Membership

The committee shall consist of one tenured faculty members from each department of the college. All full-time tenured faculty members are eligible to be elected from their respective departments, except those holding administrative posts including chairpersons and persons serving on the URTC.

Members shall serve staggered three-year terms.

Meetings

The committee will begin its review on or before November 1 of each year. At the initial meeting of the committee in any given year, a chairperson will be elected by the members; a chairperson may serve successive terms of one year if duly elected for a second term.

A quorum consists of six members present, proxies not being allowed. A majority vote of the members present is required for approval or disapproval of a motion or a proposal.

The chairperson shall vote in all matters brought before the committee.

Members are required to recuse themselves from discussion and voting on applicants from their own department. The CRTC may call upon the chairperson of the department of any applicant to address questions raised by the Committee on an application. All votes on matters of rank and tenure will be by secret ballot. Members are bound to keep their voting record secret. Personal letters of acceptance or rejection will be sent to all applicants by the chairperson of the CRTC. Reasons for recommending rejection will be stated but the vote will not be given. Simultaneously with these letters, a summary of all results, including the vote and reasons for acceptance or rejection, will be sent to the Dean.

Significant results of CRTC meetings (but not the minutes) will be sent to the Dean. Following action by the committee, complete dossiers will be forwarded to the Dean and Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Promotions

Each year the Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs notifies the Dean of those faculty members who are first eligible for consideration for promotion. Ordinarily, assistant professors are expected to have at least three years of service and associate professors five years of service in rank at this university or one of equal standing to be considered first eligible. Academic and sabbatical leave periods at Loyola University shall be accepted as qualified service for promotion.

A faculty member may elect to apply for promotion to the committee in an earlier year. The denial of promotion in an earlier year shall not prejudice the member's candidacy for promotion in a subsequent year.

The Dean will give the faculty member timely notice concerning the beginning of the promotion review process. This notification shall be sufficiently in advance to afford the faculty member an opportunity to submit materials relevant to adequate consideration of his or her qualifications. The tenured members of the department will review these same
credentials in light of the criteria laid out in their own protocol and submit their recommendation to the College Rank and Tenure Committee. It is the responsibility of the department chairperson to submit the department’s recommendation to the chairperson of CRTC on or before November 1. It is the faculty member's responsibility to submit all other materials to the committee on or before November 1.

Faculty applying for promotion and/or tenure are to provide three letters from external reviewers concerning the quality and reception of their scholarship. The candidate and the department will provide lists of potential reviewers to the departmental chair. The chair will solicit letters on behalf of the candidate. For the purposes of the CRTC, “external” will be defined as experts in the applicant’s field of study outside of Loyola. In the interests of impartiality, reviewers should be required to identify any relationship they may have with the applicant.

Recommendation letters regarding candidates for raise in rank or tenure are to be sent directly to the chairperson of the committee. Letters received via another route should be so identified.

An alternate recipient of such letters should be designated by the committee in the case that the chairperson petitions for raise in rank or tenure.

All material submitted to the committee and all deliberations of the committee shall be kept confidential.

The committee shall have the discretion to solicit other information that it deems pertinent to adequate consideration of the case under review. Following thorough review of all information, discussion, and a vote taken regarding promotion, the committee will send to the Dean, on or before January 1, a recommendation on each of those who have
been considered. The Dean appends his or her recommendations and sends both to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. If all three, namely, the College Rank and Tenure Committee, the Dean, and the Vice President for Academic Affairs, agree, the case is settled. Should one or more of the parties vote not to award promotion, the promotion is
denied, but the faculty member may appeal the decision to the University Rank and Tenure Committee. This latter committee forwards its recommendation to the president, who adjudicates the matter. Unless the president has compelling reasons, he will follow the recommendation of the University Rank and Tenure Committee; in the event he does not, he will give the University Rank and Tenure Committee and the faculty member his reasons in writing.

It should be noted that advance in rank is distinct from a raise in salary; thus the committee shall be free to consider each application strictly on its academic merits.

Tenure

Each year the Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs shall notify the Dean of those faculty members who are to be considered for tenure decisions. The Dean shall give the faculty members timely notice concerning the beginning of the tenure evaluation process. This notification shall be sufficiently in advance to afford the faculty member an opportunity to submit materials relevant to adequate consideration of his/her qualifications. The tenured members of the department shall receive these and other relevant materials and submit their recommendations to the committee based upon the
criteria laid out in the department protocol on or before November 1. It is the responsibility of the department chairperson to submit the department’s recommendation to the chairperson of CRTC on or before November 1. It is the faculty member's responsibility to submit all other materials to the committee on or before November 1.

A faculty member may elect to apply for tenure in an earlier year. An application for early tenure evaluation requires permission of the Dean who will consult the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the appropriate department chairperson. Early tenure is a rare and special privilege and applications must show exceptional accomplishments
in fulfillment of the qualifications listed. The denial of tenure in an earlier year shall not prejudice a faculty member's case for tenure in a subsequent year.

The primary evaluation of an applicant for tenure is made by the CRTC. This committee will restrict its considerations to the qualifications of the applicant, while duly noting the recommendation of the tenured members of the applicant's department. This committee's recommendation is given the greatest weight in the final decision. The committee shall
meet to discuss and vote on each case. The participation of members from the applicant’s department shall be the same as described for matters of promotion. Votes on tenure decisions shall be taken by secret ballot at a meeting at which discussion of the candidate is held. For a faculty member to attain a positive recommendation for tenure a majority of
the committee must vote in favor of awarding tenure. Failure to secure such a favorable recommendation does not prejudice a reconsideration of the case at the discretion of the committee or at the request of the applicant.

All materials submitted to the committee and all deliberations of the committee shall be kept confidential.

A faculty member who has been denied tenure may request a conference with the Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs to be advised of reasons which have contributed to an adverse decision. A faculty member may also request a written statement of these reasons; he/ she will be advised by the Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs if
there might be unfavorable consequences of such a written statement.

Emeritus Status

A chairperson of the department in which the faculty member has held an appointment, will nominate eligible faculty members for emeritus status to the CRTC and Dean. In the absence of a nomination from the chairperson an individual may self-nominate himself or herself. The CRTC shall follow the same procedures as with a promotion or tenure
review, evaluating the application for emeritus according to the criteria delineated in the Faculty Handbook, and forward to the Dean a recommendation regarding the granting of emeritus status prior to April 1.

Revised and Approved by College Assembly 11-20-2008