3.8 Contents

• 3.8.0 Academic Rank Promotions
  • 3.8.0.0 Definitions
  • 3.8.0.1 Eligibility
  • 3.8.0.2 General Provisions
     

3.8.0 Academic Rank Promotions

Purpose -- To provide for the academic rank promotion of faculty members using the VCCS-29, Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank.

3.8.0.0 Definitions

1. Year of Service -- For purposes of eligibility for promotion, a year of full-time employment for both nine-month and twelve-month faculty is full-time employment for two academic semesters (fall and spring), the salary for which is chargeable to a single fiscal year's budget. Employment for less than this period shall not constitute a year of full-time employment and shall not count towards the time eligibility period for a promotion.
    
2. Faculty Member -- For purposes of this policy, faculty members are those employees who hold faculty rank and teach or occupy an administrative, counselor or librarian position which is exempt from the classified service.

3.8.0.1 Eligibility

1. Minimum Criteria -- Qualifications for promotion to regular faculty ranks and Assistant Instructor are stated in the VCCS-29, Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank. Fulfillment of normal minimum criteria does not guarantee promotion to a given faculty rank.
    
2. Crediting Experience -- No more than one year of experience, teaching or related occupational, may be credited in a single twelve-month period. Therefore, no more than one year of experience credit may be given for a combination of teaching and related occupational experience in the same year.

1. Experience Creditable Towards Time in VCCS -- Only permanent P-3 (Report of Appointment or Change of Status) employment with the VCCS can be counted towards time in the System.
    
2. Creditable Teaching Experience -- Creditable teaching experience shall be the sum of:
   
   
   1. Experience computed in accordance with the VCCS Procedure to Determine Faculty Entry Level Salaries at the time of initial appointment; and
       
   2. Teaching experience subsequent to initial appointment.
    
3. Related Experience -- A year of related occupational experience must contain twelve months and shall be computed in accordance with the VCCS Procedure to Determine Faculty Entry Level Salaries.
    
4. Leave of Absence -- A military leave of absence, for a member of a reserve unit who is called to active duty, and who, upon completion of her or his military obligation, returns immediately to the college, shall not disqualify the active military duty period as counting towards a year of service for purposes of promotion. An educational leave of absence, with or without pay, shall not disqualify the year of its occurrence as counting towards a year of service. No more than two academic years may be exempted from the years of full-time service requirement because of educational leave.

Other periods of leave, with or without pay (except for the use of earned annual or sick leave), of over 15 calendar days cause a discontinuity for a semester, disqualifying it from counting towards a full year of employment, unless specific arrangements have been made between the president and faculty member. The arrangements must be in writing and in the faculty member's personnel file prior to the beginning of the
leave.

3.8.0.2 General Provisions

1. Authority -- All promotions are granted by the State Board upon recommendation of the president of the college and the Chancellor.
    
2. Multi-Campus Institutions -- In a multi-campus college within the VCCS, the provisions of this policy shall apply to the institution as a whole.
    
3. Faculty Rank and Salary Proposals -- Faculty rank and salary proposals shall be dated August 16 through May 15 or July 1 through June 30 as applicable.
    
4. Contingency Conditions for Promotion -- Administrative and teaching faculty must be fully qualified for promotion by the effective date of the Rank and Salary Proposal. Contingency conditions for promotion must be entered in the special conditions or assignments section of the rank and salary proposal.
    
5. Substitutions -- Requirements for promotion may not be waived, however, certain substitutions for experience and education may be granted, as outlined in the VCCS-29.
    
6. Promotion of Assistant Instructor to Instructor -- The salary computation for persons promoted from Assistant Instructor to Instructor shall be handled in accordance with the VCCS Procedure to Determine Faculty Entry Level Salaries.
    
7. College Promotion Procedure -- Each college shall have a written procedure for considering faculty personnel for promotion in rank. Each college has flexibility in determining the dollar amount for promotion in rank; however, the established amount may not be less than $500. This amount may include the increase required to bring faculty to the minimum of the new rank.  See 3.7.1.3.3 of the VHCC Faculty & Staff Manual.