Sample Solicitation Letter for Promotion in the Teaching Professor Series (Lecturer with Security of Employment)

Dear [recipient name],

The Department of [reviewing dept/unit name] at the University of California, Santa Cruz is considering the advancement of [candidate's title and full name] to [proposed promotion title, e.g. "Associate Teaching Professor"]. Your evaluation of this individual's record of accomplishments and impact is being requested as a valued contribution to our review process.

Advancement for the Teaching Professor series within the University of California is based upon teaching excellence, professional and/or scholarly achievement and activity, and university and public service. The review committee is primarily interested in your evaluation of the individual's professional and/or scholarly achievement and activity with particular reference to their originality and impact. In addition, I would appreciate your comments on the individual's expertise in evidence- and research-based teaching practices, standing within the professional community, and any other aspect of professional competence with which you may be familiar. I am also interested in any comments you have on the individual's contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion through their professional and/or scholarly activity, teaching, and service work. Faculty in the Teaching Professor series have a higher teaching load than regular ladder faculty, and thus the expectations for the ratio among teaching, service, and professional and/or scholarly achievement and activity are correspondingly different from expectations for research faculty. The Academic Personnel Manual (210-3-d-(2), pages 18-19) provides a definition of what constitutes “professional and scholarly achievement” in the teaching professor series.

For promotion within the ranks of the Teaching Professor series, we expect that the individual’s professional and/or scholarly achievement will have an impact beyond their classroom. Possible methods for such an impact include, but are not limited to, publications that contribute to the broader base of scholarship (including both pedagogical work and traditional disciplinary research), presentations to the campus or to professional meetings or other campuses that demonstrate a significant research- and evidence-based approach to teaching and learning, and interventions that resulted in changes in other classes (e.g., assisting another faculty member in the department with redesigning part of their class or leading professional development activities for colleagues on the home campus or beyond). 

We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the research and teaching of our faculty, and we have provided options for faculty to have additional time to meet the criteria for promotion. When reviewing this research record, please focus on the research output, rather than the productivity over time, as decreased productivity due to the pandemic should not be factored into this review.

I kindly ask that you respond by [deadline], as our consideration of this action is planned soon thereafter.

Under University of California policy, the identity of authors of letters of evaluation are held in confidence; however, an appointee is entitled to see the main body of your letter after identifying information outside the body of the letter has been redacted.

Please be sure to review the entire statement on the confidentiality of solicited letters at the University of California at https://apo.ucsc.edu/confstm.html ¹

The quality of faculty at the University of California is dependent upon receiving informed and objective evaluations of their contributions to the academic community. We appreciate your time and attention.

Sincerely,

[Department Chair Name]
[Department Signature]