Keith summarizes faculty advancement data

Senior vice president and provost Jason Keith gave his first summary of faculty advancement data at the final Faculty Senate meeting of the semester May 13. The Iowa Board of Regents approved promotion recommendations for tenure-eligible faculty last month.

Among the 60 faculty, 30 received promotion to associate professor with tenure, 29 tenured faculty earned promotion to full professor and one associate professor received tenure. The list includes 25 women and 35 men. Three promotion cases were denied.

Of the 45 tenure-eligible faculty hired in fiscal year 2019, 25 received tenure this spring. Another seven faculty took advantage of tenure clock extension options, 11 left the university -- a departure rate similar to past averages -- one joined the term faculty and one had a negative preliminary outcome.

The provost's office also approved promotion for 50 term faculty. Twenty-one of the promotions were from associate teaching professor to full teaching professor, and 20 others were from assistant teaching professor to associate teaching professor.

Keith said 85 post-tenure reviews took place in fiscal year 2025, a process that occurs at least every seven years for tenured faculty.

New leaders

Senate president Rahul Parsa (finance) passed the gavel to 2025-26 senate president Meghan Gillette (human development and family studies), and Michael Olsen (mechanical engineering) assumed the role of president-elect.

Other business                                                                                  

Senators approved:

• A resolution (PDF) -- written by faculty governance leaders at universities in the Big Ten Academic Alliance -- in support of the core mission and shared values of higher education in the United States. The resolution passed in a paper-ballot vote of 49-13.
• The 2025 spring graduation list, with more than 4,700 students expected to earn degrees this semester.
• An interdisciplinary major (PDF) and minor (PDF) in digital storytelling -- a Degree of the Future -- in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication and the music and theatre department. Students will learn to create compelling content for/with digital technology, design digital narratives for business, news media, entertainment or social impact, and evaluate and utilize social media analytics.
• A policy change in the course catalog to the summer academic standards (PDF) that no longer puts a student on academic probation if their summer grade dropped their cumulative GPA below 2.0.
• A course catalog policy to grant degrees to students facing extraordinary circumstances (PDF). An example could be a student with a terminal illness or one who has suffered a critical injury that would hinder their ability to complete graduation requirements.
• Changes to the faculty conduct (PDF) policies and procedures in the Faculty Handbook. The first ensures faculty know which offices, councils and individuals can assist them in dealing with a formal complaint. Another extends the time (PDF) allowed to notify the senior vice president and provost of alleged misconduct, and ensures faculty know they can respond to a complaint in writing immediately. The final changes (PDF) clarify investigation procedures, tighten some timelines for responses and define who can request extensions.

• Replacing the Faculty Handbook section on faculty salary policies and procedures (PDF) to reflect current practices and add three new sections on:

  • Options for other salary increases, beyond performance-based and meritorious adjustments.

  • The process faculty can request for a review of their salary.

  • Definitions of terms used in faculty salary discussion.

Senators rejected a proposed change that graduate program specializations (PDF) need to be approved only by the offering program. Senators don't want to remove their role until a different process is developed.