Getting Tenure At Tulane: Guidelines and Advice from the SLA Dean s Office

1. Carole Haber, Dean Kevin Gotham, Assoc. Dean Jeremy Jernegan, Assoc. Dean 102 Newcomb Hall Getting Tenure At Tulane: Guidelines and Advice from the SLA Dean’s Office

2. Presentation Topics 1. Understand SLA and Departmental Expectations 2. Master the Skills of Time Management and Information Management in Your Research 3. Learn to Write Grants to Support Your Research and Teaching Activities 4. Understand Teaching Expectations and Responsibilities 5. Learn to Balance Research, Teaching, and Service 6. Establish Collegial Relationships with Senior Colleagues 7. Learn About Resources to Help With Teaching and Research 8. Learn to Use Criticism to Your Benefit 9. Make a Five-Year Plan and Organize a Tenure File

3. Thoroughly study the SLA website concerning tenure and promotion. Understand the following: The role of the Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Committee The role of departments SLA procedures and criteria Meet regularly with the chair and senior faculty in your department Ask questions about research productivity, teaching expectations, and service duties 1. Understand SLA and Departmental Expectations

4. 2. Master the Skills of Time and Information Management Establish a clear agenda, a consistent schedule, and make steady progress toward achieving your research goals Understand what published scholarly work and creative activity "counts“ Past publications and creative work? Books? Articles? Textbooks? Book reviews? Encyclopedia entries? Publishing dissertation as a book? Single-authored vs. multiple-authored publications? Be aware that for your book to count for tenure it must be at least be in press with all revisions completed

5. 3. Learn to Write Grants to Support Research and Teaching Activities Why does Tulane want you to write grants? Overhead or indirect costs helps balance the university budget Contributes to visibility, prestige, and national ranking of the university Why do you want to write grants? Summer salary, course release, reduced teaching load, travel, funds for equipment Raises your research visibility, opens doors to consulting, collaborative research, new research agendas New opportunities for writing, national and international presentations, and shaping public policy

6. 4. Understand Teaching Expectations and Responsibilities Understand what courses you are required to teach and how much student advising your department expects of you Feel free to talk to your chair about courses you think would benefit the department Look at other syllabi to see how your colleagues have organized their courses Develop clear, rational, well organized syllabi that are SACs compliant Be aware that you will spend a great deal of time and energy the first time you teach a course Do not spend huge amounts of time redesigning the same course each semester

7. 5. Learn to Balance Research, Teaching, and Service Newly hired assistant professors are neither required nor expected to serve on university or SLA committees At the third year review, research productivity and creative activities, as well as teaching success are the principal determinants of the outcome After you pass third-year review, it is assumed that you will serve on at least one university and/or SLA committee Departments have different service expectations and you should find out what service work your department expects of you

8. 6. Establish Collegial Relationships with Senior Colleagues Recognize the influential people in your department The senior professors in your department know all about the tenure review process and are eager to help and assist you if you ask You should request feedback on papers and teaching and ask for suggestions for improvement Feel free to ask colleagues if you may sit in on a class Ask them if they would sit in on your class and offer feedback and comments on your teaching Consult with experienced grant writers and work with senior colleagues in developing grant applications

9. 7. Learn About Resources to Help With Teaching and Research Different departments and professional societies have a variety of resources and guides to help junior faculty in their teaching and research Ask colleagues if they know of opportunities within the department and at Tulane to help with teaching strategies, grant writing, and other professional development issues Different funding agencies and foundations offer guides to help with successful grant writing

10. 8. Learn to Use Criticism to Your Benefit Get used to rejection and learn to face criticism and negative feedback on your teaching and writing If your papers, book/grant proposals are not accepted, always revise and resubmit as soon as possible. Be persistent and tenacious Ask senior members of your department for input and criticism on a book/grant proposal or paper you are writing Take peer criticism seriously, especially at third-year review, and adjust your research plans and teaching accordingly

11. 9. Make a Five-Year Plan and Organize a Tenure File Start a "research file" a "teaching file" and a “service file” in which you place anything that you may later use to support your case for third-year review and tenure and promotion Study SLA P&T guidelines: organize your five-year plan organize your teaching dossier organize your CV in Tulane format and style Keep careful records of your activities and update your CV as soon as something new occurs

12. Key Links Your CV must be in correct format for submission with Third-Year Review and Promotion and Tenure Dossier (http://www.liberalarts.tulane.edu/PTFormatforCV.cfm) Promotion and Tenure Guidelines for the School of Liberal Arts (SLA) (http://www.liberalarts.tulane.edu/PandTContents.cfm) General guidelines on promotion and tenure policies for all schools at Tulane from the Provost's website: http://provost.tulane.edu/promotion_and_tenure_guidelines.pdf

13. Key Dates (Third-Year Review) Find out when your chair expects you to submit your file to the department for review Sept. 21 – Dept submits your file to the SLA Assistant Dean Sept. 25 – SLA Assistant Dean submits your file to the P&T Committee Dec. 4 – P&T submits your file to the SLA Dean Feb. 19 – SLA Dean submits your file to the Provost April 2 – Notification to Faculty (by either Dean or Provost) Time table for faculty actions (http://www.liberalarts.tulane.edu/TimetableforFacultyActions.cfm#TenureReview)

14. Key Dates (Tenure Review) May 1 – Your CV and list of references due to your department chair June 30 – Chair gathers accepted references Sept. 8 – Dept submits your file to SLA Assistant Dean Sept. 11 – SLA Assistant Dean submits your file to P&T Committee Feb. 5 – P&T submits your file to SLA Dean March 1 – SLA Dean submits your file to Provost June 1 – Notification to Faculty Time table for faculty actions (http://www.liberalarts.tulane.edu/TimetableforFacultyActions.cfm#TenureReview)

15. What to Submit (Third-Year Review) Check with your department about how many copies of the Third-Year file they expect from you Departments shall provide the P&T Committee (via the dean’s office) with one hard copy of the CV, one digital copy, and one copy of all publications and scholarship, numbered as on the CV

16. What to Submit (Tenure Review) Check with your department about how many copies of the tenure file they expect from you Check SLA Faculty Handbook for number of copies of the tenure Full Dossier and Research Dossier you need to submit to P&T and your department Full Dossier = CV/five-year research plan/scholarship and publications/teaching/service for internal reviews; department recommendation letter and external reviewer letters sought by the department (2 copies) Research Dossier (CV/scholarship & publications for external reviews) (6 copies)

17. Final Points Take charge and be responsible for educating yourself about what SLA and your department expect from you Don't wait until the end of the first semester or first year to ask questions about tenure and promotion Be sure to let senior colleagues know when you publish Ask for advice and take advantage of opportunities and resources

18. Final Points Prepare to spend much time and energy preparing your file for Third-Year Review and Promotion and Tenure Review The following tasks will take time: Organizing your CV according to Tulane format and guidelines Photocopying and labeling your publications Writing your five-year plan Organizing your Teaching Dossier