Promotion to Full Professor

  • Review for promotion to full professor is conducted in the same manner as is the tenure and promotion review, including the solicitation of external letters of assessment.
  • PUECs for full professor reviews should only contain听tenured full professors听as only faculty holding the appropriate eligible rank may participate in the review process.
  • No timeline; can happen at any point in a faculty member鈥檚 career after receiving tenure (does not have a tenure clock attached to it)
  • If denied the promotion to full professor, faculty member can try again later
  • It is the Boulder campus鈥 practice to increase a professor鈥檚 salary by $12,166 after promotion to full professor, contingent upon available funds. Promotional raises are implemented/distributed at the start of the AY contract.听

The following points (V. and VII.) are taken from Regent Policy .

V. Primary Unit Criteria for Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion

K. To be promoted to the rank of Professor (also referred to as 鈥淔ull Professor鈥), an individual should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or its equivalent, and:

  1. a record that, taken as a whole, may be judged to be excellent;
  2. a record of significant contribution to graduate and undergraduate education, unless individual or departmental circumstances can be shown to require a stronger emphasis, or singular focus, on one or the other; and
  3. a record since receiving tenure or promotion to Associate Professor that indicates substantial, significant, and continued growth, development, and accomplishment in teaching (or librarianship), scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service.听

VII. Review Process

C.1.b. Following the PUEC recommendation, a vote is held by the faculty of the primary unit.听 The faculty vote shall address the candidate鈥檚 performance in teaching (or librarianship), scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service (and, where indicated in primary unit criteria, other activities relevant to the specific unit) and shall include a positive or negative recommendation for reappointment, tenure, and/or promotion.

  1. Only members of the primary unit holding tenure may vote on decisions relating to reappointment or tenure.
  2. Only members of the primary unit with the rank of full professor may vote on decisions to promote a faculty member to the rank of full professor or hire a faculty member at the rank of full professor.
  3. PUEC members may participate in these votes.

Votes / Ballots 鈥 Promotion to Full

Promotion to Full = 1 vote total: (1) Promotion to Full.听 Eligible department members should cast one vote only - yes, no, abstain - on the following: 听promotion to the rank of full professor based all three areas 鈥 scholarly and/or creative work/teaching/service 鈥 combining to form a record of overall excellence.听 Regent standard at full professor is simply a record of overall excellence.听

  • Make sure all votes add up correctly
  • All yes votes, no votes, and abstentions must be noted (even if it鈥檚 zero)
  • Abstentions are allowed, but if someone abstains from voting they must abstain from EVERY vote for that candidate. Example: a faculty member cannot abstain from the scholarly and/or creative work vote, but then participate in the other votes. It鈥檚 not required, but it is encouraged, that all abstentions be explained

Promotion to Full Professor Background

As stated in :听To be promoted to the rank of Professor (also referred to as 鈥淔ull Professor鈥), an individual should have the terminal degree appropriate to their field or its equivalent, and:

  • a record that, taken as a whole, may be judged to be excellent;
  • a record of significant contribution to graduate and undergraduate education, unless individual or departmental circumstances can be shown to require a stronger emphasis, or singular focus, on one or the other; and
  • a record since receiving tenure or promotion to Associate Professor that indicates substantial, significant, and continued growth, development, and accomplishment in teaching (or librarianship), scholarly/creative work, and leadership and service.

Promotion to Full Professor Ballot [SAMPLE]

_____[NAME]_____ is undergoing review for Promotion to Full Professor.


Do you recommend promotion to Full Professor?

_____ Yes听听听听 _____ No听听听听 _____ Abstain

听

Reviewed 12 August 2026