Faculty Rights Tip: Because We Are Unionized Faculty – Retention, Tenure, and Promotion (RTP) are Processes, not Popularity Contests

As the Academic Year 2025-26 is now underway on nearly all campuses, the annual evaluation season, too, is upon us.

Whether you are a faculty member on a “temporary contract” (e.g. an instructional Lecturer, Counselor, Librarian, or Coach) seeking retention and the renewal of your one- or three-year contract, or a tenure-line faculty member pursuing tenure and/or promotion, your prospects for being retained, tenured, and/or promoted are governed by a set of rights and processes in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

We all know that at some universities – especially those that are private or public but non-union – retention, tenure, and/or promotion can amount to something like a popularity contest, can inhibit the full exercise of academic freedom, and can also reproduce structures of racism, (cis- and hetero-)sexism, and ableism in the evaluation process.

While our CBA is not a panacea for the evaluation injustices that emanate from dominator culture, we do have contractual rights to a structured and fair process as we are evaluated by our faculty peers as well as by management. And, at every step of the evaluation process, we have the right to issue rebuttals and contest inaccuracies in the evaluation process. Moreover, if our attempts at rebuttal fall short, we have the right to file grievances in order to contest any violations of our contractual rights.

There are two key provisions in the CBA that all faculty can benefit from reading in preparation for an evaluation: Article 11, Personnel Files and Article 15, Evaluation. (Articles 12, 13, and 14 on Appointment; Probation and Tenure; and Promotion, respectively, are also helpful, but this tip focuses on Articles 11 and 15 this week.)

1. Know Your Article 11 Rights!

A faculty member’s Personnel Action File (PAF) is the sole file upon which decisions about our employment can be made. Article 11.1 states plainly that, “Only the official Personnel Action File may be used as the basis of personnel actions.” CSU management is required to keep our PAFs stored securely, and only those authorized to view them are allowed access (11.1, 11.15). We as faculty are also allowed to view our own PAFs and can request to do so with the appropriate office at any time (11.10, 11.11). We can also request corrections, in writing, to any inaccuracies we might find in our PAFs (11.13).

Article 11, Personnel Files also matters as it gives faculty the right to place documents in our own PAFs, and to submit written rebuttals against the inclusion of materials in our PAFs (11.2). Any materials added to our PAFs must have their sources named (e.g. no anonymous letters or other documents, 11.3). If management wishes to place materials in our files, they must give us at least 5 days notification prior to doing so, we can issue written rebuttals ahead of their placement (11.4), and we can also request to meet with the appropriate administrator about materials we object to within 5 days of notification; management must meet with us within 10 days of our requests (11.5).

Article 11 matters profoundly as one provision operationalizing our right to a fair evaluation, by both peers and administrators. If a dean or even a colleague does not like your personality or political views, they will be hard-pressed to place detrimental materials in your PAF without your consent. If a provost or president has decided they “just don’t have the budget to tenure, promote, or range elevate anyone this year,” they cannot include harmful or capricious materials in your PAF without your consent.

This Article, as is the case with all provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), does require your willingness to know your rights, to defend them when necessary, and to reach out to your CFA chapter leadership or faculty rights representative for support on when you have questions about the process.

1. Know Your Article 15 Rights!

Like Article 11, Article 15, Evaluation is also essential to faculty receiving a just evaluation process, whether we are pursuing a new temporary contract (retention), or tenure and/or promotion (RTP).

Article 15.3 states that, “Evaluation criteria and procedures shall be made available to the faculty unit employee no later than 14 days after the first day of instruction of the academic term.” For most campuses, we are nearing the end of that 14-day window, so you should likely have received such information if you are going to be evaluated in AY 2025-26. The evaluation criteria and procedures must also be made available to the review committees. Another important provision of 15.3 is that, “Once the evaluation process has begun, there shall be no changes in criteria and procedures used to evaluate the faculty unit employee during the evaluation process.” In other words, administrators cannot “move the goalposts” on RTP once the process is underway.

Article 15 also secures our right to receive our written evaluations at each level of review (before they go to the next level) as well as our right to issue written rebuttals within ten (10) days following receipt of the recommendation (15.5). Article 15 also protects your evaluation from being the subject of gossip. Article 15.10 states clearly that, “Deliberations pursuant to this Article shall be confidential.” This aligns with the confidentiality protections in Article 11, which stipulates that only people reviewing us can see our PAFs.

Sometimes, we may go up for review when a publication, grant, or other award is pending, but not complete. Article 15.12 (b) allows us to add materials after our Working Personnel Action File (WPAF) is declared complete, though we “must have the approval of a peer review committee designated by the campus” and the materials “shall be limited to items that became accessible after” the file was declared complete.

When it comes to observations by peers (e.g., classroom observations) and student opinion surveys, we also have rights under Article 15.  If our teaching is being evaluated by peers, for example, our senior colleague cannot just pop-in on our classroom to give an unscheduled observation. Article 15.14 states that we have the right to receive at least 5 days of notice and the right to consultation, which applies equally for classroom and online teaching (e.g. access to our learning management system course pages).

With regard to student opinion surveys, faculty have the right to issue written rebuttals, if we believe information is missing or bias is present (15.17 (c)).

There are many more provisions guaranteeing our rights in Article 15 that it is to our advantage to familiarize ourselves with, especially as we undergo evaluation. We conclude this tip with one last highlight: Article 15.41 affirms that our peer review committees must be elected (and therefore cannot be appointed arbitrarily by a provost, dean, or chair):

“The probationary and tenured faculty unit employees of the department or equivalent unit shall elect a peer review committee of tenured faculty unit employees for the purpose of reviewing and recommending faculty unit employees who are being considered for retention, award of tenure, and promotion.”

This provision provides yet one more layer of protection against favoritism, capriciousness, or other shenanigans that might violate our rights to a fair evaluation process.

Our rights – found in Article 11, Article 15, and beyond – to a fair evaluation are extensive and detailed. While they exist in our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for all CSU faculty, they come alive and become realized only when we know our rights, when we defend them, and when we support our colleagues in defending their rights as well.

While they apply to us all – both members and non-members of CFA – we must continue to defend and extend them (in ongoing bargaining), and this requires a strong and engaged membership.

Because we are unionized, RTP is not a popularity contest, nor is it subject to whether our political views and personalities are favorable to management or other reviewers. It is a process rooted in our union’s work and our solidarity with one another.

Want to learn more? Become active with your local CFA chapter Faculty Rights team. Find your representative here.

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