Promotion and Tenure

Nebraska strives to hire a talented faculty that produces important work and builds noteworthy careers. Those colleagues who are invited to join the senior faculty each year shape the University’s academic reputation for years to come.

Each time a faculty member is considered for promotion or tenure, they are held to the same high standard: a proven record that suggests a sustained career typified by true excellence.

Deadlines

Below are the due dates for submission of promotion and/or tenure files to the appropriate Vice Chancellor; please note that colleges, departments, and other administrative subunits may have additional deadlines to be observed.

DateDescription
November 15, 2023 Deadline for all nominations for tenure and/or promotion to be received in the Office of the IANR Vice Chancellor
January 31, 2024 Deadline for nominations for tenure (with or without promotion) to be received by the Executive Vice Chancellor from the following colleges:
  • College of Architecture
  • College of Business
  • College of Education and Human Sciences
  • College of Journalism and Mass Communications
  • College of Law
  • University Libraries
February 11, 2024 Deadline for nominations for tenure (with or without promotion) to be received by the Executive Vice Chancellor from the following colleges:
  • College of Arts and Sciences
  • College of Engineering
  • Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts
February 28, 2024 Deadline for nominations for promotion not connected to tenure decisions to be received by the Executive Vice Chancellor from the following colleges:
  • College of Architecture
  • College of Business
  • College of Education and Human Sciences
  • College of Journalism and Mass Communications
  • College of Law
  • University Libraries
March 11, 2024 Deadline for nominations for promotion not connected to tenure decisions to be received by the Executive Vice Chancellor from the following colleges:
  • College of Arts and Sciences
  • College of Engineering
  • Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts

Submissions before the deadlines are appreciated. Please aim for a target date of one week prior to the deadline if possible.

Promotion and Tenure Workshops

These workshops are intended for faculty who will be going through promotion and tenure and the academic leaders (associate deans, DEOs, P&T committee chairs) who support the process.

Fall Workshop
Sep. 20, 2023 3:30 – 5 p.m.
Spring Workshop
Feb. 22, 2024 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Documentation Request

The Documentation Request outlines the materials to be included in every promotion and tenure file. Please note that this Request has been updated. Every file must be organized with clearly labeled sections in “Documentation Request” order.

Course evaluations and COVID-19: Instructors have the option of not having evaluation results for spring 2020 semester considered in merit decisions, including annual evaluations, reappointment, promotion, and tenure. If instructors choose to opt-out of having their student course evaluation results being included in their evaluation portfolios, they need to notify their dean or department chair of that decision.

COVID-19 Impact Statement and Fact Sheet: Faculty may wish to include a COVID-19 Impact Statement and/or the UNL Institutional Pandemic Fact Sheet in their files. Including either or both of these items is entirely optional and at the discretion of the candidate. If included, these items could be placed in the Appendices, or as part of the Candidate Statement (and in that case would not count towards the 15-page limit on the Candidate Statement). Faculty may find this list of prompts helpful in writing a COVID-19 Impact Statement.

Forms

The following forms must be completed by all candidates and included in your nomination file.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Transmittal Forms for:

Apportionment Change Documentation Form

Waiver of Right to Access Information Form

Course Listing and Evaluation Form | PDF | DOC

External Reviewers

Every tenure and/or promotion file must include at least three external and independent letters of review, from faculty holding appropriate rank at R1 institutions. Any exceptions to this standard must be approved, in advance and in writing, by the cognizant dean and vice chancellor or their designees; exceptions are intended to be very rarely granted. Generally, external reviewers should have full professorial rank, and in any case they must hold at least the rank being sought in the promotion process. Note that it is the responsibility of the department chair/head/school director, the chair of the departmental promotion and tenure committee, or the dean – not the candidate – to solicit these letters.

Reviewers must be chosen who are qualified to judge the quality of the candidate’s work because of their own knowledge of the field. These letters are to be "independent" in the sense that they will be from individuals who have had at most limited professional or personal relationships with the candidate and with each other, and who have been chosen by the department chair/head (or chair of the promotion and tenure committee, or dean, as appropriate) for their ability to provide an objective assessment.

As such, external reviewers should not include dissertation advisors, current or former collaborators, former colleagues, personal friends, or others who have any special relationship to the candidate. In cases where the extreme prominence of a candidate makes independent letters impracticable, special care should be taken to solicit letters from exceptionally prominent reviewers.

Below are sample templates for soliciting external reviews in the most common situations:

Special Circumstances

Personal circumstances may prevent a faculty member in a tenure-leading position from performing at the level that is necessary to reach the high expectations of tenure within the timeframe of the probationary period. In such cases, an extension in the tenure clock may be appropriate.

Occasionally a faculty member might, for various reasons, request a change in home department. This process begins with the Request to Change Tenure Home Department form in the case of tenure-track faculty and the Request to Change Department Home form for non-tenure-track faculty.

Updated May 2022