Digital Portfolio System

All Fort Hays State full time faculty, chairs, deans, department and college administrative assistants.

Sign in to the FHSU Interfolio system using your current FHSU TigerNet ID username/email and password.

If logging in through Interfolio's website, select "Sign in with partner institution."

In the upper right drop down menu next to your name, select "Fort Hays State University" to see cases at your review level or your own packet/case (if already created for you).  Select "Interfolio Dossier" to see your personal dossier side.

No. Case access (candidate or reviewer) is only available through your FHSU institutional account.  See prior access questions. If you receive an error when attempting to log in with your TigerNet ID email and password, please contact the Provost's Office or Interfolio Help to check/correct your FHSU Interfolio user ID.

Creation of a separate account with an fhsu.edu email will conflict with the individual's FHSU institutional access. Contact the Provost's Office or Interfolio Help to merge accounts if an individual account was inadvertently created.

Tenure: Interfolio file submission is required for faculty new to tenure track and faculty who either started tenure track in Interfolio or opted to switch from a physical binder previously. All others on tenure track may opt in to Interfolio or utilize the 2" binder for the remainder of their tenure track (see note below about promotion during that timeframe). It may take a full four to five years to fully transition to electronic submissions.
Background: In fall 2022, the only faculty required to utilize Interfolio to submit their tenure materials were those beginning the tenure track at FHSU for the first time. Everyone else on the tenure track could opt in to Interfolio or opt to utilize the 2” binder for the remainder of their tenure track.    

Promotion - Instructor/Assistant/Associate/Professor: Faculty on this path are required to utilize Interfolio. 
Note: If a tenure track faculty member has opted to continue with the 2” binder for the remainder of their tenure track and wants to submit a promotion packet during that timeframe, that faculty member can opt to submit a 2” paper binder or a digital case for their promotion consideration. 

Promotion - Librarian II/Librarian III: Faculty on this path are required to utilize Interfolio as of fall 2023.

Promotion - Instructor/Lecturer/Sr. Lecturer and Program Specialist/Sr. Program Specialist: Faculty on these paths are required to utilize Interfolio as of fall 2024.

Post Tenure Review: Required as of fall 2023.

President's Distinguished Scholar nominees: Faculty are notified of nomination and digital case creation.

• File content / requirements: your Department Chair  
• Product and procedures assistance: (e.g., product how-to, difficulty loading/viewing a document, error message): Interfolio Scholar Services help line 877-997-8807 (8 am – 5 pm Central Time M–F) or email help@interfolio.com.  Include details and screen shots when emailing. Contact information is also posted on the help page.  
• Case adjustments or process questions (e.g., change "required" document to "optional" per department criteria, committee member change): Provost's Office

“At the server level, all administrative access is protected via multi-factor authentication. All traffic between Interfolio servers and the public internet is forced over HTTPS. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit.  Interfolio servers run in a virtual private cloud. All web, application, and database servers are separated from the public Internet and have no public IP address. Private IP addresses are never disclosed to the Internet.” – Interfolio

Faculty may load documents to their private Interfolio dossier any time before or after case creation.

Tenure cases are created for faculty new to tenure track after appointment forms are signed and their fhsu.edu email is active in Outlook. Tenure cases for the next year for continuing faculty will be created at the end of the spring semester.

Individuals applying for promotion and those on tenure track prior to fall 2022 who have not yet opted in to Interfolio may request digital case creation by contacting the Provost's Office.

Promotion cases for the next year will be created after completion of the current review cycle, normally in mid-April or as requested after then.

Documents and collections in your personal dossier can be loaded into your digital case or shared with colleagues for review prior to completing your digital packet.  Select the dossier purple Guidelines button to view FHSU templates you can save and use to create a collection.  Use of the dossier is optional and only you can see your dossier contents.

Two separate cases. Promotion and tenure have different templates and the cases route through different university committees. Request a promotion case from the Provost's Office if you intend to apply while on tenure track.

When requesting a letter, uncheck the box next to "This request is for a confidential letter..."

If left checked, you will not be able to view the letter contents. If you requested and received a confidential letter, it can be added to your case and committees will be able to read it. Alternately, contact Interfolio Scholar Services and the letter writer to remove the confidential status.

Check with your department chair or library dean. Optional items may not be required by all departments. Always follow the AAUP MOA and your department criteria when completing your digital packet (or paper file) regardless of the indication of optional or number required within the template.

Yes, if the section is not limited to 1 item (such as vita). Most sections are set to 1+ to indicate at least one document is required. Additional documents may be added to fulfill the MOA and your department criteria, keeping in mind the MOA statement "The emphasis should be on quality and not quantify."

See Interfolio accepted file types. For any questions on or difficulties with loading documents, contact Interfolio Scholar Services. See "Who do I contact" below.

Yes, prior tenure recommendation letters may be scanned chronologically into one document per review level. Use appropriate titles such as "Dept Tenure Cmt Recommendation years 1-4." This may become less necessary over time as digital letters are saved to your dossier during the review process.

Not at this time.  Please name documents with clear and distinct titles and dates to aid reviewers. See Interfolio best naming practices. Reviewing parties must also clearly title recommendation letters, such as "James dept cmt init tenure ltr 22-23" as the candidate will save these for future review cycles.

Documents can be moved and/or renamed. Drag and drop to move within a section or to another section. Rename by selecting the document's edit button.

Loaded documents cannot be rotated. If a landscape document (such as a certificate) was loaded vertically or an item is upside down, replace the document with an edited/rotated version.

Select Preview Packet at the top right of the page. Note the left bookmarks menu in this view. For options on adjusting or clarifying bookmarks, see FHSU's Candidate guide to packet and managing PDFs and the Candidate Packet Guide sections "View Instructions and Preview Packet" and "How do I edit the bookmarks in the document reader?"

Also see Naming and Organizing Packet Materials.

No. Each year's case stands alone. Reviewers can only view the current packet's contents. Utilize the Preview Packet button to see what your reviewers see. Candidates must load all required documents to the new case, including past initial and final recommendation letters.

See next question "Can I add documents from a previous case?"

Yes. See Re-use Materials in Current or Upcoming Reviews. Refer also to the MOA and your Department Criteria.

Adding previous year's reviewer recommendation letter(s): 
In your current packet section (refer to link above) select Add, then relevant previous packet, then scroll down to Committee Files to select and add letters to your current case. Missing letters indicate the reviewer did not select and share the letter with candidate. Contact reviewer or Provost Office if you do not have a copy in Interfolio or in your own files. 

If candidate saved the letter to their dossier when it was shared with them the prior year, the document will also be in their personal dossier.

No. The summary sheets have been phased out, were not an official part of the tenure or promotion file, and not intended to be kept from year to year. Digital cases do not include a similar document.  Reviewing parties will refer to recommendation letters within the file. However, if a candidate prefers to include past years' sheets, they may be placed in "Other Materials" as one document.

Submitting during Interfolio / University office hours is recommended so assistance is available if needed. It is best to submit within a few days of or on the due date, especially for the August due date. This ensures committee members have been added as case reviewers and will receive submission notification. (Members can be edited and notified afterwards if a committee change is needed.) 

REMINDER: File due dates are hard deadlines (Eastern Standard Time). 
Cases not submitted by 10:59 pm CST / 11:59 pm EST on the designated due date will auto-submit as is at 11:00 pm CST / 12:00 midnight EST or shortly thereafter.
The case is then locked to changes until it may be unlocked by a committee manager during department level review.

Congratulations! You found the gold star for reviewing the Candidate FAQs! We appreciate you! Yes, that is a lot of exclamation points! Yay! Please email Janet in the Provost's Office so she knows a real person perused the FAQs. You will receive a virtual high five and super duper extra special gold star.

• File content / requirements: your Department Chair
• Product and procedures assistance: (e.g., product how-to, difficulty loading/viewing a document, error message): Interfolio Scholar Services help line 877-997-8807 (8 am – 5 pm Central Time M–F) or email help@interfolio.com. Include details and screen shots when emailing.
  Contact information is also posted on the help page.
• Case adjustments or process questions (e.g., change "required" document to "optional" per department criteria, committee member change): Provost's Office

Also see Candidate FAQ - during review

No. The download option mentioned in some Interfolio guides is NOT enabled for FHSU cases.

Committee managers load letters to the digital case reviewer section, then select it and "share" to notify candidate and previous reviewers. (Reviewers - See FHSU Committee Manager Guides at the top of this page.) Candidates receive an email directing them to log in and view the document (under Shared Committee Files). Candidates should save letters to their dossier for future review cycles.  You may respond to a final letter within Interfolio after the reviewer enables a response, following the published timeline. See View and Respond to Files Shared.

If you received the email noted above, but the link only directs you to your case (not the letter), the reviewer likely did not check the box next to letter before selecting "Share with candidate." Contact the reviewer to resend. They may also review sharing initial/final letter with candidate.

In your case packet under "Shared Committee Files" tab (next to the Overview and Packet tabs).  The Shared Committee Files tab will be present after letters/documents are shared with you.  

Contact reviewer if you:

• Received an email from reviewer/Interfolio, but cannot see the letter in Interfolio. See FAQ above and refer reviewer to sharing initial/final letter with candidate.
• Did not receive an email on the letter due date. They likely uploaded the letter, but did not also select and share it with you. Refer reviewer to sharing initial/final letter with candidate.

Per the MOA "The reviewer or committee members will sign the final recommendation."  Contact the reviewer to request they load and share a signed copy of the letter.  Letters may be digitally signed or physically signed and scanned.

No. Reviewers load recommendation letters to the case in a section viewable to current and subsequent reviewers of this case. "Recommendations - Prior Years of Review..." sections within your packet are only for letters from previous years. 

However, it is a good practice to save the letters to your dossier to easily add them when preparing future cases.

The committee chair (or administrative assistant in some departments) unlocks the packet if edits have been requested / recommended. The department chair (or admin assistant) unlocks the packet during chair review. Provost Office staff can also assist with this upon request from the committee or chair.  The case will not be unlocked beyond department review.

Reviewers: See FHSU Committee Manager Guides at the top of this page.

• Select the Packet tab within your case. 
• Toggle the arrow/caret > next to "Candidate Packet" so it points down and shows your packet contents.
• Each document has Edit and Remove options. Select Remove to delete. Select Edit to rename or replace the document with another.
• Remember to Submit again when all edits are complete so reviewers can see the changes.

In sections allowing only 1 document (e.g. vita), you may need to remove the document first before adding the updated version.

At this time, appeals following the initial letter are requested and held in the same manner as was done previously (outside of Interfolio). Candidates should review the letter, MOA, and timeline for appeal directions.

Drag and drop to move within a section or to another section.  Rename by selecting the document's edit button.

Loaded documents cannot be rotated.  If a landscape document (such as a certificate) was loaded vertically or an item is upside down, replace the document with an edited/rotated version.

Call or email Interfolio Help or the Provost's Office if errors occur when completing these actions. (See Who do I contact? below)

Yes. If department review resulted in a request to candidate or by candidate to correct or submit additional material, the packet will be unlocked by a committee manager. Upload/edit within the candidate packet and then "Submit" again.

Note that reviewers cannot see edited or new documents until the packet is submitted again.

Reviewers cannot see documents edited or added to your unlocked packet until the packet is submitted again. See question above, "submitting the unlocked packet".

See View and Respond to Files Shared for the optional response. Look in My Tasks after the final letter is shared with you. The reviewer must "enable file response" when sharing the final letter. Contact the reviewer if you do not have this option so they can share and enable response. As with the paper process, no action is required if you choose not to respond to the final letter.

• File content / requirements: your Department Chair  
• Product and procedures assistance: (e.g., product how-to, difficulty loading/viewing a document, error message): Interfolio Scholar Services help line 877-997-8807 (8 am – 5 pm Central Time M–F) or email help@interfolio.com. Include details and screen shots when emailing.  Contact information is also posted on the help page.  
• Case adjustments or process questions (e.g., change "required" document to "optional" per department criteria, committee member change): Provost's Office

Also see Candidate FAQ: packet preparation.

All reviewers

• Review/read case

Committee manager(s)

• Review "Instructions" under Case Details tab
  
• Unlock packet/section as needed (department review only)
• Add your recommendation letters to Case Details, Required Items
• SELECT and share letters (from Case Materials, Internal Section) with candidate and prior reviewer(s) by timeline dates. Candidate cannot see letter until after this step is completed.
• Enable response when sharing signed final letter with candidate (see step 6 in PDF)
• Send Case forward to next reviewer(s) after sharing signed final letter

See "FHSU Committee Manager Guides," Reviewer FAQs, Case Details "Instructions" within the case, and step-by-step training recording.

At the department level this is normally the committee chair during committee review and department chair during their review. The administrative assistant may assist per the department's usual practices.  This is similar for college committee and dean review. Provost staff assists the university committee with committee manager tasks.

See FHSU Committee Manager Guides at the top of this page.

No. Both department chair and committee receive automatic notification that the case is available to the committee for review. The department chair will have read-only access.

After committee letters are loaded/shared, the committee chair must send the case forward to give the department chair full manager access. The department chair will send the case forward to the dean/college committee after department chair review is complete. The college committee (if applicable) and dean will then receive dual notifications of case access.

If the case should be at your review level, Log in to Interfolio, select upper right drop down next to your name, select Fort Hays State University, and check in Cases. If the case is not there, contact the prior reviewer to send the case forward to your review level. 

For case(s) sent forward to your review level but not viewable, contact Interfolio helps services or the Provost's Office to check your access.

If a landscape document (such as a certificate or chart) was loaded vertically by the candidate or an item is upside down, it cannot be rotated by reviewers. 

At the department level, the committee manager can unlock the packet and request the candidate replace the document with an edited/rotated version and then resubmit the packet/section.

The download option is turned off for FHSU's access due to privacy concerns.

You can view documents side by side (e.g. keeping the candidate's tenure statement open while viewing other documents in the packet) by logging in to Interfolio in two browser windows. Open the case in both windows and scroll through as needed. Close the duplicate window before acting on the case, such as loading a recommendation letter.

When reading the case, these letters will be at the end of the documents, separated by department, college, and university.  Or, they can be viewed in Case Materials.  Scroll down to Internal Sections and click the arrows next to "Chair and Department Committee Review Documents" or "Dean and College Committee Review Documents."

The department committee chair (or administrative assistant in some departments) unlocks the packet as-needed for candidate edits during department committee review. The department chair (or admin assistant) unlocks the packet during chair review. Provost Office staff can also assist with this upon request from the committee or chair. Remind candidate to submit again after editing the packet.  Committee manager verifies the packet is locked before sending case forward. 

Dean and college committee, please note that no packet/case may be unlocked beyond department review.

See FHSU Committee Manager Guides at the top of this page.

Contact the committee chair to send case forward to department chair.  When a candidate submits their case, the department chair has read-only access.  Upon completion of committee review, the committee chair must send the case forward to the department chair so they can complete review, unlock the case if needed, and load/share letters.

At this time, appeals following initial letter are requested and held in the same manner as was done previously (outside of Interfolio). Candidates should review the letter, MOA, and timeline for appeal directions.

• Product and procedures assistance: (e.g., product how-to, difficulty loading/viewing a document, error message): Interfolio Scholar Services help line 877-997-8807 (8 am – 5 pm Central Time M–F) or email help@interfolio.com. Include details and screen shots when emailing.  Contact information is also posted on the help page.  
• Case adjustments or process questions (e.g., change "required" document to "optional" per department criteria, committee member change): Provost's Office

Reviewing parties must title recommendation letters distinctly (review level, initial/final, candidate name, AY or review year) such as "James dept cmt init tenure ltr 22-23." The reviewer can rename/delete/replace their letter if needed. Clearly titled letters aid later reviewers of the case and candidates saving documents for future review.

Yes. Reviewer recommendation letters must be signed before loading (digitally or physically signed then scanned). Per the MOA "The reviewer or committee members will sign the final recommendation."

Recommendation letters loaded to the digital case during review are the official documents, regardless if copies or originals are also sent or shared outside of Interfolio. (Delivery of printed letters is no longer required.)

Contact the committee chair to send case forward to department chair or college dean.  When a candidate submits their case, the department chair has read-only access.  Upon completion of committee review, the committee chair must send the case forward to the department/program chair so they can complete review and load/share letters.  A similar process occurs when the case is moved to the college and dean level.

No. Internal Section items are NOT viewable by the candidate. Think of the digital case as a binder. Letters placed in the binder or case must also be sent/delivered to the candidate and prior reviewers.  After "add"ing a letter, reviewers must then select (check box next to document) and "Share" the specific document with the candidate.  

See next question - "How are recommendation letters sent / received during review?" and "Where do I find the reviewer's initial or final recommendation letter in my case?" under candidate FAQ's.

• Committee manager FIRST uploads letter to "Required Items" under Case Details tab. 
• THEN share letter with candidate:
  1. In Case Materials, scroll down to Internal Sections.   
  2. SELECT check box next to the letter.   
  3. "Share" (top right menu bar) with candidate. Insert subject and message as appropriate.
• NEXT share with prior reviewer(s) - select and share "with committee," update recipient(s) to include only prior reviewer(s) before sending. 
• Candidate/reviewers then receive an email directing them to log in to Interfolio to view the document. 
• When sharing the final letter with candidate in Interfolio, committee manager enables a response (step 6 in sharing letter w/candidate PDF), following the published timeline.
• Clearly title letters - see Are there naming guidelines for recommendation letters? above.  
• All letters must be signed before loading (digitally or physically signed then scanned).  Per the MOA "The reviewer or committee members will sign the final recommendation."

REMINDER - An uploaded letter is not visible to candidate or prior reviewer(s) until it is selected (box checked) and shared with them.  See second bullet above. 

See FHSU Committee Manager Guides at the top of this page for step by step screenshots.

No. This must be done by a committee manager. As with binders, reviewers insert their own initial and final letters in the binder/case (see previous question) so they are viewable to subsequent reviewers.

Candidates can add shared initial and final letters to their dossier for future use, but this does not alter their current file.

Communicate with the candidate then delete the letter and upload a corrected letter. The deleted letter will no longer be accessible by the candidate or subsequent reviewers. 

Select and share the corrected letter with the candidate and with prior reviewers if applicable.

Select the the relevant Internal Section. E.g., "Section for response" to college committee final letter will be the Internal Section "Dean and College Committee Review Documents."

Go to Case Details, Required Items, click "Add" next to the required item. In the next window "Select file from case," click in the circle next to the appropriate letter, then Add.

See FHSU Committee Manager Guide Troubleshooting at the top of this page.

Move the letter by simply dragging it to the correct Internal Section or select Edit (same line as the letter), Edit Settings, then "Dean and College Review Documents."

Yes, simply select and share "with committee" again, including only the name of the needed recipient.

No. Printing and hand delivery of letters is not needed. Sharing signed letters through Interfolio fulfills the delivery requirement. Per the MOA “Recommendations will be timely delivered to the faculty member.” 

During these initial implementation years, communication between candidate and reviewer(s) is recommended to verify actions were completed.

No. The committee manager selects "Send Case" in the upper right corner to send the case to the next reviewer(s).

See FHSU Committee Manager Guides at the top of this page.

Cases cannot be sent forward until both initial and final letters are loaded in the Case Details "Required Items" section. See FAQ above on where to load letters or how to move letters to Case Details from Case Materials. Remember to share letters with candidate (including enable final letter response) and share letters with previous reviewer(s) before sending the case forward.

See FHSU Committee Manager Guides at the top of this page.

Contact the next reviewer to send the case back to you. Contact the Provost's Office if the reviewer is unavailable. Send the case forward again after sharing the letters.

This information is for chairs sending a case to college level review or deans sending forward to provost / university level review.

The digital process moves files through reviewers. In place of delivering a file to the dean's office prior to college committee review, the dean and college committee are simultaneously notified when a case is moved forward to the college.  The dean may communicate with the college committee prior to their review dates. This is similar for the dean moving a case forward to provost and university level review.

Any binders, however, should be delivered to the dean or provost on the "forwards file to" date in the official timeline.

Log into Interfolio, select Home from the left menu, then "Files have been shared with you." If you did not receive an email notice or cannot see a letter copy due to you, contact the subsequent reviewer(s) to request sharing appropriate letter.

Yes, two processes for 1st - 4th year cases are different from 5th/6th year

1) When sharing the dean's final letter with prior reviewers, add the provost to the recipient group.

2) As with physical binders, the digital case is not moved/sent forward.

Provost staff will close digital cases after the review process is complete.

Congratulations! You found the gold star for reviewing the Reviewer FAQs! We appreciate you! Yes, that is a lot of exclamation points! Yay! Please email Janet in the Provost's Office so she knows a real person perused the FAQs. You will receive a virtual high five and super duper extra special gold star.

• File content / requirements:  Department Chair  
• Product and procedures assistance: (e.g., product how-to, difficulty loading/viewing a document, error message): Interfolio Scholar Services help line 877-997-8807 (8 am – 5 pm Central Time M–F) or email help@interfolio.com.  Include details and screen shots when emailing. Contact information is also posted on the help page.  
• Case adjustments or process questions (e.g., change "required" document to "optional" per department criteria, committee member change): Provost's Office