The Faculty Post-Tenure Review Appeals Committee (PTRAC) shall consist of seven tenured (7) members elected by the Institute’s tenured faculty.  There shall be one member elected by faculty vote from each academic College and one member elected at-large. A faculty member may serve two consecutive terms. The PTRAC shall elect its own chair. The Secretary of the Faculty should ensure that the terms of the committee members overlap, so that the entire committee does not turn over at once. The PTRAC will concern itself only with appeals from both PTR and CPTR.

• The Post-Tenure Review Appeals Committee (PTRAC) shall hear only appeals from post-tenure reviews (PTR) and corrective post-tenure reviews (CPTR) in which the faculty member has received an unsuccessful evaluation by their School’s or unit’s post-tenure review committee. Before an appeal may be filed with the PTRAC, the faculty member must have exhausted all available and appropriate administrative remedies within the school or college. If the faculty member then wishes to file an appeal with the PTRAC, they must submit a written request for appeal to the PTRAC stating the grounds on which the appeal is based. This written request must be filed with the PTRAC within ten (10) business days after a final decision has been rendered by the school or college under the available and appropriate administrative appeals procedure. 

• In extraordinary cases, the PTRAC, in its sole discretion, may grant a variance from the exhaustion requirement if the appellant petitions the PTRAC for such a variance in writing and shows good cause why the exhaustion requirement (as noted above in paragraph A) should not apply. The written request for variance must be filed with the PTRAC within ten (10) business days of receiving the unsatisfactory post-tenure evaluation.   

• In considering appeals, the PTRAC will act as a committee of the whole. The Chair shall be a voting member of the committee. A final decision requires a simple majority of the whole committee (4/7). To avoid conflicts of interest, members of the PTRAC shall not serve on any other post-tenure review committee during their term as a PTRAC member. 

• Once an appeal is filed, the PTRAC may consider the fairness of the evaluation process within the post-tenure review School or unit, the reasonableness of the determination, as well as the appropriateness of the course of action suggested by the post-tenure review School or unit that might strengthen the faculty member’s performance. In addition to the written appeal, the committee, in its sole discretion, may hear and consider oral testimony. 

• If the PTRAC decides that the decision of the post-tenure review unit is fair and valid, and that the suggested course of action for improvement is appropriate, the decision of the unit’s post-tenure review committee will then be final and binding on the appellant.  

• If, instead, the PTRAC decides that the evaluation process was flawed or that the determination of unsatisfactory is invalid, the PTRAC may (1) order that the matter be reheard by the School’s or unit’s post-tenure review committee as if the matter had not previously been heard before and as if no decision had been previously rendered, or (2) it may order that the decision of the School’s or unit’s post-tenure review be reversed outright. If the PTRAC decides that only part of the review is appropriate, for whatever reason, the PTRAC may remand the matter to the School’s or unit’s post-tenure review committee for further action as directed ty the PTRAC.  

• If the PTRAC decides that the evaluation itself is fair and valid, but the suggested course of action for improvement is not appropriate, the PTRAC may 1) hold meetings with the School’s or unit’s post-tenure review committee, the appellant, and the School Chair in order to reach a satisfactory solution, 2) remand to the School’s or unit’s post-tenure review committee with recommendations, or 3) refer to outside mediation. 

• The decision of the PTRAC is final and binding. The prior decision of any other committee is not binding on the PTRAC, although the PTRAC may take such a decision into consideration. If issues before the PTRAC are being considered simultaneously by the Faculty Status and Grievance Committee, the Faculty Status and Grievance Committee proceeding shall be stayed until the PTRAC renders its decision. 

• The PTRAC shall not hear appeals concerning the formal plan of faculty development (PRP, PIP, etc.). This formal plan is established by the School Chair and the faculty member in consultation with the School’s or unit’s post-tenure review committee after all requests for reconsideration and appeals have been exhausted.   

• The PTRAC will render its decision on the appeal within twenty (20) business days of the filing of the appeal. 

• A record of any action taken as a result of an appeal, including all documents related to the appeal, will be maintained by the Vice Provost for Faculty’s office.