Administrative Appointments – Tenure and Promotion

DSU follows the policy established by the Board of Trustees, Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, in the selection, appointment to the appropriate discipline, and tenure of the Institutional Executive Officer. According to Policy 201.0508, the Board appoints the Institutional Executive Officer. According to Policy 403.03, the Institutional Executive Officer, upon appointment, will concurrently hold an appointment to the faculty in his/her discipline at the rank of full professor. After successful completion of five (5) years of service as Institutional Executive Officer, the incumbent may be tenured as a full professor in the designated department at the discretion of the Board. Tenure shall carry the usual rights and priviledges as specified in Board and institutional policy. In the event that the Institutional Executive Officer resigns and elects to remain with the institution, his or her salary as a professor shall be determined by the IHL Board based upon the appropriate consideration of teaching, research, public service and salary conditions in the discipline.

University Administrators holding the title of Provost, Vice President, Associate/Assistant Provost, and/or Vice President, Dean, Associate/Assistant Dean, or Department/Division Chair/Director may, upon appointment, concurrently hold an appointment to the faculty in his/her discipline, with the status of the position designated as tenured, tenure track, or non-tenure track. Administrative appointments do not carry tenure, but an administrator who holds a tenured academic appointment retains that tenured appointment, and an administrator whose administrative appointment concurrently includes a tenure track faculty appointment may be awarded tenure while in the administrative position, in accordance with university procedures and policies. The rights of tenure apply to the faculty role and not the administrative office to which the administrator is appointed. The appointee may also be eligible for promotion in rank while in the administrative position.

When an administrator relinquishes an administrative position, his or her salary shall be established as defined in the individual’s contract or determined on the basis of the individual’s qualifications as a faculty member. Additional salary for the administrative position, if any, shall not be paid to the faculty member when he or she ceases to hold the administrative position.

The initial letter of appointment for an administrative position will state:

• the appointee’s tenure, tenure track, or non-tenure track status
• the appointee’s rank
• credit, as appropriate, up to a maximum of five (5) years toward fulfillment of the minimum probationary period for tenure
• a salary, including additional salary for the administrative position, if any, and/or method of salary computation for the administrative position, and that such shall not be paid to the faculty member when he/she ceases to hold the administrative position.

The employment contract will state:

• the appointee’s tenure, tenure track, or non-tenure track status
• the appointee’s rank
• credit, as appropriate, up to a maximum of five (5) years toward fulfillment of the minimum probationary period for tenure
• an salary, including additional salary for the administrative position, if any, and/or method of salary computation for the administrative position, and that such shall not be paid to the faculty member when he/she ceases to hold the administrative position. 

With the exception of the Institutional Executive Officer (see IHL policies 201.0508 and 403.03 as referenced above, paragraph 1), all applications for tenure and/or promotion of tenure track administrators will follow the procedures delineated in the DSU Tenure and Promotion Policies. The only variance from the policies will be that an administrator’s application for tenure and/or promotion will not be reviewed at the level of his or her administrative position (i.e., a dean’s application portfolio will not include a review by a dean and a vice president’s application portfolio will not include a review by a vice president).

All appeals to the tenure and/or promotion decisions for all administrators below the level of the Institutional Executive Officer will follow the procedures established in the DSU Tenure and Promotion policies.