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Tenure Streams

Tenure stream faculty members are appointed into either the Research Stream (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor) or the Educational Leadership Stream (Assistant Professor of Teaching, Associate Professor of Teaching, Professor of Teaching).

An initial appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor is a four-year term, followed by reappointment for a second four-year term. An initial appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor of Teaching is a three-year term, followed by reappointment for a second three-year term. (The tenure clock will always start on July 1 of the calendar year in which the actual appointment began, regardless of what month the appointment started.)

Promotion to Associate Professor may be considered at any time and, if awarded, is accompanied by tenure. The mandatory review for tenure and promotion is in year 7.

Promotion to Associate Professor of Teaching must be considered anytime and, if awarded, is accompanied by tenure. The mandatory review for tenure and promotion is in year 5.

Promotion to Professor or Professor of Teaching may occur in any year.

Mentorship for new Faculty

New tenure-track faculty members are encouraged to find a mentor, usually a senior faculty member within LFS. If the identified mentor is not experienced in the UBC process of moving through the ranks, candidates are encouraged to identify a second mentor who has this experience. If you would like us to find a mentor for you, please contact the Dean’s office.

Process and Criteria

The process and criteria are outlined fully in the Agreement on Conditions of Appointment for Faculty and the UBC Guide to Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure. In brief, candidates in the Research Stream for reappointment, tenure or promotion are judged principally on performance with respect to teaching, scholarly activity, and service. Candidates in the Educational Leadership Stream for reappointment, tenure or promotion are judged principally on performance with respect to teaching, educational leadership, and service.

Faculty members have access to a number of resources available to guide them in the reappointment, tenure, and promotion process. It is important that you familiarize yourself early on in terms of what the norms of the unit/department/program are regarding the different evaluation criteria. You should discuss all of this with senior faculty, your Program Director and/or mentor. Additional support is available from the Dean's Office and the Faculty Association.

5.02 Meetings (with Program Director)

Program Directors need to arrange annual meetings with pre-tenure faculty to discuss the criteria and expectations of any upcoming review, your record of accomplishments, and the documentation you will need to provide for the review. Again, it is important that you familiarize yourself with the information provided within the Collective Agreement, Part 4 (PDF), Article 5.02 about these meetings. You are encouraged to bring your mentor to the meeting.

You can request an optional review for promotion (with automatic tenure) in any year of your pre-tenure appointment under the Collective Agreement, Part 4 (PDF), Article 9.01. If you are thinking of this option, you should start the conversation with the Dean in the first few months of the same year in which you would like to be reviewed.

Before submitting your file

Consult with your mentor(s) and any other senior faculty willing to help to review your CV/teaching dossier prior to submitting to the Dean’s Office on or before July 1.

The CV is the primary document for the review process and it should be accurate and error-free. You should take the time to review Section 5.1 and Appendix 3/4 of the Guide on Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Procedures at UBC (PDF) for common errors, guidelines and tips in preparation of your CV for submission.

Peer Review of Teaching

Summative peer evaluations of teaching are required for reappointment, promotion and tenure (see the policy here). Candidates are encouraged to seek formative reviews for their own feedback. Candidates should request a summative peer review in the academic year before reappointment, promotion and tenure submissions. Candidates are strongly encouraged to seek formative peer evaluations at least once before their summative review.

Please contact Duff Roberts (Chair, Peer Review of Teaching Committee) to arrange this as early as possible in the academic year.

The initial file

Your file is due the year that you intend to apply, no later than July 1. All documents listed below must be submitted as separate PDF files to melanie.train@ubc.ca, who will coordinate the submission on behalf of the Dean’s Office. Listed below are the required documents for each stream: Traditional Research; Educational Leadership; Indigenous scholars.

Traditional Research Stream:

  • Up to date Curriculum Vitae (UBC format), including candidate’s statement
  • Teaching Dossier
  • Summative Peer Review of Teaching
  • 3-5 Selected Publications
  • Names and contacts of 4-6 arms’ length external referees (see section 5.5.4 of SAC Guide for definition). Please note that only the CV and the 3-5 selected publications are sent to the external referees. The teaching dossier is only reviewed by the LFS Colleagues Committee and the LFS Appointments Promotions and Tenure Committee).

Educational Leadership stream:

  • Up to date Curriculum Vitae (UBC format), including candidate’s statement
  • Teaching Dossier
  • Summative Peer Review of Teaching
  • Names and contacts of 4-6 arms’ length external referees (see section 5.5.4 of SAC Guide for definition). Please note some of these can be from within UBC. The CV and teaching dossier are sent to the external referees.

Indigenous Scholars:

CV updates

All candidates, regardless of stream, may submit updates to their CV at any time during the review process. Please note that the updates cannot be integrated into the CV but rather must be submitted as an extra document that cites the relevant section(s) within the CV and lists the corresponding updates.

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