APT Policy Review

Planning for Policy Review

In 2022, the University of Maryland began the important work to achieve better alignment of our promotion and tenure reward system with our goals and values, as articulated in our Fearlessly Forward strategic plan. Our goal is to develop a framework that broadens how faculty work and impact can be recognized in ways that reflect our shared mission, vision and values. It is important that these policies be thoughtful, transparent and responsive to the diverse work of our faculty.

Fearlessly Forward Strategic Plan Alignment

Provost Dialogues

During the 2022-2023 academic year in connection with the launch of Fearlessly Forward, we hosted the Provost Dialogues series to start the discussion, and invited all faculty to attend. These seven dialogues sought input in key areas of consideration within APT processes: 

• Quality and impact, 
• Collaborative work, 
• Community engagement, 
• Innovation and entrepreneurship, 
• Belonging and access, 
• Service, and 
• Teaching and mentoring. 

Nearly 400 faculty engaged over these seven dialogues. 

Information from these sessions was shared and discussed among the Provost, Deans, Chairs, and other academic leadership over the 2023-2024 academic year.

APT Working Group and Policy Revision Drafting

Based on feedback from the dialogues, input from various campus constituencies, and leadership discussions, Provost Rice charged an APT Working Group in the 2024-2025 academic year with faculty representatives from each college and school to develop proposed revisions.

Through that process came the recommendation that we should create three distinct policies to replace our current APT policy, which were drafted in 2025:

• Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure policy focused solely on the six University titles that are tenure granting (assistant professor, associate professor, professor, agent, senior agent, and principal agent).
• Titles and Appointments policy focused on all approved University faculty titles.
• Discipline and Termination policy focused on tenured/tenure track and permanent status (Librarian) faculty.

Although separate, the three proposed policies are intended to work together and to reference one another as appropriate.

These proposed changes were presented to the Associate Deans for Faculty Affairs in January 2026 and to the Academic Leadership Forum (ALF) in March 2026, and all attendees were invited to provide input.

Faculty Discussions and Community Feedback

In mid-April 2026, the draft policies were shared with all faculty, who were invited to participate in two additional dialogues that month. The first dialogue provided an overview of the APT policy revisions. The second dialogue focused on gathering more specific feedback from the community on the proposed revisions. 

There were 250 registrations across the two dialogues.

Following these dialogues, all faculty were invited to review the draft policies and submit comments through the Office of Faculty Affairs' website. 

Feedback from the dialogues and written comments informed revised drafts, which were reviewed by the APT Working Group, the deans and the Associate Deans for Faculty Affairs.

As of Fall 2026, discussions with academic leadership and faculty are ongoing and continue to inform revisions. We are currently integrating feedback collected, reviewing the policies for consistency, and working to make the policy language accessible and clear.

The Office of Faculty Affairs will share information about additional opportunities for our community to provide input as the draft develops.

Shared Governance and the University Senate

When ready, the draft will be transmitted to the University Senate for consideration through the shared governance process. The Senate’s deliberations will provide a dedicated space for faculty discussion and engagement. 

Once a revised policy is passed by the University Senate and approved by the President, colleges, schools and units will engage in their own processes to revise their unit-level policies. Discretion is given to the units to determine their own standards and criteria for appointment, promotion and tenure.

APT Working Group Members