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Session 2275

Conquering the hurdles of the tenure and promotion process for Junior Faculty Members

Keith V. Johnson, Mark Rajai East Tennessee State University

Abstract

The process of tenure and promotion can be a harrowing experience for faculty in higher education. A tenured faculty member is one whose job, with a few exceptions, is secured for life. These exceptions typically include the closure of the department, (although a good faith effort may be made to place them in a related department within the university), gross negligence, and sexual harassment. Tenure was designed to protect faculty from the volatile behavior and attitudes of administrators. The process generally occurs in the sixth year of employment and for many can be stressful. A candidate for tenure and promotion is evaluated in the areas of teaching, scholarship and service. This manuscript addresses tactics, strategies and approaches that were utilized by the author to overcome the tenure and promotion process.

I. Introduction

Tenure was designed to protect faculty from the volatile behaviors and attitudes of administrators. For many, the tenure and promotion process is a toilsome one that is very stressful for the candidate. The process generally occurs in the sixth year of employment and the candidate is evaluated on teaching, scholarship, and service. There are many strategies and approaches that can be used to lessen the stress and alleviate some of the frustration involved in the tenure and promotion process. The plan presented by the writer in this manuscript was utilized and proved to be successful for being promoted to associate professor and being awarded tenure.

II. Scholarship

Before the completion of the dissertation, explore potential publishers. Use segments of the document for articles, presentation at conferences, poster sessions, and the like. This will prevent the dissertation from becoming a dated, unpublished book on your shelf. Start early with publishing efforts because of extended publication turn around times. Since, the research is already complete, most of the work for the publication is already done. It is wise to have publication commitments for papers during graduate school so that editorial completions can be done your first year as a faculty member. Writing manuscripts to be submitted for publications in peer reviewed journals are also critical. The process of getting manuscripts published in journals usually takes longer than getting manuscripts published in conference proceedings. However, both options are great for junior faculty.

There is an effort at many institutions of higher education to promote interdisciplinary research. Interdisciplinary research involves the collaboration of faculty who are employed in different departments or disciplines, for the purpose of introducing participants to

“Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright O 2001, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Johnson, K., & Rajai, M. (2001, June), Conquering The Hurdles Of The Tenure And Promotion Process For The Junior Faculty Members Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9034