Bethel University seeks to promote consistent policies regarding rank, promotion, and tenure for all full-time faculty members.

A system of rank has been designed at Bethel to recognize differences among faculty members. The schedule (see below) indicates certain minimum requirements of education and experience for each rank. Educational degree expectations for promotion are different from those for tenure, listed in the section following. Advances in rank are not automatic but are based on merit. In addition to the minimum standards of education and experience, recognition is given to such factors as teaching effectiveness, continuing professional growth, excellence in regular performance, contributions to the total program, and achievement in constructive work with the rest of the faculty.

The “minimum requirements for rank” stated below are used both for initial placement of instructors at the time of hiring and as minimum thresholds for degree attainment and years of service for promotion in rank.

Unless specified in an initial letter of appointment, promotion to the next faculty rank at Bethel University requires five years of full-time service at the current rank; faculty will be eligible to apply for promotion during the fifth year in rank.

Minimum Requirements for Rank

Professor:

1. Doctoral degree and 10 years teaching experience; or
2. Doctoral degree and 5 years teaching experience and 10 years related professional experience. *

Associate Professor:

1.   Doctoral degree and 5 years teaching experience; or
2.   Doctoral degree and 3 years teaching experience and 4 years related professional experience; or
3.   Master’s degree plus 1 additional year course work and 10 years teaching experience; or
4.   Master’s degree plus 1 additional year course work and 5 years teaching experience and 10 years related professional experience. *

Assistant Professor:

1.   Doctoral degree; or
2.   Master’s degree plus 1 additional year course work and 5 years teaching experience; or
3.   Master’s degree plus 1 additional year course work and 3 years teaching experience and 4 years related professional experience; or
4.   Master’s degree plus 10 years teaching experience; or
5.   Master’s degree plus 5 years teaching experience and 10 years related professional experience. *

Instructor:

1. Master’s degree; or
2. Related professional experience. *

Minimum Requirements for Rank for Clinical Faculty

Clinical Professor:

1. Doctoral degree in the academic or professional field of appointment; and 10 years teaching experience; or
2. Doctoral degree in the academic or professional field of appointment; and 5 years teaching experience and 5 years related professional experience. *

Clinical Associate Professor:

1. Doctoral degree in the field of appointment and 5 years teaching experience; or
2. Doctoral degree in the field of appointment and 5 years teaching experience and/or related professional experience; or
3. Master’s degree in the field of appointment plus 1 additional year course work and 10 years teaching experience and/or related professional experience. *

Clinical Assistant Professor:

1. Doctoral degree in the field of appointment; or
2. Master’s degree in the field of appointment plus 1 additional year course work and 5 years teaching experience and/or related professional experience; or
3. Master’s degree in the field of appointment plus 10 years teaching experience and/or related professional experience. *

Clinical Instructor:

1. Master’s degree or a post-baccalaureate certification that normally requires 30 semester hours of credit from an appropriately accredited university, if the master’s degree is not the recognized terminal degree in the field; or
2. Bachelor’s degree and certification and/or licensure in the field of appointment, with two years of related professional experience or 3 years of full-time teaching. *

* Related professional experience may include research, administration, pastoral/missionary service, or allied graduate study.

The Master of Fine Arts degree in Art and Theatre, the Master of Social Work degree in Social Work, and the Master of Physician Assistant Studies or the equivalent will be regarded as the equivalent of the doctoral degree for purposes of promotion and tenure.

The following list suggests items of data that may be considered in decisions related to annual and nontenure continuing appointments, promotion, and tenure. No effort has been made to rank the items. The list is not exhaustive. Depending on the availability of the data and at the option of the Provost and appropriate committees, any and all of these items may be used to arrive at final recommendations:

candidate's self-assessment, including contribution to aims and objectives of the university;
peer evaluations;
recommendation of department/divisional leaders or program directors;
evaluations by professional associates outside of Bethel;
standard course evaluations by students;
senior student evaluations;
alumni evaluations;
results of standardized tests;
record of professional and scholarly activity;
record of educational attainments and professional development activities;
course enrollments; and
a paper describing how the faculty member brings the perspective of a Christian world view to bear on scholarship in teaching.

Bethel is committed to annual formative examination of faculty effectiveness, particularly in the classroom. Evidence of unsatisfactory performance within the term of tenure for tenured faculty members, or within the three-year term of appointment for those with a nontenure continuing appointment, may prompt a review, initiated by the administration, including consultation with the department chair or program director and, possibly, the appropriate faculty committee.

Promotion, tenure, and nontenure continuing appointments are subject to the review and recommendation of the appropriate faculty committees in the university. These recommendations are presented to the President and the Board of Trustees through the Provost. Changes in status (i.e., tenure or promotion) following approval by the Board of Trustees become effective with the beginning of the next faculty contract, typically at the beginning of the next academic year. Criteria related to the above qualities have been established in all schools for the determination of rank, promotion, and tenure. Detailed information on criteria and procedures is available from the appropriate academic office.

Revised Effective August 17, 2010

In addition, there is opportunity for rare appointments to the faculty apart from normal rank requirements of persons of distinguished national or international reputation whose outstanding accomplishments in their fields have prepared them for effective teaching experiences. Such persons recommended to the Board of Trustees must also have prior approval of the colleagues and chairperson of the department in which they will work, the faculty committees concerned with promotion, and the appropriate academic administrators.

Office of the Provost
Updated October 13, 2021

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