Faculty Handbook 2020-2021

SUNY College of Optometry

Faculty Handbook 2020-21

Leaves of Absence For those faculty members who are on a tenure track and whose time in a rank is limited by Board of Trustee Policies, an official leave of absence, approved by the president, shall “stop the clock” during the duration of the leave of absence. The duration of the leave shall be specified in the approval letter. Such leave of absence may be requested per College policy in relation to personal or family illness, pregnancy, childcare, or other circumstances. Leaves may be requested for full or part-time faculty. Initiating the Review Process The time-line for the review of tenure-track and tenured faculty is discussed above under Continuing Appointment (Tenure). Faculty members holding qualified academic ranks (clinical instructor, assistant clinical professor, associate clinical professor and clinical professor or research instructor, assistant research professor, associate research professor and research professor) may be considered for promotion after completion of five years at his/her current rank and only in exceptional circumstances may be considered earlier. After consultation with his/her primary supervisor, the candidate may request, in writing, a formal review by CPQ. A candidate may initiate a review without the support of their primary supervisor. This request, which the candidate is to send to the chair of CPQ with copies to his/her primary supervisor and the dean, should state the rank/status the candidate is seeking. To be considered for a change in rank/status to be effective July 1 of the following year, a written request for review must be received by CPQ no later than September 1 . A faculty member may be reviewed only once during an academic/fiscal year (July 1–June 30). In the circumstance where continuation in a current rank will not be permissible as dictated by the policies of the Board of Trustees, the dean shall contact CPQ to initiate a review in time sufficient for issuance of a terminal contract in the event such a contract is warranted. For continuing appointment, the review process should be initiated by the administration prior to the sixth year of service for an assistant professor and prior to the second year of service for professor and associate professors. After receiving a request for review and determining that the faculty member is eligible for review, CPQ will request additional information from the candidate (see Portfolio to be Prepared by the Candidate). CPQ will request information from the primary supervisor regarding the candidate’s assignments (e.g. workload distribution, job description) and the expectations that should be applied to each review criteria. The primary and secondary supervisors will be asked to write a letter assessing the candidate’s qualifications for promotion in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service and will be interviewed by CPQ. Portfolio to be Prepared by the Candidate It is incumbent upon the candidate to present a compelling case for promotion/tenure. For each of the three principal criteria (scholarship/research, teaching and service), the candidate shall prepare a narrative describing his/her goals and accomplishments. These narratives must cite supporting documents (e.g., papers, grants, teaching materials, etc.) that are included in the candidate’s

37