Unireg 803.7

2. Tenure and Promotion Policy

b. Research and/or Creative Contributions

i. Research

 (3) Other Criteria:

(a) A department or college shall utilize written comments from reviewers outside the University to evaluate research and/or creative contributions of candidates for promotion and/or tenure. The procedures to be used to obtain these review letters are:

(i) The candidate and the department/unit head/chair shall each make a list of at least six possible reviewers. The candidate may delete up to one-third of the names on the department/unit list. The department/unit shall choose an equal number from each list (excluding the names deleted by the candidate) for a minimum of four potential reviewers.

(ii) The candidate shall prepare a packet to be sent to each potential reviewer. The packet should consist of a resume/vita and representative examples of recent scholarly and/or creative contributions.

(iii) The candidate may waive the right to see the letters, via a written statement to be included in the candidate's folder. The candidate shall, however, retain the right to see the texts of these letters that have been edited in such a way as to preclude identification of their respective authors.

iv) The department/unit shall send the packet with an accompanying cover letter to each of the selected potential reviewers. It shall be the responsibility of the Provost to announce a reasonable deadline for the solicitation of these outside reviews. The cover letter shall indicate whether or not the candidate has waived the right to see the letters, and will state the degree of confidentiality of the response. This letter shall request an evaluation by the reviewer of the scholarly and/or creative contributions of the candidate. It shall refrain from asking the reviewer to state whether the candidate would be tenured at the reviewer's institution.

(v) The department/unit head shall prepare a summary statement describing the process of solicitation of reviewer letters. This summary and the letters shall be included in the candidate's folder. A copy of this summary shall be provided to the candidate.

(vi) If the candidate waives the right to see the letters, only those who will vote or make administrative recommendations on the case (including members of tenure and promotion committees) shall have access to a confidential folder containing the original letters (or copies thereof) and the summary defined in section 2.b.(3)(iii.).

(vii) The solicitation of letters from outside the University of Wyoming is not meant to discourage solicitation of, or diminish the value of, letters from within the University.