Promotions, Emeritus Status, Secondary Appointment

Please note that many policies governing faculty affairs at BU Wheelock are currently undergoing revision. Because of this, we ask you to consider these pages “under construction” and all content within them unofficial.

There are three faculty tracks that offer the opportunity for promotion in Wheelock: Tenure Track, Clinical Track, and Lecturer Track. The criteria and procedures for each are briefly described below. For more detail, see the BU Faculty Handbook.

Clinical Track Faculty Promotions

Clinical Assistant Professors are typically given a three-year contract. After this contract is renewed the first time through the reappointment process, they may request consideration for promotion. It is expected that clinical faculty members who have served for five years or more should be preparing to seek a promotion from assistant level to associate level. If a faculty member has not sought a promotion after their second reappointment (i.e. after two 3-year appointments), the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs will schedule a meeting with the faculty and any faculty mentors to encourage the faculty member to enter the promotion process. It is expected that a faculty member will seek promotion before reaching the end of their third 3-year appointment.

Presenting a Clinical Track Faculty Promotion Case

The candidate for tenure must provide evidence of accomplishment in the areas of scholarship, teaching (including advising), and service. While the criteria for evaluation of research and scholarship are not the same as those in tenure-track cases, it is expected that clinical faculty will participate in engaged scholarship, using their knowledge and experience to contribute to issues of importance in their field through publication and presentations. An excellent teaching record is required for promotion. Service to the school and profession is also considered important, as relevant to the candidate’s field.

In the promotion year, the candidate assembles materials similar to those assembled for the Mid-Tenure Review. In addition, the Wheelock Dean and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs solicit six to eight confidential letters from external reviewers. The preponderance of these (at least six) must be from “arm’s length” reviewers: individuals at peer or peer-plus institutions who have not advised or published with the candidate. Any non-arm’s length letters should not be suggested by the candidate—if the ADFA and other consultants can identify individuals who are prominent in their field who have worked with the candidate, these individuals may be asked for reviews as well. These letters, along with teaching observations and letters from a random sample of the candidate’s students, are added to the dossier.

These materials are made available to senior faculty in Wheelock, who meet to discuss and vote on the case. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs writes a letter summarizing all materials collected, including the faculty vote. All materials are then passed on to the APT Committee, who discuss the candidate and hold a vote. This discussion and vote are recorded in a letter from the committee chair. All materials are then passed on to the Dean, who adds his/her own summative assessment of the case.

These materials are all delivered to the Boston University Provost’s Office for final approval.

Results of Clinical Track Faculty Promotion Cases

For Promotion from Clinical Assistant, if the case is successful, the faculty member is promoted to Clinical Associate Professor, and is given a four-year contract. If the case is unsuccessful, the faculty member may re-apply for promotion at a later time. It is expected that a Clinical Assistant Professor will seek a promotion to an associate level before reaching the end of his or her third 3-year appointment.

When a Clinical Associate Professor seeks promotion to a Clinical Full Professor the same procedures as described above will be followed. If the case is successful, the faculty member is promoted to Clinical Full Professor, and is given a five-year contract.

Lecturer Track Faculty Promotions

Lecturers are typically given a three-year renewable contract. Prior to receiving a third contract, Lecturers are expected to seek promotion to become a Senior Lecturer. It is expected that a faculty member will seek promotion before reaching the end of their third 3-year appointment.

Presenting a Lecturer Track Faculty Promotion Case to Senior Lecturer

The candidate must show accomplishment in the areas of teaching (including advising), service, and (if it was a part of their workload) accomplishment in the area of engaged scholarship. A record of excellent and innovative teaching is required for promotion. Service to the school and profession is also considered important, as relevant to the candidate’s field.

In the promotion year, the candidate assembles materials similar to those assembled for the Mid-Tenure Review. In addition, the Wheelock Dean and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs solicit three to five confidential letters from external reviewers. The preponderance of these letters (at least three) must be from “arm’s length” reviewers: individuals at peer or peer-plus institutions who have not advised, worked or published with the candidate. These letters, along with teaching observations and letters from a random sample of the candidate’s students, are added to the dossier.

These materials are made available to promoted faculty from the appropriate tracks (lecturer, clinical and tenured) in Wheelock, who meet to discuss and vote on the case. The ADFA writes a “Chair’s letter” summarizing all materials collected, including the faculty vote. All materials are then passed on to the APT Committee, who discuss the candidate and take a vote.

This discussion and vote are recorded in a letter from the committee chair. All materials are then passed on to the Dean, who adds his own summative assessment of the case. These materials are all passed on to the Boston University Provost’s Office for final approval.

Results of a Lecturer Track Faculty Promotion Case

For promotion from Lecturer, if the case is successful, the faculty member is promoted to Senior Lecturer, and is given a four-year contract. If the case is unsuccessful, the faculty member may re-apply for promotion at a later time. It is expected that a Lecturer will seek promotion to Senior Lecturer before reaching the end of his or her third 3-year appointment.

Senior Lecturers may seek promotion to Master Lecturer. The criteria for promotion to Master Lecturer involves more than a history of excellence as a Senior Lecturer. Candidates who wish to be considered for promotion to Master Lecturer must understand that the criteria include more than excellence and innovation in teaching. They include providing evidence that the candidate is a pedagogical leader in their field of expertise. Examples of such excellence could include positively reviewed and widely utilized textbooks, or evidence of scholarship productivity that advances their field of practice.

Tenure Track Faculty Promotions

Tenure Track Assistant Professors who begin their position at BU with one year or less as an assistant professor at any other university are granted a seven-year tenure clock. This means that their case will be considered by Wheelock senior faculty and the Appointment, Promotions & Tenure Committee in the Fall semester of their seventh year, and will be sent to the University-wide Promotion and Tenure Committee in the Spring of their seventh year. They will begin to assemble the dossier and external letters will be solicited by the ADFA in Spring of their sixth year.

Presenting a Tenure Track Faculty Promotion Case

Faculty candidates for tenure must provide evidence of accomplishment in three areas: research, including refereed publications, grant-funded activity, and other examples of research productivity; teaching, including advising; and service. In general, candidates on the tenure track must demonstrate that they are an emerging leader in their field of scholarship, a highly effective to excellent teacher, and hold a record of effective service to the school and university.

In the sixth year of a typical tenure clock, the candidate assembles materials similar to those assembled for the Mid-Tenure Review. In addition, ten confidential letters from external reviewers are solicited. A preponderance of these (at least eight) should be “arm’s length” reviewers: individuals at peer or peer-plus institutions who have not advised or published with the candidate. These letters, along with teaching observations and letters from a random sample of the candidate’s students and advisees, are added to the candidate’s tenure dossier.

These materials are made available in the Fall of the candidate’s seventh year to tenured faculty in Wheelock, who meet to discuss and vote on the case. The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs prepares the “Chair’s letter” summarizing all materials collected, including the faculty vote. All materials are then passed on to the Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee, who discuss the candidate and take a vote. This discussion and vote are recorded in a letter from the committee chair. All materials are then passed on to the Dean, who adds his/her own summative assessment of the case.

These materials are all passed on to the Boston University Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee. After their decision is recorded, the President of Boston University makes a final decision, and the candidate is notified in May of their seventh year.

Results of Tenure Track Faculty Promotion Cases

If the case is successful, the faculty member is promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. If the case is not successful, the faculty member will continue for one final year as an Assistant Professor at Wheelock.

Associate Professors with tenure who wish to be considered for promotion to Full Professor should discuss the process with the Wheelock Dean or Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The criteria for promotion to Full Professor include being assessed, by external reviewers, as a leader in their field of scholarship, a record of being a highly effective to excellent teacher, and a record of excellence in service to the school, university, and/or their profession.

Alternatives to the Procedure

Candidates with more time at another university are given a shorter tenure clock, with one year subtracted for each year (after the first) as an assistant professor.

Junior faculty who wish to go up for tenure earlier than the seven-year timeline can request this from the Wheelock Dean and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs.

For further details, please see the section on Tenure & Promotion in the Faculty Handbook and on the Provost’s Website.

Secondary Appointments

BU has a process through which faculty appointed in other BU schools and colleges may be granted secondary appointments within Wheelock. Secondary appointments may be considered for a variety of reasons, including formalizing a relationship with another BU department or program, acknowledging a collaboration between a non-Wheelock BU faculty member and a Wheelock program, or strengthening a research collaboration involving BU faculty outside of Wheelock. The request to grant a secondary appointment is typically initiated by a Wheelock faculty member.

For similar reasons, a Wheelock faculty member may wish to be appointed to a BU program or department in the Graduate School or the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information on joint appointments in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GRS) or the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), please visit their website. Related forms may be found here.

Emeritus Status

Emeritus is a status of honor and esteem at BU, associated with an invitation to continue collegial relationships after retirement. Faculty members of professorial ranks, Tenured, Clinical (Non-Tenure Track), Professors of the Practice and Research Professors, who have served on the faculty of BU Wheelock and former Wheelock College for at least ten years, full-time, are eligible to be considered for Emeritus status upon retirement. Retired faculty members with Emeritus status retain their title at the highest rank achieved, modified by the incorporation of the Emeritus designation. 

Presenting the Case for Emeritus Status 

Any full-time faculty member of the BU Wheelock College of Education and Human Development may nominate a colleague for Emeritus status, within one year or less of the colleague’s official retirement date. Self-nominations are permitted. The written nomination, which can be completed in a written letter or through email, must be accompanied by the candidate’s current Curriculum Vitae (CV). It should be sent to the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and the Department Chair. 

The Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Department Chair will circulate the CV to all members of the Department, and a vote will be taken by the Department full-time faculty members. Results will be conveyed to the APT Committee, who will review the candidate’s CV and the results of the faculty vote. They will discuss the candidate’s merits for Emeritus rank and vote on the request. Their recommendation and a record of the vote will be sent, along with all of the materials submitted to them, by the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs to the Dean. The Dean then submits the paperwork to the Provost for notification.  

Results of a Case for Emeritus Status 

While Emeritus faculty may not serve as chair of a department or as a member of a policy-making committee, they may be employed by the University at a rate of compensation appropriate to the assigned responsibilities.  For more information, please see the section on Emeritus status in the BU Faculty Handbook.