Mississippi State University is transitioning to a new digital platform - Watermark Reviews, Promotion, and Tenure (RPT) to digitize and streamline the promotion and tenure process. The online system enables real-time tracking and improved transparency for candidates and key stakeholders. This page serves as the central hub for training materials and resources to support users during this process. For more information, contact Tracey Baham or Diann Nichols.
Faculty build their promotion and tenure packets and build an Adobe PDF binder. Please refer to the following video for information about how to build these PDF documents as a binder.
The following training videos describe the process for submitting the packet through Watermark RPT and then tracking its progress through the promotion and tenure steps. The PowerPoint presentation is also available for your reference.
The Two Step Packet Submission process is designed to ensure that each set of reviewers receives only the materials relevant to their role in the process First, candidates upload an abbreviated dossier containing only the documents required for external review. After the external review is complete, candidates upload the remaining documents required for internal institutional review. Once both steps are completed, the system will create a new combined packet consisting of the abbreviated dossier and the required internal documents that will automatically progress through the remaining stages of the promotion and tenure process.
The Single Step Packet Submission process allows promotion and tenure candidates to upload all required materials in one streamlined step. While the entire packet is submitted at once, candidates can save their progress as a draft and return to it as needed before finalizing.
After the faculty candidate has submitted his or her packet, the department head must confirm the packet was received and then has options for how to handle the external reviewers. The training video walks through the external reviewer process, and demonstrates the steps the department head will take after the Departmental P&T Committee has finished its review.
The video for the committee chairs demonstrates how the optional voting process works, how to upload a tally document and document the committee's vote, and the process for feedback from the faculty candidate.
Last Updated: 7/31/2025