Survey Responses to Question #8, on Additional Issues
Here is the text of question #8:
8. Do you understand there to be any additional issues that contribute
to decisions on whether to award tenure at Colby? If so, please describe
them.
Responses from Colby faculty who have served on P&T
This question asks for "hidden criteria" that might be impeding
(or advancing) tenure and promotion cases. But the criteria you seek
here are not really hidden - the "additional issues" are implicit in
the structure of the file, which must include the candidate's personal
statement (that person's construction of his/her own career at Colby),
departmental support in the form of the vote and statement of the
committee, and the completeness of the dossier.
The candidate's letter can provide a context for the importance (or any
weaknesses) in the teaching and scholarship. The departmental letter can
ignore contradictions or problems in the dossier or direct the committee's
attention to particularly worthy achievements not registered fully in
the dossier. P&T cannot assess what the candidate and the dossier do
not offer for examination. An example: if someone's teaching load
involves a major number of independent studies or honors projects,
but there are no teaching evaluations and letters from the students,
unless the candidate or the department inform the committee of that fact,
the committee cannot factor in that aspect of the teaching.
This survey misses a major point about the tenure dossier - although it
includes the three areas being evaluated, the dossier is also a whole
entity so that its entire effectiveness has a gestalt effect as well as
individual categories to be ranked.
My best advice to faculty coming up for tenure is
1. That they reread as a whole those elements of the dossier that they
themselves are contributing - all their teaching evaluations at more
or less one sitting, all their own scholarship, all the peer reviews of
their teaching that folks have made. Most of the dossier is assembled
by the faculty member; that dossier as a whole is what the committee
will encounter.
2. That they run at least their C.V. by folks in other divisions, largely
because of the differences in what constitutes "strong scholarship"
in different fields. Where might committee members from other divisions
have questions?
I am aware of the poor record in tenuring split or joint appointments and
I think the expectations in cases of half-time or less teaching need to be
spelled out. Colby is proud of its rigorous and largely fair procedures,
but needs to be careful not to award tenure merely for fitting into a
preconceived "mold."
Yeah...The process of electing P&T members has lead to a politicization
of the process. The demand for diversity has also changed the way
the committee decides cases. It is my perception that there have been
questionable positive decisions in recent years...that is, faculty with
borderline credentials have been tenured and few denials have come down.
Teaching and advising, research, and service are the three areas that
are evaluated by the departmental committee and P&T. The needs of the
department and college as a whole can figure into the overall evaluation.
The final decision for tenure is made by the President and Board of
Trustees based on the vote and recommendations of P&T.
Absolutely. The people on P&T are human, after all, and no matter how
much they may try they are affected by other issues. Being known helps
(and of course is related in some ways to the "service" category).
Having "advocates" on P&T (i.e., people who know you and support your
candidacy) also helps, whether or not they are explicit about that
support. I don't know if one's position on campus issues matters,
but I suspect that it does.
If you are liked, you get tenure. If you don't support the social blob
enough, you don't.
One additional issue is who comes up for tenure with you. It is
my perception that if you happen to be up for tenure with a group of
exceptionally strong individuals, then you very well might not get tenure,
whereas if you come up for tenure with a weaker group, you would have
a greater chance of being granted tenure.
Randolph M. Jones
Survey results
How (not) to get tenure at
Colby College