Promotion in Rank for Full-Time Faculty-Ranked Employees

Purpose:

To provide the criteria and describe the annual process to be used in determining promotions for full-time faculty-ranked employees, to include administrative, professional, and teaching faculty.

Definitions:

Faculty: those full-time employees who hold faculty rank and teach, or occupy a professional or administrative position which is exempt from the classified service.

Promotion: an upward change in rank based on the guidelines set forth in the VCCS-29, Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank, of the VCCS Policy Manual.

Related occupational experience: the number of years of related occupational experience whereby one year of related occupational experience contains twelve (12) months. Further guidelines are provided in the VCCS Procedure to Determine Faculty Entry Level Salaries.

Years of service: the number of years of full-time salaried employment for which two academic semesters (fall and spring) equates to one year of service. Employment for less than a year does not constitute a year of full-time employment and shall not count towards the eligibility period for promotion.

Policy:

1. J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (Reynolds) welcomes the opportunity and encourages each faculty member to seek professional and educational advancement through the opportunity of promotion in rank.

2. The minimum qualifications for promotion in rank are stated in the VCCS-29, Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank, which can be found in Section 3.7 of the VCCS Policy Manual.

3. In addition to the minimum qualifications established by VCCS, the president and the President’s Executive Cabinet shall use the following criteria to determine eligibility for promotion:

   1. accumulated graduate hours;

   2. years of total employment at the college;

   3. performance in the area of teaching effectiveness and teaching experience or professional service in the primary work area of responsibility;

   4. ratings received and content of previous faculty evaluations; and

   5. professional activities and contributions on behalf of the college.

4. Approved military leave, for those who return immediately to the college and educational leave of absence (with or without pay), shall count towards a year of service. For all other types of leaves of absence, the faculty member shall be expected to return to the college and complete one year of employment before that faculty member can be considered for a promotion. The time of leave shall not be included in the calculation for determining eligibility for promotion.

5. In calculating discipline graduate credit hours, only those courses that clearly indicate the discipline (title of course or prefix) shall be used. (If the course is not so designated by prefix and/or title, the faculty member must obtain appropriate documentation from the institution describing the course content and its direct relationship to the discipline. Appropriate documentation may include any of the following: a letter from a college official, college catalog information, or course content description.)

6. In calculating years of service or related occupational experience, no portion of a year shall be used in the total years.

7. Prior to review by the president and the President’s Executive Cabinet, all pertinent documentation required for consideration for promotion must be received in the Office of Human Resources. This includes, but is not limited to, official college transcripts, required faculty evaluations, course content descriptions, etc.

8. The approval of a promotion shall be based upon an individual's meeting the criteria established by the VCCS and by the college. The president reserves the right to make the final decision regarding rank promotion that is in the best interest of the college.

9. Faculty eligible for promotion shall receive a minimum of $500, or the minimum amount necessary to bring the faculty member’s salary to the minimum of the new rank. Annually, the president, with consensus of the President’s Executive Cabinet, reserves the privilege to increase the $500 minimum amount based on available college funding. This salary increase shall be added to the faculty member’s annual base salary.

10. Salary increases as a result of promotion in rank shall become effective using the following schedule:

    Salary increases

    Effective July 1	Administrative and Professional Faculty, and 12-month
    Effective August 16	Teaching Faculty 9-month Teaching Faculty, and 10-month Teaching Faculty

Procedures:

1. The faculty member submits the following documents to his/her immediate supervisor by the dates described below:

   1. A letter of request specifically detailing all qualifications met under the VCCS-29, the college criteria (as identified in this policy), and any special noteworthy items to support the promotion request.

   2. JSRCC Form No. 35-0201, Faculty Transcript Analysis Sheet, showing all course work and credit hours completed in fulfillment of the VCCS requirement.

   3. Official college transcripts for the credit hours mentioned above.

2. The immediate supervisor verifies and signs where appropriate the above listed documents and submits the request for promotion, a letter of recommendation, JSRCC Form No. 35-0201, Faculty Transcript Analysis Sheet, and the completed VCCS-10, Faculty Qualifications Summary to his/her next level supervisor(s) according to the dates below. The supervisor also submits JSRCC Form No. 35-0200, Checklist for Faculty Promotion, with the promotion packet to ensure all items are present in the promotion package.

   Promotion Process Due Dates

   Faculty submits request to his/her immediate supervisor (i.e., dean, director, associate vice president, vice president).	January 1 or first work day in January through January 31
   Academic promotions: Deans submit recommendations to vice president for academic affairs for review.	February 1
   Administrative and professional faculty promotions: Directors submit recommendations to his/her next level supervisor (i.e., associate vice president or vice president).	February 1
   Associate vice presidents and vice presidents of student affairs, academic affairs, and technology submit approved promotion requests to the executive vice president (EVP).	February 15
   EVP, vice president of finance and administration, vice president of institutional advancement, and vice president of workforce development and credential attainment forward approved promotion requests to Human Resources for verification of eligibility.	March 1
   Human Resources completes the review of all promotion requests (with assistance from dean, director, or other respective supervisor as needed).	April 1
   Human Resources sends promotion cost analysis data to the Budget Office.	April 15
   President and President’s Executive Cabinet conducts final review of promotion recommendations and forwards approved/un-approved actions to Human Resources for final processing.	April 20

3. Once the promotion package is submitted to the immediate supervisor for consideration, the supervisor is responsible for conducting a comprehensive review of the individual qualifications and achievements of the faculty member in response to VCCS and college criteria and signing JSRCC Form No. 35-0200, Checklist for Faculty Promotion. Upon approval, the package is forwarded to the next level as provided above in the Promotion Process Due Dates table. If not approved at the supervisor level, the promotion package is returned to the respective faculty member with a written explanation for the denial.

4. The associate vice president of human resources will provide a second review of each promotion package to ensure compliance with VCCS and college policy and will inform the EVP or respective vice president of the outcome. Promotion requests approved by Human Resources will be forwarded to the president and President’s Executive Cabinet by April 20. Promotion requests not approved by Human Resources will be returned to the EVP or the respective vice president with a written explanation for the denial.

5. The associate vice president of human resources will provide the final list of eligible promotion candidates to the president, President’s Executive Cabinet, and the Budget Office. This list will include the individual and summary costs to the college for full implementation of all promotion requests.

6. The president and the President’s Executive Cabinet will meet to discuss each of the requested promotions. The president renders the final decision on each promotion request and forwards the outcome to Human Resources to issue the appropriate faculty employment contract. The president will also provide a congratulatory letter of award to be issued with the faculty employment contract, to each faculty member receiving the promotion.

7. Prior to the issuance of the faculty employment contract, the associate vice president of human resources will inform each supervisor, and the next level manager up through the respective executive officer, of the president’s final decision regarding rank promotions. The supervisor will provide written notification to individuals not selected for promotion as to the areas for improvement or specific reasons for non-promotion based on comments provided by the president and/or the President’s Executive Cabinet. A copy of this correspondence will be provided to the next level supervisor(s), to include the respective executive officer.

Other Information:

VCCS-10, Faculty Qualifications Summary

VCCS-29, Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank

JSRCC Form No. 35-0200, Checklist for Faculty Promotion

JSRCC Form, No. 35-0201, Faculty Transcript Analysis Sheet