KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCES
To: Dr. Margery Coulson-Clark,
Dean, College of Humanities, Business & Society
From: Dr. Tierra Taylor
Chairperson, School of Behavioral & Social Sciences
Date: January 22, 2021
Re: Review and Recommendation for Tenure and Promotion
400 EAST MAIN STREET FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY 40601
Tierra Freeman Taylor, Ph.D. Chairperson, Professor of Psychology 231a Hathaway Hall PHONE: (502) 597-5932
Dean Coulson-Clark,
Pursuant to the Kentucky State University Faculty Handbook, I submit this letter concerning the dossier submitted by Dr. Johnathon Sharp, Assistant Professor of Psychology, College of Humanities, Business, and Society, School of Behavioral and Social Sciences for the promotion to the rank of Associate Professor with Tenure.
The unit tenure and promotion committee consisted of Dr. Mara L. Merlino (Professor of Psychology and Sociology), Dr. Nancy Capriles (Associate Professor of Psychology), and Dr. Takeia Anthony (Associate Professor of History). The committee convened on December 4, 2020, and Dr. Mara Merlino served as the chairperson of the committee. As Chairperson of the School, I met and reviewed the contents of the dossier with Dr. Sharp over the TEAMS platform as specified by the Office of Academic Affairs to review and complete the checklist.
The committee members reviewed the dossier individually and met together to discuss and conduct the vote on both granting of tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. The written recommendations were submitted by the committee to the unit office as outlined by the timeline, and was delivered to Dr. Sharp in the Interfolio platform. Based on their assessment of the dossier, the committee voted 3-0 to grant Dr. Sharp tenure and award promotion to Associate Professor. Dr. Sharp did not provide a written response to the unit committee recommendations.
As the hiring manager for Dr. Sharp, I have had the privilege to work with and supervise Dr. Sharp. The areas of teaching, scholarly activities, and service have been reached by Dr. Sharp. I have observed Dr. Sharp in the classroom across graduate and undergraduate levels of the psychology and Interdisciplinary Behavioral Sciences curriculums and find him to be consistent in engagement with his classes, demanding high level writing excellence, and have reviewed his student evaluations during my time as his direct report. Students consistently rate Dr. Sharp with high marks (4.2-4.8 on a 5 point scale).
In terms of scholarly activities, Dr. Sharp has met or exceeded the unit benchmarks for promotion to Associate Professor with two peer reviewed journal publications (two noted as