P&T Soliciting External Reviews for Faculty of Practice

DATE

NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE, ZIP

Dear NAME:

[CANDIDATE FULL NAME], [ASSISTANT or ASSOCIATE] Professor of Practice in the [DEPARTMENT OF X¹] at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is undergoing review for promotion to the rank of [ASSOCIATE or FULL] Professor. As part of this review, we require letters of evaluation from highly qualified scholars outside of our university. On behalf of my colleagues, I write to ask if you are willing to assess the work of Professor [CANDIDATE].

The Professor of Practice track at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln was created to provide a career track for non-tenure-track faculty whose primary contributions are to the teaching mission of the university. They receive multi-year contracts with substantial notification requirements for non-renewal, are represented in Faculty Senate, and have full faculty voting rights (except on personnel issues involving tenure-track faculty). Professors of Practice at any rank are eligible for Faculty Development Leaves after six years of full-time service to the university.

We seek an independent evaluation of:

• the quality, significance, and impact of the candidate's teaching contributions;
• the candidate's trajectory and prospects for continued scholarly growth and achievement;
• the candidate's national or international reputation, if appropriate to the nature of their work; and
• other factors you think may be of importance to us in evaluating the candidate's capabilities, accomplishments, and reputation.

The deadline for submitting the actual review letter will be [DATE²].Your letter would become part the official promotion file. This file will be evaluated by a faculty review committee within our department [ALTER THIS PHRASE IF JOINTLY APPOINTED], the College Promotion and Tenure Committee and Dean, the Executive Vice Chancellor, and the Chancellor. Enclosed you will find copies of a current CV and the waiver signed by the candidate in connection with this review. 

We hope that you will agree to help us. If you agree to take part in this evaluation, we will provide you with a link to a folder containing the candidate's complete file. I know that writing reviews is time-consuming and I thank you for your help. If at all possible, could you let us know by [DATE] if you will be able to help us assess [NAME OF FACULTY's] work?

Thank you for considering this request. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

[NAME]
[TITLE, e.g., “Professor and Chair"]

Cc: [CHAIR OR DIRECTOR OF SECOND UNIT IF JOINT APPOINTMENT]