Minimum qualifications for appointment to the various ranks are detailed in Section 1.4. Because these are minimum qualifications, it is expected that all will be met before the application for promotion is submitted, and that qualitative evaluation of evidence will be a part of each promotion decision.

Service at Seattle Pacific University as adjunct faculty or other contracts/letters of employment issued by the Division of Continuing studies, overload contracts, and leaves of absence shall not accrue toward time qualifications for promotion.

Equivalency for terminal degrees is detailed in Section 1.4.

Each candidate for promotion to the rank of assistant professor shall have served a minimum of one year at Seattle Pacific University, and candidates for the ranks of associate professor or professor shall have served a minimum of two years at Seattle Pacific University before the year of application. For purposes of calculating length of SPU service and time at rank, a single fractional load which is .75 FTE (full-time equivalent) or greater shall be rounded up to 1. For multiple years at loads of .75 or greater, fractional loads shall be added. When this latter process results in the individual's missing the eligibility threshold by .25 or less, the total may be rounded upward.

Promotion evaluation will utilize the criteria for evaluating teaching faculty described in Section 5.2. The foundational expectations about character and congruence with mission remain relevant in every promotion evaluation, but the primary focus of these evaluations will be the set of considerations related to the candidate’s competence and contribution. Candidates who teach part or all of their course load at the graduate level will typically be expected to evidence greater output in the area of scholarship.

Promotion to Assistant Professor typically recognizes completion of appropriate terminal degrees. Candidates for this promotion must offer evidence of teaching effectiveness and of participation in appropriate service roles. If they have not yet built a record of scholarly production, they should evidence their commitment to this area of faculty responsibility in their PDP.

Promotion to Associate Professor recognizes a faculty member as maturing in his or her role. Successful candidates for this promotion will demonstrate good performance in all three areas of faculty responsibility (teaching, scholarship, and service), and emerging strength in at least one of the areas.

Promotion to Professor designates a faculty member as an established teacher and scholar, who is recognized as such by peers in his or her field, and who serves as a model/mentor for others in the vocation. Successful candidates for this promotion will demonstrate strength in all three areas of faculty responsibility (teaching, scholarship, and service), with excellence in at least one of the areas.

The candidate will prepare an application file that addresses the criteria for evaluation (Section 5.2) by including the following items:

1. a curriculum vitae, highlighting that the candidate has the appropriate degree and years of experience to qualify for this promotion (as established in Section 1.4);
2. a current PDP, and the candidate’s immediately prior PDP, (both with dean or chair response);
3. a narrative of recent developments in the candidate’s life and career reflecting his or her sense of vocation as a faculty member in a Christian university, touching on the interplay of the three major areas of teaching, scholarship, and service;
4. representative syllabi from courses taught at SPU;
5. a representative selection of student evaluations of courses the candidate has offered since coming to SPU;
6. peer-review assessments of the candidate’s teaching, including at least one by a member of the candidate’s department and one by a peer from outside of the candidate’s department;
7. the candidate’s self-reflections on teaching strengths and areas needing cultivation, interacting with both the student and peer input;
8. samples of scholarly products the candidate has produced (particularly since coming to SPU), noting the role of peer review in their publication or reception;
9. when applying for promotion to full Professor, at least two letters (solicited by the candidate’s dean) offering evaluation of the candidate’s competence and scholarly contribution by peers in the candidate’s field at appropriate institutions outside of SPU;
10. a description of the types of service roles the candidate has taken on since coming to SPU, or since the candidate’s last promotion;
11. a self-assessment of expertise and availability for the specific service role of academic and vocational advising; and
12. any further supporting documents (reference letters, reviews, commendations, and so on) which the candidate may wish to include that attest to the candidate’s competence and contribution.

The application file shall be submitted in a loose-leaf binder, with pages numbered and a table of contents.