Document Repository
UPTRM Committee members can access the SharePoint site to share and view committee documents.
University Promotion, Tenure/Reappointment & Merit Committee
PTRM Guidelines and Updates
Updated Merit Policy
This updated merit policy was passed by the Academic Senate on 4/4/22. The updated merit policy goes into effect immediately. A fillable Word version is here.
Optional COVID Impact Statement
This document may be included in the front of your PTRM portfolio or Annual Report Binder, to remind reviewers of the impacts of the COVID pandemic upon faculty work and lives during AY 2020-2021.
COVID Tenure Review Extension
Any tenure-track faculty employed at TU during the 2019-2020 academic year will automatically be granted a one-year tenure review extension upon written notification to the Department Chair and submitted to the Office of the Provost by the third Friday in April of the faculty member’s 5th year at TU. For example, for a faculty member whose appointment at TU began in AY2019-2020 the option to request a one-year tenure review extension would remain available up to AY2023-24.
First Year Tenure-Track Faculty Review
The UPTRM unanimously passed a motion, reviewed by the Academic Senate at its 10/17/19 meeting, supporting the Provost’s recommendation to modify the procedure for first year faculty review by eliminating the reappointment binder due in December. According to this recommendation: In lieu of a December binder submission and committee review, the department chair will review all relevant documentation for first-year faculty, including SENTF, CV, course syllabi, and student and peer evaluations; meet with the candidate to discuss the review; and make a recommendation for reappointment or non-reappointment. Should the Chair’s recommendation be for non-reappointment, the Department PTRM committee will convene to review the relevant documentation and vote in accordance with standard PTRM procedure. While this new policy is not included in the current ART document, this revised review process is a permanent change and will be the standard procedure moving forward, recorded in the ART document that is currently being revised. This flowchart may help clarify the process, including timeline and chain of communication.
First Year Lecturer Review
- Where applicable the first year review of lecturers shall follow the revised timing established by UPTRM for first year tenure-track faculty.
- This mirrors the approved policy for tenure track faculty that was approved by the Academic Senate.
Voting Procedures for Remote PTRM Deliberations
The Office of the Provost strongly recommends the use of TU’s Involved @ TU web-based program for all remote PTRM voting. Departments may use other means of voting and voting records so long as the ballot information and the balloting process follows that articulated in the Towson University Policy on Appointment, Rank and Tenure of Faculty. All ballots must collect the Faculty ID number. Any voting mechanism must be secure and allow for records retention in accordance with USM records retention policies. (Records Management) While it is NOT necessary to use the TU Ballot Summary, a paper copy of the electronic voting record, which includes a record of faculty ID numbers associated with each ballot, must be printed and kept on file per the ART policy.
The Department Summary Recommendation (DSR) forms must be completed with faculty signature acknowledging receipt of the department’s decision and be retained within the Department and College Dean’s office. If a department chooses it can forego the use of the DSR and use an email acknowledgment system, if the email acknowledgment is printed and retained. For Docusign Account Forms, see this link.
Overview
The functions of the UPTRM are:
- To administer the system of faculty evaluation by implementing the provisions set forth in the document "Towson University Policy on Appointment, Rank, and Tenure of Faculty."
- To establish guidelines for standards by which departments will evaluate their members and to oversee the standards for promotion throughout the University.
- To review the PTRM documents of all colleges and departments on a regular schedule.
- To review and make determinations upon procedural appeals of faculty members.
- To consult with the Academic Senate and the Provost regarding standards for merit consideration and/or policies governing the allocation of merit increments.
- Individual members shall serve as liaisons to their department and college PTRM committees.
- To provide an annual report to the Academic Senate.
A more complete set of duties is outlined in the UPTRM Duties and Responsibilities document.
UPTRM Internal Cycle of Review Schedule
| Review Years | Colleges |
|---|---|
| 2023-2024 | COE & CLA |
| 2024-2025 | CBE & FCSM |
| 2025-2026 | CHP & COFAC |
Membership
The University Promotion, Tenure, Retention, and Merit Committee shall be composed of six faculty members (elected in the university-wide spring election), one from each academic college, each at the rank of associate or full professor, not concurrently members of college promotion and tenure committee, one faculty Academic Senate representative (elected annually by the Academic Senate); the Council of Chairs representative ex officio and non-voting; the Provost or Provost’s representative ex officio and non-voting; and the Vice President for Inclusion and Institutional Equity (or a representative of that office designated by the Vice President) ex officio and non-voting.
| Name | DEpartment | College | Term Expiration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nhung Hendy | Management | CBE | 2024 |
| Mary Lashley | Nursing | CHP | 2026 |
| Margherita Pampinella | Languages, Literatures & Cultures | CLA | 2025 |
|
Mahnaz Moallem |
Learning Technologies, Design & School Library Media | COE | 2026 |
| Joseph Kraemer | Electronic Media & Film | COFAC | 2025 |
| Angel Kumchev | Mathematics | FCSM | 2025 |
|
Academic Senate Representative |
2024 | ||
| Christian Koot, Department Chair History |
Council of Chairs Ex-officio & Non-Voting |
||
| Patricia Bradley, Vice President, OIIE |
Inclusion & Institutional Equity Ex-officio & Non-Voting |
||
| Laurie Mullen, Dean of COE |
Provost's Representive Ex-officio & Non-Voting |
Meetings
The UPTRM Committee meets on the second Friday of each month at 10am (September-May).
Forms and Checklists
- 3-year Cycle of Review Diagram
- Clinical Faculty Checklist
- College Checklist
- Department Checklist
- Department Approval-Transmission Form
College PTRM Policies
- College of Business and Economics (approved 10-05-18)
- College of Education (approved 03-08-19)
- College of Fine Arts and Communication PTRM Guidelines (approved 4-9-23)
- College of Health Professions (approved 11-3-20)
- College of Liberal Arts (approved 02-08-19)
- Fisher College of Science and Mathematics (approved 5-12-23)
Department PTRM Policies
College of Business and Economics
- Department of Accounting (approved 05-08-20)
- Department of e-Business and Technology Management (approved 05-08-20)
- Department of Economics (approved 03-10-17)
- Department of Finance (approved 05-08-20)
- Department of Management (approved 05-08-20)
- Department of Marketing (approved 03-10-17)
- Clinical Faculty - Marketing (approved 2-10-17)
- Clinical Faculty (approved 03-14-14)
College of Education
- Department of Early Childhood Education (approved 05-10-19)
- Department of Learning Technologies, Design and School Library Media (approved 06-15-19)
- Department of Elementary Education (approved 2-18-2021)
- Department of Instructional Leadership and Development (pending approval)
- Department of Secondary Education (pending approval)
- Department of Special Education (approved 05-10-19)
College of Fine Arts and Communication
- Department of Art+Design Art History Art Education (approved 03-09-18)
- Department of Communication Studies (approved 05-08-20)
- Department of Dance (approved 05-10-19)
- Department of Electronic Media and Film (approved 06-15-19)
- Department of Mass Communication (approved 03-08-19)
- Department of Music (approved 05-12-23)
- Department of Theatre Arts (approved 02-13-15)
College of Health Professions
- Department of Health Sciences (approved 05-12-22)
- Department of Kinesiology (approved 05-14-2021)
- Department of Nursing (approved 03-11-22)
- Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Sciences (approved 05-11-22)
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (approved 03-11-22)
- Clinical Faculty (03-11-22)
College of Liberal Arts
- College of Liberal Arts (approved 02-02-19)
- Department of English (approved 03-11-16)
- Department of Family Studies and Community Development (approved 03-13-20)
- Department of Foreign Languages (approved 06-15-19)
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences (approved 05-10-19)
- Department of History (approved 04-13-21)
- Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies (approved 05-10-19)
- Department of Political Science (approved 05-10-19)
- Department of Psychology (approved 06-15-19)
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice (approved 05-12-16)
- Department of Women's and Gender Studies (approved 04-08-16)
- Clinical Faculty
Fisher College of Science and Mathematics
- Department of Biological Sciences (approved 3-13-20)
- Department of Chemistry (approved 06-12-23)
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences (approved 03-13-20)
- Department of Mathematics (approved 12-10-2020)
- Department of Physics Astronomy and Geosciences (approved 05-08-23)
Joint and Interdisciplinary Programs
- College of Liberal Arts
UPTRM Resources
Additional Information and Documents
- Faculty Handbook
- TU Policy on Appointment, Rank and Tenure of Faculty
- UPTRM Duties and Responsibilities
- USM Policy on Faculty Workload (PDF)
- Policy for Clinical Faculty Evaluation, Reappointment, Promotion and Merit
- PTRM FAQs (PDF)
- Merit Procedure Flowchart
- Docusign Account/Access
- UPTRM File Naming System for Submitting College Documents (PDF)
- Document Review Flowchart