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Changes to the Review and Approval Procedures for FAS Faculty Appointments

We wish to call to your attention some improvements we are making in the way we process appointments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. These administrative changes were made in response to the complaints we have heard from many of you, and from many departmental staff, that the current procedures are burdensome and confusing. The new procedures were developed through conversations that began last spring involving staff from departments, the Deans' Offices, the Provost's Office, and the FAS Executive Committee.

The recruitment and review of ladder faculty are among the most important responsibilities of the faculty, and it is essential that our administrative procedures support that process effectively and efficiently. Appointments to the tenured faculty will continue to be recommended by departments and reviewed by one of the four divisional Tenure Appointments Committees before being forwarded to the Joint Boards of Permanent Officers and the Yale Corporation. We will, however, process materials for these meetings in one location, in the Provost's Office, which will simplify the flow of paper and reduce the burden on the Offices of the Deans of Yale College and the Graduate School.

For non-tenured faculty, initial appointments at the rank of associate professor on term and promotions from assistant professor to associate professor on term will continue to be reviewed by the Term Appointments Committee. However, departmental recommendations for initial appointments and reappointments of assistant professors will henceforth be reviewed by the FAS Executive Committee, rather than the Term Appointments Committee, before going forward to the Joint Boards and to the Corporation. Because of customs put in place decades ago, when the number and kinds of faculty appointments were vastly fewer, we have been requiring the same lengthy approval process for all faculty appointments (whether it is an appointment to tenure or as a part-time lecturer), including approval by the Yale Corporation. Final approval for all appointments to the non-ladder and research faculty ranks will now rest with the FAS Executive Committee and will not be reviewed by the Joint Boards or the Corporation. These changes will reduce significantly the paperwork required of departments and administrative offices.

These revised procedures are based on the belief that the process for each kind and level of appointment should begin with the departments and end at the last place where an authorized individual or committee examines carefully and makes a decision on that appointment. We are confident that the changes we have described above will improve the care with which appointments at all levels are made and reviewed, and we believe that they will allow faculty committees the opportunity to concentrate their efforts, especially on appointments to the tenured faculty.

The Provost's Office will be conducting training sessions for those departmental administrators who actually manage searches and appointments. These training sessions will take place during October and will require at least one staff member from each department to participate in two morning sessions. It is our belief that this investment of time will be amply repaid by the reduction in workload carried by these individuals. We will monitor the new processes carefully during this academic year and will make appropriate changes and improvements based on that experience.