Promotion and Tenure

general | dossiers | policies and procedures

GENERAL

Schoenfeld, A. Clay and Robert Magnan.

Mentor In A Manual: Climbing The Academic Ladder to Tenure. 2d ed. Madison, Wisc.: Atwood, 1994. (498 pp.)
CSUH-FCET Library

This is surely one of the most thorough introductions to the tenure-track professoriate. The expressed purpose of this tome is to answer the question, "How does an assistant professor earn tenure?" The authors present chapters to cover all of the significant issues: viewing the teaching profession professionally, knowing the world of academia, grasping institutional expectations for tenure and promotion, appreciating promotion politics, preparing to teach, surviving in the classroom, working outside the classroom, doing research, performing service, getting published, distinguishing publication outlets, and presenting your credentials for tenure consideration. They include helpful suggestions for further reading and an appendix entitled "What Do I Do if I Don’t Make Tenure?"

Whicker, Marcia Lynn, Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld, and Ruth Ann Strickland.

Getting Tenure. Survival Skills for Scholars, 8. Newbury Park, Calif.: SAGE, 1993. (147 pp.)
CSUH-FCET Library

Written for the graduate student or new faculty member, this brief volume defines tenure, describes the tenure process, and delineates the issues about which tenure-hopefuls should concern themselves. The final chapter presents "the ten commandments of tenure success" followed by a brief bibliography.

DOSSIERS AND TEACHING PORTFOLIOS

Driscoll, Amy, and Ernest A. Lynton.

Making Outreach Visible: A Guide to Documenting Professional Service and Outreach. Faculty Roles and Rewards. Washington, D.C.: American Association for Higher Education, 1999. (47 + 180 pp.)
CSUH-FCET Library

his volume is intended as a companion to Ernest Lynton's Making the Case for Professional Service. Thus, it advances the argument for a broader view of what should count as scholarly work on the part of faculty. It discusses the criteria to be used in assessing faculty professional work and encourages administrators, departments, and institutions to recognize and reward faculty scholarly work that has gone un(der)appreciated for years. Although the guide is less than 50 pages long, the fifth chapter has an additional180 extra pages of samples from sixteen individual professional service portfolios of professors in a variety of disciplines. Appendix B contains a short annotated bibliography

Lynton, Ernest A.

Making the Case for Professional Service. Faculty Roles and Rewards. Washington, D.C.: American Association for Higher Education, 1995. (104 pp.)
CSUH-FCET Library

This volume is argues for a broader view of what should count as scholarly work on the part of faculty. It seeks to provide individual departments with material for discussions about professional service in terms of their particular disciplines, fields, and/or circumstances. As for individual professors "making the case" for their professional service, Lynton addresses the principle elements necessary for proper documentation. He offers five case studies as examples.

PROMOTION AND TENURE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Diamond, Robert M.

Serving on Promotion and Tenure Committees: A Faculty Guide. Bolton, Mass.: Anker, 1994. (54 pp.)
CSUH-FCET Library

While acknowledging that some institutions may have policies and procedures that preclude some of his suggestions, Diamond identifies specific issues of concern, questions to ask, and suggestions for documentation that will be helpful to committees reviewing candidates for promotion and tenure. Half of the booklet is devoted to potentially helpful resources, which include examples of discipline-specific definitions of scholarship and professional work, a brief bibliography, a sample tool for evaluating an advisor, examples of documentation of faculty work, and a promotion and tenure committee checklist.