2016-2017 Post-Tenure Review
Sample Guidelines for Faculty 5-Year Directional Goals:
UNC Board of Governors’ revised Guidelines on Performance Review require each faculty member to develop a five-year plan (directional goals) at the beginning of a post-tenure review cycle. The five-year plan is intended to be formative and create a conversation on how faculty members can improve and pursue a career trajectory that they will find rewarding, challenging, and fulfilling while continuing to contribute to Department, College, University, discipline, and students in meaningful ways. This plan may be modified by the faculty member during the five-year period as deemed appropriate based on changes in institutional, departmental, or personal circumstances. Plans should be brief, not to exceed two-pages, and should reflect the faculty member’s career goals for the next five years, with the opportunity to revise annually. When no major changes in institutional, departmental or personal professional directions are expected, there may be little difference between successive five-year plans for a given faculty member.
The plan should describe, in general terms, projected activities in teaching, scholarship and professional service that are consistent with the duties associated with the faculty member’s position and the expectations of his or her respective discipline. The plan should provide perspective and a framework for goals and accomplishments of the faculty member during the post-tenure review period. A five-year plan is not intended to set specific targets in teaching, scholarship/creative activity and service. It should not set benchmarks that in any way restrict a faculty member’s desire or ability to pursue new intellectual, creative or professional directions; such academic freedom is the foundation of the tenure system. The five-year plan is distinct from the individual development plan for faculty members who do not meet expectations in the cumulative review of tenured faculty.
Suggestions regarding directional goals:
- Do include statements of expectations that specify unit or university actions/requirements that are necessary to accomplish the goals of the five-year plan.
- Do not include accomplishment reporting. The plan is an overview of projected goals and expected activity in the next five-year period.
- Do not use language that states or implies specific dates for achieving goals; for example, statements like “this year I will …” or “by year three I expect to…” should be avoided.
- Goals should not be so generic as to be meaningless, but should also not be overly prescriptive or limiting.
NOTE: It is highly recommended that colleges determine guidelines or expectations regarding directional goals and milestones.
Sample statements: What follows is representative language for five-year plans; appropriate details and content will vary across programs and disciplines with respect to distribution of workload. As emphasized in the Faculty Handbook, the basis of evaluation is always the Departmental Collegial Review Document.
Teaching:
Teach a 3-3 load of undergraduate and graduate courses in my field of expertise. Revise content of my assigned courses over the next five years to achieve X. (Milestones could be, I intend to revise SUBJ-###, etc.) Advise undergraduates and serve on graduate student thesis/dissertation committees.
Scholarly Activity:
Engage in scholarship in my discipline. Seek funding and publish results in disciplinary refereed journals, keeping scholarly output in line with expectations in my field and with teaching and service activities.
Service to the Profession and University:
Be an active member of a professional society in my discipline, serving on committees and seeking leadership roles as an officer, committee chair or conference organizer. Serve on departmental, college and university committees, keeping both university and professional service in balance with expected teaching and research productivity.
Other (as specified in the DCRD and/or contract):
For example, clinical service directorships may fall under this category. Use the most general descriptions reasonable, ensuring that the statement plan is consistent with the DCRD and/or explicit contractual obligations.
The following Sample 5-Year Plan Cover Page and Narrative page, or their College/Department equivalents, are to be completed and submitted along with current CV, the four most-recent AFEs, and the AA-12 form, as part of the Post-Tenure Review package. Departments may require a faculty member to add additional materials as directed by Departmental Collegial Review Documents.
Sample Faculty 5-Year Plan Cover Page
Name: ______
College: ______
Department: ______
Responsibilities and Expectations of Position:
For each of the categories below, record the faculty load associated with each, in accordance with the faculty position, roles, and responsibilities.
Teaching. Identify, if necessary, any specific responsibilities associated with teaching expectations.
Scholarly Activity. Identify, if necessary, any specific responsibilities associated with scholarly expectations.
Service to the Profession and the University. Identify, if necessary, any specific responsibilities associated with service expectations.
Other (as specified in the DCRD and/or contract). Identify, if necessary, any specific responsibilities associated with other position expectations.
Tracking Post-Tenure and Five-Year Plans:
Date tenure began:
Original 5-Year Plan Effective date:
Amended 5-Year Plan Effective date:
Responsibilities updated as described above on:
______
Faculty Member SignatureDate
______
Unit Administrator SignatureDate
______
Add additional lines, as needed, for signatures and dates when changes are made
Faculty Member Narrative / Five-Year Plan Template:
The plan should describe, in general terms, projected activities in teaching, scholarship and professional service that are consistent with the duties associated with the faculty member’s position and the expectations of his or her respective discipline. The plan should provide perspective and a framework for goals and accomplishments of the faculty member during the post-tenure review period. (Not to exceed two pages.)
Teaching:
Scholarly Activity:
Service to the Profession and University:
Other (as specified in the DCRD and/or contract):
Guidelines for 5-year Directional Goals 2016-20171