Article 16 – Promotion

An employee may be considered for promotion to the next rank in any year.

When Librarians are promoted and are eligible for a Career Development Increase, the Librarians’ total salary increase shall be one Career Development Increase of the rank to which the employee has been promoted.

16.3.1 Department Promotions Committee

Each department shall have a promotions committee for each rank made up of all persons tenured in the department whose rank is above that of the faculty member being considered for promotion with the Department Head as chair, irrespective of the Department Head's rank or tenure, except that the Department Head shall not be present if the Department Head's own promotion is considered. None of the following shall be members of a department promotions committee: the Dean of the College, the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Vice-President Academic and Provost, the President, or any person designated as chair of the University Review Committee. Where there are fewer than five tenured members of the department, the College Review Committee shall co-opt tenured faculty from cognate departments to bring the membership of the Committee up to a minimum of five.

16.3.2 College Promotions Committee

Each non-departmentalized College shall have a promotions committee for each rank made up of all persons tenured in the College whose rank is above that of the employee being considered for promotion with the Dean as chair, irrespective of the Dean's rank or tenure, except that the Dean shall not be present if the Dean's own promotion is considered. The following shall not be members of College Promotion Committees: the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the Vice-President Academic and Provost, the President, or any person designated as chair of the University Review Committee. Where there are fewer than five eligible members, excluding any on leave, the University Review Committee shall co-opt tenured faculty members of appropriate rank from related Colleges to bring the membership of the Committee up to a minimum of five.

16.3.3 College Review Committee

For departmentalized Colleges, the College Review Committee shall be the same for promotions as for tenure.

16.3.4 University Review Committee

The University Review Committee shall be the same in the case of promotions as it is in the case of tenure.

16.3.5 Promotions Appeal Committee and Appeal Panel

A single Promotions Appeal Committee shall be established each year to hear and determine all appeals from employees who have been denied promotion.

16.3.5.1 Appeal Panel

An Appeal Panel of forty-eight employees drawn from the membership of the General Academic Assembly shall be named by the Nominations Committee of Council and approved by Council, with length of term specified so as to ensure a reasonable turnover of membership. Additional members may be chosen, if necessary, to staff appeal committees. Membership shall be restricted to tenured faculty who are not members of the University Review Committee and who have not served on the University Review Committee in the previous three years. The Nominations Committee of Council shall strive to achieve representation from a wide range of disciplinary areas while also respecting the commitment to diversity (Article 7).

Members of the Appeal Panel shall not serve on more than one of the committees hearing appeals promotion (Article 16.3.5), sabbatical leaves (Article 20.3) or salary review (Article 17.3.5).

16.3.5.2 Promotions Appeal Panel

The Promotions Appeals Panel shall consist of those members of the Appeal Panel who hold the rank of Professor or Librarian.

16.3.5.3 Selection

The Promotions Appeal Committee shall consist of six members chosen as follows:

1. a chair, selected by mutual agreement between the Association and the Employer;
2. five other persons, chosen from the Promotions Appeal Panel by lot. A person who was a member of a promotions or review committee which considered any of the cases in question at the department, College or university level shall be ineligible for inclusion on the Promotions Appeal Committee for those cases. A sixth person shall be chosen by lot as alternate from the Promotions Appeal Panel. The alternate shall attend all meetings and hearings for which the alternate is eligible and shall have the right to vote when one of the other committee members is absent or ineligible.

16.3.5.4 Observers

One observer named by the Association and one named by the Employer shall be entitled to be present at all meetings held by the Promotions Appeal Committee provided that neither observer was a member of any committee which previously considered the case before the Promotions Appeal Committee.

16.3.5.5 Advocate

An Indigenous candidate, or a candidate who engages in Indigenous research, scholarly, or artistic work; teaching; and/or practice of professional skills may choose an advocate who is knowledgeable of the candidate’s expertise in and contributions to these fields. The candidate will name the advocate and up to two alternates along with other information provided in support of the candidate’s own case (Article 16.6(v)).

The role of the advocate is to advise, by meeting or providing a written or recorded submission, the Department Promotions Committee (Article 16.4.1), the College Promotions Committee (Article 16.4.2), the College Review Committee (Article 16.4.3), the University Review Committee (Article 16.4.4) and/or the Promotion Appeal Committee (Article 16.4.6) prior to the consideration of the candidate’s case.

16.4.1 Department Promotions Committee

In keeping with Article 15.10, the powers of the Department Promotions Committee for each rank shall be:

1. to propose the standards of performance to be used in assessing employees for promotion for each rank and to submit these to the College Review Committee for approval;
2. to submit to the College Review Committee the department's recommendations for promotion.

16.4.2 College Promotions Committee

In a non-departmentalized College, the powers of the College Promotions Committee for each rank shall be the same as those of a Department Promotions Committee, except that it shall submit its recommendations directly to the University Review Committee or to the President, in accordance with the roles of the College and University Review Committees as described in Articles 16.4.3 and 16.4.4.

16.4.3 College Review Committee

In keeping with Article 15.10, in departmentalized Colleges, the powers of the College Review Committee with respect to promotions shall be:

1. to co-opt tenured employees to promotions committees where the membership is fewer than five;
2. from time to time to require that departments review and revise standards of performance;
3. to receive and review departmental criteria and standards of performance for promotion and use them as the basis for formulating College criteria and standards. The College Review Committee shall establish criteria and standards after receiving and reviewing standards from all departments. If a department does not develop standards within a reasonable time after being requested to do so by the College Review Committee, the College Review Committee may use the standards developed by the other departments in the College as the basis for formulating College criteria and standards;
4. to approve departmental criteria and standards of performance for promotion if they are not inconsistent with the criteria and standards of the College and the University. In the absence of approved departmental standards, the College standards shall apply;
5. to submit the College's standards of performance for promotion for each rank to the University Review Committee for approval;
6. to receive and consider written appeals from individual employees when the departmental recommendation is against promotion;
7. to review departmental recommendations for promotion and approve them if they are not inconsistent with the criteria and standards of performance established by the department and College;
8. to submit the College's recommendations for promotion to the University Review Committee for the cases to be reviewed by that Committee (see Article 16.4.4 (vi));
9. to submit to the President, for transmission to the Board, the College's other recommendations for promotion.

16.4.4 University Review Committee

The powers of the University Review Committee with respect to promotions shall be:

1. from time to time to require that Colleges review and revise standards of performance;
2. to receive, review and approve College criteria and standards of performance for promotion for each rank and use them as the basis for formulating University criteria and standards. The University Review Committee shall establish criteria and standards after receiving and reviewing standards from all Colleges. If a College does not develop standards within a reasonable time after being requested to do so by the University Review Committee, the University Review Committee may use the standards developed by the other Colleges in the University as the basis for formulating University criteria and standards. In the absence of approved College standards the University standards shall apply;
3. to establish the University's criteria and standards of promotion for each rank;
4. to communicate the University's criteria and standards of promotion for each rank to College Promotions and Review Committees;
5. to receive and consider written appeals from individual employees when the College recommendation is against promotion to the ranks specified in (vi) below;
6. to receive and review College recommendations for promotion to the ranks of Professor and Librarian and approve them if they are not inconsistent with the standards of the department, College, and the University;
7. to receive oral presentations from the chairs of subordinate committees when the University Review Committee deems it appropriate;
8. to submit to the President for transmission to the Board the University's recommendations for promotion.

16.4.5 Basis for Promotion

The basis for promotion shall be as for the award of tenure under Article 15.10.

16.4.6 Promotions Appeal Committee.

The powers of the Promotions Appeal Committee shall be:

1. to hear and decide appeals from individual employees who have not been recommended for promotion by the Committee which recommends to the President in accordance with Articles 16.4.3 and 16.4.4;
2. to submit its recommendations for promotion to the President for transmission to the Board.

16.5.1 Advising Candidates for Promotion

By May 31, the Department Head or Dean shall meet with each employee in the department or non-departmentalized College to discuss the employee's progress in meeting the approved departmental or College standards for promotion. A written statement setting out the Department Head's or Dean's assessment, on a form uniquely used for this purpose, shall be transmitted to the employee. This form shall be approved by the Joint Committee for the Management of the Agreement. If deficiencies are noted, the statement shall identify the relevant categories of the standards and shall suggest steps that the employee may take to rectify such perceived deficiencies. The employee shall be entitled to provide a written response to any statement made on the Progress Towards Promotion form within one week of the meeting with Department Head or Dean. Given the formative nature of the process, the Progress Towards Promotion form and any written response from the employee shall not be used as evidence in meetings of the first level committee, either at the Department Promotions Committee or the College Promotions Committee. The Progress Towards Promotion form and any written response from the employee shall be admissible as evidence in reviews of negative decisions or appeals to the Promotions Appeal Committee but shall not limit in any way the decisions of the review committees or appeal committees. Where an employee has a joint appointment or associate membership, the Department Head or Dean in the primary unit shall consult with the Department Head or Dean in the secondary unit and shall convey information received in that consultation to the employee and in the written statement.

16.5.2 Voting Procedures

The following voting procedures shall be used by committees subordinate to the Promotions Appeal Committee:

1. each member of the committee, including the chair shall have one vote. Members may vote on a particular candidate only if they have taken part in the committee's deliberations on that candidate;
2. a quorum shall be two-thirds of the members of a promotions committee taken to the nearest integer. Employees on leave or excluded because of conflict of interest shall not be counted in order to determine the size of a committee nor to determine if a meeting has a quorum. However, an employee on leave who is a member of a committee may, if present, participate and vote in the meetings of the committee;
3. the decision on promotion shall be by simple majority of the vote of those voting. The vote of any member abstaining shall not be counted in support of either the affirmative or negative view. A tie vote means the motion is lost. The vote shall be taken in response to the question: "Shall promotion be recommended?";
4. any member of a promotions committee who is of the immediate family of a candidate for promotion shall be disqualified from attending the deliberations of the committee concerning the case and from voting on the question;
5. each promotion committee shall have the right to rule a member ineligible to vote or to require a member to withdraw from the deliberations of the committee if it considers a serious conflict of interest to exist;
6. a member of a College Review Committee or a member or observer of the University Review Committee (including the chair) shall withdraw from the meeting when these Committees receive or review the recommendations of a Department Promotions Committee or a College Promotions Committee or a College Review Committee which includes the member or observer. A quorum of those eligible to vote shall be present for each case considered.

16.5.3 Candidate to be Informed

A candidate shall be sent written notice of the disposition of a promotion decision, by the chair of the committee, within one week of the decision being made. If the decision is to deny promotion, the advice shall include information on the candidate's right of appeal and the procedure to be followed by the candidate in initiating an appeal.

In addition, the candidate shall receive from the chair of that committee a written statement of the reasons for the negative recommendation, including those of any subordinate committee or committees which the senior committee judges to be valid and relevant. The statement of reasons shall, by direct reference to those portions of the department's, College's, and/or University statements of standards, specify the standards which the candidate has failed to satisfy. The statement shall also include a summary of the substantive information considered in the candidate's case.

16.5.4 Review and Appeal in the Case of Denial

A candidate who is not recommended for promotion by a Department Promotions Committee is entitled to withdraw or make a written appeal to the College Review Committee, and a candidate who is not recommended for promotion to the ranks of Professor or Librarian by a College Promotions Committee or a College Review Committee is entitled to withdraw or make a written appeal to the University Review Committee. Employees not recommended for other promotions by the appropriate College committee are entitled to appeal to the Promotions Appeal Committee. Employees not recommended for promotion by the University Review Committee are entitled to appeal to the Promotions Appeal Committee. Only written statements shall be admissible as evidence before the College Review Committee or the University Review Committee except as provided in Article 16.4.4 (vii).

16.5.5 Notice of Withdrawal or Appeal

An employee entitled to withdraw or appeal in accordance with the provisions of Article 16.5.4 is required to advise the chair of the appropriate committee of the employee’s intention. This notification shall be made within one week of the employee being advised of an appealable negative decision, or within two weeks of the closing date for the committee's consideration of the appeal (Article 16.6), whichever date occurs sooner. In the case of an appeal to the College Review Committee, the substance of the appeal shall be filed with the chair of the committee no later than one week before the closing date for committee consideration of the appeal. In the case of an appeal to the University Review Committee or the Promotions Appeal Committee, the substance of the appeal shall be filed with the chair of the committee no later than two weeks before the closing date for committee consideration of the appeal.

16.5.6 Information and Committee Procedures

The following regulations shall govern the preparation, recording, and admissibility of information for promotions committees:

1. a confidential file shall be kept of all information received and considered by each promotions committee, and a record shall be maintained of all decisions reached by each committee;
2. it is the responsibility of the committee chair to gather information and documentation which the committee shall use when considering candidates for promotion. This information and documentation should include, inter alia, data about the candidate's qualifications, scholarship and teaching, testimonials, proof of degrees, publications, class materials, and reports by peers who have seen the candidate teach. Student submissions are admissible if they are written expressions, prepared by individual students and signed, that give justification for their view. No anonymous material shall be introduced or considered except for student course evaluations which may be considered but only in accordance with Article 12.1.1. A candidate is entitled to request and receive from the chair of a committee a list of the items included in the documentation submitted to the committee for consideration of the candidate's case. If a candidate considers it necessary for a committee to have material additional to that mentioned above, which the chair collects, it is the responsibility of the candidate to obtain it and submit it to the chair. Special Library skills and teaching, where teaching is part of assigned duties, shall be criteria when considering promotion of librarians and reports by peers who have worked with the candidate may be included. Where an employee has a joint appointment or associate membership, the Department Head or Dean in the primary unit shall consult with the Department Head or Dean in the secondary unit and gather information in writing in respect of the same matters;
3. a candidate for promotion is entitled to make a written submission to the committee which first considers the candidate's case. In addition, if the candidate is not recommended for promotion, the candidate is entitled to make a written appeal in accordance with Article 16.5.4;
4. the chair and members of subordinate review committees are entitled to introduce only written information to each committee which reviews their decisions, except as provided in Article 16.4.4 (vii) and except for the Promotions Appeal Committee where they have the right to appear before the committee;
5. if errors of omission or of procedures are found in the proceedings of a Department or College Promotions Committee or a College Review Committee, that committee shall be so advised so that it may have an opportunity to respond. If new or additional information relevant to the time period being reviewed is received by a superior committee, that information shall be referred to the candidate (subject to the limitations in respect of confidentiality as defined in Article 12) and, at the Committee's discretion, to the relevant subordinate committee, so that it may have an opportunity to respond. Any such response shall be supplied to the candidate provided that the confidentiality of the information commented upon is preserved;
6. in cases where recommendations are not unanimous at the department or College level, the College Review Committee or the University Review Committee shall ascertain minority views;
7. each committee shall determine its own operating procedures, provided they are consistent with the terms of this Agreement, and each candidate shall be informed by the chair of the appropriate committee, in writing, of any operating procedures not specified in this Agreement, before the candidate's case is considered. Where a committee is to consider more than one case in a given year, these procedures shall be applied uniformly.

16.5.7 Reconsideration of Promotion

Neither a College Review Committee nor the University Review Committee shall ask any committee that has already made a promotions recommendation to reconsider that recommendation. However, any committee may reconsider its own decision until the date for transmitting its recommendation to a subsequent committee or to the President for transmission to the Board (see Article 16.6).

16.5.8

The Promotions Appeal Committee shall follow the same procedures as the Tenure Appeal Committee, as specified in Article 15.

The following dates shall apply to promotions cases:

1. by May 31, the Department Head (or Dean of a non-departmentalized College) shall have met with each candidate, as described in Article 16.5.1; 

1. Candidates shall advise their Department Head or Dean by June 15 of their decision to seek promotion in the following academic year;
2. the period under review ends on June 30 of the academic year prior to the one in which the review takes place;
3. by June 30, the Department Head (or Dean of a non-departmentalized College) shall have advised the candidate to provide such information as the candidate wishes to introduce in support of the candidate's own case;
4. by August 1, the candidate shall have provided to the Department Head (or Dean of a non-departmentalized College) such information as the candidate wishes to introduce in support of the candidacy for promotion;
5. by October 21, department committees shall have considered all cases for promotion and submitted their recommendations to the College;
6. by December 7, College committees shall have considered all cases for promotion and submitted their recommendations to the University Review Committee or to the President in accordance with Article 16.4.2;
7. by February 15, the University Review Committee shall have considered all cases for promotion and submitted its positive recommendations to the President for transmission to the Board; 

1. by March 31, the President shall have advised all candidates for promotion of the decision of the Board, except those whose cases are pending before the Promotions Appeal Committee; 

1. by April 15, the Promotions Appeal Committee shall have considered all appeals and submitted its positive recommendations to the President for transmission to the Board;

1. by May 15, the Board shall have considered all cases for promotion and the President shall have advised all candidates in writing of the Board's decision.

No decision on promotion shall be set aside or reversed only because of technical non-compliance with the dates and times established for this section.

Any dispute arising from the interpretation of any of the above regulations and procedures on promotion in an individual case shall be resolved by agreement between the Employer and the Association.

A grievance in the case of promotion shall be subject to the same limitations as in the case of tenure.