Departmental guidelines and policies are subject to policies promulgated at the college and university levels. In the case of promotion and tenure, guidelines provided by the Office of the Provost form the basis of all promotion and tenure decisions. While a college or department may choose to implement more rigorous standards than those detailed in the university-level promotion and tenure guidelines, a college or department may not implement policies that result implicitly or explicitly in the application of less rigorous standards than detailed in the in the university-level promotion and tenure guidelines. It is the obligation of the chair of the department to make all new tenured or tenure-track faculty members aware in writing of not only the university-level promotion beyond tenure guidelines but also any college or departmental level policies or procedures that may impact their tenure and/or promotion.   

These guidelines for professional evaluation of tenured and tenure-track members of the University of Houston's Department of Hispanic Studies are prepared as a general document without reference to particular individuals or configurations of accomplishment. They do not prescribe a uniform roster of accomplishments that must be achieved by all candidates for tenure or promotion.  Rather, they suggest ways of evaluating accomplishments in research, teaching, and service by allowing flexibility in assigning relative weights to these three activities.

Promotion and tenure are the most important considerations for faculty at institutions of higher education. They are the recognition by one's peers of attained distinction in the areas of Teaching, Research and Service, in the advancement of the mission of the University of Houston and the Department of Hispanic Studies, and ultimately for the career aspirations and academic freedom of the faculty. Because Teaching and Research are the foundation and mission of a university, and particularly in a Ph.D.-granting department, high standards in these areas will be expected of candidates for promotion and tenure, with effective activity in the area of Service given appropriate consideration. Standards will be applied consistently, judiciously and impartially to candidates.

Criteria for Promotion to the Rank of Associate Professor with Conferral of Tenure

I. Teaching

1. Candidates must have demonstrated superior teaching skills, which include but are not
   limited to:
   • Clarity in the organization and presentation of syllabi and course content;
   • Maintaining a level of academic rigor appropriate to the level of the courses;
   • Fairness in professor-student relationships, including making oneself available for consultation and establishing clear and reasonable measures for assessing student progress;
   • Initiative and creativity in the design or modification of courses in the curriculum.
2. Evaluation of the candidate's teaching skills will be influenced by such factors as classroom visits by selected tenured faculty, assessment of student evaluations, pedagogical publications or oral presentations, participation in extra-curricular activities augmenting and enriching the classroom experience of students, participation on honors and Master of Arts and/or Ph.D. examinations and thesis/dissertation committees; and the nomination for or conferral of teaching awards and curriculum development grants.

II. Scholarship

1. Scholarship is a crucial criterion for promotion. The candidate is expected to have a monographic book of sufficiently high quality and originality to serve as proof of the candidate's capacity for engaging in intellectually challenging interaction with peers, colleagues and students. At a minimum, the candidate should have a book accepted for publication,¹completed except possibly for minor revisions, by a reputable press.
2. In addition, the candidate is expected to have had published or accepted for publication a minimum of four (4) articles/book chapters, excluding book reviews that demonstrate on-going research indicative of the candidate's successful transition from the post­graduate level of scholarship to that of the level expected of tenured faculty. Preference in this category will be given to articles published in or accepted by first-tier, refereed professional journals (in printed, on-line or other electronic medium)² and book chapters published by reputable presses.
3. All publications taken into consideration for promotion and tenure must be in arm's length, peer reviewed presses and journals. No consideration will be given to in-house publications or entities associated with the Department or ancillaries.

III. Service

The recommendation on promotion and tenure is based mainly on the candidate's proven record in teaching and research. For that reason, the Department of Hispanic Studies endeavors to relieve faculty in the probationary period of excessive service obligations. What the voting faculty will assess in this category is a willingness on the part of the candidate to participate constructively, even if in a necessarily limited way, in the operation of the candidate's department One's contributions in the area of service can never be a major factor in promotion and tenure.

IV. Application guidelines for promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure

1. No later than the first Monday of April of the fifth probationary year, the candidate will submit to the Chair a list of no more than five potential external referees. The candidate's scholarship will be evaluated by at least four and no more than six external referees, who will be selected by the Evaluation Committee, working in concert with the Chair. One referee from the candidate’s list will be selected. If four referees are chosen no more than two referees can be Associate Professors. If five or six referees are chosen no more than three can be Associate Professors. To the extent possible, external referees must be scholars who are not former professors, collaborators, mentors, close personal friends or relatives of the candidate.
2. The Evaluation Committee, in making its recommendation on a tenure candidacy, must take into consideration the recommendations and progress of the candidate's scholarship since the third-year continuance review.
3. In the event of a junior faculty's extraordinary productivity, said faculty can petition to the Chair by the first Monday of March of his/her fourth year promotion and tenure review in the candidate's fifth year. Permission must be granted by the Chair and the Dean.
4. The Chair’s letter to the external referees will ask:
   • Does the candidate's work, taken as a whole, constitute a serious and significant contribution to the discipline?
   • What is your assessment of the candidate's contributions in the areas of research, scholarship, or other creative activity?
   • Is the candidate likely to emerge as a scholar whose work will be known and respected by leaders in the field?
   • What is the nature of your professional contact with and knowledge of the candidate?
   • Does the referee recommend promotion and tenure as defined by the standards of the Department of Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston?

Criteria for Promotion to the Rank of Full Professor

I.There is no minimum number of years that a faculty must remain at the level of Associate Professor before requesting promotion to Full Professor. The decision to initiate promotion is a measure of the faculty's productivity and the decision should be taken into consultation with the Chair.

II. Teaching

In order to be considered for promotion to the rank of Full Professor, a candidate must have demonstrated both a commitment to teaching and the attainment of high competence in the organization, preparation, and dissemination of information in a classroom setting.

1. Candidates must have demonstrated superior teaching skills, which include but are not limited to:
   • Clarity in the organization and presentation of syllabi and course content;
   • Maintaining a level of academic rigor appropriate to the level of the courses;
   • Fairness in professor-student relationships, including making oneself available for consultation and establishing clear and reasonable measures for assessing student progress;
   • Successful direction of Ph.D. dissertation;
   • Initiative and creativity in the design or modification of courses in the curriculum.
2. Evaluation of the candidate's teaching skills will be influenced by such factors as
   classroom visits by selected tenured faculty, assessment of student evaluations, pedagogical publications or oral presentations, participation in extra-curricular activities augmenting and enriching the classroom experience of students, participation on honors and Master of Arts and/or Ph.D. examinations and thesis/dissertation committees; and the nomination for or conferral of teaching awards and curriculum development grants.

III. Scholarship

1. The candidate must be a nationally recognized scholar, having produced high-quality scholarship indicating a firm grasp of the discipline. This entails successful completion of original research projects demonstrating mat the candidate has moved into a mature phase of professional inquiry, and as evidenced by the publication of a second book and a minimum of four (4) articles/book chapters of high quality, published in highly regarded presses and journals. An edition of a literary work may also be considered if the introduction of itself is of sufficient length and quality as to constitute a book; and the notes on the text demonstrate considerable erudition.
2. Should the traditions of the candidate's discipline or current trends in publishing militate against the book format, then the members voting on promotion will ensure that scholarship in the form of articles will be of sufficient number and depth to be considered at least equivalent to the published research taking the form of high quality research monographs or combinations of monographs and articles.
3. However such research projects are carried out, it is understood that the published writings of the applicant would have to be of sufficient quantity, quality, and topical comprehensiveness to bring the applicant's work to the attention of peers in the profession. Indications that a candidate has attained widespread professional recognition include:
   • Favorable assessment of published work by external evaluators in connection with the application for promotion;
   • The placement of books and articles in respected, critically demanding presses and journals.
   • Citations of the candidate's published writings in the discipline's critical literature;
   • Favorable journal reviews of published work;
   • Invitations to contribute to national and international colloquia and to compilations of articles;
   • Appointment to editorial boards of professional journals;
   • Invitations to review manuscripts for publication.
4. All publications taken into consideration for promotion and tenure must be in arm's length, peer reviewed presses and journals. No consideration will be given to in-house publications or entities associated with the Department or ancillaries.

IV. Service

1. A candidate must have demonstrated a willingness to share the Department's obligations in the matter of university governance. This involves such activities as service on Department, College, and University committees, boards, and elective faculty bodies. It may also include service as Chair or Sub-Chair of the Department, as program adviser or program director.
2. Candidates for this rank are encouraged, though not required, to demonstrate a willingness to advance their discipline and the Department's mission through service on local, regional, or international learned or cultural associations connected to their discipline and interests.

V. Application guidelines for promotion to Full Professor

1. No later than the first Monday of April the candidate will submit his/her candidacy for promotion to the Chair and submit a list of no more than five potential external referees all at the rank of Full Professor. The candidate's scholarship will be evaluated by at least four and no more than six external referees who will be selected by the Evaluation Committee, working in concert with the Chair. The Evaluation Committee will be composed by the Full Professors of the department. One referee from the candidate’s list will be selected.
2. The Chair's letter to the external referees will ask:
   • Does the candidate's work, taken as a whole, constitute a serious and significant contribution to the discipline?
   • What is your assessment of the candidate's contributions in the areas of research, scholarship, or other creative activity?
   • Is the candidate an established scholar whose work is known and respected by leaders in the field?
   • What is the nature of your professional contact with and knowledge of the candidate?
   • Does the referee recommend promotion to Full Professor as defined by the standards of the Department of Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston?

VI. Due process for all cases of promotion. Due process consists of three elements:

1. Faculty have the right to know what is expected of them to be promoted and/or tenured.
2. Special circumstances included in a faculty member's hiring contract will be taken into consideration.
3. Candidates for promotion have the right to be heard, [to appeal decisions], to clarify vagueness, and/or correct factual errors before any recommendation is forwarded to the next level of review.