Documenting Federal Policy Impacts in Retention, Tenure, and Promotion Files |
The 2024-2025 academic year has witnessed significant changes in federal policies that may have materially affected faculty work across teaching, scholarship/creative activity, and service. This memo provides guidance for documenting these impacts in your retention, tenure, and promotion (RTP) materials and offers recommendations for review committee consideration, consistent with existing RTP policies and shared governance processes.
Federal Policy Changes Affecting Academic Work
Faculty may have experienced adverse impacts due to one or more of the following federal policy shifts:
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Federal funding reductions: Cuts to research grants, educational programs, and institutional support
- Travel restrictions: New limitations on international and domestic professional travel
- Immigration and customs changes: Modified visa processes, international collaboration barriers, and student/scholar mobility restrictions
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy changes: Elimination or modification of federal DEI initiatives, programs, and requirements
- Department of Education policy shifts: Changes affecting educational programs, student services, and institutional compliance requirements
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GUIDANCE FOR FACULTY
Documentation in RTP Files
Faculty are strongly encouraged to document any adverse impacts from these federal policy changes within their Working Personnel Action File (WPAF) narratives and evidence. If space constraints in the standard WPAF narrative prevent adequate discussion, faculty may include an additional one-page supplemental narrative as evidence specifically addressing these impacts.
Areas to Address
When documenting impacts, faculty may consider effects on teaching, research and scholarly activities, and service. These effects could include:
Teaching:
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- Reduced access to federal funding for pedagogical innovations
- Impacts on student populations served
- Changes to faculty opportunities to conduct study abroad or implement international programs
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Scholarship/Creative Activity:
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- Lost or reduced funding opportunities
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Cancelled conferences or research collaborations
- Restricted access to international research sites or partners
- Modified research directions due to policy constraints
- Publication or presentation delays
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- Changes to committee work due to policy modifications
- Reduced ability to serve professional organizations
- Impacts on editorial or review responsibilities
- Modified institutional service opportunities and/or requirements
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Framing Your Narrative
Faculty are encouraged to:
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Document specific impacts with concrete examples and evidence
- Describe adaptive strategies employed to maintain productivity
- Highlight resilience and innovation in responding to challenges
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Quantify impacts where possible (e.g., funding amounts, cancelled activities)
- Connect impacts to broader scholarly trajectory and career development
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Note: Areas of responsibility and evaluation procedures differ across job classifications and assignments. Lecturer faculty should verify evaluation areas and procedures with each unit in which they are assigned.
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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REVIEW COMMITTEES
At All Levels of Review
Consistent with existing RTP policies and criteria, department, college, and university-level review committees are encouraged to consider how federal policy limitations may have impacted the candidates:
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- Research productivity and scholarly output
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Teaching effectiveness and innovation
- Service contributions and professional development
- Overall career trajectory and potential
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Evaluation Considerations
Review committees may wish to:
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Contextualize achievements within the constraints imposed by federal policy changes
- Recognize adaptive strategies as evidence of scholarly resilience and innovation
- Consider the full context of circumstances affecting faculty work
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Assess alternative measures of productivity when traditional metrics may be affected
- Evaluate the quality and significance of work produced despite constraints
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Note: These recommendations are provided as guidance to support fair and comprehensive evaluation within existing RTP policies and procedures. Any modifications to RTP criteria or processes must follow established shared governance procedures.
IMPLEMENTATION
This guidance is offered to support faculty and review committees during the 2025-2030 academic years, within the framework of existing RTP policies and shared governance processes.
Faculty with questions about documenting these impacts should consult with their department chairs, RTP committee chairs, and/or the Vice Provost for Faculty Success.
Review committees seeking clarification on these recommendations should contact the Vice Provost for Faculty Success.
Any proposed changes to RTP criteria or evaluation processes must follow established shared governance procedures through the appropriate faculty senate and committee structures.
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