EFFECTIVE DATE: June 14, 2021
ISSUE #: 2
PRESIDENT: Loren J. Blanchard
PURPOSE
This PS establishes university policies governing the hiring, support, supervision, evaluation,
promotion, and termination of lecturers and senior lecturers. These faculty members are a
significant component of the university's teaching work force and have a critical role to play
in carrying out the University's mission.
DEFINITIONS
2.1 Lecturers and senior lecturers are defined in PS 10.A.20 (Non-Tenure & Non-Tenure
Track Academic Appointments).
2.2 Supervisor: The department chair/academic program director to whom the lecturer or
senior lecturer directly reports.
2.3 Academic Unit: Generally, an academic department that houses the lecturer or senior
lecturer, but also, for a college without departments and department chairs, the academic
program that houses the lecturer or senior lecturer.
2.4 Relevant Academic Unit Faculty: Full-time faculty members of the department/academic
program that the lecturer or senior lecturer is part of; this is limited to faculty members
who are part of the Faculty Assembly (as defined by the Faculty Senate Constitution).
POLICY/PROCEDURES
3.1 The use of lecturers and senior lecturers varies across the university and is determined by
factors unique to each academic unit. When possible, an adequate number of tenure-track
faculty will be employed to provide effective leadership in teaching, mentoring,
scholarship, curriculum development, institutional planning and shared governance.
3.2 Qualification, Hiring and Support
3.2.1 Qualification: Lecturers must meet the requirements for hire set forth in PS 10.A.20.
3.2.2 Hiring procedure
3.2.2.1 The supervisor, after discussion with and concurrence of the dean, shall
request the approval of the provost to fill a lecturer position.
3.2.2.2 Lecturer positions shall be filled by open searches conducted by a
Lecturer Search Committee. This committee shall be comprised of a
minimum of three full-time relevant academic unit faculty
recommended by the supervisor. A member from outside the relevant
academic unit may be added at the discretion of the supervisor. Where
an academic unit lacks a sufficient number of faculty to establish a
search committee, the supervisor shall seek faculty from other
academic units to fill the committee.
3.2.2.3 The search committee reviews, at minimum, the candidates' CV, cover
letter, and transcripts. Additional application materials may be
requested and reviewed based on disciplinary, departmental, and/or
accreditation needs. Before any candidate is interviewed, ESO must
receive a list of candidates so a review may be conducted regarding the
diversity of the candidate pool. Top candidates are then interviewed oncampus, via video interviews, and/or via phone interviews.
3.2.2.4 After discussion with the search committee, and the concurrence of the
college dean and the provost, the supervisor negotiates with the primary
candidate.
3.2.2.5 Upon successful negotiation, the supervisor completes the offer letter
and hiring documents. The supervisor forwards the candidate’s folder
to the provost’s office for completion of the hiring process.
3.2.2.6 Senior lecturers as defined in PS 10.A.20 shall not be hired with such a
title. The title of senior lecturer shall be obtained only via promotion, as
provided for in section 3.26 below.
3.2.2.7 Emergency hiring of lecturers is governed by the process detailed in PS 10.A.20.
3.2.3 Support: Each supervisor of the academic unit shall, in consultation with the
relevant academic unit faculty, establish written policies and procedures regarding
the orientation and support of its lecturers and senior lecturers. These policies and
procedures will include the following provisions:
3.2.3.1 The university and/or academic unit shall provide them orientations on
academic unit procedures, evaluation rubrics and other needed
information.
3.2.3.2 They shall be provided office space where students seeking face-toface academic assistance have access.
3.3 Evaluation, Supervision, Promotion, Reappointment, and Dismissal: All academic units
shall follow the policies and procedures given below, regarding evaluation, supervision,
reappointment, and dismissal of lecturers and senior lecturers.
3.3.1 Development and Review of Academic Unit Evaluation Rubrics.
3.3.1.1 Evaluation rubrics written by the relevant academic unit faculty shall
be used in the evaluation of lecturers and senior lecturers. In a
circumstance where an academic unit lacks sufficient numbers of fulltime relevant academic unit faculty or is comprised entirely of lecturers
or senior lecturers, the supervisor shall seek faculty from departments
in other colleges for appointment to the rubric writing process.
3.3.1.2 New rubrics shall be submitted to the college dean and provost by
December 15, if they are to be used the following year. If rubrics have
not been submitted by then, the previous year's rubric shall be used.
3.3.2 Lecturer Self-reports
3.3.2.1 Lecturers and senior lecturers shall be responsible for consulting the
academic unit for specific academic unit guidelines governing the
format and content of the annual self-report.
3.3.2.2 They shall submit self-reports to the supervisor at a time determined by
the supervisor.
3.3.3 Supervisor Evaluation Reports
3.3.3.1 The supervisor or their designee shall submit written annual evaluation
reports to all lecturers and senior lecturers by the second Monday in
April.
3.3.3.2 These evaluations shall rely on all relevant available information
sources including, but not limited to, the terms of their contracts,
student opinion surveys, syllabi, self-reports, peer observation of
teaching reports, and rubric scores.
3.3.3.3 The report shall include, at a minimum, scores in all the rubric criteria,
positive contributions, and possible improvements needed.
3.3.4 Evaluation Meetings with the Supervisor:
3.3.4.1 The supervisor or designee shall be available for meetings with
individual lecturers and senior lecturers to discuss their evaluations.
3.3.5 Supervision: supervisor or their designees shall be responsible for supervising
lecturers and senior lecturers.
3.3.6 Promotion: Recommendations on applications for Senior Lecturer are made at
three different administrative levels, the supervisor, the dean, and the provost.
This section (3.2.6) describes the process for academic units to promote lecturers
to the position of senior lecturer. Criteria for advancement is contained in PS 10.A.20.
3.3.6.1 All relevant academic unit faculty (as defined in the definitions section
of this policy) are responsible for participating in the discussion, voting
on, and the approval of the criteria for promotion from lecturer to
senior lecturer (consistent with section 3.4.3 of PS 10.A.20). Each
academic unit shall create its own processes for the development of the
criteria. The academic unit shall be mindful of the diversity of activities
that lecturers participate in for the academic unit when the criteria are
developed. In an academic unit that is comprised entirely of lecturers
and senior lecturers or where the academic unit lacks a sufficient
number of relevant academic unit faculty to approve criteria, the
supervisor of the academic unit in consultation with the dean shall
appoint relevant academic unit faculty from other academic units to
serve in the criteria approval process. Subsequent to approval by the
relevant academic unit faculty, the criteria must also be approved by
the dean and the provost. Consideration at the dean and provost levels
shall seek to ensure to the extent possible that there is equity in the
criteria and rigor across the various academic units in the college and at
the university. The criteria shall be re-reviewed and modifications
made to the criteria on a timeline that is the same as that of the annual
performance review criteria (see PS 10.A.05).
3.3.6.2 All relevant academic unit faculty (as defined in the definitions section
of this policy) are responsible for participating in the discussion, voting
on, and the approval of the procedures for promotion from lecturer to
senior lecturer that the candidate for senior lecturer will follow. The
procedure shall at a minimum include 1) what evidence will be
submitted in the application material, and 2) the content and length of
the candidate’s written statement in support of the application. The
length of the relevant period of review is at least equal to the number of
years that a candidate must be in the Lecturer position at UHD before
applying for Senior Lecturer (5 years). In an academic unit that is
comprised entirely of lecturers and senior lecturers or where the
academic unit lacks a sufficient number of relevant academic unit
faculty to approve procedures for promotion, the supervisor of the
academic unit in consultation with the dean appoints relevant academic
unit faculty from other academic units to serve.
3.3.6.3 Notice of Intent to Apply. A lecturer who seeks promotion to senior
lecturer so informs in writing the supervisor by the first Monday in
May of the academic year preceding the academic year that application
material will be submitted for consideration. The dean is responsible
for verification of eligibility and timely notification to the provost.
3.3.6.4 In a year that a lecturer submits for promotion to senior lecturer, the
lecturer provides the application material (as referenced in section
3.2.6.2) based on the Timeline for Applications. The supervisor
considers the material and forwards a promotion recommendation,
whether positive or negative, to the college dean, consistent with the
timeline at the end of this document. The dean makes a
recommendation. The recommendations of the supervisor and the dean
are detailed written assessments of the candidate’s performance over
the review period. If the recommendations of the dean and the
supervisor are both negative, the application does not advance out of
the college. If one or both of the recommendations of the supervisor
and the dean are positive, the application advances to the provost for a
decision on the application.
3.3.6.5 A supervisor may not submit a recommendation for themselves for
promotion. A supervisor who is a candidate for promotion to senior
lecturer must receive the support of the dean or the majority of a
committee of at least three relevant academic unit faculty, or both, for
the application to advance to the office of the provost. In an academic
unit that is comprised entirely of lecturers and senior lecturers or where
the academic unit lacks a sufficient number of relevant academic unit
faculty to populate a review committee, the dean, in consultation with
the office of the provost, appoints relevant academic unit faculty from
other academic units to serve.
3.3.6.6 Candidates may avail themselves of the grievance process on the basis
of procedural matters or substantive outcome, as articulated in PS 10.A.02.
3.3.6.7 Please refer to the Timeline for Application for Promotion from
Lecturer to Senior Lecturer.
3.3.7 Reappointment:
3.3.7.1 Lecturers and senior lecturers may or may not be reappointed according
to the provisions established in Texas Education Code Section 51.943
which states, “Except as provided in Subsection (c), an institution of
higher education that determines it is in its best interest to reappoint a
faculty member for the next academic year shall offer the faculty member a written contract for that academic year not later than 30 days
before the first day of the academic year.”
3.3.7.2 Non-reappointments must conform to the schedule of dates set forth in
the UH SAM 06.A.09.
3.3.7.3 Lecturers and senior lecturers are subject to "dismissal" as defined in
UH SAM 06.A.09.
PROCEDURES
See Section 3 for Procedures.
REVIEW PROCESS
Responsible Party (Reviewer): Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Review: Every five years, or as necessary
Signed original on file in The Office of the Provost.
POLICY HISTORY
Issue #1: 4/11/17
REFERENCES
PS 10.A.20. Non-Tenure & Non-Tenure Track Academic Appointments.
PS 10.A.05. Faculty Performance Evaluations
PS 10.A.02. Faculty Grievance Policy
Texas Education Code Section 51.943
UH SAM 06.A.09
Timeline for Applications
