Interfolio RPT is an online platform that streamlines faculty review processes, including promotion, tenure, and annual reviews. It allows candidates to submit materials, committees to review cases and administrators to manage workflows efficiently.
Interfolio Review, Promotion and Tenure (RPT) is a flexible, committee-friendly online system for conducting academic professional reviews in a shared governance context, including: promotion, tenure, annual review, sabbatical/leave, merit review, and any other sequential review. Interfolio RPT is built to help academic institutions ensure that these processes are transparent, equitable, efficient, and well documented.
NIU has begun a phased implementation of the Interfolio RPT system for managing promotion and tenure processes for the 2025-2026 cycle. Faculty members preparing for promotion and tenure during the 2025-2026 cycle along with committee members and staff who are a part of the review process will be the first cohort to utilize this improved system.
No requirements are changing for promotion and tenure consideration at NIU with the implementation of the Interfolio system. You should submit the materials already required in your department’s bylaws and follow the usual submission timeline established by your department.
Interfolio Review, Promotion and Tenure (RPT) is an online platform for carrying out formal faculty reviews in a shared governance context, built to help academic institutions ensure that these processes are transparent, equitable, efficient, and well-documented. NIU refers to this platform interchangeably as "Interfolio" or "RPT".
A digital representation of your institutional hierarchy. Within the hierarchy, the different tiers will determine scope. Administrators can be assigned to any given unit. Ex. Institution > School > Department.
Academic workflow levels in Interfolio Review, Promotion and Tenure give users a way to manage access to cases for many users at once. Case access can be managed at individual case review steps based on unit hierarchy instead of by user roles.
The building blocks of the RPT module that allow administrators to create standardized, repeatable processes for all review types at their institution, colleges, schools, and departments. Templates can be created centrally or copied down to specific units for customization.
The lifecycle of a candidate as they progress through a standardized review cycle. You might think of this as a virtual 3-ring binder used to hold both candidate and committee materials for a review.
The collection of materials by which a candidate is being reviewed (documents and other files). The packet is divided into sections which can be worked on and submitted independently of one another. All materials submitted in the packet will be copied to the candidate's Dossier for record keeping.
Groups of users that can review the candidates’ case at a given step of the review process. Committees can be:
A tool for all faculty to store and manage job, fellowship, and promotion or review documents in one place. The Dossier will act as the central archiving tool for your candidate’s materials. All information submitted for a review will be copied into the faculty Dossier for archiving or reusability purposes. The faculty member's Dossier is private and portable, meaning it cannot be seen by the institution and it is theirs to keep even if they change employment.
Anyone added to Interfolio RPT is automatically called a user. Users have the most basic and restricted access in the system.
Committee members have the next most basic permissions within the system. They can view a candidate's packet, download documents (if allowed), and leave comments (also if allowed) on the particular case they have access to.
Committee managers have the power to move a case either backward or forward after a committee has finished reviewing. In addition, committee managers have communication powers within the system; they can email both the candidate and committee members from within the system, record committee votes in the system, and add files to a case. In order to make a user a committee manager, an administrator must manually select them to serve this role.
Case managers have the ability to create new cases and edit cases at their unit. They can manage case-level settings and committees, view case details and packet materials, and view all closed cases at their level in the hierarchy.
Case managers cannot manage templates, view reports, or change account settings.
Template administrators can create and edit templates at their unit but they cannot create cases, view reports or manage any account settings.
Administrators can access documents, email candidates and committees, and move a case forward or backward. Administrators can create templates, forms, and cases for the units to which they have access. Administrators have access to all cases at their unit, unless recused.
Institutional Administrators are the users granted the highest permissions in RPT. Not only can they act as an Administrator for any template or case at the institution (except where recused), but also they are the only users able to control the institutional branding, enable/disable comments and downloads, create a default list of case statuses as well as the voting options for committees.
Learn more about Interfolio user roles and capabilities being implemented at NIU.
Interfolio RPT is an online platform that streamlines faculty review processes, including promotion, tenure, and annual reviews. It allows candidates to submit materials, committees to review cases and administrators to manage workflows efficiently.
NIU is adopting Interfolio RPT to improve efficiency, transparency and consistency in faculty review processes. By replacing paper-based workflows, the system provides a secure, centralized platform that aligns with the university’s changes to promotion and tenure bylaws. Interfolio RPT streamlines the review process, reducing administrative burden and improving data security. It also simplifies the management of external reviews, ensuring a seamless and modernized approach. NIU joins a growing number of 500+ institutions that use Interfolio RPT to support fair, clear, and efficient faculty evaluations.
No, requirements are not changing for promotion and tenure consideration at NIU. You are only required to submit the materials outlined in your department or school bylaws and follow the usual submission timeline established by your department.
We are simply updating the medium for doing so through Interfolio to streamline workflows while enhancing security, ensuring compliance with evolving guidelines and reducing administrative burden. The goal is for our faculty and staff to be able to focus more on their teaching, research and service.
Faculty, committee members and administrators can log in via the Interfolio portal by searching for Northern Illinois University and then entering their institutional credentials (NIU Account ID and password) when prompted.
Currently, on-demand training resources are available, including Interfolio’s help guides and interactive training courses.
Live NIU-specific Interfolio training is being scheduled for those who will be using the system during the 2025-2026 cycle. Find more details here.
You can access Interfolio’s support resources, including user guides and interactive training courses, curated on the Interfolio at NIU support website and through the Interfolio Product Help Center. These materials cover key functions for faculty, committee members and administrators.
Yes, NIU-specific training sessions and documentation will be introduced later this year to align with institutional processes. The first of these sessions, for case managers and faculty candidates, are being scheduled. See available training details to learn more and stay up-to-date.
Email the Interfolio at NIU team interfolio@niu.edu with your questions.
Interfolio Scholar Services is available for live support Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. CT. You can call, email, or chat with any technical questions at 833-844-2118 or interfolio-support@elsevier.com.
NOTE: You must log in using your NIU Account ID and password.
Call, email, or chat with the Interfolio Scholar Services team with any technical questions. Live support is available Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. CT.
833-844-2118
interfolio-support@elsevier.com
Email the Interfolio at NIU team with any questions about the faculty promotion and tenure submission and review process using Interfolio.