Tenure and promotion are granted at NYU on the basis of high achievement and recognition in scholarship, teaching, and service. Successful candidates must provide a clear and objective demonstration that their accomplishments merit tenure and promotion.
The Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science makes recommendations to the Provost of the University regarding promotions and the conferring of tenure. The recommendation of the Dean is expected to be informed by the faculty at large, the department, and experts in the candidate's field. In the Faculty of Arts and Science, tradition and faculty-approved policy hold that this occurs through a multilevel process involving detailed evaluation within the department, review by the FAS Promotion and Tenure Committee consisting of elected and appointed members from the three divisions of FAS, independent external evaluations at both the department and FAS Promotion and Tenure Committee levels, and such other information as deemed appropriate by the Dean.
While there is often a remarkable degree of unanimity in the recommendations made at the various levels of review, it is not unusual for there to be divergent opinions.
Disagreement may occur because of differences in perspective, differences in the weighing of strengths and weaknesses in the case, additional information not evident in preceding stages of the evaluation, and so on. In case of seriously divergent recommendations, the Dean may choose to extend the process and seek additional information, but has no obligation to do so.