Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure (RPT)
The tenure track at MSU consists of two consecutive probationary appointments, each with mandatory reviews for reappointment and for promotion to associate professor with tenure at the department/college/institution levels. Tenured associate professors undergo a similar review for promotion to the full professor rank but without a mandatory timeline. Below you will find information and helpful resources to guide both faculty and their supervisors through the RPT review process.
- Dossiers are due to NatSci.RPT@msu.edu by December 1
- NatSci chairs/directors are required to share their RPT review letters with the faculty applicant by December 1.
- Faculty have 5 business days after December 1 to send to NatSci.RPT@msu.edu a confidential response to the chair's letter with clarifications, corrections and/or updates, if they wish to do so.
- The College applies institutional criteria and standards for the review and recommendation
of reappointment, promotion and tenure of our tenure system faculty. Disciplinary
norms are also considered when evaluating the merits of our faculty.
- NatSci RPT evaluation criteria – Updated every year to reflect institutional criteria and standards (COMING SOON).
- 2025 summer RPT Memorandum from Interim Provost Jeitschko
- NatSci timeline for RPT actions (from department to college and beyond) (COMING SOON)
- 2025 Timetable for Reappointment, Promotion, & Tenure Actions
- HR timetable for RPT actions
- Below are forms and other resources to guide faculty candidates and their supervisors
through the RPT process in the College.
- RPT dossier assembly checklist – How to assemble the promotion dossier for review in the College of Natural Science (sections filled out by the chair/director or faculty are color-coded and include summaries and links to relevant information and policies)
- Form of Progress and Excellence for Tenure System Faculty (HR keeps a table and links with useful Information about the form)
- NatSci-specific forms:
- Student evaluation summaries – SIRS and SPLS tables (See information about SPLS questions)
- Funded grants table
- RPT Teaching Portfolio Assessment Tool
- Templates for Chair’s letter (with RPT evaluation criteria for each review type).
- Template for reappointment (COMING SOON)
- Template for promotion to associate professor with tenure (COMING SOON)
- Template for promotion to full professor (COMING SOON)
- NatSci RPT Guidelines – Comprehensive resource to understand the RPT review in the College and criteria/standards applied to make recommendations for reappointment, promotion, and tenure actions.
- Faculty Guide for Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure Review – Comprehensive HR resource to guide the review of pre-tenure and post-tenure faculty at MSU.
- MSU policies guiding the Appointment, Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion Recommendations (Faculty Handbook).
- Tenure Action and Promotion
- Multi-level flow of RPT recommendations (Faculty Handbook)
- Soliciting External Letters of Reference
- Reference Letters, Confidentiality of
- Writing effective 5-page reflective essays for RPT