UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Promotion and Tenure Modernization Committee completed 17 listening sessions with academic units at University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses in spring 2025. Units that have not yet scheduled their sessions will be able to do so in fall 2025, and other opportunities for tenure-line faculty to provide input will continue to be made available.
Charged by Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Tracy Langkilde in fall 2024 and supported by the Office of Faculty Affairs, the committee has been asked to evaluate Penn State Policy AC23 and assess the extent to which the current promotion and tenure process fosters excellence and is transparent, efficient, well-communicated and consistently applied to tenure-line faculty. Each academic unit will continue to hold the primary responsibility for developing its specific promotion and tenure criteria. Themes identified by the committee will be communicated to the provost and used to provide guidance to existing promotion and tenure guidance. The process is expected to take multiple years.
Committee chair Mallika Bose, associate dean for research, creative activity and graduate studies and professor of landscape architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture, attended several listening sessions and said she appreciated the robust discussions and unique insights faculty were willing to share.
“The feedback we’ve received, and will continue to receive during listening sessions, will shape how Penn State approaches promotion and tenure to foster and recognize excellence for all of its faculty," Bose said. "Once we’ve carefully considered all the faculty feedback, we expect to be able to make recommendations to the provost and academic leaders across the University.”
Tenure-line faculty that have not yet attended a Promotion and Tenure Committee listening session are encouraged to watch for communications from their leadership regarding future sessions, as well as a summary of listening session findings once all have been concluded.
Questions about the Promotion and Tenure Modernization Committee can be directed to p&tmodernization@psu.edu.