(1) Nil. (2) Nil. (3) The University acknowledges through internal promotion to Professor the contribution of academic staff who demonstrate outstanding achievement at a level normally expected of a Professor in Australian universities. The opportunity of promotion to Professor on the basis of personal merit illustrates that the University values excellence, innovation and achievement in teaching, educational development, research, scholarship, and the advancement of knowledge, and leadership within the University, the region and the wider community, nationally and internationally. The University also expects that all staff promoted to Professor will have, and be able to demonstrate, a high personal standing in terms of ethical behaviour, a collegial approach, and support for the University's values and strategic directions. Unless a successful applicant is exceptionally talented in other ways, significant academic leadership ability will be regarded as an essential attribute. The policy enables recognition of academic staff members' diverse achievements and talents, and supports different pathways for academic excellence. (4) Promotion to Professor is exceptional and is reserved only for those demonstrating outstanding achievement. Promotion to Professor should therefore not be seen as the usual career progression expectation for all academic staff. (5) In the promotion process, social justice principles will be observed. (6) Any full-time or part-time member of the academic staff of UWS with a continuing appointment may apply for promotion, provided that the staff member has served at least two academic years as an academic staff member at UWS prior to the date on which applications for promotion are invited. Any period of leave without pay or secondment to another institution cannot be included in the two year period. Exemptions from the two-year rule will only be considered in exceptional circumstances and will be at the discretion of the Chair Professorial Promotions Committee, to whom a case must be put prior to the close of applications. (7) Academic staff who take more than a period of 6 months leave without pay, are not eligible to apply for promotion in the calendar year (January - December) that the leave commences. (8) Academic staff employed on the basis of a fixed-term contract are also eligible to apply, but promotion of a person who is employed on a non-renewable contract does not vary the length of the contract. (9) Academic staff whose employment is externally funded are not eligible to apply for promotion unless the funds include provision for an increase to support the promotion. (10) Academic staff employed on a casual basis are not eligible to apply for promotion. (11) An academic staff member may not normally apply for promotion in consecutive years. This provision may only be varied if the Chair Professorial Promotions Committee considers a case to be exceptional. (12) An applicant may make only one application in a promotion round at any level and applications for promotion to Professor will only be considered for that level. (13) Before a promotion can be confirmed, the applicant must have a current, signed workload agreement and have participated constructively and in good faith in the Academic Performance Planning and Review process. (14) Applications for promotion to Professor will be assessed against the University's general standard for appointment to an advertised Chair, which reflects the Position Classification Standard for Level E in Schedule 3 of the UWS Academic Staff Agreement 2006 - 2008 and reads as follows: (15) It is expected that successful applicants will normally be able to satisfy the threshold requirement in clause (23) below and to demonstrate a minimum of "meritorious" activity in all four of the fields of attainment listed below in clause (24) and "distinguished" activity in at least two. The fields of attainment claimed as "distinguished" must include either: (1) Research and/or Scholarship or (2) Teaching and/or Curriculum Development and/or Educational Leadership. (16) When demonstrating an outstanding level of achievement in research, applicants must have been recognised by the University as "research-active". (17) Allowances will be made for those (e.g. research only staff) who have not had an opportunity to engage in all four fields; however their performance in designated areas would be expected to be accordingly of a high level of distinction. (18) Where an applicant is of the view that a field of attainment does not apply, the reason must be stated and justified under the relevant criterion in the application template. (19) In the case of the requirement of "distinguished activity in at least two fields", the Professorial Promotions Committee will consider exceptions, as, for example, in a case where the applicant's outstandingly distinguished work in one field may make it unreasonable to expect a distinguished contribution in another. (20) The performance of applicants who have had interrupted or non-traditional career paths will be assessed accordingly. (21) When assessing candidates for promotion to Professor, the Professorial Promotions Committee will give regard to the requirement in clause (23) and the specific fields of attainment in clause (24). Information relating to the levels of attainment appears in Appendix 1 and examples of evidence appear in the guidelines for completing the application template. (22) Applications for promotion to Professor should take an all-of-career focus, but with clear delineation of achievements since the applicant's last promotion or since the applicant's appointment to UWS, whichever is the shorter period. (23) A doctorate or where appropriate, either professional qualifications relevant to the discipline or field or evidence of independent research and/or standing considered to be of an equivalent standard in the discipline area. In situations where the formal qualification requirement is not met, applicants are required to present a clear case for 'equivalence' (limited to one page) to allow consideration of the application to proceed. The case must demonstrate outstanding professional experience, scholarship and reputation, whereby the overall achievement is similar to that of a PhD, or a coherent and sustained pattern of research in a defined area that could be considered equivalent. (24) The fields of attainment are: (25) Evidence of the initiation, or undertaking, of successful entrepreneurial activities on behalf of the University is admissible to support a case for promotion. While such activities may not fall clearly into any one of the fields of attainment listed above, candidates should include any relevant evidence under the field to which it seems, in the light of the activity involved, most appropriate. (26) It is expected that research outcomes cited in the application will have been registered with the Office of Research Services. The Professorial Promotions Committee may, at its discretion, seek validation of claims relating to research achievements from the Office of Research Services. Only consulting projects that have been approved by, and conducted through, UWS are eligible to be considered in support of an application for promotion. (27) The Vice-Chancellor will invite applications for promotion annually at least two months in advance of the closing date for applications. This invitation will include a timetable for completion of the promotion process. (28) Works accepted for publication but not published before the closing date for applications may be included in the publications list so long as they are marked as such and evidence for acceptance by the journal or publisher is provided to the Executive Dean. (29) Where appropriate, the application should include citation data from the relevant citation index for each publication, excluding self-citations. It is acknowledged that citations will only be possible where they are routinely available. (30) The applicant must provide evidence of information in the application (e.g. publications, research grants, consultancies etc.) to the Executive Dean who must sign that the information has been sighted. (31) Applicants must clearly state the percentage of their contribution to publications, must include numbers of pages in books, page numbers of articles or chapters in books and must use the referencing system recognised as appropriate for their discipline. Publications in alternative media must include an explanation of their content. (32) Applications must be made on the template provided, which consists of a cover sheet (including personal details, academic qualifications or equivalence and employment history), the written case for promotion, which should not exceed 10 pages, and evidence of achievements, including details of publications, grants, courses developed and taught, scholarly activities, governance participation, etc., in tabular form. (33) Applicants are required to address all the requirements for promotion as outlined in Parts B and C (i.e. the threshold requirement and all four fields of attainment), except where not applicable, in which case, the requirements of clause (18) above will apply; and to specify for each promotion criterion whether their level of attainment is to be considered by the promotions committee as distinguished or meritorious. Definitions of these terms can be found in Appendix 1. (34) Although applicants may refer to achievements across the criteria, they must ensure that they do not duplicate their case in more than one criterion. When demonstrating the threshold PhD equivalence though, applicants may include achievements that have also been included under the different criteria. (35) For fields of "distinguished" activity, the template includes provision for a short comment about the five best, or most significant, publications, or, where appropriate, about major achievements or other outputs. (36) Two copies of each cited work must be provided to the Executive Officer Promotions. (37) All material cited in the application must be available to the Professorial Promotions Committee if requested. (38) Guidelines to assist in completing the application are also available. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use the guidelines when preparing their application for promotion. (39) Applicants for promotion may provide a brief statement on any equity considerations relevant to their application. (40) Applicants should note that the submission of additional information will not normally be accepted after the closing date for receipt of applications for promotion. Exceptions may apply in cases where information is requested by the Committee or is information that relates directly to an activity detailed within the application where an outcome is pending, e.g. notification of successful or unsuccessful application for a research grant, conferral of a qualification etc. (41) Applicants are required to submit an electronic version of the application to the Executive Officer Promotions (email: promotions@uws.edu.au) by the closing date specified in the notice calling for applications. On the same date, applicants should also submit a copy of their application to their Executive Dean and Academic Supervisor. Applicants must also provide the Executive Dean with evidence of their publications, research grants and consultancies etc. (42) All applications for promotion will be acknowledged by the Executive Officer Promotions, within one week of receipt of the application. (43) The Executive Officer Promotions, will request a recommendation report from the relevant Executive Dean within seven days of the closing date for applications. The Executive Dean must submit the report to the Executive Officer Promotions, on the required template within twenty-one days of the request. The report is to be completed by the Executive Dean in consultation with the Academic Supervisor and the template contains provision for addition or qualification by the Academic Supervisor. The report should not comment on Research nor recommend to promote or not promote. (44) Prior to the submission of the report, the Executive Dean and the Academic Supervisor are required to read the application in full. The Executive Dean must give a copy of their report to the applicant at the same time as they submit the report to the Executive Officer Promotions. (45) If an applicant disagrees with any aspect of the Executive Dean's recommendation report, they have a right of reply. The applicant must send their response (no more than one page) to the Executive Officer Promotions, within seven (7) days of the receipt of the copy of the Executive Dean's recommendation. The Executive Officer Promotions will send a copy of the response to the Executive Dean. (46) Once the Professorial Promotions Committee has held its first meeting, an applicant cannot normally withdraw his or her application except in the circumstances in clause (47) below. (47) An application for promotion is to be withdrawn if the applicant has accepted an offer of redundancy, a position in another institution, or has resigned from the University. (48) Applicants must not contact a member of the Professorial Promotions Committee or an assessor to discuss their application, except to receive official feedback from the Chair or nominee after results have been notified. (49) All referees' reports will be requested by the Executive Officer Promotions, immediately following receipt of applications. Applicants should try to avoid nominating members of the Promotions Committee as referees. (50) Applicants are required to provide the names, addresses (email and postal) and facsimile numbers of three (3) referees of appropriate standing, who have agreed to act in this capacity. Normally, two of the referees should be external to the University and, except where referees of international standing are unobtainable or not relevant because of the nature of the applicant's work, of international standing. At least one referee must be internal. See further under Guidelines. It is the responsibility of the applicant to provide a copy of the promotion application to the nominated referees. (51) The relevant Executive Dean, without reference to the applicant, should nominate a panel of experts in the discipline to act as independent assessors, of which the Professorial Promotions Committee may select two. The selected assessors are to review the significant works nominated by the applicant, in addition to providing information on the standing of the applicant in the particular discipline. The applicant will be informed of the identity of each assessor and if they provide the Chair with a reasonable rationale for withholding consent (e.g. a demonstrable conflict of interest), another assessor will be sought. The Professorial Promotions Committee may also obtain advice from other internal and external advisers of its own choosing and will inform the applicant where this advice is sought, for what purpose the advice is sought and the identity of the adviser(s). (52) The Professorial Promotions Committee will consider all applications and has the right to recommend an applicant to be promoted or not to be promoted, without interview. In fact, interviews are not normally held. If the Professorial Promotions Committee does wish to interview the applicant, it may communicate in writing those aspects of the application that it wishes to clarify. Interviews are to seek further clarification of certain aspects of the application and new information or material may not be presented. (53) Recommendations for promotion must be supported by a minimum of the full complement of the Professorial Promotions Committee members, excluding the Vice-Chancellor, less two. Final approval of recommended applicants rests with the Vice-Chancellor. (54) Each applicant will be advised of the outcome of their application within fourteen days of the Vice-Chancellor's decision. (55) The Vice-Chancellor, as Chair Professorial Promotions Committee, has the sole responsibility of providing feedback to unsuccessful applicants, if requested. This feedback may take the form of a meeting, with the Secretary of the Committee in attendance. (56) All successful applicants will be promoted with effect from 1 January of the year following application, unless the Vice-Chancellor determines an earlier date for all successful applicants. (57) The Vice-Chancellor will provide Academic Senate with a report about the promotion round, including the number of applications received, the number of promotions approved (incorporating a breakdown based on gender) and the number and outcomes of any appeals. (58) Membership of the Professorial Promotions Committee will comprise at least: (59) The Vice-Chancellor may co-opt an additional Professor of the University to the committee to achieve gender or disciplinary balance. While the Professorial Promotions Committee should be broadly-based, there is no requirement that all disciplines are represented. (60) The UWS Director Equity and Diversity will provide advice on the composition of the Professorial Promotions Committee. (61) Where a member of the committee is unable to attend or continue to serve once the consideration of applications has commenced (for example, due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances), the Vice-Chancellor may nominate an appropriate replacement. (62) The Director Equity and Diversity will be invited to be in attendance at meetings of the committee as an observer. (63) Unsuccessful applicants for promotion who believe that they have been treated unfairly owing to a defect in the process followed during the promotion round, and who consider that defect has materially affected the decision of the Professorial Promotions Committee, may lodge a formal appeal. The grounds of any such appeal are limited to: (64) All appeals must be submitted in writing to the Director Human Resources within 20 working days of notification of the decision. (65) Appeals must refer to the Promotions process and cannot be based on advice received after notification of the result. (66) A Promotions Appeals Committee will be established on a triennial basis to consider appeals from all levels. (67) The Promotions Appeals Committee will consist of three members approved by the Vice-Chancellor, being: (68) In the case of the staff members in clause (67), each nominee will be a UWS staff member, classified as full-time (being half-time or greater), who has accepted and entered upon duty in a position with duration of one year or more. (69) The appellant is to be notified of the membership of the Promotions Appeals Committee and be given the opportunity to present a case for the consideration of the Vice-Chancellor, where there is any perceived conflict of interest. (70) The Director Human Resources will appoint a secretary to assist the Promotions Appeals Committee. (71) Members of the Promotions Appeals Committee (PAC) are entitled to examine all documents relevant to the appeal under consideration, including referees' reports that have been submitted in confidence to the University. The deliberations of the PAC are confidential. Control of documents available to the PAC is the responsibility of the Committee Secretary. (72) The Promotions Appeals Committee will advise the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic and Services (DVCAS) in writing of its recommendation to uphold or reject the appeal. The Office of Human Resources will notify the appellant of the decision of the DVCAS to uphold or reject the appeal. (73) In the event of a successful appeal, the Promotions Appeals Committee will furnish an account of its reasons for upholding the appeal to the Professorial Promotions Committee. The Professorial Promotions Committee will then reconvene to reconsider the application while taking every care to avoid the procedural defect that led to the successful appeal. (74) Refer to the information provided on the Associated Information Page.Promotion to Professor Policy
Section 1 - Purpose and Context
Section 2 - Definitions
Section 3 - Policy Statement
Part A - Eligibility
Part B - Requirements for Promotion
Part C - Criteria for Promotion
Formal Qualifications or Equivalence
Fields of Attainment
Section 4 - Procedures
Part D - Application Method
Part E - Submission of Applications
Part F - Referees
Part G - Determination and Notification
Part H - Professorial Promotions Committee
Part I - Appeals
Section 5 - Guidelines
View Current
This is not a current document. It has been repealed and is no longer in force.
"A Professor is expected to exercise a special responsibility in providing leadership and in fostering excellence in research, teaching, professional activities and policy development in the academic discipline within the department or other comparable organisational unit, within the institution and within the community, both scholarly and general."