Please note: term research professors and postdocs are not eligible for continuing appointment.
 

Timeline 

• Please consult your academic unit on the deadline for your faculty file submission 

• Apr. 12 – All Academic Units deadline for submission to Dean of Faculty 

Guidelines 

All files for action will be reviewed according to the criteria laid out in the approved version of your academic unit’s term and continuing appointment guidelines, which can be found on the DOF website, scroll down to “Unit guidelines for term and continuing appointment faculty.” 

Items to be included in the File for Action 

Type of faculty action	Number of years file should cover	Word count on narrative including teaching, service, and currency in the field	File components to be supplied by faculty member
Continuing Appointment	Past 6 active* years including current AY	Up to 2,250 words for professorial lecturer track and assistant professors.  Up to 3,000 for term associate and full professors	Abridged teaching portfolio plus dated CV
3-year reappointment	Past 3 active* years including current AY	Up to 2,250 words for professorial lecturer track and assistant professors.  Up to 3,000 for term associate and full professors	Abridged teaching portfolio plus dated CV
1-year reappointment	Past active* one year—current AY	Up to 1,000 words	Abridged teaching portfolio plus dated CV
Promotion for all levels	Corresponds to the type of appointment you are applying for	Up to 2,250 for professorial lecturer track and assistant professors.  Up to 3,000 for term associate and full professors	Full teaching portfolio plus dated CV for term professorial lecturer sequence faculty    Term associate and full professors should also consult the DOF/CFA memo instructions for additional components

*active refers to years that you were teaching full time at AU.  

File components supplied by others: 

• OIRA will provide SET summaries for all faculty members submitting files except CAS faculty. CAS faculty should submit their own SET Instructor Semester Summaries (1 per semester) generated by Blue in their accounts at set.american.edu.  

• Some materials will be provided and placed in faculty files by the teaching and academic unit, which includes prior internal evaluations and previous letters of reappointment produced by the Dean of Faculty. See checklists on the DOF website that correspond with your faculty action.  

• Check with your academic units on how they would like to receive the contents of your file and their internal review processes.  

Right to Respond to memos 

Per the Faculty Manual, an applicant has a right to respond, within a week, to any of the memos produced as part of the file.