Compilation of the Dossier
Promotion and tenure decisions are based primarily on an evaluation of the faculty member's achievements as described in their dossier. The dossier must document and contain evaluation of the candidate's performance in teaching, advising, service, or other assignments; and in scholarship, consistent with the candidate's position. Candidates should follow the Dossier Preparation Guidelines when assembling their dossier.
Although the candidate prepares much of the material for the dossier, the immediate supervisor of the tenure unit (department chair or head, county staff chair, dean or director) will assure that the candidate receives assistance as needed, and will be responsible for seeing that the final dossier is complete and conforms to University guidelines.
Recommendations for the promotion or tenure of a unit supervisor will be reviewed in the same manner as for other faculty, except that the dean or director to whom the supervisor reports will appoint a senior faculty member to assume the supervisor's usual responsibilities.
Access to the Dossier and University Files by the Faculty Member
As described in the OSU Faculty Records Policy contained in the Faculty Handbook, faculty members will be allowed full access to their own dossiers, personnel files, and records kept by the institution, college, or department, except for:
- letters of evaluation submitted as part of a pre-employment review at Oregon State University;
- solicited letters of evaluation for faculty who have signed voluntary waivers of access to those letters as part of a particular year's promotion and tenure review.
Prior to the dossier receiving its first formal review by the department/school P&T committee, the candidate must sign (Docusign is allowed) and date a certification that the open part of the dossier is complete. Should the candidate and the supervisor of the tenure unit disagree on the inclusion of some materials, the candidate may indicate their objection in the statement of certification. Once the dossier is certified, the only materials to be added subsequently will be the letters of committee and administrative review, and in some cases the candidate's response to an evaluation as described in the following section. If manuscripts are accepted for publication after the dossier is certified, it is the faculty member’s responsibility to inform their supervisor. That information will then be considered in the review.
Throughout the process of review, the open parts of the dossier remain available to the candidate at their request. The candidate will be notified when letters of evaluation by reviewers at the unit and college levels are added to the dossier.