Promotion and Tenure Guidelines:

Guidelines for the Selection of External Reviewers

Particular attention should be paid to the process of selecting external reviewers to write assessment letters for promotion and tenure candidates. 

Both the candidate and the department/school promotion and tenure committee should be involved in the process of selecting external reviewers.  It is inappropriate for the committee to select only those reviewers proposed by the candidate. 

When considering a reviewer, the committee should consider the appropriateness of the reviewer's academic accomplishments, rank (full professors strongly preferred), and institution. 

There should be at least three letters from reviewers who are NOT the candidate's dissertation advisors, former teachers, co-authors, friends, relatives, or other persons closely aligned with the candidate.

Each letter should be accompanied by a brief biographical summary of the reviewer's accomplishments, appointments, and other pertinent information, along with the committee's rationale for selecting the reviewer.

A list of the information that was sent to the reviewers should accompany the external reviewers' letters.