University of Virginia Library

Faculty Promotions

Ritter, Ross, English, Buchanan, and
Tulloch are names that have stirred controversy
at the University in the last three years.
These men all have held positions in the
faculty. They have all been denied promotions.

Every year there is a crisis when some
young faculty member is denied tenure or
promotion. Students soon cry that the
individual was denied advancement for some
type of political reason, on the right or the
left. Lengthy meetings and hot rhetoric
characterize the affairs which, up to the
present at least, have not resulted in any
change of heart by the Promotions Committee
or even much of an explanation.

Perhaps one of the big problems in this
area is that the whole promotional process is
done under a cloak of secrecy. Once a man
receives the endorsement of his department's
promotional committee, his case is reviewed
by a College Faculty Committee on Promotions
the membership of which is a well-kept
secret. The members of this committee are
appointed by the Dean of the Faculty.

As a result of all of this clandestine activity
there have been a series of misunderstandings
between students and faculty members each
time a man is denied some sort of promotion.
Due to the secret nature of the committee,
the faculty is often not in a position to make
an adequate response to the charges that are
invariably made when someone popular with
some students is denied promotion.

When the committee considers a possible
promotion they solicit opinions from colleagues
and from experts in the person's field.
These outside scholars examine the candidate's
publications and write confidential
reports on their merit. From this material,
from the opinion of the department, and from
the number of promotional positions available
the committee arrives at a decision.

We can see why the faculty is reluctant to
bring all of this material out into the open,
but we do feel that in considering a person for
promotion more than just his publications or
totally academic accomplishments should be
taken into account.

As the University population grows with
each passing session the necessity for more
student-faculty contact grows. The relationships
between a faculty member and a student
are very important for both parties' education.
If a faculty member devotes much time
to this side of education his research and
publications naturally suffer.

The faculty members who take on added
responsibilities with the first-year liberal arts
seminars or who help students with independent
reading or research sacrifice time that
they could be using in the laboratory or in the
library on their own interests. It is the feeling
of some faculty members who have served on
the Committee on Promotions in the past that
such work with students on a personal level
has not been heavily considered.

Recent surveys have indicated that the
professors who are most noted in their
publications and research are also the ones
who are the most popular with their students.
Certainly this may be true, but there are
exceptions. If faculty members are judged by
this classical approach alone, we fear that time
spent with students on an individual basis will
suffer.

The Faculty Committee on Educational
Policy, the Curriculum, and the Budget is
currently studying the whole promotional
process. Many members of the committee
who have distinguished themselves in their
respective disciplines through their "classical"
approach (publications, research etc.) feel that
more emphasis on the quality of a professor's
classroom instruction as well as his individual
work with students should be considered in
granting or denying promotions.

Members of the faculty should not be
penalized for spending a lot of time with
students. A man who does not have the
classical credentials, but who spends much of
his time teaching students on an individual or
small group basis should not be disqualified
for advancement. In fact such work should be
considered as an important positive quality.

We urge the faculty to consider areas
outside the classical formula for a faculty
member's promotion. We believe that student-faculty
contact is an important facet of
the educational process at the University
which should be encouraged rather than
ignored.