Introduction
The College of Education’s review for tenure and promotion from Assistant to Associate Professor, and promotion review from Associate to Full Professor, focuses on the quality, relevance, and impact of the candidate’s performance in scholarship, teaching, and service. A candidate’s performance will be judged within the context of the candidate’s discipline and the College’s mission.
Tenure requires distinction in scholarship and teaching unless the faculty member has an assignment that primarily reflects other responsibilities. Promotion also requires distinction in at least two of the three areas, both of which must be related to the candidate’s primary responsibilities.
Scholarship, teaching, and service are defined as follows:
- Scholarship is defined broadly to include basic research, the integration of knowledge, the transformation of knowledge through the intellectual work involved in teaching and facilitating learning, and/or the application of knowledge to solve a compelling problem in the community. The productive scholar is continuously involved in research, writing, and creative efforts that advance knowledge in a field.
- Teaching is defined in its broadest sense to include instruction, course revision and development, analysis of the impact of one’s teaching, program development and leadership, advising and mentoring, and serving on and chairing doctoral committees. It also includes responsiveness to students’ needs beyond the classroom.
- Service is defined as working creatively to ensure that professional knowledge has an impact on families, schools, colleges, professional organizations, community agencies, or other institutions, and local, state, national, and international policies and practices.
Determining distinction is a comprehensive judgment that requires a holistic review of the evidence presented in the candidate’s packet. The following sections provide the context for evaluating the quality of the candidate’s performance in each area.
Faculty Scholarship
Introduction / Definition of Scholarship
Research, scholarship, and artistic creativity are among the primary functions of the university. A faculty member’s contribution will vary from one academic or professional field to another, but generally the faculty member is expected to be engaged continually and effectively in scholarly activities of distinction. The College embraces broad views of scholarship and recognizes that over the course of a career a faculty member may, and likely will, be engaged in more than one type of scholarship.
The quality of productive scholarship refers to the magnitude and impact of the work on the scholarly community and/or practitioners, and should not be evaluated solely on the basis of quantity. The magnitude and impact of the work will be examined holistically and may be demonstrated through a multitude of methods. No specific number of publications or pages will satisfy the criterion. Instead, the quality of the research and the candidate’s total research accomplishment should provide evidence of significant contribution to the literature in the relevant field(s). Increasingly, research and scholarship involves collaboration; quality is based on the significance of the contribution whether individual or collaborative.
The expectations for distinction in scholarship vary depending on the level of promotion:
- Assistant to Associate Professor: The candidate is expected to have established an emerging national reputation with demonstrated scholarly productivity based upon a clearly defined research agenda or line of research.
- Associate to Full Professor: The candidate is expected to be a mature, productive scholar with an established national and/or international reputation based upon a clearly defined research agenda or line of research.
Areas of Distinction
Evidence of ability and promise in research includes conduct of research with appropriate methods and rigor; conceptualizing and theorizing in an original way; synthesis, criticism, and clarification of extant knowledge and research; and/or relating research to the solution of practical problems. There are four broad areas considered when evaluating distinction:
- Published works
- Grant activity
- Research presentations
- Other related scholarship activities
Published works: A faculty member is expected to publish manuscripts in quality peer-reviewed journals. Distinction may also be supported through publications in a variety of other scholarly outlets. The quality and stature of peer-reviewed journals and other scholarly outlets are a significant indicator of distinction.
Grant activity: A faculty member is expected to pursue research, development, and/or training grants, which may reflect activity at different stages (e.g., pending, funded, unfunded). This expectation may vary as a function of the availability of funding sources. The quality, stature, and competitiveness of grants are a significant indicator of distinction.
Research presentations: Presentations at national and international conferences illustrate how the faculty member actively participates in and contributes to the research community. These presentations increase a faculty member’s visibility in the broader community and contribute to their research agenda.
Other related scholarship activities: Additional activities beyond the above areas may provide evidence of a faculty member’s scholarship and advance their visibility in the broader community.
Quality Indicators to Demonstrate Distinction in Scholarship
Evidence of distinction in scholarship appropriate for a candidate’s discipline includes, but is not limited to:
Published works:
- Articles in peer-reviewed periodicals
- Books, book chapters, monographs, and technical reports
- Abstracts for research publications
- Articles in non-refereed publications
- Book reviews for peer-reviewed journals or periodicals
Grant activity:
- Grant proposals submitted as PI, Co-PI, or investigator
- Grant proposals funded as PI, Co-PI, or investigator
- Grant participation as an expert (non-PI status)
Research presentations:
- Peer-reviewed papers and presentations at national and international conferences
- Invited presentations at national and international conferences
- Peer-reviewed papers and presentations at state and regional conferences
Awards and honors:
- Recognition as a leading scholar by a professional association (Associate to Full)
- Recognition as a promising scholar by a professional association (Assistant to Associate)
- Institutional, state, national, and international awards for scholarly work
- Research fellowships in support of the faculty member’s work
Other related scholarship activities:
- Creative works or activities, surveys or instrumentations, patents, and copyrights
- Intervention programs that prevent, ameliorate, or remediate persistent negative outcomes or optimize positive outcomes for individuals or groups
- Documented contributions to public policy at the local, state, national, or international level (e.g., written testimony, policy briefs)
Faculty Teaching
Introduction / Definition of Teaching
Faculty members in the College of Education are expected to demonstrate a sustained commitment to excellence in teaching. Teaching is defined in its broadest sense to include instruction, course revision and development, analysis of the impact of one’s teaching, program development and leadership, advising and mentoring, and serving on and chairing doctoral committees. Teaching also includes responsiveness to students’ needs beyond the classroom. It is expected that the candidate’s teaching will have demonstrable ties to current research in the candidate’s field.
Areas of Distinction
Areas in which to demonstrate distinction in teaching include: course instruction, course development, program development, instructional leadership, and mentoring. Candidates must present evidence of excellence in teaching appropriate to the unit’s mission and the candidates’ teaching responsibilities.
The expectations for distinction in teaching vary depending on the level of promotion:
- Assistant to Associate Professor (with tenure): The candidate is required to demonstrate distinction in teaching, specifically in course instruction and course development.
- Associate to Full Professor: The candidate is required to demonstrate distinction in teaching unless teaching is not an area of primary assignment. At this level, candidates should demonstrate excellence in classroom teaching and significant involvement with doctoral students. They are also expected to have attained a leadership role in areas such as curriculum development, program development, accreditation reviews, publishing with students, and/or mentoring junior faculty and graduate students.
Quality Indicators to Demonstrate Distinction in Teaching
Quality indicators for teaching include, but are not limited to:
- Evidence of teaching quality as evaluated by peer reviews and student evaluations
- Development of new courses and revisions of existing courses (including online and other delivery formats as assigned)
- Development or creative utilization of new materials and new technology
- Program development or leadership, including leadership in the accreditation process
- Publication, research awards, and/or teaching awards by undergraduate or graduate students and/or graduates
- Local, regional, national, or international teaching, advising, or mentoring awards
- Mentoring graduate students, graduates, and/or faculty in research, publication, and/or teaching
- Publication of peer-reviewed articles related to instruction
- Grants, including training grants, related to teaching or advising
- Conducting training workshops in schools or colleges
Numerical ratings from student evaluations are required and should be considered a source of data about classroom teaching. However, the context of instruction influences student ratings, and student evaluations should not be the sole or most important measure used to judge distinction. The candidate’s teaching narrative can situate and build a case for excellence in teaching, and the broad definition of teaching used by the College requires the use of multiple sources of evidence.
Faculty Service
Introduction / Definition of Service
Service is working creatively to ensure that professional knowledge has an impact on families, schools, colleges, professional organizations, community agencies, or other institutions, and local, state, national, and international policies and practices. Expectations for level of service increase as a faculty member’s career advances.
- Assistant professors should not be involved in service at a level that interferes with achieving distinction in research and teaching, and should typically not take on a leadership role in service activities.
- Associate professors seeking promotion to Full Professor are expected to demonstrate a significantly greater level of service than assistant professors, including leadership roles that contribute to an increasing national or international reputation, self-governance, and/or community-based service at the local, state, national, or international level.
Evidence of service for assistant professors seeking promotion to associate professor with tenure should indicate that candidates have begun to develop a record of service and to find ways to contribute to the profession, self-governance, and the local, state, and national community. Evidence of distinction for associate professors seeking promotion to full professor should reflect outstanding performance over several years that demonstrates significant impact on their professional discipline, self-governance, and/or local, state, national, or international communities.
Areas of Distinction
Service refers to work performed on behalf of others in any of the following three areas:
- Advancement of a scholarly discipline (service to the profession)
- Fulfillment of the obligations of self-governance (service to the department, college, or university)
- Meaningful engagement with local, state, national, or international communities (e.g., service to schools, parents/families, community agencies, or other organizations)
Quality Indicators to Demonstrate Distinction in Service
Distinction in service can be demonstrated in any one or all of the categories below. Indicators of distinction may include, but are not limited to, the following (not listed in any order of importance):
Service to state, national, and international professional organizations:
- Editorial service for peer-reviewed journals (e.g., editor, editorial board member, reviewer, or editing special issues)
- Leadership role in the governance of professional organizations in the candidate’s field or discipline (e.g., holding office in a national organization or taking a leadership role in accreditation standards)
- Organization of conferences and symposia
- Chair or membership on committees of professional organizations in the candidate’s field or discipline
- Honors, awards, and other recognition for service to the profession
Service to the department, college, or university:
- Chair or member of departmental, college, and university-wide governance committees and other representative bodies
- Mentoring of faculty and students
- Developing and/or sponsoring professional student groups
- Participation in recruitment activities
- Honors, awards, and other recognition for service to the department, college, or university
Service to the local, state, national, or international community:
- Sustained work with local, state, or federal agencies (e.g., test development, standards development, accreditation reviews); when feasible, this work is expected to result in conference presentations, publications, awards, and/or leadership, and to translate beyond the particular setting
- Sustained work in schools or other relevant community settings; when feasible, this work is expected to result in publications, awards, and/or leadership, and to translate beyond the particular setting
- Service/outreach or training grant proposals funded
- Honors, awards, and other recognition for service to the local, state, national, or international community
- Presentations at non-peer-reviewed conferences