Expectations for Professor of Practice Teaching Faculty in IANR

Annual Academic Performance Evaluation and Progress towards Promotion 

Teaching faculty are promotable through Assistant, Associate, and Full professorial ranks. Professor of Practice teaching faculty are not eligible for tenure. They are faculty members and are expected to function as such. Their position descriptions should be written in a way that describes their unique faculty roles and responsibilities and their expected contributions to the IANR mission. Position descriptions of these faculty members should be written in a way that facilitates professional development pathways toward promotion.  

Performance evaluation of those on Professor of Practice faculty lines must be tied to the person’s position description and in a way that encourages accomplishments that will lead toward promotion. Evaluation must follow UNL’s Guidelines for the Evaluation of Faculty: Annual Evaluation, Promotion, Tenure and Reappointment, which indicates that promotable positions, whether tenure-track or non-tenure track, follow the same evaluation process, including peer and unit leader reviews. The annual evaluation process, promotion requirements, and timelines for Professor of Practice faculty must be explicit, transparent, and equitable. 

Guidelines for the Evaluation of Professor of Practice Faculty 

Annual evaluation and promotion process, expectations for promotion, and timelines for Professor of Practice Faculty must be explicit, transparent and equitable. Performance evaluation of those on Professor of Practice lines must be tied to the person’s position description. Evaluation must follow the IANR Guidelines for Faculty Evaluation and Promotion. While the evaluation processes are the same for tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty, the expectations for performance, accomplishments and impacts may differ depending on the position and the expectations for that position. The primary evaluation criteria for Professor of Practice faculty members pertain to teaching excellence. Feedback on performance should be tailored to acknowledge and encourage accomplishments that will lead toward promotion. 

Expectations of Professor of Practice Faculty 

Teaching is the primary role of Assistant Professors of Practice. Other roles may include academic advising and other defined tasks that support their position. In these roles, they are expected to provide mentoring and learning/teaching opportunities to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students; participate in departmental faculty meetings; serve on department, college, university and/or professional committees; and participate in scholarly teaching and learning activities, such as peer-reviewed publications or presentations.  

Promotion to Associate Professor Rank 

Professor of Practice faculty promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor must demonstrate steady professional development and improvement as it pertains to their job responsibilities. Favorable promotion decisions are dependent on the faculty member demonstrating: 

• Time in rank (see Guidelines for the Evaluation of Faculty) 
• Sustained excellence in teaching 
• Continuous improvement in teaching that includes reflective teaching practices
• Evidence of the scholarship of teaching 

Promotion to Full Professor Rank 

For promotion from Associate to Full Professor of Practice, in addition to the above, the faculty member should demonstrate leadership, continued growth and professional development, national/international recognition, and success. Progress toward promotion would include: 

• Time in rank (see Guidelines for the Evaluation of Faculty) 
• Sustained excellence in teaching 
• Continuous improvement in teaching that includes reflective teaching practices 
• Evidence of the scholarship of teaching 
• Leadership roles 
• Mentoring others in teaching 
• Recognition of teaching excellence from an entity outside of UNL  

Progress toward promotion will be evaluated annually by both the faculty member’s peers and supervisor according to the degree to which the faculty member is making progress toward achieving the criteria specified above. Examples of how to document each of the above criteria are available at the unit (e.g., department, school, college) level.  

Timeframe for Promotion 

Faculty must demonstrate that they are able to sustain excellence over time in order to be granted promotion. Regarding promotion to Associate Professor, the UNL Guidelines for the Evaluation of Faculty indicates: “Time-in-rank as an assistant professor is ordinarily at least five years, and typically is six years. Earlier promotion is quite unusual and implies that a candidate has accomplished in the shorter time period what normally would be expected in the longer one.” Regarding promotion to full professorial rank the UNL Guidelines document states: “Ordinarily, in most units, it is highly unusual for faculty to move from associate professor to professor in less than seven years.”