Frequently Asked Questions

Faculty submit their dossiers to their home unit in early September so that department/program deliberations can occur by mid-October. Reappointment and promotion dossiers are due Nov. 1 to the A&S faculty affairs coordinator: CAS-Faculty@colorado.edu. 

Senior Instructors (Teaching/Clinical Associate Professors) and Principal Instructors (Teaching/Clinical Professors) up for reappointment can undergo an “expedited” reappointment every other cycle; faculty members in these ranks cannot undergo an expedited reappointment in two consecutive cycles. Qualifying faculty members who wish to forgo the expedited process may opt to undergo a full reappointment evaluation by informing the Chair in writing at least six months in advance of the deadline for submitting the dossier to the College of Arts and Sciences.

An expedited reappointment requires evaluation of at least three measures of teaching and recent Merit Review scores:

• Faculty Course Questionnaire (FCQ) summary (required),
• FCQs (scores and comments) from each course taught since last reappointment (required),
• One or more of the following: 
• peer reviews of teaching, 
• reports of class interviews, 
• letters from randomly solicited students, or other materials defined by the candidate or unit.
• Merit Review scores (and comments, if available) from the previous three years.

In expedited cases, a Primary Unit Evaluation Committee (PUEC) does not need to be formed; however, the Chair or Director may, at their discretion, appoint a PUEC of at least two members of comparable rank, which is charged with generating a brief report.

For more information, refer to the guidelines page. 

No. After three years at rank, Senior Instructors/Teaching Associate Professor may be put up for promotion to Teaching Professor/Principal Instructor using the promotion criteria of their home department/program and the college. 

Yes. Teaching Professors’ primary purpose is to teach and provide service to the unit with a merit formula of 85/15. With the approval of the appropriate Divisional Dean, the Teaching Professor may pursue scholarly or creative work which benefits the unit with a merit formula of 80/10/10.

In the RAPs, a PUEC will typically compose one RAP faculty member and one faculty member from a cognate unit. At least one of those two will always be a tenured faculty person (usually a RAP Director). The other is often an instructor, at rank equal to or greater than the reappointment/promotion level being sought. The PUEC would deliberate, vote, and write a letter with a recommendation. The RAP Director would make a recommendation based on their own review of the dossier (including the PUEC report and vote). The Associate Dean of Student Success will approve or deny Teaching Professor reappointments. Non-reappointments, appointments for less than three years, and promotions would go to the A&S Teaching/Clinical Faculty Personnel Committee.

The deadline to submit a nomination is March 1.

More information on becoming a Teaching Professor of Distinction can be found on the teaching professor of distinction page. 

Yes. Faculty members who have completed six years (twelve semesters) in rank (at 50% time and above) as a Senior Instructor, Principal Instructor, Clinical Associate Professor or Clinical Professor will be eligible to apply for a differentiated annual merit formula for one semester. If granted, the differentiated annual merit formula will reduce the formal teaching responsibilities of the faculty member to one 3- credit course (or its equivalent) for that semester. The purpose of this workload adjustment is to allow the Teaching Professor time for professional development, curriculum development, time to create new instructional activities into courses, etc. The faculty member on differentiated workload is expected to remain on campus and serve the campus full-time as defined by the appointment letter. After another six years (12 semesters) in rank (at 50% time and above), the faculty member is eligible to apply for another differentiated workload. Faculty members with appointments of less than 100% (but at least 50%) full-time shall be eligible for this benefit on a prorated basis. For example, a 50% faculty member holding one of these positions will be eligible to apply for a differentiated annual merit formula after 24 semesters. Application for a differentiated annual merit formula assignment is made to the primary unit chair or director and must be approved in writing by the dean. The cost of the course replacements will be borne by the college. 

More information on differentiated workload can be found on the Senior Instructor Differentiated Workload webpage. 

Given the timing of course scheduling, these requests are generally made a year before the semester in which the faculty member wishes to take the differentiated workload. The faculty member will write a brief proposal to their chair/director, explaining their proposed project and which 3-credit hour course they would like to be teaching that semester. If the chair/director declines a request for a differentiated workload, the faculty member can appeal this decision to their Divisional Dean. 

Yes. Teaching Associate Professors/Senior Instructors, and Teaching Professors/Principal Instructors, along with Clinical Associate Professors and Clinical Professors, are eligible for emeritus status upon retiring. "Upon retirement, any administrative officer or any professional member of the faculty, in accordance with normal faculty review procedures or by approval of the Board of Regents, may be allowed to retain his/her title with the description 'emeritus'."  As you near your retirement date, write a petition to your chair/director requesting emeritus status. Based on department approval, the department chair/director will write a brief letter addressed to the Dean, noting the results of the unit vote, and send it to the A&S Faculty Affairs Coordinator: CAS-Faculty@colorado.edu. 

More information on being nominated for emeritus status is available on the retirement webpage.