categories, but is not required in all categories. A written recommendation should be submitted by the head of the department concerned setting forth the reasons for tenure. The faculty member’s length of service with an institution shall be taken into consideration in determining whether or not the faculty member should be tenured, but neither the possession of a doctorate degree nor longevity of service is a guarantee of tenure.

Research and Comprehensive Universities

In addition to the minimum criteria above, tenure at the rank of associate or full professor requires the terminal degree in the appropriate discipline or its equivalent in training, ability, or experience.

State Universities

In addition to the minimum criteria above, tenure requires the terminal degree in the appropriate discipline or its equivalent in training, ability, or experience.

State Colleges

In addition to the minimum criteria above, tenure requires a Master’s Degree in the teaching discipline or, in rare cases, at least the equivalent of two years of full-time study beyond the bachelor’s degree.

The President of a University System of Georgia (USG) institution or his or her designee may at any time remove any faculty member or other employee of an institution for cause. Cause shall include willful or intentional violation of the Board of Regents’ policies or the approved statutes or bylaws of an institution or as otherwise set forth in the Board of Regents’ policies and the approved statutes or bylaws of an institution. Such removals for cause shall be governed by the following policies on Grounds for Removal and Procedures for Dismissal. Remedial actions taken as part of the post tenure review process shall not be governed by these policies on Grounds for Removal and Procedures for Dismissal, but rather shall be governed by the Board Policy on Post Tenure Review.