Guidelines for Promotion to Research Associate Professor

Dean's Office contacts: Ivy Mason-Sharrah and Susan Miller

• Scholarship
• Research Advising and Mentorship
• Service
• Conclusion

As a premier research university, our expectations regarding the independent scholarly record of our faculty are high. In general, quality is more important than quantity, although there must be sufficient quantity to provide evidence of a significant level of scholarly productivity. Several factors influence the assessment of the quality of a scholarly record.

• At more senior levels, quality is often measured by citations or other indicators of the impact of scholarship. At the junior level, quality is most often demonstrated by the quality of the journals or presses in which the individual publishes or the quality of the exhibit or performance venue.
• Outside funding of research from prestigious foundations and institutes (in those disciplines where it is available) can be viewed as a significant part of the scholarly record, depending on the relative size of the grant and the significance of the questions posed.
• The impact/significance of the scholarship is most often determined by the comments from outside reviewers, but often reviews of the work are available as well.
• The personal statement provided by the candidate is an important guide to the significance of each scholarly piece and their connections to each other.  The statement should articulate the intellectual agenda(s) that motivates the individual’s work.
• The composition of the portfolio of published works also matters. A collection of good but unconnected articles may not produce the same sense of impact that a set of articles advancing a coherent line of scholarship would. It is not unprecedented, though, for faculty to shift scholarly areas of focus, even at the junior level. The personal statement provided by the candidate is a very important guide to the significance of each scholarly piece and their connection to each other.
• Another issue is the connection of published work to the dissertation. Highly regarded articles from the dissertation do count, but not as much as highly regarded articles reflecting scholarship beyond the dissertation. For those disciplines where a book is considered standard for tenure, a book based on the dissertation that shows significant extensions and revisions is regarded more highly than one that does not.
• In the creative and performing arts, portfolios will reflect the faculty member's creative work--including exhibitions, performances, and reviews thereof. As with all faculty members, the significance of the work and career trajectory are of paramount importance.
• The scholarly record should provide clear evidence of independent thinking and research/performance. Thus, although many junior scholars continue to do some collaborative work with a former Ph.D. or postdoc advisor, it is important to establish a record of growing independence from former advisors.
• Invitations to talk at other universities and prestigious events add to the scholarly record but generally play a relatively minor role independent of other measures of the scholarly record.
• We do encourage collaborative work; thus coauthored articles and creative works are given important weight by the Council. It is, however, necessary to identify the contributions of the candidate to these articles and works. In general, if the contribution of the candidate is primarily technical, it does not count as much as if the contribution is of a more substantial nature. A significant portion of the overall research record should include articles and works to which the candidate has made the primary contributions.
• Sustained scholarly activity as seen in conference participation, publications, grants, or performances and exhibitions demonstrates scholarly engagement and attainment.

Given that the decision regarding promotion is very much about future expectations, the trajectory of scholarly productivity is carefully considered. The acceptance/publication of articles or the exhibition of work or performance just before tenure is carefully scrutinized in order to determine the extent to which it reflects a genuine timely outcome of a growing scholarly record as opposed to a belated effort to increase its quantity.

Research track faculty do not have formal classroom teaching duties as part of their regular appointments.  Strong mentorship in research is a necessary part of a successful promotion. The advising of postdoctoral fellows and students, both undergraduate and graduate, is a significant contribution to the teaching mission of the University. At the time of promotion to Research Associate Professor, a faculty member will have a strong record of working with and mentoring students, including, where appropriate, chairing graduate student committees.  The demonstrated success of one's students (both undergraduate and graduate) can be valuable testimony of a faculty member's contributions.

Communities thrive when all members contribute to the common good. Thus we expect that candidates for promotion will have been involved in the life of their department, and, hopefully, in the life of the University and their national associations. The University and the College have also made engagement with the broader public one of our institutional goals and encourage public scholarship. It is desirable to show evidence of contributions to or engagement with the broader community and in some cases this may be part of the job expectations.  For junior faculty, this is usually much less important to the evaluation than is service to the department and University. It is understood that junior faculty will commit less of their time to service.

The College and the University seek to appoint individuals who will be intellectually independent and capable of fulfilling leadership roles in their fields and in the University. We provide additional resources during the early career years to support career development that we hope--and expect--will lead to a successful decision of tenure and promotion based on the principles outlined in this document. Faculty members can take various approaches to scholarship, mentorship, and service, emphasizing one or another at different times in a career.  The College of Arts and Sciences values the many and varied contributions made by faculty.  Promotion to the highest academic rank will be consistent with the expectations of a research university.  Each promotion case is evaluated on its own merits, taking into account the specific expectations of each department and the general expectations of the College and the University.  It is important to stress, however, that ultimately individuals are responsible for their own professional success.