Faculty Evaluations by Track and Rank

Note: In column “Evaluation timing,” items marked with an asterisk * may include elected combined years of service from a prior institution if approved. See COE: Elected Combined Service

Faculty Review Clocks

See COE: Leave and Modified Assignments Administrative Matrix for more information on different types of leave and modified assignments available to faculty.

Associate Professor Third-Year Review

COE policy

The department chair will conduct a third-year review with all tenured associate professors, typically in their third year of rank.  In this review, the department chair will review scholarship, teaching, student advising, and service. In spring of the third year in rank, the candidate will submit a vita, CIS chart for the last three years, and the UT list of service on student committees. The department chair will meet face-to-face and provide written feedback with the candidate at the end of the third year in rank (i.e., spring or summer of the third year). The faculty member is welcome to have her/his mentor attend the meeting. During the meeting, the department chair can offer both support and suggestions for continued development. In addition, the chair will recommend to the associate professor to set an appointment with the Senior Associate Dean for college-level feedback.

The Associate Professor Third-Year Review is an internal review. It is not sent to the Provost's Office and does not become part of Promotion and Tenure files. This review is intended solely to provide constructive feedback to Associate Professors as they consider their move towards promotion to full Professor.

This policy was established in winter 2019 and went into effect at the beginning of the 2019-2020 academic year.

Process

In the spring or summer, the Dean's Office will request confirmation from the department chair that these reviews have been completed. 

The Chair's review letter sent to the faculty member should also be either cc'd or sent as a separate email/attachment to the following: the Senior Associate Dean, Dean’s Office Operations Coordinator, and COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.

Timeline

An Associate Professor with an approved Personal Circumstances Flag during a year included in the third-year review period will have a one-year deferral of that review, so that the review would take place in year four. In that case, the clock for Comprehensive Periodic Review would still be done during year six.

Comprehensive Periodic Review (CPR) of Tenured Faculty

Procedures and guidelines 

For current year guidance, see APS ServiceNow: Faculty Evaluation > Comprehensive Periodic Review of Tenured Faculty

Texas Education Code 51.942, Regents’ Rule 31102: Evaluation of Tenured Faculty, and HOP 2-2150: Comprehensive Periodic Evaluation of Tenured Faculty require that a CPR be completed for each tenured faculty member no less often than once every six years. This is done in combination with the annual review. Individual notice of at least six months of intent to evaluate is provided by the department chair. The six-year evaluation is carried out by an appropriate faculty committee at the level of the department. The chair of the department communicates the result of the evaluation in writing to the faculty member and to the Dean. The Dean reports the results to the Provost’s Office.

For additional information, see EVPP: Faculty Evaluation > Annual and Comprehensive Periodic Review of Faculty.

Timeline 

Tenured faculty are evaluated every six years in rank, during the sixth year. For information about unpaid leave and the CPR clock, see Effects of leave on CPR on this page.

Example: A faculty member who achieves tenure in fall of 2025 would have their first CPR in 2030-31. Their second would be in 2035-36.

Professor or Associate Professor without tenure

New hires are sometimes made at the Professor or Associate Professor rank without tenure, for instance, in the case of a new, external senior hire whose career has been in a non-academic setting. Once tenure has been awarded, timing of reviews (Comprehensive Periodic Review, etc.) will be based on the date tenure was awarded, rather than their first date in rank.

Setting/resetting the CPR clock

The CPR clock for tenured faculty is started or reset by the following events:

a) Successful promotion to tenured full professor. A default CPR rating of "exceeding expectations" will be assigned for the year of successful promotion.

b) Initial appointment (by either hire or promotion) as tenured UT Austin faculty

c) Initial appointment as Dean, Provost, or President

d) Initial appointment in a 100% A&P position resulting from a "competitive" search. Assessment of whether the search counts as competitive requires the Provost's approval.

e) Unsuccessful promotion to tenured full professor. Must be accompanied by review by a tenured faculty CPR committee to determine CPR rating

Examples

1. If an Associate Professor in their sixth year of rank goes up for promotion to full Professor, the promotion review will count as their CPR.

   1. If the promotion is successful, their CPR six-year clock is reset.

   2. If the promotion is not successful, then the promotion review still counts as a CPR. After the unsuccessful promotion determination is made, the candidate's dean will be asked to consult with a tenured faculty CPR committee to provide the associated CPR rating by May 31st, of that year. The start of the timeline for the candidate's next CPR is then reset.

2. If an Associate Professor goes up for promotion before their sixth year in rank and is successful, the CPR six-year clock is reset.

   1. If the promotion is not successful, they continue until their sixth year when the CPR is due.

Effects of leave on CPR

CPR "clocks" do not stop. If the faculty member is on a personal Leave Without Pay (LWOP) for medical reasons during the sixth year, they may request a deferral (see Deferral of CPR on this page). Personal Leave Without Pay for medical reasons begins only after all paid leave balances have been exhausted.

Any year within the six-year CPR period during which a faculty member had an approved personal Leave Without Pay for medical reasons should be identified to the review committee without including the reason for the designation. A medical LWOP should prompt the CPR reviewers to reframe the review period for the faculty member.  For example, if a faculty member is going through CPR and has been approved for LWOP for medical reasons during the period under consideration, the peer review committee should consider the body of work as having been completed in five years rather than six.

For more information on how paid and unpaid leaves affect faculty review clocks, see COE: Faculty Review Clocks.

For more information about faculty sick leave, see COE: Sick Leave and FML - Faculty

Personal Circumstances (PC) Flag and CPR

Similarly to medical LWOP, a year associated with an approved Personal Circumstances (PC) Flag will also still count towards the six-year tally. However, any year within the six-year CPR period that has a PC Flag should be identified to the review committee without including the reason for the designation. A medical LWOP or a PC Flag should prompt the CPR reviewers to reframe the review period for the faculty member.  For example, if a faculty member is going through CPR and has been approved one PC Flag during the period under consideration, the peer review committee should consider the body of work as having been completed in five years rather than six.

For effects of a Personal Circumstances Flag on the timing of CPRs, see EVPP: Personal Circumstances Flag > Impact on Faculty Evaluation.

For more information about PC Flags, see COE: Personal Circumstances Flag.

Ratings of “Does not meet expectations” or “unsatisfactory”

Per UT System CPR reporting requirements, effective February 2026, the University requires a short-term development plan for any faculty member who receives “does not meet expectations” or “unsatisfactory” as their overall rating or as their rating for any of their areas of review. For full details regarding the requirements and procedures for implementing a development plan, please see Section 7 (page 11) of the CPR Guidelines.

Deferral of CPR

In accordance with Texas Education Code Section 51.942 and Regent’s Rule 31002, "Evaluation of Tenured Faculty," CPR may not be waived for any tenured faculty member. A CPR may, however, be deferred if the tenured faculty member is on an approved personal leave without pay for medical reasons during the academic year in which the CPR is being conducted. A deferral request must be submitted by the department chair via the Dean to the Provost's Office for approval.

Per Regent’s Rule 31002, "no deferral of review of an active (tenured) faculty member may extend beyond one year from the scheduled (year of) review."

Faculty Annual Review

See Provost’s guidance at EVPP: Faculty Evaluation > Annual and Comprehensive Periodic Review of Faculty > Guidelines for Annual Review of Faculty.

UT policy

Per UT policy, all tenured, tenure-track, and professional-track faculty in all ranks, including those appointed at 0% FTE, are required to submit a report each year of their involvement in teaching, research, and service activities. Only retired or emeritus faculty who are not teaching and professional-track faculty in inactive (F-INA) status are exempt from annual review requirements.

For all faculty who are teaching, Course Evaluation System (CES) ratings and student comments should be reviewed and addressed in the annual evaluation.

Policy:

• HOP 2-2151: Annual Evaluation of Faculty > Section VII.C. Annual reviews: All faculty, tenured and non-tenured, will undergo annual reviews following the Guidelines for Annual Review of Faculty. The review is to focus on individual merit relative to assigned responsibilities.

• Scheduled Reviews. Evaluation of active faculty will be performed annually. The evaluation may not be waived for any active faculty member but may be deferred in rare circumstances when the review period coincides with approved leave, comprehensive review for promotion, or appointment to an endowed position. No deferral of review of an active faculty member may extend beyond one year from the date of the scheduled review.

• Guidelines for Annual Review of Faculty > Definitions: Active Faculty refers to tenured, tenure-track, and professional-track faculty with an active faculty appointment of any FTE during both the year that the review is taking place as well as during the year under review. This does not include faculty who have notified their supervisor of an upcoming separation (i.e., retirement or resignation) effective the current or following year.

COE policy and process

Faculty Activity Report

The COE requires the online Faculty Activity Report (FAR) as the basis for the annual review of faculty. Early each fall, the Dean’s Office communicates this message college-wide with a reminder sent to each department chair for distribution to the faculty. Each of the College’s five department Budget Councils or Executive Committees has an approved annual review process that requires peer review of T/TT faculty in the broad areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. For this review, the FAR is supplemented with other material specific to the department, e.g., CIS data, syllabi. Recommendations for salary advancement, promotion in rank, tenure, renewal of appointment, or non-renewal of appointment, are based on excellence in performance in these areas.

The final results of the annual evaluation shall be communicated in writing to each faculty member by the department chair. This communication shall advise the faculty member of any areas that need improvement.

Instructions

1. Access the Faculty Activity Report (FAR) system online. Recommended browsers for the report are Firefox and Google Chrome.

   1. FAR Help and Instructions are available at the online FAR system home page above the academic year.

   2. Instructions are also available at Box: Faculty Activity Report Instructions.

2. Notes:

   1. FAR no longer displays faculty degrees. UT employees may review and update their own degree information in Workday, at Worker Profile > Career > Education.

   2. Course Instructor Survey (CIS) Ratings only display for academic years from 2015-16 through 2021-22. Current course evaluation ratings can be found on the Explorance Course Evaluations website.

   3. Research data is available for import.

Please send any questions about the FAR or authorization requests for FAR Admin to the Provost’s Office through the Faculty Affairs & Academic Personnel Services Portal.

Mid-Probationary Review of Tenure-Track Faculty

See EVPP: Mid-Probationary Review for Tenure-Track Faculty.

As a regular part of the annual review and evaluation process for all faculty, every fall the department Budget Councils or Executive Committees will provide written feedback through the Department Chair to each Assistant Professor regarding their performance in teaching, research, advising and student services, committee and public service, and other categories. In some departments, the Chair holds a conference with each Assistant Professor to review strengths and weaknesses, progress toward promotion and tenure, and areas of needed improvement.

During the spring semester of the third year of appointment, a more comprehensive review of each Assistant Professor is conducted. The College policy grants departments considerable flexibility, but ensures that all Assistant Professors receive a formal evaluation near the midpoint of the probationary period. The review covers the criteria that are typically considered in the promotion process. The department Budget Council or Executive Committee, sometimes initially through appointed faculty subcommittees, review the Assistant Professor’s vita; annual reports; teaching evaluations, including peer evaluations of teaching; advising and student services; scholarly progress; community, university, and professional service; and recognitions. The review, which addresses the accomplishments of the Assistant Professor in the areas of research, teaching and service, is intended to be consultative and corrective. In some departments, the chair drafts a written report based on the evaluation of the Budget Council or Executive Committee. In other departments, the Budget Council or Executive Committee or an appointed subcommittee drafts the report for review and revision by the entire Budget Council or Executive Committee.

In all cases, the Department Chair provides a copy of the report and holds a conference with the Assistant Professor to give an assessment of progress on each of the criteria for promotion and tenure. The chair also advises the Assistant Professor on areas that need improvement before the formal promotion/tenure review. If progress is satisfactory in the criteria areas, the Assistant Professor is advised to continue the progress.

The report is maintained in department personnel files and a copy is sent to the Dean’s Office, and later included in the Assistant Professor's dossier for Promotion and Tenure.

Timeline - Mid-Probationary Review

The Mid-Probationary Review is typically conducted in the spring semester of the third year of appointment as Assistant Professor, but can be in their fifth through seventh semester. If an Assistant Professor is approved for a probationary period extension before their third year in rank, the Mid-Probationary Review can be deferred for a semester or year.

Example: A faculty member hired in fall of 2025 would have their Mid-Probationary Review conducted during the 2027-28 academic year.

Peer Review of Teaching

Peer review combines the examination of course materials with in-class observations and collegial discussion. For University requirements and guidelines, see the Peer Teaching Observations Guidelines section of EVPP: Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for the relevant year.

See Center for Teaching and Learning: Peer Observation of Teaching for detailed guidance and resources for performing peer teaching observations.

Promotion and Tenure (P&T)

Consult EVPP: Promotion & Tenure for guidelines for the relevant academic year. Note that there may be different sets of guidelines for Tenured/Tenure-Track and Professional Track faculty.  Be sure to use the Guidelines document for the correct academic year.

Please contact Sonja Runberg with any questions.

Important Dates for 2025-26

Tenured/Tenure-Track

• September 8, 5 pm:

  • Dossiers (everything except Chair's letters) due to Dean's Office. Provide both paper and digital copies of dossier and any additional statements and supplementary materials

  • Freeze date: Any content updates from candidate not requested by the Dean's Office must be added to Additional Statements

• September 12, 5 pm: Chair’s letters due to Dean's Office. Provide both paper and digital copies of each file.

Professional-Track

• August 29, 5 pm: Dossiers (everything except Chair’s letters) due to Dean’s Office. Provide both paper and digital copies of dossier and any additional statements and supplementary materials.

• September 3, 5 pm:

  • Chair’s letters due to Dean’s Office. Provide both paper and digital copies of each file

  • Freeze date: Any content updates from candidate not requested by the Dean's Office must be added to Additional Statements

Approximate process schedule

• April 1: Annual Promotion & Tenure guidelines updated for the upcoming year by EVPP

• April-July: External and internal reviews requested and received

• August: Departmental review

• September-November: College-level review and Dean review

• November: Dossiers move to Provost/President's level for review. Candidates are notified of the vote of the CAC and the Dean's assessment

• November-January: University-level review

• January-February: University-level meetings with Deans

• February: President's notification of final decisions

Dossier preparation

See EVPP: Promotion & Tenure for the Provost's current Academic Year guidelines.

Election to use combined years of service

Newly-hired Assistant Professors and Associate Professors with prior service in an equivalent rank at a prior institution may elect to count up to three of those full years of service immediately preceding time at UT Austin toward the number of effective years of service required for on-time promotion at UT Austin. See COE: Elected Combined Service for additional information including how to submit a request.

Promotion review timelines by rank

Assistant Professors - Promotion and tenure review to Associate Professor

• For tenure-track faculty members, only years of probationary service are counted toward the minimum amount of qualifying service.

• In accordance with Regents’ Rule 31007, a tenure-track faculty member accrues one year of probationary service at UT Austin for every nine months of full-time academic service during any academic year. An academic year does not count as a year of probationary service if the tenure-track faculty member: (1) begins employment at UT Austin after the start of the fall semester, (2) receives an approved extension to the probationary period, or (3) has been on leave without pay for any portion of the academic year.
  

Tenured Associate Professors - Promotion review to full Professor

• For tenured faculty members, only effective years in rank are counted toward the minimum amount of qualifying service. Please carefully review the relevant UT Austin General Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure.
  

Tenure-track Associate and full Professors - Promotion and tenure review

• Tenure-track associate and full professors must be reviewed for promotion and tenure in their third year of probationary service. Because the University requires a minimum of two effective years in rank at UT Austin before consideration of promotion and tenure, accelerated review in this title is not permitted.

Information for newly-promoted faculty

Course releases - Newly-tenured faculty only

Copied from COE: Workload Policies > tab Tenured & Tenure-Track Faculty > Newly-promoted tenured faculty:

In recognition of the additional service responsibilities that come with promotion, the college will make available up to one course release to be used in the first two years following promotion for newly promoted faculty (once after promotion to the rank of associate professor and once after promotion to the rank of professor), at the discretion of the department chair.

Salary increase

Contact COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu with questions about the salary increase policy for newly-promoted faculty.

Joint-appointed faculty

Faculty members with joint appointments must be simultaneously reviewed in both the primary and joint department(s)/college(s)/school(s). The respective department chairs and deans are responsible for identifying the need for review, coordinating the reviews, and overseeing the independent reviews to completion. The chair of the candidate’s primary department is responsible for coordinating selection and solicitation of external reviewers with joint units (including feedback from the candidate). The units must conduct independent reviews of the candidate which should entail evaluation of the same dossier contents. For joint appointments in departments within the same college, independent reviews are conducted at the department level and then there is a single college and dean review. For joint appointments in different colleges/schools, independent reviews are conducted at both the department (where relevant), college/school and deans’ levels. Different recommendations may be put forward to the President’s committee.

See additional guidance in the Provost's General Guidelines for the relevant year.

Joint Appointment Promotion Process Flowchart

Source: Joint Appointment Promotion Process Flowchart_FINAL.pdf

Leave - effects on P&T

See tab Faculty Review Clocks on this page.

Personal Circumstances (PC) Flags and P&T

If a Personal Circumstances Flag is requested during the period of promotion review, see EVPP: Personal Circumstances Flag for information and impact. See additional information at COE: Personal Circumstances Flag.

Policies

The policies related to recommendations for promotion in rank and recommendations for tenure are described in HOP 2-2160: Promotion and Tenure Review. General Guidelines for the Preparation of Supporting Materials and the Management of Candidate Files are available at EVPP: Promotion & Tenure.

Related policies:

• HOP 2-2010: Academic Titles

• HOP 2-2020: Extension of the Tenure Track Probationary Period

• Tenure (Rule 31007, Regents' Rules and Regulations)

Probationary period for tenure-track faculty

See COE: Probationary Period - Tenure-Track Faculty. 

Tenure-track Associate/Full Professors and P&T

New hires are sometimes made at the Professor or Associate Professor rank without tenure, for instance, in the case of a new, external senior hire whose career has been in a non-academic setting. The maximum probationary period for a tenure-track Professor or Associate Professor is four years. Their "up or out" tenure and/or promotion review is during their third year in rank.