ARTICLE XIV, PROMOTION

A. GENERAL

Any Faculty Member shall upon application be considered for promotion in any year in accordance with guidelines established by the Employer. Criteria shall be in writing and shall be distributed in the guidelines and procedures provided to the applicant along with the promotion application forms and shall be the basis on which judgment for consideration of promotion shall be made.

B. PROCEDURES FOR RECOMMENDING PROMOTION

1. The application for promotion is prepared by the candidate in consultation with the Department/Division Chair, if so requested by the candidate, in accordance with the established guidelines. No anonymous material shall be made a part of any dossier.

Prior to the DPC review, Departments, Department Chairs, TPRCs, or UH administrators shall not accept unsolicited information for inclusion in a promotion dossier without providing the information to the candidate and then giving the candidate the opportunity to provide a written response. Once the DPC has begun its review, no unsolicited information will be included in the dossier. This does not apply to solicited external reviewers, including those agreed upon by the applicant, per the DPC procedures.

2. Should there be a substantial change in the promotion criteria in the year of application, the candidate shall have the option of being considered under the criteria contained in the guidelines distributed in the preceding year.

3. Procedures and provisions described in Article XII, G.2., Paragraphs a through o, shall apply for promotion as well as tenure, except as otherwise provided in this Article.

4. The Employer will notify the Faculty Member of its decision in writing normally no later than June 30. The promotion, if granted, will be effective as of August 1, even if the decision and notification are made after June 30.

C. SALARY UPON PROMOTION

Faculty Members promoted to Ranks 3, 4 and 5 in accordance with this Article shall have their salary increased by eight percent (8%).

Faculty Members at UH-Manoa, UH-Hilo and UH-West Oahu, in the I-2 rank may seek an in-rank promotion within the classification of Instructor. The process will follow that articulated in Article XII, G.2. and Article XV, D.2. Faculty Members receiving this in-rank promotion shall have their salary increased by five percent (5%). Additionally, the Faculty Member shall receive a rolling three year contract.

Faculty Members in the Instructor rank who meet the criteria for promotion to Assistant Professor (I-3) may apply for promotion to that rank provided that the Faculty Member has satisfied the requirement for time in their current rank prior to applying to Assistant Professor (I-3). The classification and criteria for the in-rank promotion for the Instructor rank will be developed in consultation with the union with the intent that eligible Faculty Members will be able to apply in Fall semester 2018.

D. NEGATIVE RECOMMENDATION

1. In the promotion evaluation process, the Chancellors or the Provost will, after receipt of the Tenure and Promotion Review Committee (TPRC) report, notify each Faculty Member whose dossier contains a negative recommendation with respect to the promotion application.

2. When a Faculty Member receives such notice from the Office of the Chancellor or Provost, the Faculty Member may, within ten (10) calendar days after receiving such notice, inform the Office of the Chancellor or Provost in writing of a desire to examine the dossier.

3. Upon receiving the request, the Office of the Chancellor or Provost shall provide the Faculty Member an opportunity to examine the dossier within ten (10) calendar days.

4. The Faculty Member may, within ten (10) calendar days after examining the dossier, submit written comments and additional material to the Office of the Chancellor or Provost for transmission to the TPRC. If the TPRC recommendation is positive, the Faculty Member may submit the additional material directly to the Chancellor or Provost.  The Office of the Chancellor or Provost shall notify the TPRC that additional materials have been submitted.

5. The TPRC will consider the comments and additional material submitted by the Faculty Member and incorporate these together with its recommendation in the dossier. When the Chancellor or Provost disagrees with the recommendation of the TPRC, the Chancellor or Provost shall discuss the case with the TPRC before making a recommendation or decision. The Chancellor or Provost will, after reviewing the dossier and the recommendation of the TPRC, make a recommendation or decision.

6. When a Faculty Member receives written notification from the Employer in accordance with Section B, that the application for promotion has not been granted, the Faculty Member may, within ten (10) calendar days after receiving such notice, inform the Office of the Chancellor or Provost in writing of a desire to examine the dossier.

7. Upon receiving the request, the Office of the Chancellor or Provost shall provide the Faculty Member an opportunity to examine the dossier within ten (10) calendar days.

8. The Faculty Member may, within ten (10) calendar days after examining the dossier, or within twenty (20) calendar days of receipt of the written notification if the Faculty Member does not examine the dossier, request a meeting with the Chancellor or Provost. In such event the Chancellor or Provost shall schedule a meeting with the Faculty Member within ten (10) calendar days.

E. PROMOTION REVIEW PANEL (PRP)

1. For the purpose of providing assistance and advice on certain cases that come before the President in accordance with the provisions of this Article, Promotion Review Panels (PRP) to be made up of senior, experienced, and knowledgeable persons in the University shall be established.

2. Promotion Review Panels of three (3) to five (5) members shall be appointed by the President of the University or the President’s designee, with the concurrence of the President of the Union or a senior Faculty Member duly designated by the Union’s President. In making their selections, they shall abide by exclusions of persons made by the Faculty Member as set forth in Article XV, C., Exclusion Option.

Separate Promotion Review Panels shall be established for the UH-Manoa, UH-Hilo and UH-West Oahu, and the Community Colleges. More than one (1) Panel may be established for each of these constituencies.

3. A PRP may be convened in the following situations, upon compliance with the procedures set forth in this Article:

a. When the TPRC has recommended in favor of promotion and the Chancellor has decided against promotion;

b. When the Chancellor or Provost has recommended in favor of promotion (irrespective of the recommendation of the TPRC), and the President has reservations about acting favorably upon the recommendation to promote; or

c. When the TPRC has recommended against promotion and the Chancellor or Provost has decided against promotion, but the Referee, as provided in Section J below, has found that there was a significant procedural violation that probably contributed in a material way to the negative decision.

F. REVIEW BY PROMOTION REVIEW PANEL UPON REQUEST OF FACULTY MEMBER

The applicant may request a review of the case by a Promotion Review Panel in situations in which the TPRC had recommended in favor of promotion and the Chancellor or Provost had decided against promotion. Such request must be made in writing, within five (5) calendar days after the meeting with the Chancellor or Provost.

The Faculty Member may, in connection with the request, submit additional materials not duplicative of materials in the dossier or previously submitted. The Chancellor or Provost shall transmit the dossier and such additional materials to the PRP.

G. REVIEW BY PROMOTION REVIEW PANEL UPON REFERRAL BY THE PRESIDENT

In those situations in which the TPRC and the Chancellor or Provost have both recommended in favor of promotion, or in which the TPRC has recommended against promotion and the Chancellor or Provost has recommended in favor of promotion, and the President has reservations about acting favorably on the recommendation to promote, the President shall refer the application dossier to the PRP for its review and report before rendering a decision.

H. FUNCTION OF PROMOTION REVIEW PANEL

The PRP shall consider the application dossier, and where applicable, the Referee’s report, as well as such additional materials as may be submitted in accordance with the provisions of this Article. It will make a finding on the substantive aspects of the application in the context of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Promotion Guidelines, and respond to the question: “Has the Applicant made a persuasive case for promotion?”

The PRP may request additional information from both the Faculty Member and from the Chancellor or Provost in those cases in which the Chancellor or Provost had rendered a negative decision, or from the President or the President’s designee in those cases referred to it by the President. Such information may be requested in the form of written or oral statements, provided that both the Faculty Member and the Administrator are given equal opportunity to respond and that they use the same form of communication to present their cases. The PRP may also meet with the President or the President’s designee before submitting its report. Other than for these meetings the PRP will review the case on the basis of the written record, in the context of the provisions of this Article and the Promotion Guidelines. The PRP will consider each case according to its own merits, without comparison or contrast with any other case.

The PRP will submit its report within thirty (30) calendar days after meeting with the Chancellor, or Provost, or the President to the Office of the President for inclusion in the dossier. Any member of the PRP may submit an individual report that the PRP shall incorporate with its report.

The President will notify the Applicant of the report of the PRP, if negative, and of the decision of the President, if negative. Within ten (10) calendar days after receiving such notice, the Applicant may submit a request in writing to the Office of the President for an opportunity to examine the dossier, and arrangements will be made to provide such opportunity. Additionally, if the Applicant so requests, the President will provide the Applicant with a statement of reasons for the decision.

In the event that the President disagrees with the conclusions of the PRP, such a decision must include a full review of procedural and substantive issues at each stage of the process. The rationale for the decision will be transmitted to the Applicant.

I. PANEL OF REFEREES

Referees shall be utilized to assist in expediting the consideration of allegations of procedural violations in situations in which the TPRC has recommended against promotion and the Chancellor or Provost has decided against promotion.

A panel shall consist of five (5) Referees to be jointly selected by the President of the University or the President’s designee and the President of the Union or a senior Faculty Member designated by the Union’s President, for each of the two (2) years of this Agreement. The Referees shall be selected from among persons with experience in and knowledge of the University. These persons may be from within or without the University.

Assignment of a Referee to review a given case shall be by rotation, and the next available Referee shall be requested by the Chancellor or Provost to review the case.

J. REFEREE REVIEW OF PROCEDURAL MATTERS

1. Request for Referee.

In situations in which the TPRC had recommended against promotion and the Chancellor or Provost has decided against promotion, the Applicant may, within five (5) calendar days after meeting with the Chancellor or Provost, submit a written request to the Chancellor or Provost that the case be reviewed by a Referee, if the Faculty Member believes that a procedural error occurred which may have affected the case in a negative manner. The request shall include a statement of the particular procedural provision in this Article of the Collective Bargaining Agreement or the Promotion Guidelines which has been violated, and the manner in which the violation has contributed to the negative decision.

2. Report of the Referee.

The Chancellor or Provost shall forward the request to the next available Referee who shall, within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of the request, submit a written report to the Chancellor or Provost. The Chancellor or Provost shall provide the Applicant with a copy of the Referee’s report.

If the Referee’s report is in the negative as to either aspect of the question set forth below to be answered by the Referee, the case shall be terminated.

If the Referee’s report is in the affirmative as to both aspects of the question addressed, the case shall be submitted to the Promotion Review Panel (PRP), if the Applicant so requests in writing to the Chancellor or Provost within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the Referee’s report. The Applicant may submit additional materials to the Chancellor or Provost for transmission to the PRP, not duplicative of materials already in the dossier or previously submitted.

3. Function of the Referee.

The Referee, in reviewing the case, shall consider the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Promotion Guidelines for the year in question as well as the application dossier and the additional materials submitted by the Applicant. The Referee shall not conduct a formal hearing but may have discretion to interview the Applicant and any person who had an official role in the evaluation process.

The Referee’s report shall respond to the following question:

“Has there been a significant violation of the particular provision of the Collective Bargaining Agreement or Promotion Guidelines as alleged, and if so, is there a reasonable probability that the violation of procedure contributed in a material way to the negative decision?”

The Referee shall not otherwise add to, subtract from, disregard, alter, or modify any of the terms of the Agreement or the Guidelines. The Referee’s report must be consistent with the terms of the Agreement and the Guidelines. The Referee shall consider each case according to its own circumstances, without comparison or contrast with any other case.

K. CONFIDENTIALITY OF PROCEEDINGS

The integrity and confidential nature of the promotion evaluation process shall be maintained. Other than for the personal examination of the dossier, meetings as provided for in this Article, and the submission of materials as provided for in this Article, the Applicant shall not otherwise attempt to influence or communicate with persons engaged in the evaluation and review process.

L. CONCLUSION OF PROCESS

A principal purpose of the promotion evaluation process set forth in this Article is to provide the Applicant with a final decision reached in a careful yet expeditious manner. Such decisions and the provisions of this Article shall not be subject to the formal grievance procedure.