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12.
Qualifications for Specific Ranks
In addition to fulfilling the general criteria for
the evaluation of faculty members described in the
preceding section, faculty must meet specific requirements
for each rank in order to be appointed to or promoted
to that rank. A statement of these qualifications
follows.
a. Assistant Law Librarian
Initial appointment to the rank of Assistant Law
Librarian does not require prior professional experience,
but does assume a record which indicates the likelihood
of success in an academic law library environment.
Reappointment to this rank is dependent upon the
librarian's ability to apply the fundamentals of
law librarianship to academic law library programs
and problems. An Assistant Law Librarian is expected
to participate in appropriate continuing education
and to contribute actively to the general development
of the law school and university. After an Assistant
Law Librarian has obtained one year of credit toward
tenure he/she will be expected to demonstrate increasingly
successful library service, and to engage in sufficient
creative, scholarly, and/or professional activity
to indicate the likelihood of continued professional
growth.
b. Associate Law Librarian
Promotion to the rank of Associate Law Librarian
assumes at least four years of increasingly responsible
professional library experience either in assuming
more responsible positions or in exercising individual
initiative in enhancing and redefining one's initial
position.
One promoted to this rank will have mastered the
skills and techniques of law librarianship. In addition,
an Associate Law Librarian must make significant
contributions to the University, the Law School,
the Law Library, and professional communities. Some
evidence of a growing professional reputation in
the extra-University community should be provided,
such as being asked to deliver a paper, actively
participating in a law library or related professional
association, editing or compiling a catalog or list
for use beyond the Law Library, Law School or University,
or publishing articles or books.
c. Law Librarian
Promotion to the rank of Law Librarian assumes at
least eight years of increasingly responsible professional
library experience, including at least four of those
years in a rank higher than Assistant Law Librarian,
an appointment with tenure, and a record which has
enhanced the reputation of The Washington College
of Law Library within the professional community.
This rank is reserved for those who have made distinctive
contributions over a significant period of time
to the University, to The Washington College of
Law, to its Library, and to the profession of law
librarianship. The professional effectiveness of
a law librarian at this rank will have been consistently
superior over a long period of time.
Promotion to this rank should also entail a superior
record of service to the University community, a
reputation within the profession, creative and scholarly
work, and an in-depth knowledge of research and
developments within the profession.
Occasionally it might be appropriate to propose
a promotion or appointment action in which some
of the requirements set forth above are not present.
Such a proposal must be justified on the basis of
the exceptional merits of the case.
13. Special Provisions and Procedures with
Respect to Appointment, Reappointment, and Other
Faculty Actions
a. Terms of Service
Appointments prior to the granting of tenure are
usually made annually. However, an initial appointment
of two years may be made when recommended by the
teaching unit and approved through the usual appointment
process. Faculty on an initial two-year contract
must be notified by the teaching unit no later than
December 15 of the second academic year whether
it will recommend renewal for another year. Contracts
prior to the granting of tenure, and subsequent
to the initial two-year contract, shall be subject
to the notice requirements specified in item "f"
of this section.
The Washington College of Law Library faculty member's
contract year coincides with the twelve-month academic
year. The schedule for evaluating files and notifying
law library faculty members of personnel actions
is the same as the schedule for the teaching faculty.
An initial contract of up to twenty-four months
may be offered at the recommendation of the Washington
College of Law Library Rank and Tenure Committee
and/or the dean of the Washington College of Law.
A law library faculty member who is appointed within
six months of the end of a contract year will not
receive credit toward tenure for the partial year.
A law library faculty member may resign from the
Washington College of Law Library by giving written
notice to the director of the Washington College
of Law Library preferably 60 days but not fewer
than 30 days before the last day of employment.
Payment for service for Washington College of Law
Library faculty is in twelve monthly installments,
from September through August.
b. Reappointment
Reappointments are contingent upon the satisfaction
of the general criteria for the evaluation of faculty
members, contained in Section 11, any specific criteria
set by an individual teaching unit, and the criteria
for particular ranks outlined in Section 12 of this
Manual.
All tenure track faculty members being recommended
for reappointment will be evaluated with respect
to the above criteria for appointment. The findings
and recommendations resulting will be communicated
to the faculty member concerned and forwarded as
part of the reappointment process. An evaluation
as set out in this paragraph may be carried out,
in the first year of a second or third two-year
contract at the request of the faculty member or
the teaching unit head, if desirable for any reason
relating to the faculty member's progress toward
tenure. Normally, the File for Action for reappointment
will be processed according to the procedures outlined
in section 9.
All non-tenured, tenure track faculty members on
a multiple year contract who are not due for reappointment
or termination of service or who are due for reappointment
to a second, fourth (except as noted in the preceding
paragraph) or sixth year, of service will be evaluated
by the duly constituted rank and tenure committee
and teaching unit head, with the evaluations communicated
to the faculty members concerned through the established
teaching unit channels. The File for Action will
not be acted upon by the dean or the Committee on
Faculty Relations and will instead be forwarded
directly to the dean of academic affairs, except
in a case of recommended termination or where full
review has been requested as set out in the paragraph
above.
Tenured faculty will be evaluated at least triennially
by the teaching unit rank and tenure committee and
apprised of the results.
c. Promotion in Rank
A person who is recommended for promotion in rank
must meet the criteria in effect for initial appointment
to that rank. Promotion in rank cannot be considered
an automatic procedure or simply the result of loyal
service to the University for a number of years.
Promotion to the rank of Associate Professor, and
particularly to the rank of Professor, will involve
much more than the mechanical application of specified
criteria and will be reserved for those persons
who have demonstrated that they have made an outstanding
contribution to the University.
Members of the full-time faculty must serve the
requisite number of years in rank, as specified
in Section 12 of this Manual, including at least
two years at American University, before being eligible
for promotion to the next succeeding rank.
d. Documentary Support for Faculty Personnel Actions:
Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty
An individual faculty member is responsible for
updating his/her own File for Action, and all the
appropriate documents he/she has supplied will accompany
the File for Action as it is sent through the personnel
process.
e. Right of a Current or Prospective Faculty Member
to be Informed of Personnel Action Recommendations
Every faculty member will be informed promptly and
in writing exactly what recommendation has been
made by the rank and tenure committee of the teaching
unit, the head of the teaching unit, and the dean,
as well as by the Committee on Faculty Relations,
the dean of academic affairs, and/or the provost.
Department chairs and deans may report to a candidate
the progress of the recommendation through the various
stages and may indicate when final action may be
expected. An offer of employment is not final until
a contract is forwarded from the dean of academic
affairs. In cases of the offer of tenure, final
action by the Board of Trustees is required.
f. Schedule of Notice for Appointment or Termination
The precise terms and conditions of all appointments
shall be stated in writing to the appointee. This
WCL Library Faculty Manual shall be made available
to all WCL Library faculty personnel and must be
incorporated by reference in the letter of appointment.
It is the intention of the University that each
full-time member of the teaching and library faculty
including Law Library faculty (except those in a
visiting status and those with temporary or emergency
appointments) shall be advised by letter as early
as possible in each academic year whether he/she
will be reappointed, and in cases of reappointment,
the terms and conditions thereof.
Initial notification by a teaching unit of a recommended
termination will follow this schedule:
• Not later than January 31 of the first academic
year of service, if the appointment expires at the
end of that academic year.
• Not later than December 15 of the academic
year in which the appointment expires after one
year of full-time teaching at the University.
• At least twelve months before the expiration
of an appointment after two or more years of full-time
teaching at the University.
In cases of terminations for cause (eg., incompetence,
misconduct, or when based on a conviction of a felony),
the preceding dates do not apply.
A faculty member who has entered the final year
of pre-tenure service without being earlier notified
of a decision on the granting of tenure will be
entitled to at least a terminal year's contract
for the ensuing year, in the event that tenure is
not awarded.
Final notification of termination will be given
in writing to the faculty member reasonably soon
after the decision to terminate is made.
Reappointment of members of the full-time faculty
to a succeeding academic year, and reappointment
of members of the full-time faculty who are serving
other term appointments may be accomplished only
by notice from the dean of academic affairs. Notwithstanding
the notification schedule above, no person shall
be deemed to have been reappointed or to have been
awarded tenure because notice is not given or received
by the time or by the manner described above. If
notice is not received in accordance with the schedule
above, it is the faculty member's responsibility
to inquire of the dean of academic affairs, through
the teaching unit chair, who will respond with a
status report.
g. Candidates who are not US citizens or permanent
residents
Faculty appointees who are not U.S. citizens or
permanent residents are responsible for obtaining
appropriate visa authorizations before the commencement
of work. The head of the teaching unit should work
closely with the appropriate University office in
completing any required immigration paperwork. The
Office of International Student Services handles
paperwork for J-1 and F-1 visas for foreign nationals.
Inquiries about H-1B work authorizations and immigration
laws and regulations should be directed to the Office
of General Counsel.
h. Resignations
A faculty member who resigns from the University
while under contract must do so in writing to teaching
unit heads or to the dean of the college or school.
Formal acceptance of a letter of resignation on
behalf of the University must come from the dean
of academic affairs. This ensures that all contractual
obligations to the University have been, or will
be, met. The dean of the college or school or the
teaching unit head, must acknowledge receipt of
the resignation to the faculty member, with an indication
that the letter is being forwarded to the dean of
academic affairs for action. The dean of academic
affairs will notify the faculty member by letter
as to the status of his/her resignation.
In all cases, a letter of resignation should be
forwarded to the college or school dean's office.
The college or school dean's office should then
forward the resignation letter to the dean of academic
affairs and to the Office of Human Resources.
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