Start-Up Funding Sources
Startup funds are a part of the negotiation process and should adhere closely to the projected needs that were outlined in the Regular Faculty Recruiting Application. The sources for startup and guidelines for spending are as follows:
Reimbursement
Unit startup funds should be placed in the designated startup account to track expenses. Dean’s office will provide startup expenses on a reimbursement basis. VPR funds go directly to vendors and providers for equipment and renovations. Provost reimbursement will be provided at the end of the eighteen-month period upon request.
Unless prior arrangements have been made, departments have up to two years from the date of hire to request reimbursement for Start-Up expenses.
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Faculty evaluations are conducted for each calendar year. This process usually begins in December and ends in April. It is the policy of the OU Norman campus that all salaried faculty, temporary and permanent, tenure-track and non-tenure-track, and renewable term, are subject to the same performance evaluation process.
A Summary Report of Annual Faculty Evaluation and a one-page mini-vitae must be completed for each faculty member. The basic process of faculty evaluation as well as definitions of teaching, research, and service are described in the Faculty Handbook.
Typically, the Provost issues a memo in early December outlining the evaluation process and requirements and establishing a deadline to submit materials to that office. The Dean also has a memo listing all paperwork to be submitted and setting deadlines for units to submit their materials to the Dean’s Office along with the deadlines for submission.
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As recommended by the Norman Campus Faculty Senate and the Faculty Handbook, there shall be a program of continuing instructional evaluation that includes:
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Tenure-track faculty on probationary status must be reappointed annually. If the recommendation will be for non-reappointment, the Senior Vice President and Provost must send a letter to the tenure-track faculty member by March 1 in the first year, December 15 in the second year, and May 31 in the third and subsequent years. See the Provost’s annual memo noting these policies and deadlines. The Director will notify the Dean's Office in writing regarding the intent to reappoint or not reappoint a probationary faculty member. Notification is due to the Dean's Office one month before the Provost notification deadline.
Progress-Toward-Tenure Letters
In addition, Norman campus policy requires that tenure-track faculty be provided with a progress-toward-tenure letter during each year in which they are in probationary status. The purpose of this review is to provide feedback to the faculty member on the degree to which they are meeting the expectations for earning tenure. The letter should give an honest and frank evaluation as to how the faculty member is progressing in the quantity and quality of their teaching, research, and service relative to their stage in the tenure process. The letter should reflect on the faculty member’s cumulative accomplishments while employed at OU and should use as a reference point the academic unit’s criteria for tenure and promotion. The letter should include a copy of the criteria by which the faculty member will be evaluated during the tenure decision. Chairs and Directors are asked to use the progress-toward-tenure letter template when drafting these letters.
A copy of the progress-toward-tenure letter with the unit’s evaluation criteria should be sent to the Dean’s Office; the deadline is usually in late April. The Dean will review these letters and forward copies to the Provost.
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Overview
The Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy and the University have established polices for renewable term faculty appointments. These are non-tenure-track positions in which the faculty member typically serves a term of three to five years; these multi-year contracts may be renewed. The Faculty Handbook defines renewable term appointments at the academic ranks of assistant professor, associate professor, and professor as "regular faculty appointments." Units also may appoint non-ranked renewable term faculty with titles of lecturer or instructor. Units with renewable term faculty must develop formal policies for evaluating and promoting renewable term faculty as well as policies regarding the rights of renewable term faculty to participate in faculty governance, including the right to vote on personnel matters (with the exception of tenure), to vote for or serve on Committee A, or to serve on or chair graduate committees.
Annual Reappointment
Ranked renewable term faculty: The annual renewal decision for ranked renewable term faculty shall be accomplished by the same procedures employed for tenure-track faculty in their probation period. If the recommendation will be for non-reappointment, the Senior Vice President and Provost must send a letter to the faculty member by March 1 in the first year, December 15 in the second year, and May 31 in the third and subsequent years. The Director will notify the Dean's Office in writing regarding the intent to reappoint or not reappoint a ranked faculty member. Notification is due to the Dean's Office one month before the Provost notification deadline.
Non-ranked renewable term faculty: Non-ranked renewable term faculty must be reappointed annually, with a six-week prior notice of non-reappointment during each year of their contract. The Director will notify the Dean's Office in writing regarding the intent to reappoint or not reappoint a non-ranked faculty member. Notification is due to the Dean's Office one month before the Provost notification deadline. The faculty member must be notified of the department’s recommendation of annual reappointment or non-reappointment no later than March 1 of the annual appointment period.
Contract Renewal for an Additional Term
During the next-to-last year of the multi-year term, and prior to notifying the faculty member whether or not he or she will be renewed for a subsequent term, the unit must provide to the faculty member a comprehensive performance evaluation covering the entire multi-year term. The unit specifies the procedures for conducting the comprehensive evaluation. The Director will notify the Dean's Office in writing regarding the intent to renew or not renew a term faculty member for an additional term. Departments are required to send a copy of the comprehensive evaluation to the Dean’s Office either with the contract renewal form or by the specified date on the form. A faculty member, who is not to be renewed, must be notified by the Provost no later than May 31 of the year prior to the final year of the multi-year appointment period.
The Provost sends a memo to the Dean in April listing the faculty eligible for tenure review in the upcoming academic year. The Dean’s Office compares the list to its records and routes the list to Directors for verification. Departments also should advise the Dean’s Office at that time of any faculty to be considered for promotion during the upcoming year.
The Academic Unit forwards the Provost memo to tenure and promotion candidates when they are added to the review list. The above documents detail the procedures and timetables for tenure and promotion review. Completed dossiers with the department's recommendations must be uploaded to the online tenure and review system as per instructions in the detailed timeline provided in the most recent Provost memo “Call for Tenure and Promotion”.
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Post-tenure review is a periodic peer-based evaluation of tenured faculty; its purpose is to guide career development. Under this policy each tenured faculty member will be reviewed in the fifth year after being awarded tenure or promotion, whichever is later, and every fifth year thereafter.
Directors should assist the faculty members in their units to assemble their dossiers for post-tenure review, ensuring that they have the necessary copies of annual faculty evaluations and proposals and reports on sabbatical leaves. The dossier also must include a complete curriculum vitae and a dossier checksheet signed by the faculty member.
The post-tenure review is conducted by Committee and the Director of the unit (the Post-Tenure Review Committee), unless another arrangement has been approved in writing by the Dean and the Provost. As part of the review, the PTR Committee provides written feedback to the faculty member and signs the Post-Tenure Review Report Checksheet. The original dossier should be forwarded to the Dean’s Office by the last Friday in April.
In the event that a Professional Development Plan is required, additional procedures are outlined in the Faculty Handbook.
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After six years of service, faculty on nine-month appointments may apply for sabbatical leave at half-pay for a period not to exceed two semesters or at full-pay not to exceed one semester. After six years of service, faculty on twelve-month appointments may apply for sabbatical leave at half-pay for a period not to exceed twelve months or at full-pay for a period not to exceed six months. The semesters that are counted toward eligibility for sabbaticals are the Fall and Spring semesters only and do not include the Summer term. Departments may not use One Time Instructional Support funds to cover the cost of instruction for classes that would normally be taught by the faculty member who is on sabbatical. All applications must be accompanied by a recommendation from the Director.
The purposes for which a sabbatical leave may be granted include:
At the start of each calendar year, the Provost distributes a sabbatical leaves memo, outlining the application deadline dates. The deadlines are generally in the last week of January for Fall or Fall and Spring applications and in mid-July for Spring or Spring and Fall applications. One month before the Provost’s deadline, the college emails all Earth and Energy faculty with application and deadline information.
Upon return to University service from a sabbatical leave, faculty are required to submit a sabbatical report to the Provost within 60 days.
The Faculty Handbook addresses sabbatical leaves.
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Policy on Faculty Teaching Expectations and Release from Teaching
The College of Earth and Energy at the University of Oklahoma is strongly committed to ensuring that all students receive an outstanding education; that all students have access to the courses that they need to complete their academic programs; that public resources and tuition revenues are used in an efficient manner consistent with accomplishing the university’s mission; and that faculty members are fully supported with the resources necessary to accomplish their professional goals while they are actively and productively engaged in teaching, research and public service. The college encourages faculty members to become recognized leaders within their disciplines, which will enrich the educational experience of all students, enhance the reputation of the university and contribute to the success of its alumni in their careers beyond graduation. To this end the college has implemented the following expectations for teaching by tenured, tenure-track and renewable term faculty members.
Teaching Expectations
Each Academic Unit shall develop policies and procedures with respect to establishing minimum and maximum enrollment targets for all undergraduate and graduate courses, and teaching load.
To enhance transparency, each Academic Unit in the college shall develop formal policy that (1) describes the Unit's teaching expectations and (2) outlines the application and approval process for providing teaching releases. Each Academic Unit is responsible for ensuring that the costs of reduced faculty teaching are covered.
Faculty members who are not actively engaged in productive research, creative activity and scholarship at an acceptable rate based upon departmental standards governing the specific academic discipline may be assigned an increase in teaching load, at the discretion of the Dean or Director in consultation with Committee A. Departments may consider various factors in applying this policy, which may include but are not limited to: producing scholarly publications, creative activity recognized by the discipline, national presentations, obtaining external funding, holding leadership positions in national professional organizations, supervising graduate students, serving on M.S. and Ph.D. committees, and supervising undergraduates in research.
Modifications of Teaching Expectations
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