As noted in the University Handbook for Appointed Personnel criteria for promotion in 3.3.02 and 4A.3.02, “the University values collaboration among colleagues, both externally and internally, and the candidate's contributions to such collaborations will be considered in promotion and tenure reviews.” The university’s commitment to interdisciplinary collaborations was reinforced in 2014-15 by a series of Heads Up forums on improving support for faculty with multidisciplinary appointments in annual and promotion reviews. To help ensure that such collaborations are fully acknowledged in promotion reviews, Promotion Dossiers include several elements to document candidates’ collaborative contributions and enable committees to assess them:
- Shared appointments (those involving a split FTE) are to be acknowledged in the Summary Data Sheet in Section 1 and in Section 4 on the candidate’s curriculum vitae.
- Such appointments are to be detailed by heads of both departments in Appendix A: Checklist for Shared Appointments, which is also to be used in drawing up such appointments.
- Appendix C should be used to acknowledge and evaluate faculty involvement in Graduate Interdisciplinary Programs and other interdisciplinary units such as the BIO5 Institute.
- If a candidate is involved in a GIDP or other interdisciplinary unit, an evaluation letter should be solicited from the GIDP chairperson or unit director and included in Section 8A, and the departmental review committee should note and evaluate the candidate’s interdisciplinary contributions.
- The departmental review committee for a candidate with a shared appointment must include at least one member from the cooperating department. Outside committee members should also be included from GIDPs or other interdisciplinary units if a candidate’s research, teaching, and service have a strong interdisciplinary component (Appendix C).
- Department heads for shared appointments may collaborate upon a single letter, or letters may be submitted by both department heads.