Applying For Tenure and Promotion

1. Applying For Tenure and Promotion Guidelines and Hints

2. Deadlines • Monday, December 3 for Tenure • Friday, March 1 for Promotion • A-Forms must be signed by a member of the Faculty Welfare Committee by this date. • All forms can be found on Provost’s Resource page, http://www.gallaudet.edu/Academic_Affairs/Resources/Faculty_Forms.html

3. Chain-of-Custody for Applications for Tenure and Promotion • Program / Department makes recommendation to Dean, submits application to Tenure and Promotion Committee • Committee makes recommendation to Dean • Dean makes recommendation to Provost • Provost makes tenure recommendation to Board • Board of Trustees vote on tenure • Promotion applications stop at Provost level

4. Program and Department Level • Program / Department makes recommendation to Dean; Dean delivers abridged file and portfolio to Tenure and Promotion Committee. • The application never dies at the department level; unless withdrawn by the faculty applicant, all applications go to the Tenure and Promotion Committee and will be reviewed (c.f UF Guidelines 6.7.1.4).

5. Committee Level • UF Faculty Bylaws I.2.a: The (Tenure and Promotion) Committee’s review (of an application for tenure or promotion) shall focus solely on whether or not the candidate has met the criteria for promotion or tenure established by the candidate’s department and the requirements for promotion or tenure found in the University Faculty Guidelines.

6. Department Criteria for Tenure • Read and understand it. • Understand that the Committee will be basing their recommendation solely on whether or not the application meets these criteria. • Portfolio Artifacts • Be thorough; if the criteria asks that you create syllabi, include a few copies of syllabi. • Student evaluations • Letters of recommendation / support • Summary Sheet (more later)

7. Administrative Level • Legally, department and University criteria for tenure and promotion are considered to be minimum standards. • As much as possible, faculty need to show that they go well beyond the criteria for tenure or promotion established by their department and by the University.

8. Portfolios • Step one: Make sure that all artifacts required by the department criteria are in the portfolio. • Make these artifacts easy to find. Suggestion: make a mini-file and put it in the front of the portfolio. • If your department requires that you create syllabi, put one sample syllabi in the mini-file and the rest in the main portfolio. • If required, letters of recommendation should go here too. • Spell out how your portfolio artifacts document that you have satisfied the department criteria.

9. More on Portfolios • Step two: Show the deans that you’re a worthy candidate. • Even if your department does not require letters of recommendation, you should think about getting them. • Remember your ultimate goal: get tenured / promoted. Ask yourself, “How does this artifact help the dean see that my work goes beyond the department criteria?” • Don’t throw things together willy-nilly. Make sure your important artifacts will be noticed. Draw attention to what needs to be noticed.

10. About Online Portfolios • At a minimum, provide hard copies of CV, Summary Sheet, the A-form, your ASLPI result, and your latest DRE. • Make online portfolios available to all committee members, your dean, and the Provost. • Either provide a hard-copy Abridged File or put it in its own folder in your online portfolio. • Make sure that important artifacts are easily found. Folders and subfolders are your friends. • Your online portfolio should be easily navigable. In particular, ensure that multiple windows can be kept open simultaneously.

11. ASLPI Scores • Faculty with ASLPI scores below 3 should provide documentation of efforts to improve both fluency in ASL and classroom discourse. • Letters of support from faculty, staff, and students may be helpful. • Student evaluations specifically mentioning fluency in ASL can be provided.

12. Summary Sheet • Board gets CV and Summary Sheet only. • Chair has final approval of content, but… • It is recommended that the faculty applicant fill out the summary sheet herself. • Fill out in formal third person: “Dr. Doe is highly regarded…” • Three pages max; first page for personal information only. Summary starts on top of page 2. Signatures are at the bottom of page 3. • Provide a copy in your abridged file, not the original (you want to keep it looking nice for the Board).

13. More on Summary Sheet • The Summary sheet is not a required component of the portfolio submitted to the Committee, but it can help us focus on how you’ve met the criteria. • Write the summary sheet with a copy of the criteria next to you. • Focus your narrative on how you satisfied the criteria. This is what the Board (and the Committee!) wants to see.

14. Still More on the Summary Sheet • The Summary Sheet is not meant to be a summary of your DRE. It is the one document by which you are trying to convince the Board to give you tenure. Highlight your accomplishments. Use lots of action verbs. • If you have letters of recommendation, you might want to quote them here: “As Dr. Albert Einstein of Princeton University says in his letter of support, ‘Dr. Nickerson’s work is swell.’”

15. CV • Be sure it follows the format found on the Provost’s Faculty Resources page. • Just sign it, it doesn’t have to be taken to a notary public. • No limit on number of pages.