Faculty Personnel Committee
Faculty Personnel Committee Roster (Elected)
| Name | Department | Term |
| Rich Margerum | Associate Dean | Ex-Officio |
| Philip Speranza (Assoc Prof, Arch) | SAE | 2024-26 |
| Jack Ryan (Prof, Art) | A+D | 2023-25 |
| Yizhao Yang (Prof, PPPM) | PPPM | 2024-26 |
| Kristen Seaman (Assoc Prof, HAA) | At Large | 2024-26 |
| Kiersten Muenchinger (Prof, PD) | At Large | 2023-25 |
| Camie Foos | Design Business Coordinator | Staff |
Charge
The College of Design Faculty Personnel Committee (FPC) shall be responsible for reviewing tenure and promotion cases within the College of Design and providing their assessment of each case. These assessments and Dean level review of the case constitute the College’s review for tenure and promotion, which provide context and information for the University FPC and Provost.
The FPC carries this out a thorough review of each promotion or tenure dossier relative to the unit criteria. The FPC may also request additional information or corrections to dossiers when required, working with the Dean’s Office support staff and the relevant school or department. The FPC votes on each dossier and provides its recommendation, including justification. In addition, the FPC also reviews the promotion and tenure process at the College and University at the end of each season and provides suggestions for improvement.
Membership
Five tenured faculty members serve on the DSGN Faculty Personnel Committee. Three must be from each of the three Schools and two at large members may serve any School or Department. To avoid a heavy service burden on the smaller History of Art and Architecture Department, this structure does not require an HAA member. The majority of faculty should be at the rank of Full Professor unless there are special circumstances limiting the availability of faculty at that rank.
Members serve for a two-year term with a goal of having no more than four members rotating off in any year. The chair of the FPC is typically a returning member who is selected by committee consensus. The College of Design Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs is an ex-officio member and point of contact for the Committee. The Associate Dean will convene the committee, review the cases and timeline, and coordinate orientation meetings with the Provost’s Office (if desired). The College will also provide staff support for the committee.
Election Process
Members of the College FPC must be tenured officers of instruction. In addition, the College is authorized to exclude from the ballot any nominated candidates who notify the college that they do not wish to serve on the Committee, will not be on campus during the ensuing academic year, or are ineligible for election under the rules of the faculty. The College may also exclude members from the ballot to satisfy the goal that a majority be full professors.
During Spring term, the Dean’s Office will seek nominations and self-nominations. The Dean’s office will submit the list of nominees to the faculty for an online vote. In the case that a position needs to be filled outside of this period, the college will run an election for that seat.
Workload
The workload is heavy during fall term. In extraordinary situations, some cases may spill over into winter term. The committee usually does not meet in spring term. Workload varies based on the number of cases in a given year. Negotiations for committee assignments are conducted within the committee to ensure an equitable distribution of workload.
Timeline and Workflow
The FPC should plan to complete its work in early December. This provides sufficient time for the Dean to complete the required procedures before they are due to the Provost’s office in January.
The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will meet with the FPC at the beginning of each year and during the year, as needed. The Dean’s office will review P&T files for completeness and accuracy as they come from the departments prior to their review by the FPC. Requests by the FPC for further materials from the candidate or department will be intermediated by the Associate Dean.
The committee will typically prioritize promotion and tenure cases followed by promotion to full cases, reviewing them in the order the completed files are provided to the College. The committee will review, discuss, and write an evaluation and recommendation for cases. The draft and final write-ups are typically discussed over several meetings. The faculty evaluation report must include the following four headings in their report:
- Scholarship;
- Teaching criteria related to: Professional, Inclusive, Engaged, and Research-Informed
- Service, and
- Equity and inclusion.
It is typical that the FPC assigns members to be the lead in drafting up specific cases to distribute the workload. The “lead” drafts up the initial committee report and then incorporates comments and finalizes the draft after the committee has discussed the case. For the other cases, each member will need to read the files in full and be ready to discuss them.