Ask early, ask often: Gathering information about tenure expectations

[Note:  This is a post for junior faculty on a tenure-track.  The companion post for mentors of junior faculty is here.]


The reality of tenure and promotion is this:  many, many individuals sit in judgment on our files, each of whom may have her own take on what counts as excellence in different areas of our work.  Not only is there institutional variation, but there is individual variation as well.  It is dangerous, therefore, to plan for tenure based on what any one individual says the expectations are - because that person is just one of many who may have a say in the process!

What's worse, that one person could leave, retire, or go on sabbatical right when you are up for review, meaning that she won't be in the room having the discussion about the file you prepared to meet her specific expectations.  Or she may give you an accurate view of her expectations, but it may turn out she is something of an outlier when it comes to your department faculty as a whole.  Or your department itself could be out of sync with the rest of the college or university.  Or the expectations your colleagues set in your first years on the job could be outdated by the time you are up for tenure because of shifting standards.

The moral of the story is that you should ask as many people as you can about tenure standards, and you should ask the same people several times over the course of your pre-tenure time.  You may get different answers from the same person, which can feel frustrating.  [For example, I chaired a section at MPSA one year because a colleague told me I was expected to do that kind of service before tenure; at a later time, that same colleague denied ever having said such a thing!]  But you are better off feeling a little confused about what one person says because you asked them more than once (and maybe doing a little extra service to the profession), than submitting an unsuccessful tenure file based on outdated expectations set by that one person that have nothing to do with the expectations of a majority of senior faculty currently in your department/college/university.

So, ask the questions early on the tenure-track, but ask them often of many people, many times.

Getting information about tenure expectations is a long-term, iterative process.  This is not something you can cross off your list this week, this semester, or even this year.  Just keep it in the back of your head.  When you are out for coffee with a colleague, pop the question.  If you have an opportunity to meet with the provost, see if you can talk with her about tenure.

Who should you ask about tenure expectations?

• all tenured faculty in your department, as well as any junior faculty who will likely be tenured by the time you come up.

• new hires with tenure - faculty who started at another institution may bring in a set of norms that are at odds with what you have been working with so far.

• tenured faculty outside your department - the more Full Professors, the better.  Ideally, you want to talk with faculty who have experiences with tenure cases like yours:  humanists, and humanist scholars housed in social science departments.  You may also want to talk with non-humanists about their expectations of humanist and/or political science tenure files. 

• any faculty member you know with experience serving on college or university tenure and promotion committees - these people know what different kinds of tenure files look like, and they have experience with cases that are difficult or even denied.

• administrators in key decision-making roles:  deans, provosts, chairs of tenure and promotion committees, people who know the insides of the process.

What should you ask them?

• How does the process work?  When do I need to have my file ready?  What goes into my file?  What happens if there is a problem?  What are my rights and responsibilities?

• What are the expectations for tenure?  (Ask specifically regarding research, teaching, and service.)

• Why have cases had difficulty in the past?  (Problem cases here include not just ones that result in negative decisions, but cases that hit some kind of bump and do not just sail smoothly to their ultimate, positive outcome.)
• in my department?
• in the college/university?
• at pre-tenure review?
• at tenure review?

What you are looking for here is information about what happens when something goes wrong.  What can you learn from the problem cases?  What have your colleagues learned from these cases?

• Would you be willing to review my file before I submit it?  (You surely don't want to ask this of everyone, but you might want to select a few, key people who can take a look at items like your research, teaching, and service statements.)