Tenure at Seattle Pacific University is understood as a symbol of stability, of the integrity of the community, and of the joint commitment of every member of the community to the mission of the University.

The individual, before applying for tenure, has expended considerable time and energy in personal and professional development, has demonstrated compatibility with the mission and institutional climate of Seattle Pacific University , and has been evaluated numerous times. Application for tenure signifies that the individual wishes to be considered a permanent part of this community.

The institution, in granting tenure, recognizes that tenure confers on the faculty member continuous contract rights (Section 2.3) and the right not to suffer discriminatory reduction in salary (except as provided in Sections 5.4.1. and 8), and implies the faculty member's acknowledgment of continuing responsibility to the community for faithful discharge of duty.

Both parties understand that tenure provides protection for the individual against non-reappointment (Section 8.3), as well as partial protection in other circumstances, but that the tenured contract may be severed through resignation (Section 8.1), retirement (Section 8.2), prolonged illness (Section 8.4), layoff (Section 8.5), or dismissal for cause (Section 8.6).

(For calculation of prior part-time service to eligibility for tenure, see Section 1.5.3). Persons on tenure track holding the rank of assistant professor shall be considered for tenure not later than their sixth full-time year at the University. Persons initially hired by the University at the rank of associate professor and professor shall be considered for tenure not later than the fifth and fourth years, respectively, of full-time service. Instructors who are promoted to assistant professor in their sixth year of full-time service at the University, or subsequently, shall be considered for tenure during their first year as assistant professor. After the first year of eligibility for tenure, an individual who is not granted tenure may apply for tenure during either or both of the subsequent two years. Any person who is not granted tenure in the final year of eligibility as defined in this Section shall be terminated. The contract/letter of appointment issued for the final year of eligibility shall contain notice that, if tenure is not granted, it is a terminal contract. Special provisions relating to administrators with faculty rank are detailed in Section 1.9. Any administrator or faculty committee that recommends against granting tenure may also recommend that the candidate be given a terminal contract, that is, a contract with no further opportunities to apply for tenure. The President and the Board of Trustees have final decision in this matter.

*Instructors who have served at SPU six or more years and are promoted to Assistant Professor shall be considered during their first year at Assistant rank.

Persons who were formerly tenured at Seattle Pacific University, who have been separated from the institution for a time, and who are rehired may apply for restoration of tenure at the time of their reappointment. In rare instances, when a person of demonstrably outstanding merit is hired, the individual may apply through the school dean for tenure at appointment. The dean shall make a recommendation and forward the application and recommendation to the Faculty Status Committee, or during summer quarter or quarter breaks, to a subcommittee consisting of any three members of the Faculty Status Committee, who will make recommendation to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. Procedures for recommendation to the Board of Trustees shall thereafter follow the procedures specified for granting tenure (Section 7.4). Tenure shall not be granted at appointment without affirmative recommendation from the dean, the Faculty Status Committee or its designated subcommittee, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the President. No letter of appointment shall be issued which promises restoration of tenure or tenure at appointment until the decision has been affirmed by the Board of Trustees. The application for restoration of tenure or granting of tenure at appointment shall include:

1. a statement of Christian testimony and brief summary of the individual's Christian philosophy of higher education, presented in 1-2 pages each,
2. current curriculum vita (no more than 2-3 pages unless special conditions dictate otherwise),
3. (for restoration of tenure) Current Professional Development Plan and self-assessment, together with an administrative evaluation demonstrably similar to the school or college dean's response required of those who have been recently employed at Seattle Pacific University,
4. (for granting of tenure at appointment) A statement of the individual's professional goals, specifically and directly addressing the relationship of those goals to the mission and goals of the University,
5. 2-3 reference letters (including some by experts outside SPU) citing specific empirical evidence of satisfaction of criteria for tenure, and
6. at least the most recent three-year collection of student evaluations of teaching, in chronological order, supplemented by analysis by the candidate referenced to specific criteria, or, if such evidence is not available, other evidence of effective teaching demonstrably equivalent to such evidence and analysis.

Tenure evaluation will utilize the criteria for evaluating teaching faculty described in Section 5.2. In light of the long-term nature of the tenure commitment, assessment of the candidate’s character and congruence with the mission of SPU will be a particular focus of this evaluation. Consideration of the candidate’s competence and contribution will be concerned with assessing both the candidate’s current strengths and the evidence that the candidate will maintain and build on these strengths when granted the benefits of the tenure relationship.

The candidate has primary responsibility in making a strong case for his or her tenure, but shall be assisted in the process, particularly by a mentor.

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

1. a copy of the Third-Year Review letter to the candidate from the Faculty Status Committee;
2. a curriculum vitae;
3. a current PDP, and the candidate’s immediately prior PDP, (both with dean or chair response);
4. a narrative that describes the development of the candidate’s faith over the years, reflects the candidate’s affirmation of the central claims of historic Christian teaching, and provides some indication of the current practices that form and sustain the candidate’s faith and life–including participation in a local church;
5. an articulation of the candidate’s sense of vocation as a faculty member—touching on the interplay of the three major areas of teaching, scholarship, and service—that indicates congruence with SPU’s mission of Christian higher education, conveys the candidate’s philosophy of education, and includes some reflection on how the candidate understands Christian convictions to affect his or her work in each of the three areas;
6. representative syllabi from courses taught at SPU;
7. a representative selection of student evaluations of courses the candidate has offered since coming to SPU;
8. at least three letters from recent graduates majoring in the candidate’s field that provide qualitative assessment of the candidate’s teaching and advising.
9. 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;
10. the candidate’s self-reflections on teaching strengths and areas needing cultivation, interacting with long term trends in student evaluations of courses, student qualitative letters, and peer-review input;
11. samples of scholarly products the candidate has produced (particularly since coming to SPU), noting the role of peer review in their publication or reception;
12. a description of the types of service roles the candidate has taken on since coming to SPU;
13. a self-assessment of expertise and availability for the specific service role of academic and vocational advising; and
14. any further supporting documents (reference letters, commendations, reviews, and so on) which the candidate may wish to include that attest to the candidate’s character, congruence with our mission, competence, or contribution.

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

During September of the year that the candidate applies for tenure the candidate’s dean (or dean’s designee) shall convene a meeting of the candidate’s Tenure Review Committee. The candidate’s file will be available to members of the Review Committee at least two weeks prior to this meeting. After a careful discussion of the candidate’s application the members of the Tenure Review Committee present at the meeting shall vote on whether to recommend the candidate for tenure.

The candidate’s dean (or dean’s designee) shall be present at this meeting, may speak for or against the candidate, but shall abstain from voting. Following the meeting the dean (or dean’s designee) shall draft a summary account of the oral comments of the members of the Tenure Review Committee and a record of their vote. This account will be circulated to members of the committee for approval. When appropriate, members of the committee can prepare minority reports to be appended to the summary account. When approved, this account will become part of the candidate’s file.

The Tenure Review Committee supports a candidate’s application for tenure if and only if a majority of the members vote in favor of the candidate’s being tenured.

Except in the terminal year of a candidate’s eligibility, if the Tenure Review Committee does not support tenure, the process will move no higher. The committee’s report shall include specific suggestions about: 1) area(s) needing improvement or change, and 2) appropriate forms of institutional support for the candidate. The candidate’s dean shall present this report, with personal counsel, to the applicant. In addition, the dean shall inform the Faculty Status Committee that the candidate is not being recommended for tenure.

In the terminal year of one’s eligibility for tenure, a candidate will be given the option to forward his or her file (including the Tenure Review Committee’s report) through the further levels of evaluation for consideration. The applicant’s decision to forward the file must be in writing, within the deadline schedule published by the Faculty Status Committee.

If the Tenure Review Committee supports the candidate’s application for tenure, or if a candidate in the terminal year of eligibility chooses to forward a file without the committee’s support, it will move through the following steps.

Faculty Status Committee shall, in consultation with the Vice President for Academic Affairs, review the file and reach a decision of support or nonsupport for tenure. A statement of their recommendation will be added to the file.

The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall review the applicant’s file, including the action of the Faculty Status Committee, meet with the candidate for a personal interview, and determine a recommendation. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will then inform the applicant of action taken to this point, including the recommendation of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and forward the application with all recommendations to the President.

The President shall review the application, meet with the candidate for a personal interview, and decide whether or not to support it. If the president decides to support the application, it shall be sent to the Board of Trustees for final approval.

The Board of Trustees, upon careful review of the President’s recommendation, has sole discretion to determine whether to grant tenure.

Responsibility for notification. If any evaluating person or body (dean, Faculty Status Committee, Vice President for Academic Affairs, President, Board of Trustees) fails to support a recommendation for tenure from the departmental review committee, the candidate shall be notified in writing with reasons based on the criteria for tenure. The notification of non-support shall be given to the candidate at the level at which the decision is made, except that the President shall represent the Board of Trustees to the candidate if the decision not to support is made by the trustees.