Preparation of the Review Packet
The review packet contains the materials that form the basis for the evaluation at all levels of review. It is the responsibility of the tenure-track faculty members undergoing a third-year review to ensure that the material contained in the packet is complete, accurate, and professionally presented.
The contents of the review packet should include the following elements (described in more detail below):
- a professional curriculum vitae
- a statement of professional goals, objectives, and accomplishments during the evaluation period
- evaluations and analyses reported by the TYR-DFRAC, Department Chair/School Director, and dean, as well as any optional external review letters solicited by the department and the optional response of the faculty member to the departmental review reports
- documentation of teaching effectiveness
- summary of course evaluations (complete template)
- peer observer’s report(s)
- faculty member’s report (s)
- documentation of research accomplishments and plans
- documentation of service contributions
- optional supplementary materials
The professional curriculum vitae should serve as a simple listing of professional activities, while the optional supplementary materials may provide more in-depth information about those activities. The suggested contents of each of these elements should include but are not limited to those suggested below. The faculty member undergoing third-year review is responsible for preparing all items, except #3; the TYR-DFRAC, Department Chair/School Director, and college dean are responsible for appending materials contained in #3.
Items #1 – 2 and 4 – 7 constitute the review materials utilized by the TYR-DFRAC and the chair in evaluating the faculty member’s performance. In general, the dean will only review items #1 – 2 along with the department’s evaluation reports in #3, placing the primary responsibility for the review with the department. Items included in #4 – 7 may be made available to the dean, but are chiefly used at the department level.
Each of these items is described more fully in the following sections.
Checklist
A checklist of the essential contents of the review package, as well as a checklist of possible optional supplementary materials that may be submitted can be found on Academic Affairs’ webpage.
1. Professional Curriculum Vitae
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Name and Contact Information
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This should include UTSA address, phone number, and email address, as well as current academic rank (for example, “Assistant Professor” or “Associate Professor without Tenure”). |
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Educational Background
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Please list all institutions from which a degree was earned, including the degree received and the major field of study. |
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Professional Employment History
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List all positions held in sequential order, with applicable dates, since earning the baccalaureate degree, including the present position at UTSA. |
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Awards and Honors
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List any awards, honors, prizes, competitions, or other recognition received related to professional activities. |
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Research/Scholarly/Creative Activities Summary
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Summarize all products of research/scholarly/creative activities, including publications, exhibitions, performances, architectural projects, reviews, or other documentation of scholarly contributions. All products should include the date and title of publication /exhibition /performance, the impact (e.g. impact factors, citations, Almetrics, etc.), the venue, and where applicable, the inclusive page numbers or size of the scholarly contribution. List separately the different types of publications (e.g. journal articles, books, reviews, etc.), scholarly products, or creative activity outcomes, providing respective listings of invited contributions, refereed contributions, and non-refereed contributions. Use separate headings for publication status such as Published, Accepted, Under Review/Submitted, and In preparation with published works listed first. |
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Scholarly Presentations
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List all external oral or poster presentations at conferences, meetings, or other institutions/universities related to scholarly work, and provide the dates and locations of presentations. Provide separate listings for invited presentations, refereed, and non-refereed contributions. |
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Granting Activities
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Provide a list of grant proposals submitted, whether for research, instructional, or public service activities (please indicate one of these for each grant), giving the name of the granting agency, the project dates, the project title, and the total amount requested and awarded, if appropriate, for each. |
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Intellectual Property
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Where applicable, provide a summary of any intellectual property generated from scholarly activities and indicate any patent applications, copyright privileges, licensing, or other commercialization that has resulted. The summary should include dates, titles, and identifying information. |
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Teaching Activities
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List all formal courses taught at UTSA, indicating the level of the course (undergraduate or graduate) and its title. Provide a list of students mentored in research/scholarly/creative activities and any theses or dissertations directed. Summarize any service on graduate committees and for student advising. |
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Service Activities
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Provide separate listings of all committee assignments, assigned administrative activities (for example, Department Chair/School Directormanship, center directorship, etc.), and professional service activities (including leadership in disciplinary organizations, service as a journal editor, manuscript or grant proposal reviewer, meetings or symposia organized, etc.). Each activity should include the dates of participation, the organizational level of the activity (for example, department, college, etc.), and any leadership roles played. |
2. Statement of Professional Goals, Objectives, and Accomplishments
The statement of self-evaluation should be organized in three sections, outlining the applicant’s activities, experiences, and plans in the areas of teaching, research/scholarly/creative activities, and service, respectively.
- For the teaching section, the applicant may wish to include a teaching statement outlining her or his philosophy/approach to teaching, and describe any innovative approaches used in delivering instruction.
- In the research/scholarly/creative activity section, the applicant can provide a context for her or his scholarly work including the impact and benefit of their work, indicating the relationship between different projects and plans for future scholarship and how those plans build on past accomplishments (if applicable).
- The service section should provide an overview of service activities and explain the applicant’s participation in key service roles, including her or his philosophy of service and how it complements teaching and scholarly activities.
The statement of self-evaluation should be no more than 10 pages long.
Covid Impact Checklist*
We also recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused varying disruptions to faculty in their teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, and service goals. Furthermore, we understand that these disruptions impact individual faculty in unique ways, based on differing responsibilities and circumstances, and differing timescales and intensities. The COVID_19 Impact Checklist allows faculty to provide information on disruptions to their teaching, research / scholarship / creative activity, and/or service that provide additional, important evaluation context.
*Faculty will submit their Covid Impact Checklist in Digital Measures Workflow after the DRC has completed their evaluation, before the review packet is forwarded to the Department Chair/School Director.
3. Evaluation and Review Materials
As the TYR packet goes through the evaluation process, each level of review should append its analysis and recommendation to the packet for consideration by the next level of review. Guidelines for these various levels of review are provided in the “Review Process” section of these guidelines below. The materials should be arranged in the following order, with the responsibility for appending each set of materials indicated below:
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Item |
Responsible Individual |
When |
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TYR-DFRAC evaluation report |
TYR-DFRAC Chair |
After faculty packet received |
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Chair’s evaluation report |
Department Chair/School Director |
Upon completion of department-level evaluation |
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Dean’s final evaluation |
Dean |
Upon completion of college-level review |
The department may opt to solicit a “friendly” external review letter as part of its total evaluation process. This is not a required step , but may provide helpful third-party constructive advice to the faculty member. For example, one might ask a former mentor of the faculty member to examine the review packet and provide feedback to the faculty member about appropriate activities to undertake that would optimize chances for a successful application for promotion and tenure. The use of such a letter should be agreed upon in advance by the faculty member and the Department Chair/School Director as it may necessitate earlier preparation of the review packet. If the optional external review is used by the TYR-DFRAC and the Department Chair/School Director, the letter should be included along with the department’s evaluation reports in this section of the packet before sending forward to the dean.
4. Documentation of Teaching Effectiveness
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Listing of Courses with Teaching Evaluation Summaries
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Provide a table of courses taught during the evaluation period (the probationary period), using the template provided below ( this template may be downloaded from the Academic Affairs’ website or the information can be run using the “UTSA Summary of Student Course Evaluations” report in Digital Measures). Do not include copies of student evaluation surveys or comments among these materials. |
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Semester |
Course No. |
Course Type |
New prep? |
Course Enrollmt. |
No. of Responses |
Course rating |
Instructor rating |
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SP2011 |
ABC.nnn3 |
LD, UD, or GR |
NEW |
xxx |
yyy |
X.X |
Y.Y |
Note: LD = lower division, UD = upper division, GR = graduate level
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Teaching Portfolios
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For each course taught, provide a portfolio containing the course syllabus, exams, handouts, problem sets and other written assignments, and other course materials developed by the faculty candidate. |
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Peer Observation Report(s)
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Please refer to the Peer Observation Guidelines and the HOP, Chapter 2.20 “Peer Observation of Teaching” for more information. |
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Instructional Development
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List any workshops, seminars, or other related meetings attended (or organized) to increase pedagogical effectiveness. This information should include the dates, formats, locations, and names of organizers. |
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Instructional Grants
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List all grants related to instructional activities. This may be taken directly from relevant grants listed on the professional curriculum vitae and should contain the information indicated above for “Grant Activities.” Provide copies of all funded grants and, optionally, referee comments for those grant proposals. |
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Teaching Awards
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List any awards received for excellence in university-level teaching. This may include both awards received at UTSA and at other institutions of higher education, and should indicate the date, award name, awarding unit (for example, college, university, etc.), and institution. |
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Students Mentored
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Provide a list of all students mentored in scholarly and research activities under your mentorship. For undergraduate course advisement, a summary of the number of students served is sufficient. |
5. Documentation of Research Accomplishments and Plans
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Scholarly Products
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Provide an electronic copy of all research/scholarly/ creative works produced during the evaluation period. This includes full copies of any journal articles, book chapters, papers in conference proceedings, architectural projects, digital images of artwork, recordings of musical performances or compositions, and other short-format works. These may include manuscripts under review or in preparation. All relevant products should include the impact (e.g. impact factor of the journal, citation indices, Almetrics, etc.) of the published work. Portions of books may also be scanned to create a digital image for use in the internal review. In cases where the amount of scholarly products is extensive, a representative sample of scholarly products may be submitted, after consultation with the Department Chair/School Director. |
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Reviews
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Where appropriate, provide copies of any reviews of scholarly and creative activity, including reviews of books published, exhibitions, performances, compositions, architectural projects, and other creative endeavors. |
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Grant Proposals
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An electronic copy of all funded grant proposals, as well as any proposals under review, or in preparation, should be provided with an indication of the present status of the proposal. Referee comments from funded proposals may be submitted along with the proposals themselves. If the amount of funded proposals is extensive, a representative sample of proposals may be submitted, after consultation with the Department Chair/School Director. |
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Intellectual Property
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Provide documentation of any intellectual property produced, including patents, copyrights, licensing agreements or other commercialization activities. Faculty are not required to divulge sensitive information concerning the intellectual property, but may document its development and potential commercialization through letters and other communications. |
6. Documentation of Service Activities
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Committee Assignments
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Separately list committee assignments at the department, college, and university levels, indicating dates of service and the name of the committee chair. Applicants should also indicate the extent of their contributions to the work of each committee listed. |
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Professional Service Activities
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List any activities related to professional service, both internal and external. These may include committee assignments, manuscript and proposal review, journal editorship, organization of meetings, and other assistive activities. In all cases, provide dates of service, organizations served, and time committed. |
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Leadership Positions
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Provide a summary of any leadership positions held at the university or within a professional/disciplinary organization or society. List the dates for each applicable position, the responsibilities of the position, and the time commitment involved in executing the responsibilities of the position. Also, indicate any special accomplishments achieved while in the leadership position. |
7. Optional Supplementary Materials
Faculty members undergoing third-year review may submit optional supplementary materials to highlight or document achievement in the areas of teaching, research/scholarly/creative activities, and service activities. A checklist of possible items that might be included among the supplementary materials is included in the Digital Measures Workflow form.
Faculty members may also make available other supplementary materials in support of the application, including full sets of student teaching surveys with comments, works in progress, a statement of future research goals and directions, and other items as allowed by the department and college. The supplementary materials are primarily used at the departmental level of review. Once the department-level evaluations are completed, the optional supplementary materials will remain available during the college review of the packet. In extraordinary cases, where the supplementary materials might clarify a point in dispute from earlier reviews, the dean may request access to these materials for a given case.
The intent of supplementary materials is to facilitate the separate evaluations of the TYR-DFRAC and the Department Chair/School Director in this process.
Special Note to Faculty
These guidelines are intended to help you prepare a compelling, well-documented packet for your third-year review. Much of the content of this packet is identical to the material that you will collect in preparation for consideration for tenure and promotion. Your application packet will be evaluated at all levels of the review. For you research/scholarly/creative activities it is important that all products include the date and title of publication/exhibition/performance, the impact factor of the journal, number of citations for the publication, the venue, and where applicable, the inclusive page numbers or size of the scholarly contribution. As you prepare your packet, please consider how readily a reader may access and absorb the material it contains. Repetition and verbosity will only serve to fatigue reviewers without adding substance to your packet— be as succinct as possible in each section of the packet.
