X. Appointment Period, Renewal and Nonrenewal of Faculty Members with Teaching-Track Appointments

A. Appointment Period. Each Teaching-Track faculty member is appointed for a one-year term that may be renewed annually.

B. Renewal and Nonrenewal of Teaching-Track Appointments. Columbia College Chicago is committed to renewing the appointments of Teaching-Track faculty members whose teaching and teaching-related activity, and service to the College, profession, and community contribute significantly to the College’s distinctive mission and academic vision.

The renewal of Teaching-Track Appointments occurs when such renewals are consistent with and appropriate to the College’s institutional policies, financial condition and prospects, and curricular needs. Consequently, the College has the utmost latitude, limited only by applicable law, Academic Freedom, and the procedures established by the Statement of Policy, in deciding on an annual basis whether or not to renew a faculty member’s Teaching-Track Appointment.

A decision not to renew such an appointment for the forthcoming academic year may be based upon, among other things, the faculty member’s failure to demonstrate performance and/or accomplishments in one or more of the Evaluation Areas for Teaching-Track Appointments that meet the standards and expectations reflected in the Criteria for Full-Time Faculty Appointments as documented in the appropriate review process. A decision not to renew a Teaching-Track Appointment may also be based upon reasons and circumstances outside of the review process, including such matters as academic need, Sanctionable Conduct (as defined in Section XX.), institutional policy and objectives, and financial condition and priorities.

Examples of possible reasons and circumstances leading to nonrenewal of a faculty member’s Teaching-Track Appointment for causes other than performance and accomplishments may include but are not limited to:

(a) a change or contemplated change in the direction, objectives, or content of the curriculum of the College as a whole, or of a specific department, program, or school (collectively, an “Area of Academic Focus”);

(b) a decline in student enrollment in the College as a whole, or in an Area of Academic Focus; and,

(c) the inappropriateness, as determined at the sole discretion of the College, of further Teaching-Track Appointments in the College as a whole or in an Area of Academic Focus

C. Timing and Notice of Renewal or Nonrenewal. Not later than February 1, each School Dean will Deliver to each teaching-track faculty member a written notice of renewal or nonrenewal for the forthcoming year. A faculty member with an Associate Professor of Instruction appointment or a Professor of Instruction appointment that is not renewed may challenge or seek review of that decision solely in accordance with Section XXII (Review of Nonrenewal, Denial of Tenure, or Termination of Faculty Appointments).