当前，美国研究型大学具有世界领先的地位，其成功依赖于优秀的师资，而出色的师资与其教师管理政策是密不可分的。在教师管理政策中，晋升政策有着不可替代的重要作用，发挥着非常强大的筛选和激励功能，从而保证高素质的教师队伍的建立与维系。美国的大学教师经历了从不稳定到稳定、人数从少到多、从非职业化到高度职业化的过程。教师晋升也经历了从无到有、从模糊到清晰、从不系统到系统的过程。教师在晋升决策中的权力也是从无到有、从弱到强、从非制度化到制度化的。美国研究型大学教师晋升政策的核心是晋升标准和晋升程序。其中，教师晋升标准具有以下几个特点：晋升标准存在于大学的多个层次；晋升标准是从教师的能力和大学的需要两个角度考虑的；晋升标准以教学、研究、服务为核心；但在晋升标准中这些活动的权重不同。美国研究型大学的晋升程序的特点则在于：学术权力得到充分的保障；行政人员主要进行审核和判断；学术力量与行政力量在各层次并存；以及充分的反馈和申诉机制。在教师晋升评价时，主要是从研究、教学、服务和各项活动的平衡这四方面来进行的。在评价研究时，非常重视发表物和外部专家的评价信；在评价教学时，学生评教提供了最重要的信息；而在评价服务时尚无清晰明确的评价标准和方法。在各种活动应该保持怎样的平衡，则取决于学校和学科的要求。美国研究型大学教师晋升评价的特点是：重视证据及其使用；内外部专家评价相结合；以及量化与非量化评价相结合。当然，美国研究型大学的教师晋升政策在运行时也存在一些与其书面政策不一致的地方，即所谓的不成文规则。在教师晋升时，存在一些不言自明的标准，如教师获取资助经费的能力、教师的个性以及政治态度等。另外在做出晋升决定的过程中，也会存在不适当的权力运用。在系内评价时，关键选民可能拥有超过其他成员的权力；在行政人员做决断时，也可能运用部分行政权力来不适当地影响晋升决定。

The success of the world-leading American research universities relies on its outstanding professoriate. This glorious professoriate has been built under the faculty policies of these institutions. Among the policies, promotion policy which exerts the functions of screening and inspiring faculty is of extreme importance.The teachers in American higher education has developed from unstable to stable, from unprofessional to professional and grown a lot in number. Along with the development of university teachers, faculty promotion policies in American universities have grown out of nothing and become clearer and more systematic. The professoriate’s power in faculty promotion is getting stronger and institutionalized during the same process.The criteria for promotion and the procedure of promotion constitute the core of faculty promotion policy. The promotion criteria of American Research University have following characteristics. First, promotion criteria exist at every level of the university. Second, the criteria are designed from both the perspective of faculty merit and the need of university. Lastly, the core of promotion criteria is teaching, research and service, but with different weight respectively. Through the procedure of promotion we can see that academic power is sufficiently protected; administrators mainly take the responsibility of examining and judging; academic power and administrative power coexist at every level of the university; well-designed feedback and appeal mechanism.The universities evaluate the faculty on teaching, research, service and the balance between above activities. While evaluating faculty’s research, publication and evaluation letters are greatly valued. While evaluating faculty’s teaching competence, student rating provides the most important evidence. As for service, there are no clear evaluation criteria and methods. The requirement of the balance between these activities depends on the specific demand of discipline and institution. The characteristics of faculty evaluation for promotion are as follows: the evidence and the use of it are greatly valued; internal evaluation and external evaluation are combined; quantized valuation and non-quantized valuation are combined.There are some incongruities between the promotion practice and written promotion policy in American Research University. Some unwritten criteria are applied in faculty promotion, e.g., the ability of competing for grant; the candidate’s personality and political attitude. There is also improper power in use during the promotion process. Key constituent may have more power than other members. Administrators may also use their administrative power to affect promotion decision improperly.