The information below is for the Mansfield University process and may not be relevant to the Commonwealth University process.
For 2022: Cathy Martin (who is referred to frequently in the below documentation) is working only with the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities.
We started the tenure, sabbatical, and promotion processes online in Fall 2020 using software called Interfolio. In Fall 2021 we began using Interfolio for annual and 5-year reviews. Here is basic information about the product and process for applicants and reviewers. This guide and the videos are designed to be a overview of the software.
There is an Interfolio Handout with additional information on Interfolio and Dossier, primarily focused on completing the application. This document is intended to supplement the information in the videos, not replace it. Most useful part of this document is the types of files that can be uploaded.
Using Interfolio for the tenure, sabbatical, and promotion processes means there are a few small changes to the process. Here is an Overview of the T/P/S Interfolio Process for Faculty.
For annual and 5-year reviews, here's a summary of the process:
If you have questions related to using Dossier and/or completing your application using Interfolio, email skaspere@mansfield.edu. If you have questions about anything related to Tenure, Sabbatical, or Promotion other than the software, contact Josh Battin or the Provost.
Note: Some of the videos were made before the first year we used Interfolio, so there are brief mentions of this being a new process. Please ignore those bits. The information about using Interfolio is correct.
Logging In and A Few Other Basics (3 minutes)
Using Dossier (8 minutes)
Annual Review and 5-Year Review Packet Completion (7 minutes)
Cases will be created for you and you will receive an email when it is available.
Submit your case only when you are completely finished.
When Interfolio Shares a File With You (2 minutes)
When the committee, chair, or dean completes their evaluation, they upload it to Interfolio and share it with you in case you want to provide a rebuttal. Rebuttals are allowed by the contract and are not required.
Completing Your Tenure/Promotion/Sabbatical Application Packet (8 minutes)
How to get access to your application packet:
Note on Submitting: You may need to submit your form before you submit your entire packet (a software quirk that happens only sometimes). More info on submitting the form first in the next video.
Packet Start to Finish: With Focus on Completing Forms and Submitting (3.5 minutes)
How to Review Evaluations for Annual and 5-year Reviews (4 minutes)
For Annual Evaluations and 5-Year Reviews: Uploading Evaluation Letters and Moving Cases Forward (4 minutes)
Written instructions for Annual Evaluations and 5-Year Review - Uploading the letters of evaluation and moving the cases forward. This is for Department Committee Chairs, Department Chairs, and Deans/Library Director.
In case it is not clear from the video, moving the case forward means that you and your committee will no longer be able to view the case online. Moving the case forward should only be done when you and your committee are completely done looking at candidate materials.
Reviewing a Tenure/Promotion/Sabbatical Interfolio Case (5 minutes)
How to get access to a case you are reviewing: When the case becomes available to you, you will be sent an email from Interfolio.
Can I download the case to read offline or print out? No. To protect the privacy and intellectual property of the applicants, downloading is not allowed.
NOTE: For T/P/S, all recommendations from the department committee, department chairs, and deans/library director should be emailed to Cathy Martin. She will add these documents to Interfolio at the appropriate step in the process.
For University Committee Chairs: Moving Tenure/Promotion/Sabbatical cases forward (2 minutes)
NOTE: For T/P/S the recommendations/rankings from the university-wide committees are sent directly to the appropriate administrator as has been done in the past. Recommendations are not added to Interfolio.
In case it is not clear from the video, moving the case forward means that you and your committee will no longer be able to view the case online. Moving the case forward should only be done when you and your committee are completely done looking at candidate materials.
Should I create my own Dossier Account?
No. Nope. Stop!!!!! You should not create your own Dossier account. I know that is an option from Interfolio, but don't use it. You need to login with your university account. See the video on this page for instructions on how to login with your university account. If you don't have a university account, contact Cathy Martin.
Can I login more than once to my packet?
The email that you get when your case has been created say "This case link will be valid for 30 days and can only be used once." This is a lie! You can use the email link repeatedly. I don't know if the 30 days is true or not. At any time you can login via the Interfolio website. See the video on logging in for more information.
Who uploads peer observations?
Peer observations should be uploaded by the applicant.
When do I click SUBMIT?
Click on SUBMIT once your entire application is complete. Think of SUBMIT as turning in your binder. SUBMIT actually locks your application (or section of the application) and you cannot make any additional changes to that section.
SUBMIT is greyed out. What do I do?
This can happen for several reasons. Try one of these:
Do I get a confirmation email when I submit my application?
You do not get any sort of confirmation. You should be able to tell if your application was properly submitted if all the sections of your application are now locked.
The timestamp on my uploaded item is off by a day. What's up?
Apparently Interfolio uses Greenwich Mean Time to time stamp documents. So if you are loading materials or submitting in the evening, the date may be listed as tomorrow's date. Don't worry about that.
Interfolio says my Certificate of Eligibility is not submitted, but I just got it back from the Provost. What do I do?
Please scan the signed Certificate of Eligibility and upload it to the appropriate section of the application. Wait to submit the section until your entire application is complete. That's all you need to do.
Can I have someone else upload files for me?
Since no one else has access to your packet before you submit it (even the Interfolio administrators don't have access), no one else can upload contents to your packet.
I'm applying for both promotion and tenure. Can you just duplicate my materials for me?
Sorry! An application can't just be duplicated. That said, all the materials you uploaded for one application are stored in Dossier automatically, so you can attach files from Dossier to your second application.
Can I withdraw my application for T/P/S?
Yes! If you change your mind about applying, please email Cathy Martin to let her know you want to withdraw your application.
Can I change my application once I've submitted it?
You cannot change your application after the contractual deadline. If you accidentally submit your application before you are done and the deadline has not passed, we can unlock the section for you to work on it. After the deadline, no changes can be made.
Do you have a sample completed application that I can review to see how it is done?
Sorry! We don't have any completed applications as examples.
Do I have to use Dossier?
Nope. Dossier is entirely optional. However you should know that everything you upload to Interfolio is also copied to Dossier.
How do I get a copy of the evaluation letters written by my committee, chair, etc.?
For the annual and 5-year reviews and for Dean evaluations for T/P, you will be notified by email when the evaluation letters are uploaded to your packet. At that time you have the option to download the letter and the option to send the letter to Dossier. Please take advantage of these so you have them for your tenure and/or promotion packets.
I got an email saying that a file was shared with me. What's that about?
For the annual review process: when the committee, chair, and dean completes their evaluation, they upload it to Interfolio and share it with you for you to provide an optional rebuttal. You also have the option to download the file or save it to Dossier. See the video on this page for how that works.
For tenure and promotion: only the dean evaluation is shared in this way, as it is the only part of those processes that allows for a rebuttal. The rebuttal for T/P has a deadline as determined by the CBA.
Can I Print or Download the case I'm reviewing?
Sorry, you can't. All applications must be read online.
I can't see any Cases in Interfolio. What's up?
You will see cases when they are available for you to review. If you can't see a case, it is not yet at your stage of the review process OR is has moved forward to another step in the process.
That said, it takes a few days between steps to move the cases forward to the next step in the process. So it may still be being worked on at another step if the deadline has just passed.
THAT said, if everyone else on your committee can see the case and you can't, then we probably missed adding you to the case. Email Cathy Martin and let her know what's up.
THAT said, for the annual and 5-year review process, you may need to pester the person before you to do their part of the evaluation and move the case forward. Candidates, Department Committee Chairs, and Department Chairs are responsible for adhering to the contractual deadlines.
How will I know that there is a case to review?
You should receive an email from Interfolio when a case is available for review.
I'm a committee or department chair. What do I upload to Interfolio?
For Tenure and Promotion, you do not upload any materials directly to Interfolio. Department committees, department chairs, and deans email their recommendations to Cathy Martin. University-wide committee chairs send their recommendation directly to the president/designee as has been done in the past.
For Annual Evaluations and 5-Year Reviews, you will upload the evaluation letter to Interfolio. Follow the instructions on this page for how to do that process.
I don't see "Add File" to upload the evaluation?
Add File is only relevant to the annual and 5-year review process.
If you are supposed to upload an evaluation, the Add File button will be in the Internal Sections of the case. If you cannot see the Add File button, you are not listed as the chair of the committee in the system. Contact Cathy Martin to clear up this confusion about who is serving as chair of the committee. If you are the department chair or dean and you don't see Add File, contact Cathy Martin to turn on that access for you.
Do I need to wait for a rebuttal before moving the case forward?
No. The next person in the process will see any rebuttals posted, so you do not need to wait for a potential rebuttal to forward the case. You are free to meet with a faculty member to discuss the evaluation before you upload it to Interfolio and address any concerns before upload. The rebuttal via Interfolio is in the process because it is specifically mentioned in the CBA.
I just got a notification that more material has been added. What's up?
This message is usually created when a faculty member uploads a rebuttal. The evaluation they are rebutting is from earlier in the process. If you receive this message, please review the previously uploaded letters of recommendation to see if there is an rebuttal letter there.
Are we using Interfolio for probationary and 5th year reviews?
Starting Fall 2021, we are using Interfolio for probationary/annual and 5-year reviews.
This process is so stressful!
Okay, that's not actually a question, but, yeah, we agree. I hope these funny cat photos help reduce your stress.