Faculty Handbook

The lecturer re-appointment process and forms are intended to facilitate and systemize lecturer re-appointments on a university-wide basis. Although the unit chair/director is the principal administrative agent responsible for carrying out the re-appointment process, uniform procedural integrity cannot be achieved unless careful adherence to their contextual provisions is respected at all administrative levels. If non-substantive errors are made in the record-keeping portion of the procedures (such as failure to initial action taken, misreporting of the number of peers, etc.) or if further clarification is required, these errors may be corrected or clarifications made at any level of review without impacting the timeline for review.

Under these procedures, consideration for contract renewal should progress as follows for Lecturer rank faculty:

Annual Renewal Procedure

Each year during the annual faculty evaluation cycle, the Departmental Chair/School Director will carry out an annual evaluation of Lecturer appointments consistent with all other faculty annual evaluations. The Lecturer’s contract, accompanied by an annual evaluation that meets expectations, with an ongoing departmental need for the position, is automatically renewed upon recommendation of the Departmental Chair/School Director and Dean. If an annual evaluation indicates a need for improvement, the Departmental Chair/School Director may, in their discretion, create a professional development plan in lieu of non-renewal, and may engage in peer support and additional peer evaluation where appropriate.  

Contract Reappointment Procedure

While Lecturers are typically hired on a three-year contract appointment, the length of contract appointment can vary depending on the needs of the academic unit. Contract appointments longer than the typical three-year contract must be approved by the Dean and Provost with appropriate written justification. However, just as in the case of other non-tenured faculty, reappointment to a new contract period, regardless of contract term length, is subject to: 1) annual evaluations which meet expectations, and 2) the ongoing substantive need for the position. For those Lecturers with contract terms other than three years, the same procedures apply before a new Contract Reappointment period is established. Lecturers annually evaluated as unacceptable in the area of teaching or have an overall unacceptable rating for any year of their contract period are not eligible for six-year renewed contract appointments, absent due cause. 
If the Lecturer has received annual evaluations which meet expectations, and there is an ongoing need for the position, the Chair/Director can recommend a new contract period of reappointment to the Dean. The written justification for the ongoing need of the position will be provided by the Departmental Chair/School Director and Dean and submitted to the Provost’s Office at the time of position renewal reviews before the end of the spring semester. As part of the contract reappointment consideration, the Departmental Chair/School Director may engage in a departmental peer review and/or require a teaching review by the CITL:

• in the last year of the contract term; 
• at any point during the contract period to provide feedback on continuous improvement; 
• in year four of a six-year contract term or at the point of eligibility to apply for promotion consideration (whichever is applicable). 

The departmental peer review and/or request for CITL review for purposes of new contract reappointment should be part of a dossier review submitted by the faculty member on January 15th of the year for new contract period reappointment. If the decision is made to renew a contract appointment, then the Department Chair/School Director and Dean will work with Academic Affairs to process a new contract per the Academic Administrative Planning Calendar deadlines.    

Revised 1.15.2026 and Effective January 2026