The Document

Getting Clear on What’s Required

Every academic unit that hires tenure-track faculty has created a document that specifies criteria for evaluating faculty for retention, tenure, and promotion. It also specifies the standards, or level of performance, to be achieved for each criterion, for each kind of review.

Regardless of the ratings received in annual reviews, you must demonstrate that you have met the standards for retention, tenure, or promotion, as they are specified in the document. Make sure you know what your academic unit’s document actually says about the standards for each criterion.  Don’t accept others’ explanation of what the document contains (or hearsay of what review committees have accepted in the past), and don’t assume that a series of acceptable annual reviews will ensure you will receive tenure.

Get That Document In Hand

Where did you find the document governing reviews for your academic unit? When was it last updated? In addition to your own department’s or college’s document, is there an overarching university document guiding reviews across all units? If so, where might you find that? (The Provost Office’s webpage may have relevant links; if you don’t see them, email the Provost’s assistant to respectfully request where you can find the information.)

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It…

As a candidate, you must not only assemble your fine work, but you must also describe in your narratives how your fine work meets the standards for each criterion of your review. In other words, you must guide your dossier reader in INTERPRETING your work in light of the standards and criteria of the document.

Similarly, review committees cannot write their recommendations based on how much the members admire or dislike your work. They must craft the recommendation in terms of the categories and standards laid forth in the document governing reviews.

So make it easy on your committee members. Help them write an exceedingly favorable recommendation by structuring your narrative with the language of criteria and standards in this document. As you write, interpret what you do—and why you do it—in the categories and language of the document governing reviews. The better you know it, the easier your interpretation will flow.