This Committee carries out the functions required under VI, B, 1, e of the Washington University Policy on Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure.

Composition:

• This committee is composed of six regular members, two from each of the three divisions; and three alternates, one from each division; the elected person serves the first year as alternate member and next two years as a regular member.

• No two faculty members from the same department should serve as concurrent members.

Eligibility:

• Tenured full professors.

Term:

• Three years (staggered elections when possible)

Appointment process:

• Faculty election process; one from each division is elected each year

Functions/Duties:

• A candidate for the award of tenure or promotion within tenured ranks who has been considered and rejected by his or her Department or by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences may, within 21 days after receipt by the candidate of written notification of the reasons for such rejection, request the Committee to review the adequacy and fairness of the consideration.

• The Committee will have access to the candidate's complete dossier.  This dossier will contain all materials formally considered by the Department or Program and such additional materials as may have been submitted by the candidate or secured at the discretion of the Dean, including any outside evaluations.  It will also contain the names of all persons consulted by the Dean and the criteria used in the selection of these persons.  If a Department or Program has declined to recommend a candidate to the Dean for tenure or promotion, the Committee may request, in addition to the file of materials gathered by the Department or Program, an explanation of the Department's decision from its Chair or Director.

• In response to specific allegations by the candidate for tenure or promotion that he or she has received inadequate or unfair consideration in terms of the relevant professional standards of the Department, Program, or school, the Committee is empowered to examine whether the candidate's dossier provides reasonable support for the negative decision by the Department, Program, or Dean.  If the candidate alleges that material was obtained unfairly or that other violations of established procedures have occurred, the Committee may examine the candidate's dossier and may seek other relevant and available material.  The Committee shall not substitute its judgment for that of the Department, the Advisory Committee on Tenure, Promotion and Personnel, or the Dean as to whether the candidate merited tenure or promotion.

•  

  The Committee shall report its findings to the complainant, the Chair and/or Director of the complainant's Department and/or Program, the Co-chairs of the Faculty Council, the Dean of Arts & Sciences, and the Provost.

• The contents of the candidate's dossier and the substance of the deliberations of the Committee shall be kept confidential.  A summary of the findings of the Committee shall be reported to the University community.

• Each year the members of the Review Committee on Faculty Personnel Procedures will vote to designate one of their members committee chair. Questions and cases should be directed to the chair, who will forward them to the other members of the committee. (For situations in which the chair of the committee may be involved in the matter or for which it may not be appropriate to contact the chair, questions and cases should be directed to any other committee member.) The chair is also responsible for organizing meetings of the committee and for handling its correspondence.