I.        Definitions

Granting tenure implies a commitment by the College. Likewise, the faculty member who is granted tenure makes an equally strong commitment to serve students, colleagues, discipline, and the college in a manner befitting an academic person. It also raises a strong presumption that those granted tenure are competent in their discipline and capable of scholarly contribution. This document is intended to serve as an instrument for assessing the professional performance and competency of each candidate with the goal of recommending for tenure only those individuals whose continued employment will be an asset to the library and to the college in terms of dedication to the library profession, scholarly achievement, and service.

A faculty member of the library must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for tenure. These criteria have been adopted by the library faculty.

II.       Tenure Criteria

A.     Academic Degree: Each faculty member who is eligible for tenure must have earned the Masters of Library Science or its equivalent from a school accredited by the American Library Association.
Rationale: This is the minimum degree requirement recognized by the College for the Library, PPM 8-14.
Evaluation: Professional File, Section I.

B.     Rank: Faculty members who hold the assistant professor or higher rank are eligible for tenure.
Rationale: These ranks are recognized as eligible for tenure by the College, PPM 8-21.

C.     Probationary Period: Faculty members are eligible for tenure following the completion of the normal probationary period of seven (7) years. In accordance with college policy, if at the time of initial academic appointment a faculty member has less than the Master's degree in Library Science, the time served prior to achieving that degree could be considered as fulfilling part of the normal seven-year probationary period. Tenure may not be granted to anyone who has held a tenure track appointment (at Weber State College or other accredited institutions of higher education) less than three (3) consecutive years immediately prior to the award of tenure.
Rationale: This is the probationary period recognized by the College, PPM 8-21, 8-22.
Evaluation: Professional File, Section I.

D.     Time Commitment: Faculty members who are eligible for tenure must have a full-time commitment to the College for the duration of their probationary period.
Rationale: This is consistent with the policy stated in PPM 8-21, 8-22.
Evaluation: Professional File, Section I.

E.     Ethics: Faculty members have ethical responsibilities to themselves, to the profession, and to students. These responsibilities are based on American Association of University Professors policy statements:

Self and profession: Librarians, guided by a deep conviction of the worth and dignity of the advancement of knowledge, recognize the special responsibilities placed upon them. Their primary responsibilities to their subjects are to seek and state the truth as they see it. To this end, they devote their energies to developing and improving their scholarly competence. They accept the obligations to exercise critical self-discipline and judgment in using, extending, and transmitting knowledge. They practice intellectual honesty. Although they may follow subsidiary interests, these interests must never seriously hamper or compromise their freedom of inquiry.

Student: As teachers, librarians encourage the free pursuit of learning in their students. They hold before them the best scholarly standards of their disciplines. They demonstrate respect for individuals, and adhere to their proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors. They respect the confidential nature of the relationship between professors and students. They avoid any exploitation of students for their private advantage and acknowledge significant assistance from them. They protect academic freedom.

Library faculty will adhere to the following standards of ethical behavior:

1. Faculty members have the duty to guard their freedom (to inquire and to state the results of inquiry in lectures, publications, or other appropriate modes of expression), not only against overt assault, but against any personal commitments which are incompatible with that freedom.

2. Neither in or out of the library, the classroom, or office do faculty members take advantage of their relationship with fellow faculty members or students to exploit them for their own purposes. Faculty members do not plagiarize the work of another person or fail to give proper acknowledgment for original contributions in their lectures or their publications.

3. When representing the college or library, or creating the impression of representing the college or library, faculty members will conduct themselves professionally.

4. Faculty members must maintain cooperative and productive relationships with colleagues and library patrons.

5. The faculty has the right to determine course content and the manner of presentation. However, once approval for course offerings has been granted, the individual faculty member is obligated to teach the course in reasonable conformity with the course description, content, and method announced in advance. The academic freedom of the student, as well as of the faculty member, must be observed. While teachers are free to interrelate subject matter of their courses to contemporary issues which they find usefully relevant, they are primarily responsible for providing instruction in the announced subject matter and techniques of the course.

6. Faculty members have a responsibility to students to entertain all relevant questions and to discuss controversial questions objectively and freely. Where faculty members find it pedagogically useful to advocate a position on controversial matters, they should exercise care to assure that opportunities exist for students to consider other views. Faculty members shall not reward agreement or penalize disagreement with their views on controversial topics, but they can reasonably expect their students to learn the rationale behind certain positions.

7. Faculty members do not reveal matters received by them in confidence from individuals unless required by law. Confidential and personal records relating to individuals are not revealed unless authorized by the individual or required by law. Faculty members may, however, report their assessment of the student's performance and ability to persons logically and legitimately entitled to receive such information.

To be eligible for the awarding of tenure, a faculty member must have demonstrated high standards of ethical behavior for the probationary years.

Rationale: Ethical behavior is essential to the success and productivity of the profession, college, and school. Faculty members have a responsibility for assisting the students to understand, not only the moral aspects of ethics and ethical behavior, but the practical need for their acceptance.
Evaluation: Professional File, Section V; student evaluation data; annual administrative evaluation. Faculty members will be given a yes or no rating for ethics.

F.     Ratings: The ratings are to reflect the faculty member's total professional career. Documentation of performance in each category will come from peer review and the individual to be reviewed. Student evaluations will also provide documentation of performance in the formal teaching category. Evaluation forms used must be approved by the library faculty. The ratings mean that the evidence describing the quality and quantity of the individual's professional efforts support a level of performance judged by the evaluators as unsatisfactory, satisfactory, good, or excellent as clarified in PPM 8.13.

The pattern of ratings must meet or exceed one of the channels described below:

CHANNEL	INSTRUCTION	PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES	SERVICE
I	Excellent	Good	Satisfactory
II	Good	Good	Good
III	Good	Excellent	Satisfactory
IV	Good	Satisfactory	Excellent

G.     Instruction: Instruction is defined as the processes or behaviors related to organizing and delivering knowledge, evaluating, and facilitating and in general, transmitting information to students. The category includes:

1. Formal Instruction: Teaching formal courses and preparing instructional materials.

It shall be the faculty member's responsibility to provide evidence of successful teaching experiences. Teaching evaluations must be completed in each year of the probationary period in which the candidate teaches. Each librarian is required to complete the minimum teaching responsibilities assigned by the library director. Teaching performance will be evaluated on the basis of the individual's full load requirements. Load requirements will vary depending on other library/administrative responsibilities.

A. A faculty member, at the beginning of a course, will inform students of the general content of the course, what is required of the students, and the criteria upon which their performance will be evaluated. The criteria for evaluating student performance relates clearly to the legitimate academic purpose of the course. The faculty member shall hold all students responsible for meeting the criteria.

B. The student has the right to expect substantive presentations or other means of instruction appropriate to the course. Repeated lack of preparation and/or unprofessional behavior which results in incompetent performance by the faculty member are legitimate grounds for student complaint.

C. With respect to the students, faculty members permit and encourage an atmosphere of original thinking, research, and writing. In this regard, they seek to improve learning facilities and opportunities for students.

2. Informal Instruction: Guiding and facilitating the library learning experiences of students, faculty, staff, and other patrons is the responsibility of the library faculty. This includes: providing appropriate library materials (within financial constraints); organizing these materials for effective use; teaching patrons library research methods in a variety of disciplines and formats and for varied purposes; skills in planning and evaluating collection building, library management, bibliographic instruction, and information literacy activities.

Appropriate evaluation by administrators and colleagues will be conducted emphasizing the following activities:

A. Giving library related workshops and training sessions.

B. Providing library patrons with professional reference services and bibliographic instruction supporting college curricula.

C. Advising and consulting with and/or supervision of faculty or students in the library setting.

D. Selection of appropriate library materials.

E. Effective use of the principles and methodologies of library collection development and bibliographic organization to make instruction materials accessible to students.

Rationale: Faculty members have a responsibility to engage in formal and informal teaching in behalf of the library and the college.
Evaluation: Professional File, Section II, student, peer and library director evaluations.

H.     Professional Activities and Scholarship

1. Professional Activities in the Library: Faculty members are expected to actively participate in professional activities which assist in the development of library services at the college, development and promotion of the profession, and which increase the faculty member's effectiveness as a librarian. It shall be the faculty member's responsibility to provide evidence of active participation in appropriate professional activities. This category may include, but is not limited to, the following types of activities though it should not be assumed the faculty member need be active in all of the areas listed:

A. Administrative management of an area of responsibility within the library: i.e. Archives, Government Documents, or Special Collections.

B. Responsibilities as the chair of a library administrative committee.

C. Active participation as a member of the library administrative committees.

D. Active participation in library staff training.

E. Writing proposals and grants for the library.

F. Assumption of duties and projects relating to operation of the library.

2. Professional Growth: Is defined as activities which contribute to the profession and increase the faculty member's effectiveness and intellect. The faculty member is responsible for providing evidence of successful professional growth activities. This category may include, but is not limited to, the following types of activities though it should not be assumed the faculty member need be active in all of the areas listed:

A. Graduate education beyond the required degree.

B. Work experience which will benefit the library.

C. Publication of professional periodical articles or monographs.

D. Presentation of speeches or papers at professional workshops or meetings.

E. Funded grants or research that benefit the faculty member and is also of long-range benefit to the library or the library profession.

F. Organization of workshops, meetings, symposia, etc. that contribute to the library profession.

G. Development of areas of expertise that benefit the library.

H. Development of technically oriented processes that significantly benefit the library and/or the library profession.

I. Participation in professional library organizations.

Rationale: Faculty members have a responsibility to engage in professional activities that demonstrate growth and research for the library, college, and profession.

Evaluation: Professional File, annual evaluation by library director.

I.     Service: It shall be the faculty member's responsibility to provide evidence of successful service to the institution and/or community. This category may include, but is not limited to, the following types of activities though it should not be assumed the faculty member need be active in all of the areas listed:

1. Participating on Faculty Senate or college committees.

2. Functioning in administrative capacities such as director or chair of faculty or college committees.

3. Participating on library committees which support the college community.

4. Representing the library on the Faculty Senate.

5. Providing professional expertise to expand library awareness/service in the community at large.

6. Active membership in professional organizations that positively affect the library profession.

7. Consulting experiences that are beneficial to the faculty member, the profession, or the library.

Rationale: Faculty members have an obligation of engaging in activities that demonstrate service to the institution and to the community.

Evaluation: Professional File, annual evaluation by library director.

As adopted by Faculty Senate May 24, 1990