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External Reviewer Letters Guidelines

Updated May 2019

Provost Guidelines for Solicitation of External Review Letters for Personnel Action

  1. When producing the list of potential external reviewers, the candidate must declare in writing the nature of his/her relationship with each reviewer.
  2. If the Dean determines that the list of external reviewers produced by the candidate is insufficient or unsuitable, he/she can request additional names be added to the list. The Dean may propose names to be added to the list and the Dean may also remove names from the proposed list with written justification. In cases where the candidate indicates that a person added by the Dean is prejudiced against him/her because of personal animus or any other reason external to academic matters, then the Dean should in general exclude such a person.
  3. It is in the best interest of the candidate to solicit more than three external review letters. Frequently, due to unforeseen circumstances, reviewers are unable to fulfill their commitments which could lead to halting of the personnel action if the minimum number of external letters is not received by the time the FEC meets to consider the case. The Dean, in consultation with the Department Chairperson and candidate, will select additional reviewer names.
  4. All external letters received following the required solicitation process should be included in the dossier and considered in the evaluation.
  5. If at any point, evidence of a reviewer’s conflict of interest becomes apparent, the current level onward may choose to exclude the reviewer’s letter when considering the candidate’s case for tenure and/or promotion.
  6. The standard form for soliciting an external letter is available on the Provost's website and must be used. The form may only be modified to address the appropriate individuals by name and title. The content of the form may not be modified in any other manner.
  7. The candidate’s CV and a statement written by the candidate that highlights the significance of his/her scholarly or creative work are typically provided to external reviewers for consideration. The candidate’s statement should only highlight the significance of the candidate’s scholarly or creative activities. Any materials that may be sent to potential reviewers must be copied to the Dean and must be included in the dossier. Direct communication between an external reviewer and the candidate, or on the candidate’s behalf, outside of formal communication from the Chair, will result in that reviewer’s letter being excluded from consideration in the promotion process.
  8.  The typical timeline for starting the process of soliciting external letters is late spring. Evaluations should not be requested from any individual who has the appearance of having a conflict through current, former, or future personal or professional relations or obligations to the candidate – e.g. is a former supervisor or supervisee in any capacity, is involved in a joint financial venture of any kind, or is in a position where the candidate could materially affect his/her professional prospects (reciprocity or implied reciprocity). When the personnel action involves the Chair of the Department, the Dean (or designee) of the College will solicit the external review letters with a copy to the Chair of the departmental FEC. Please note that these guidelines are consistent with the language (see below) in the faculty federation Collective Bargaining Agreement 2017-20 -

“For personnel actions involving tenure and/or promotion, three (3) letters of evaluation from external scholars in the individual’s field of expertise are to be solicited after consultation involving the College Dean, the faculty member’s Department Chairperson and the faculty member. One reviewer will be selected by the faculty member involved in the personnel action, one by his/her Department Chairperson and one by the College Dean. Using a standard form, the Department Chairperson will solicit the evaluation letters.”