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Early Years and Planning for Tenure Review
Barbara T. Alexander, Ph.D.
University of Mississippi Medical Center
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 Barbara T. Alexander, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, MS. She received a B.S. in Zoology from Mississippi State University, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1997. She did her postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Joey Granger in the Department of Physiology and was promoted to Instructor in 1999. In 2002, she received an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology followed by tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2007.
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Congratulations! You have just started your career as a new tenure-track assistant professor. So, what do you do first? Find your new parking space, set up your laboratory, hire new laboratory personnel, establish your IACUC, IRB, Biohazard, and/or Radiation certifications, or obtain a copy of your university's tenure, promotion, and evaluation of time and performance review? The last choice is the one choice that you should not overlook before you get busy with experimental design, grant deadlines, manuscript revisions, teaching duties, committee meetings, etc. Although your tenure review may be 5 to 6 years in the future, what you do, how well you document what you do, and how well you are perceived by others within and outside your department and university will be critical to your tenure review.
What is Tenure?
The dictionary defines tenure as the act, right, manner, or period of holding something as landed property, an office, or a position (1). The National Education Association (NES) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) state tenure is vital to the protection of academic freedom (2, 3) or the right to teach and learn without interference (1). In general, a tenured faculty member has a continuous faculty appointment that will extend until their retirement unless it is terminated due to death, resignation, or a significant change in faculty performance according to your departmental and university standards and an unacceptable post-tenure review.
What is the Tenure System?
The tenure system is an internal policy adapted by a university. As endorsed by the AAUP, it generally consists of a 7-year maximum probationary period for a tenure-track faculty member to establish their record for tenure. If tenure is not granted by one year prior to the end of the mandatory probationary period, a tenure-track faculty member will be granted a one-year terminal year of employment (2).
What Are Your Chances of Receiving Tenure?
In 2001, approximately 46% of all college and university faculty members were tenured. When separated by gender, 52% of the male faculty was tenured, 34% of the women (4). Nationally, about one in five probationary faculty members are denied tenure and lose their job (3).
What is Expected of a Tenure-track Candidate?
Expectations for tenure will vary based on the research, service, and teaching goals of that department and/or university. In general, a candidate�s positive recommendation for promotion or tenure is based on their past record and future potential as an effective member of the academic community. It requires several years of sustained, outstanding achievements in the areas of research, service, and teaching that are consistent with the goals of the department and university. For a candidate in a department with a strong focus on research, such as a department of physiology located in a medical university, criteria for tenure may specify that a candidate be an independent, extramurally funded investigator who has produced a significant body of high-quality work and gained positive recognition of peers in the profession with consideration for teaching and service endeavors.
Often your tenure application will be initiated by your departmental chair or your departmental tenure and promotion committee. Following their recommendation, you will submit a tenure application based on the criteria and deadlines listed in your department's/university's tenure review policy. This application will summarize your research, service, and teaching during your probationary period. Additionally, you may be asked to provide external letters of support or a list of external references that you deem can expertly comment on your teaching, service, and research activities.
What is a Tenure Application?
Your tenure application will be defined by the tenure system of your university. Tenure criteria can vary from institution to institution and even department to department within a university system. It is critical that you receive a copy of the tenure policy that will apply to your tenure review process. This policy will include not only criteria for your record of research, service, and teaching, but also important dates and deadlines critical to your tenure review. Importantly, you may need to refer to the tenure system at your university to determine whether credit for prior service at another university or prior academic service can or will reduce your probationary period. In addition, note that the tenure review policy at your university may differ from one faculty member to another based on hiring date and updates and revisions in university tenure policy. Therefore, it is imperative that you have the correct tenure review policy with applicable deadlines that is specific for you and your hire date.
How Do You Prepare for Tenure Review?
After you have the correct copy of the tenure policy relevant to your tenure process, read it! Keep a tenure folder on your desk and on your computer. Document everything. Keep current with all your documentation. Collect and organize your tenure application based on the criteria provided by the tenure policy at your university. In general your tenure application may contain some or all of the following:
General: Biographical information, employment history, and academic background.
Research: 1) A statement of your research goals. 2) Your current curriculum vitae, including your publication list, awards, honors, participation at national and international meetings and conferences, invited talks at other institutions, sources of funding, etc. 3) An expansion of your CV. This could include an expanded description of your role in a grant; copies of grant award letters containing information on the amount and date of the award, in addition to a listing of PI's and CPI's; and the title, collaborators, and your role for grant proposals under development. Your tenure application may also include copies of published manuscripts, materials that are submitted for review, "in press" publications, or books or book chapters you have authored. 4) Listing of all undergraduate or graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Include the dates and your interactions, such as a supervisor or a member of a thesis committee; provide information regarding current career positions of former students and fellows. 4) List of industry contacts and the nature of your interactions. 5) List of involvement at national and international meetings, including your invited talks, and meeting participation, including moderator or chair of a scientific session.
Service: 1) List service to your department and university. Identify your position and membership on committees and length of service. 2) List activities related to students outside of regular departmental duties and alumni activities. 3) List service to national funding agencies and professional societies, including journal editorial duties and editorial board memberships, peer-review study sections, conference abstract grader, committee involvement, elected office, involvement in training workshops, etc.
Teaching:1) A statement of your personal teaching philosophy and a summary of your main strengths as a teacher. 2) List courses taught by year and include a course syllabus for each; include student evaluations with official documentation of the number of students enrolled. 3) List teaching awards.
References: You may be asked to provide letters of support. Or, you may be asked to provide a list of external references. External letters of reference are often required for tenure and ensure that the candidate has an achievement and performance level that is comparable with faculty at peer institutions. Letters of reference, as a part of your tenure application, are usually held in confidence in order to protect the identity, privacy, and confidentiality of the evaluator.
How Do You Improve Your Tenure Application and Chances to Gain Tenure?
Tenure Policy: First and most importantly, get a copy of your institution's tenure policy. Make sure it is the correct edition with all pertinent addendums.
Document: Know what type of documentation you will need and document everything!
Feedback: (a) Mentor. Find a mentor or mentors. Periodically, meet with your mentor(s) and go over your progress. Are my teaching duties sufficient? How critical are my teaching evaluations by students? Do I need more service activities on my CV? Do I need more service on national committees? Can you recommend me for such a position? (b) Annual Review. Does your department have an annual review procedure? Is it a formal review process? Are the criteria similar to those of tenure? What is the feedback from your departmental chair in your annual reviews?
Network: If you will need external references, who will you ask? This is where your participation at national and international meetings is critical. At large meetings a mentor may be vital to your introduction to others. Attendance at smaller specialty meetings can be very beneficial in providing a more casual opportunity for interaction with others. Service on scientific society committees provides an excellent opportunity to interact with faculty from other institutions who may not be in your direct field of research. Also, service on grant peer-review committees can provide an excellent chance for networking and meeting other investigators critical to your career and your tenure review.
Hard work and perseverance: Last, but not least, publish and obtain independent extramurally funded grant support; these are the hallmarks of your tenure application and, of course, advancement in your scientific research career.
How is Your Tenure Judged?
It is also important that you understand how your tenure application will be judged. Are you a senior author on publications in high-quality peer- reviewed scientific journals? Are your publications counted by number or is impact factor important in their review? Are you a PI on a research grant from a national peer-reviewed funding agency, such as the National Institutes of Health? Or, does funding from an organization such as the American Heart Association carry the same impact? How well does your application demonstrate your recognition as an authority in your field? How will the tenure committee evaluate your teaching performance? Have you been able to attract quality students and postdoctoral fellows? How important is your participation on university and national committees? Also, understand the review process. The tenure review process may involve your tenure application, a departmental tenure review committee, a detailed form prepared by your departmental chair, external letters of reference, a university tenure review committee, review by appropriate Deans and subsequent Chancellors or Vice-Presidents, then review by the University President/Chancellor, with a final approval from an Institute of Higher Learning or Board of Trustees.
What is Post-tenure Review?
Post-tenure review is a means to monitor performance of tenured faculty through the use of an annual performance evaluation. It may be triggered by a number of years of low performance based on post-tenure review guidelines at your institution and may result in disciplinary action.
Final Thoughts
Tenure follows the simple guidelines for success in science. Follow the instructions (just as you would when working with a RNA isolation kit!), document your work, work hard, and persevere!
References
1. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Home and Office Edition, Merrium-Webster, Inc, Publishers, Springfield, MA. 1995.
2. http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/issues/tenure/resources.htm
3. http://www2.nea.org/he/truth.html
4. http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/laf/lafnetwork/library/tenure_stats.cfm
Comments:
Dr. Alexander has done a great job describing the steps toward tenure. Admittedly, it can sound pretty intimidating, but the process really boils down to doing your job to the best of your ability. Most promotion and tenure decisions focus on the proverbial "three legs of the stool": scholarship, teaching, and service. Doing your research, interacting with students, and helping with the administration or clinical mission of the institution are things that come naturally to most faculty members. The key, as emphasized by Dr. Alexander, is good record keeping. A detailed account of these activities will provide the base on which you build your case for tenure. A sometimes-overlooked component of your application is the cover letter that you will write for the departmental chair, division chief, or head of your tenure committee. Given the strict format often required for a tenure application, the cover letter may be one of the few opportunities to highlight your personality and approach to the job in your own words.
Thomas A. Pressley
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Don't assume that the departmental chair will keep track of your tenure clock. You must be proactive in making sure the process is initiated in a timely manner.
Be sure to check into getting credit for prior academic service before you accept a faculty position. This can be negotiated up front because many universities will take advantage of an uninformed applicant and not give credit unless it is negotiated.
Annual reviews or formal reviews at specific times in the clock are extremely important. If a formal review process is not in place in your department, be sure to request such a review. It is best if you get written feedback on areas that are adequate and those areas that need improvement. In other words, find out how to best strengthen your tenure portfolio and maximize your ability to be granted tenure. Delinquencies such as a publication record cannot be addressed in the last year or two before a tenure evaluation.
John Imig
Medical College of Wisconsin
This was a great article! It seems to have everything that I needed and continue to need for P&T [Promotion & Tenure]. It is important that it emphasizes the need to start early.
Robert W. Brock
West Virginia University School of Medicine
The only thing I would stress is that each university has it's own policies, styles, expectations and one of the most important things is to work with your dept chair (or someone else) to understand what is needed in your particular case. I think it's really important to talk with someone who has been successfully reviewed already.
Lori Ploutz-Snyder
Syracuse University
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