The Road to Promotion: Beyond Associate Professor

What?  4.0 Standards for promotion to the rank of Professor shall be demonstrated by a cumulative record of excellence in teaching, professional growth, and service beyond that which is required for promotion to Associate Professor.  Teaching  Professional growth  Service

What?  4.0 (cont) Candidates for promotion to Professor must demonstrate superior contributions to teaching effectiveness, such as devising innovative teaching tools, creating new curricula and/or assessment systems, serving on university or professional curriculum committees, and/or receiving recognition for teaching excellence.

What?  4.0 (cont) Candidates for promotion to Professor also shall provide evidence of a strong and coherent program of continuous professional growth that demonstrates their expertise in a particular field or area and impact of their work upon the body of knowledge.

What?  4.0 (cont) A higher level of service and participation in shared governance is expected and more weight shall be given to them for promotion to the rank of Professor.  N.B. “When a tenured candidate distinguishes herself or himself in performing such duties to the significant benefit of the university and/or beyond, and when this performance is appropriately documented over a significant time, such service for the university shall have more than the usual bearing on reappointment, tenure, and promotion decisions” (3.3). This exception is applied rarely and only to recognize truly exceptional service carried out by tenured associate professors over a very long period of time.

Promotion = not quite starting over  Only true constant in the evaluative process:  Curriculum vita “6.0 The entire professional record of the candidate shall be considered, including accomplishments prior to appointment at this university. Work developed or sustained while serving at this university shall be essential to the award of tenure and/or promotion.”

Promotion = not quite starting over  Key Points in the criteria for promotion:  “a cumulative record”  “superior contributions to teaching effectiveness”  “continuous professional growth”  “a higher level of service and participation in shared governance”

When?  1.4 Promotion 1.41 A tenured faculty employee shall normally be considered for promotion after having served four years in the same rank or classification. Upon application, a faculty employee may be considered for promotion to professor, librarian equivalent, or SSPAR Level III before serving four years in the same rank or classification.

When?  Carefully consider achievements since tenure and promotion to associate.  What distinguishes your accomplishments from those of your junior colleagues? Professor Associate Prof Assistant Prof

Top Ten Mistakes  Submitting a sloppy, unorganized, or inaccurate WPAF.  Not providing documentation about the quality of journal publications (such as acceptance rates, citations, impact factors, etc.).  Not providing evidence of refereeing especially for creative activity, for books and book chapters, at time of validation.  Not providing an explanation of co-authorship or co-Principle Investigator activity.  Not providing departmental averages for student evaluations, or providing the wrong ones for comparison.  Not observing the “five-item” rule, and grouping several items together in place of one.  Not providing copies of manuscripts for five professional growth items, especially if they are submitted or accepted.  Not providing clear documentation for service activities.  Writing the personal statement in jargon understood only by experts in your discipline or sub- discipline.  Not using the personal statement effectively to contextualize issues or idiosyncrasies in your record.