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Barbara T.
Alexander |
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 five to six 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 (NEA) 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 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 seven-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.
How do you apply for tenure review?
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 PIs and CPIs; 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!
Other resources
American Association of University Professors:
http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/issues/tenure/resources.htm
National Education Association:
http://www2.nea.org/he/tenure.html
American Association of University Women:
http://www.aauw.org/index.cfm
References
1. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Home and Office Edition, Merriam-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.
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