Policy Number: III-7
Last Reviewed: April 16, 2019
Responsible Dept.: Human Resources
Office to contact for clarifications: Human Resources
A signed copy of this policy is available in the President’s Office.
Purpose:
To provide the criteria and describe the annual process to be used in determining promotions for full-time faculty-ranked employees to include administrative, professional, and teaching faculty.
Definitions:
Educational Leave – An approved unconditional leave with or without pay that allows employees to further their education through study related to their work or that of the college.
Faculty – Those full-time employees who hold faculty rank and teach, or occupy a professional or administrative position which is exempt from classified service.
Leave Without Pay – Unconditional and Conditional – An unconditional leave without pay is an approved absence from work in excess of 14 consecutive calendar days without pay that guarantees reinstatement to the position held by the employee before the leave commenced. A conditional leave without pay is an employee’s absence from work in excess of 14 consecutive calendar days without pay (other than for military leave) that guarantees reinstatement only if the employee’s position is available when the employee returns from leave.
Military Leave – Military leave is granted with or without pay to faculty for active duty in the armed services of the United States or for employees who are former members of the armed services, or current members of the U.S. reserve forces or the Commonwealth militia, or the National Defense Executive Reserve.
Promotion – An upward change in rank based on the guidelines set forth in VCCS Policy Section 3.7 Faculty Promotions and the criteria detailed in the VCCS-29, Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank. Additional information regarding faculty qualifications can also be found in VCCS Policy Section 3.2 Faculty Qualifications for Academic Rank and Section 3.2a Explanation of Policy – Qualifications of Faculty.
Related Occupational Experience – The number of years of related occupational experience whereby one year of related occupational experience contains twelve (12) months. This is full-time experience or full-time equivalent experience. Further guidelines are provided in VCCS Policy 3.7 Faculty Promotions, as well as VCCS Policy 3.8.0.1 Faculty Compensation, General Provisions.
Years 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.
Policy:
Virginia Western Community College encourages each faculty member to seek professional and educational advancement through the opportunity of promotion in rank.
The minimum qualifications for promotion in rank are stated in the VCCS-29, Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank, which can be found in Section 3.7 of the VCCS Policy Manual. VCCS Policy Section 3.2 Faculty Qualifications for Academic Rank, as well as Section 3.2a Explanation of Policy – Qualification of Faculty are also helpful resources.
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), exceeding 14 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.
In calculating graduate hours in the teaching field, only those courses that clearly indicate the discipline (title of course or prefix) shall be used. If the course is not so designated by prefix and/or title, the faculty member must obtain appropriate documentation from the institution describing the course content and its direct relationship to the discipline. Appropriate documentation may include any of the following: a letter from a college official, college catalog information, or course content description.
In calculating years of service or related occupational experience, no portion of a year shall be used in the total years (i.e., must round down). Experience is counted in terms of full-time experience. The same time period can only be counted once (e.g., cannot count teaching experience and related occupational experience that overlap for both teaching and related occupational).
All pertinent documentation required for consideration for promotion must be received in Human Resources. This includes, but is not limited to, unofficial or official college transcripts, required faculty evaluations, course content descriptions, etc.
The approval of a promotion shall be based upon an individual’s meeting the criteria established by the VCCS and by the college. The president reserves the right to make the final decision regarding rank promotion that is in the best interest of the college.
Faculty eligible for promotion shall receive $2,000, or the minimum amount necessary to bring the faculty member’s salary to the minimum of the new rank, whichever is greater. This salary increase shall be added to the faculty member’s annual base salary.
Salary increases as a result of promotion in rank shall become effective using the following schedule:
- Effective July 1: Administrative and Professional Faculty, and 12-month Teaching Faculty
- Effective August 16: 9-month Teaching Faculty, and 10-month Teaching Faculty
Supervisors must adhere to and abide by all established applicable policies and procedures.
Additional Information:
References
VCCS-29 Normal Minimum Criteria for Each Faculty Rank
VCCS Policy Manual Section 3.2 Faculty Qualifications for Academic Rank
VCCS Policy Manual Section 3.2a Explanation of Policy – Qualification of Faculty
VCCS Policy Manual Section 3.7 – Faculty Promotions
VCCS Policy Manual Section 3.9 – Faculty Leave
Department of Human Resources Management Policy 4.50 Military Leave
Department of Human Resources Management Policy 4.45 Leave Without Pay – Conditional/Unconditional
Department of Human Resources Management Policy 4.15 Educational Leave
VWCC Faculty Transcript Analysis Sheet
VWCC Faculty Rank Promotion Checklist
VWCC Faculty Rank Procedure
