Comprehensive Periodic (Six-Year) Review of Tenured Faculty (CPR)

Procedures and guidelines 

For current year guidance, see APS ServiceNow: Faculty Evaluation > Comprehensive Periodic Review of Tenured Faculty

Texas Education Code 51.942, Regents’ Rule 31102: Evaluation of Tenured Faculty, and HOP 2-2150: Comprehensive Periodic Evaluation of Tenured Faculty require that a CPR be completed for each tenured faculty member no less often than once every six years. This is done in combination with the annual review. Individual notice of at least six months of intent to evaluate is provided by the Department Chair. The six-year evaluation is carried out by an appropriate faculty committee at the level of the department. The Chair of the department communicates the result of the evaluation in writing to the faculty member and to the Dean. The Dean reports the results to the Provost’s Office.

Timeline 

Tenured faculty are evaluated every six years in rank, during the sixth year. (For information about unpaid leave and the CPR clock, see "Effects of leave - CPR" below.)

Example: A faculty member who achieves tenure in fall of 2020 would have their first CPR in 2025-26. Their second would be in 2031-32.

Professor or Associate Professor without tenure

New hires are sometimes made at the Professor or Associate Professor rank without tenure, for instance, in the case of a new, external senior hire whose career has been in a non-academic setting. Once tenure has been awarded, timing of reviews (Comprehensive Periodic Review, etc.) will be based on the date tenure was awarded, rather than their first date in rank.

Setting/resetting the CPR clock

The CPR clock for tenured faculty is started or reset by the following events:

• Successful promotion to tenured full professor
• A default CPR rating of "exceeding expectations" will be assigned for the year of successful promotion
• Initial appointment (by either hire or promotion) as tenured UT faculty
• Initial appointment as Dean, Provost, or President
• Initial appointment in a 100% A&P position resulting from a "competitive" search
• Assessment of whether the search counts as competitive requires the Provost's approval

• Unsuccessful promotion to tenured full professor
  • Must be accompanied by review by a tenured faculty CPR committee to determine CPR rating

Examples:

• If an Associate Professor in their sixth year of rank goes up for promotion to full Professor, the promotion review will count as their CPR. If the promotion is successful, their CPR six-year clock is reset.
• If the promotion is not successful, then the promotion review still counts as a CPR. After the unsuccessful promotion determination is made, the candidate's dean will be asked to consult with a tenured faculty CPR committee to provide the associated CPR rating by May 31st, of that year. The start of the timeline for the candidate's next CPR is then reset.
  
  
• If an Associate Professor goes up for promotion before their sixth year in rank and is successful, the CPR six-year clock is reset.
• If the promotion is not successful, they continue until their sixth year when the CPR is due.

Effects of leave on CPR

CPR "clocks" do not stop. If the faculty member is on a personal Leave Without Pay (LWOP) for medical reasons during the sixth year, they may request a deferral (see "Deferral of CPR" below). Personal Leave Without Pay for medical reasons begins only after all paid leave balances have been exhausted.

Any year within the six-year CPR period during which a faculty member had an approved personal Leave Without Pay for medical reasons should be identified to the review committee without including the reason for the designation. A medical LWOP should prompt the CPR reviewers to reframe the review period for the faculty member.  For example, if a faculty member is going through CPR and has been approved for LWOP for medical reasons during the period under consideration, the peer review committee should consider the body of work as having been completed in five years rather than six.

For more information on how paid and unpaid leaves affect faculty review clocks, see COE: Faculty Review Clocks.

For more information about faculty sick leave, see COE: Sick Leave and FML - Faculty

Personal Circumstances (PC) Flag and CPR

Similarly to medical LWOP, a year associated with an approved Personal Circumstances (PC) Flag will also still count towards the six-year tally. However, any year within the six-year CPR period that has a PC Flag should be identified to the review committee without including the reason for the designation. A medical LWOP or a PC Flag should prompt the CPR reviewers to reframe the review period for the faculty member.  For example, if a faculty member is going through CPR and has been approved one PC Flag during the period under consideration, the peer review committee should consider the body of work as having been completed in five years rather than six.

For effects of a Personal Circumstances Flag on the timing of CPRs, see EVPP: Personal Circumstances Flag, "Impact on Faculty Evaluation."

For more information about PC Flags, see COE: Personal Circumstances Flag.

Deferral of CPR

In accordance with Texas Education Code Section 51.942 and Regent’s Rule 31002, "Evaluation of Tenured Faculty," CPR may not be waived for any tenured faculty member. A CPR may, however, be deferred if the tenured faculty member is on an approved personal leave without pay for medical reasons during the academic year in which the CPR is being conducted. A deferral request must be submitted by the department chair via the Dean to the Provost's Office for approval.

Per Regent’s Rule 31002, "no deferral of review of an active (tenured) faculty member may extend beyond one year from the scheduled (year of) review."

Please send suggested additions to this page and notifications about broken links to COE-FacultyAffairs@austin.utexas.edu.

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