The Provost’s Advisory Council on Tenure and Promotion (PACTP) advises the provost on whether recommendations for tenure and promotion at the academic unit level are consistent with the criteria and standards of the University of Pittsburgh.
Implementation of PACTP was endorsed by the Council of Deans (on January 10, 2020) and approved by the Faculty Assembly (on March 4, 2020) based on the Promotion & Tenure Ad Hoc Committee Final Report and Recommendations, dated December 29, 2019.
The ad hoc committee recommended institution of a University-wide tenure and promotion committee based on its beliefs that “a University-level committee would ensure consistency in — as well as strengthen and elevate — the standards for tenure and promotion across the University” and would serve to “make the promotion and tenure process more transparent to the faculty, and be helpful in calibrating standards within the schools and campuses.”
- Membership
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View the current roster of PACTP members. Lu-in Wang, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, oversees and facilitates the work of PATCP as its non-voting chair.
2025-2026 Roster
Pittsburgh Campus Subcommittee Name School/Campus Karen Arndt Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Heather Bachman School of Education Aaron Barchowsky School of Public Health Alvaro Antonio Bernal-Reyes University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Jerome Branche Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Clark Chilson Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Michael Deem School of Public Health Dan Ding School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Robert Gibbs School of Pharmacy Osea Giuntella Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Philip Hackney School of Law Leah Jacobs School of Social Work James Joshi School of Computing and Information Ariadne Letra School of Dental Medicine Huafang Li School of Public and International Affairs Pat Loughlin Swanson School of Engineering Fengyan Tang School of Social Work Stacy Triplette University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Jeremy Weber School of Public and International Affairs Susan Wesmiller School of Nursing Regional Campus Subcommittee Name School/Campus Kevin Ewert University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Sean Garrett-Roe Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Jill Henning University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Giuseppe Intini School of Dental Medicine Martha Koehler University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Alexis Kwasinski Swanson School of Engineering Alexandros Labrinidis School of Computing and Information Read the Conflict of Interest and Recusal Rules that apply to PACTP.
- Phased Implementation of PACTP
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The ad hoc committee recommended that PACTP comprise four subcommittees, with one subcommittee handling each of the following types of cases:
- tenure/tenure stream (T/TS) cases for the Pittsburgh campus (excluding School of Medicine (SOM) cases);
- appointment stream (AS) cases for the Pittsburgh campus (excluding SOM cases);
- T/TS/AS cases from the regional campuses; and
- T/TS/AS cases from the SOM.
The ad hoc committee addressed the timing of implementation on page 9 of its report. First, the committee recommended that the process of transition to a University-level review committee be phased in, with the first year to serve as a “pilot test” of the new process using promotion cases from tenured associate to full professor. The ad hoc committee cited two reasons for selecting these cases for the pilot: the manageable volume of such cases and the fact that these decisions do not affect individuals’ employment status. Second, the committee recommended that, “[a]fter the pilot test, an assessment of the University-level review process can occur, and adjustments can be made as needed to strengthen the process and ensure it is transparent, fair, consistent, and timely” (p. 9).
In 2020-2021, the Office of Faculty Affairs began to phase in the review committee as recommended by the ad hoc committee. In order to maintain status quo during the development of a collective bargaining agreement with the faculty union, PACTP continued to review promotions from tenured associate to full professor from the Pittsburgh and regional campuses (excluding the School of Medicine) until a collective bargaining agreement was finalized, and continued during that time to review all other promotions under pre-PACTP processes. In 2025-2026, PACTP expanded to review tenure cases from the Pittsburgh and regional campuses (excluding the School of Medicine).
- tenure/tenure stream (T/TS) cases for the Pittsburgh campus (excluding School of Medicine (SOM) cases);