To be eligible for academic promotion staff must hold a tenured, tenurable or fixed term appointment and would normally be expected to have been employed at The University of Western Australia for two years. However, it is possible to apply for promotion within two years of the initial appointment and in these cases the applicant and/or Head of School may wish to first discuss the special circumstances to justify the applicant’s case with the Chair of the Promotions and Tenure Committee.
Fractional Appointments
Where applicants seeking promotion have fractional appointments, the University expects the same level and quality of achievements and international recognition as full time academic staff. In terms of the quantity of output, such as teaching load, research publications and service, the expectation is of at least pro-rata output consistent with the level of achievement required for promotion.
Sub Professorial Positions
Applicants should normally hold a position at one level lower than the position sought e.g., applicants for promotion to Senior Lecturer (Level C) would normally be at the Lecturer (Level B) level at the time of applying for promotion.
All intending applicants should consider very carefully before submitting an application for promotion. This applies especially to staff applying for promotion to Professor. Prior to submitting such an application, the staff member should discuss the matter with the Head of School and may wish to discuss this with the Dean and, if appropriate, the Chair of the Promotions and Tenure Committee.
Professorial Positions
Any member of academic staff may apply for promotion to Professor providing that requirements outlined in 1(a) are met. Alternatively, a member of academic staff may consider applying for promotion to :
Professorial Fellow (Research)
The applicant will normally hold the rank of Associate Professor within the University, and will be required to have made an exceptional contribution to scholarship by research. Teaching and service to the University, the profession and the community will also be considered. In the case of teaching and research staff the applicant must provide evidence of satisfactory teaching and community service.
This position may be appropriate to academic staff whose contributions are primarily in research rather than in all three areas of teaching, research and service.
Professorial Fellow (Teaching and Learning)
The applicant will normally hold the rank of Associate Professor within the University, and will be required to have made an exceptional contribution to scholarship by teaching. In addition the applicant must provide evidence of satisfactory research and service to the University, the profession and the community.
This position may be appropriate to academic staff whose contributions are primarily in teaching and learning rather than in all three areas of teaching, research and service.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE PROMOTIONS AND TENURE COMMITTEE
Membership of the Promotions and Tenure Committee, which considers all applications for promotions, is as follows:
Vice-Chancellor's nominee (Chair)
3 Academic Board nominees
2 Vice-Chancellor's nominees
1 Academic Staff Association nominee
The Secretary to the Committee will be located in Human Resources
The Manager, Equity and Diversity, has a formal invitation to attend all meetings and view all documentation
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PROMOTIONS AND TENURE COMMITTEE AND THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRINCIPAL IN THE PROMOTIONS PROCEDURE
It is the responsibility of the Promotions and Tenure Committee to provide the Vice-Chancellor with a list of its recommendations for promotions presenting each category separately according to the Committee's assessment of the merit of the applicants. It is expected that the Vice-Chancellor will report monthly to Senate on recommendations being made concerning applications received for sub-Professorial promotion.
If the Promotions and Tenure Committee considers that, on the basis of submitted material, assessors’ reports and the report from a corresponding member, a case exists for promotion to Professor, the application will be considered by a Senate Selection Committee consisting of the Chancellor, the Pro-Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, the Chair of the Academic Board and up to two other Professors co-opted by the Committee. The Senate Selection Committee will interview all applicants recommended for promotion to Professor by the Promotions and Tenure Committee.
APPLICATIONS
Applications may be submitted at any time during the year through the Head of School and the Dean to the Promotions and Tenure Committee. In the absence of a staff member or in special circumstances, the Head of School may submit an application on behalf of the staff member.
The Head of School will then be required to complete a separate form giving specific comments on every application received and suggestions regarding assessors, and attach it to the application. Further comment on the role of assessors is covered in the statement below. The Head of School is encouraged to consult and seek comments from senior members of staff in the applicant's discipline. These comments can be included with the recommendation forwarded to the Promotions and Tenure Committee. Both the application and report of the Head of School are then submitted to the Dean.
Staff members who have applied for Chairs at another University may wish to apply for promotion to Professor and have their case considered at the same time. The Head of School may wish to encourage a staff member to apply for promotion to Professor in such cases. This initiative reflects the University's commitment to retain high quality staff.
The Dean, after any consultation thought to be useful with the Head of School (including consideration of the formal comments) and senior members of the department, will add comments if appropriate. Comments made by the Head of School and the Dean must be sighted by the applicant. The Dean will then forward all application documentation to the Secretary for consideration by the Promotions and Tenure Committee.
The applicant may write to the Chair of the Promotions and Tenure Committee if he/she wishes to respond to comments by the Head of School and the Dean.
It is important that applicants address the criteria employed by the Promotions and Tenure Committee as set out in the attachments. It is not necessary to bind documents.
To facilitate the task of the Promotions and Tenure Committee, applications must be submitted in the prescribed form and must contain a specific statement detailing the grounds on which the application is based. The form provided does not preclude the submission of information by way of attachments or a covering letter nor does it preclude a computer generated form provided the prescribed format is adopted. However, once the application has been submitted, no further information will be received by the Committee (see 5(a) below).
The attention of staff applying for promotion is drawn to Section 18 of the application form. The summary of the specific grounds on which an application is based should contain an explicit statement delineating clearly the main thrust(s) of the applicant's work and the particular achievements that are claimed for it, together with a brief overview of the significance of the applicant's contribution in the wider context of the discipline.
Sub-Professorial Applications
When assessing applications for promotion the Committee will consider all aspects of the application including service to the University and the wider community. Applicants who elect to nominate under one area are nevertheless expected to meet adequate standards in the area not nominated, and in the service area. That these adequate standards have been met in the area not nominated, and in the service area, is normally established - and must be attested to - by the Head of School in his or her supporting letter. Applicants nominating for promotion on grounds of "teaching and research" must document achievements under both headings and include a teaching portfolio.
Professorial Applications
When assessing applications for Professorial appointment, the Committee will consider all aspects of the application including service to the University and the wider community. In addition, successful applicants must clearly meet the standards for Professorial appointment in major international universities. That adequate standards have been met is normally established - and must be attested to by the Head of School in his or her supporting letter. A teaching portfolio must be included with the application.
Professorial Fellow Applications
When assessing applications for promotion to Professorial Fellow, the Committee will consider all aspects of the application, particularly the scholarly and research achievements of the applicant. Successful applicants must clearly meet the promotion criteria.
Although it is not possible to nominate for promotion under the heading of "service" only, exceptional contributions under the heading of service will be taken into account if properly documented. A service portfolio may be submitted.
In all categories, documentation should deal with both the quantity of work and, more importantly, its quality.
Documentation should meet the usual standards of evidence in scholarly disciplines. For example, if the opinions of referees are provided, the expertise of the referee, and the extent to which he or she was in a position to make the judgment reliably, should also be established. (The Head of School is usually in the best position to speak to the first point, but the applicant may have the best evidence about the second).
The Promotions and Tenure Committee will refer applications to assessors where it is satisfied that a prima facie case for promotion has been established. In the case of staff members having been promoted to Associate Professor seeking promotion to Professor, the application will be sent directly to assessors for peer review.
The Promotions and Tenure Committee has a policy of using external assessors from within Australia and overseas.
Applicants are invited to nominate assessors who may be consulted in either teaching, research or both and the Head of School will be invited to suggest further assessors. In addition, indicate in Section 21 of your application the names of people who may be selected as assessors who you believe would provide a biased assessment of your case for promotion. Reasons for your concerns must also be provided. It should be noted, however, that the Committee will make the final decision regarding the choice of assessors.
It should be noted that an assessor is not appointed to act in the role of a referee but rather as an expert in the field who is able to offer the Promotions and Tenure Committee a balanced and confidential assessment of the merits of the particular applicant's application according to the stated criteria and to provide, if possible, an indication of the applicant's standing in the field. Your nominee should be preferably a person of eminence in your field who may or may not be known personally to you but who is aware of your research activities and with whom you have not collaborated or published. The Committee will initiate discussion with assessors. While the Committee will use the Head of School’s list for guidance, it may take advice from elsewhere when selecting its assessors.
Applicants may wish to consult with the Chair of the Promotions and Tenure Committee if they have any concerns about the possible choice of assessors by the Head of School, or about any aspect of their application.
In applications for promotion to Professor, if the Committee consider that a prima facie case for promotion exists following a review of assessors’ reports, the Committee may seek the views of a corresponding member. The corresponding member is a senior academic who may not be in the specific area of specialisation as the applicant but who is nevertheless able to provide a broader assessment of the applicant’s suitability for promotion to Professor.
Applicants or proposers must mark with an asterisk no more than six of the most significant publications on which it is felt the case would be best judged. Six copies of each of the selected publications must be included with the application.
If publications have involved mainly joint authorship, a general note should be provided on the applicant's role or contribution, particularly in regard to the more significant works.
In general, the Promotions and Tenure Committee will only consider published work. However, where applicants are able to provide evidence that an article has been finally accepted for publication, the work will be considered provided that it is submitted in a form suitable for transmission to assessors.
Teaching portfolios will be sent to those assessors who have been nominated to evaluate an applicant's contribution to teaching. These must be in a form that make them easy to transmit by post.
Professorial Applications
If the Promotions and Tenure Committee decides, on the basis of the submitted material, assessors’ reports, and the report from the corresponding member, that a prima facie case exists for promotion to Professor, it will recommend to a Senate Selection Committee comprising the Chancellor, the Pro-Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, the Chair of the Academic Board and up to two other Professors co-opted by the Committee. The Senate Selection Committee will interview all applicants recommended for promotion to Professor by the Promotions and Tenure Committee. Subsequent to the interview process all recommendations for promotion to Professor will be individually referred by the Vice-Chancellor and, to Senate for approval. Following the interview with the Senate Selection Committee, the applicant will meet with the Vice-Chancellor or the Deputy Vice-Chancellor to discuss the result of the application.
Effective Date of Promotion
Sub-Professorial Promotion — is effective from the date of the Promotions and Tenure Meeting in which the decision was reached to recommend promotion.
Professorial Promotion — is effective from the date the applicant was interviewed by the Senate Selection Committee and a decision was reached to grant promotion.
PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES APPLIED IN THE CONSIDERATION OF APPLICATIONS
The following principles are applied by the Committee when considering applications:
Only material that has been submitted with the application is considered.
Teaching and research academic staff at all levels of appointment, are eligible to apply for promotion to Professor.
PROCEDURES FOR THE REVIEW OF RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PROMOTIONS AND TENURE COMMITTEE
Applicants not recommended for promotion may seek a meeting with the Chair of the Promotions and Tenure Committee to discuss the outcome of the promotion application.
At the discretion of the Chair, an unsuccessful application for promotion may be referred back to the Promotions and Tenure Committee where:–
It can be demonstrated that relevant information of a significant nature submitted as part of the application had been overlooked or misinterpreted;
or
where clear evidence of a significant procedural irregularity having occurred can be demonstrated.
If the applicant remains unsatisfied with the outcome, he/she may seek consultation with the Vice-Chancellor.
All applicants interviewed by the Senate Selection Committee will meet with the Deputy Vice Chancellor for feedback on their application. If they remain unsatisfied with the outcome, they may meet with the Vice-Chancellor.
