The fpdc offers a variety of resources for faculty going through the reappointment, tenure or promotion process.

 

Conversation with the Provost

Resources

Workshop Files

Documenting the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
March 9th

Teaching Projects and SoTL: Recommendations for Development, Assessment, Presentation, and Publication
PowerPoint Presentation

Consultations
One-on-one consultations are offered to faculty members. If you would like to a schedule a consultation, please email the fpdc or call 330-672-2992.

Files and Other Materials
Housed in the fpdc are tenure and promotion files belonging to several Kent State University faculty members. The files are available for review to help faculty build their reappointment, tenure and promotion files. Although the files can not be removed from the studio, faculty members are welcome to visit the studio to view the files.  Other R/T/P materials are available for loan.  Please visit the online materials database for a complete listing books and publications that can be be borrowed.

Handouts
Located in the Resources-Publications-Reappointment/Tenure/Promotion section of the fpdc web site are handouts taken from past Reappointment / Tenure / Promotion workshops.  All handouts were created by KSU faculty members and are available in pdf format.

Calendars

The fpdc and American Association of University Professors (AAUP) sponsor a series of five workshops throughout the calendar year.

2008-09 Calendar

2007-08 Calendar

2006-07 Calendar

2005-06 Calendar

2003-04 Calendar

Links
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
AAUP-KSU Chapter
The Boyer Center Website
Faculty Affairs at KSU
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Does one need to achieve or be highly successful in every area of the Boyer model to be granted tenure?
"No, that is Sainthood!" Departments look to the entire file and to how a faculty member is developing as a scholar, and do not expect that a person will shine in all areas equally. Where one puts one's energy depends on where one is in one's career, and will shift throughout a career. Most pre-tenure faculty members in most departments are expected to be contributing original research - termed the scholarship of discovery -  to their fields. The extent of this form of scholarly work as a requirement will depend upon the department.

Q. Is the file department or discipline specific?
Prepare your file according to departmental guidelines. Because your department will have a discipline associated with it, it will have much within it that is discipline specific. With the growing emphasis on cross-disciplinary work, this may also be reflected in your files.

Q. How are outside reviewers selected?
The candidate provides the departmental chair with the names of 3 reviewers.

Q. What materials are sent to outside reviewers?
This depends upon the person and the department, but usually the candidate will suggest a few key works that are indicative of her or his scholarly work, and these will be sent, along with the vitae to the reviewers. Usually the chair includes in the letter the statement that if the reviewer would like to see other materials, that these will be made available.

Q. What are the most significant differences between reappointment files and tenure and promotion files?
The yearly reappointment file is just that, a yearly focused file. Check with your departmental handbook and your chairperson to see what is to be included in these files. On occasion a department will ask for accumulative files, the second year added to the first and so on. Usually, each file focuses on one year and may have the previous year's works as context, citing key works that lead to work in the year at hand, but most of the previous work is not included in the reappointment file.

Q. Are tenure & promotion always considered together, or can they be granted separately?
This again, is specific to departments, but tenure and promotion are viewed as separate processes even thought they can be applied for in the same year. In some disciplines or departments, the two are considered to work together: "If you are tenurable, you must be promotable." In other departments, they are not considered as needing to go together. In general, Tenure is a decision that your work is of high enough quality that the university makes a commitment to your continuing work and to your continuing development as a scholar. Promotion is viewed as an achievement of a high level of scholarship.

Q. If one's mentor is not mentoring, what is a politically correct way to obtain help?
One can talk with one's chairperson with the intent of asking for help in a specific area, or in general. There may be important reasons why one's mentor is not providing the kind of mentoring that one wants: lack of understanding of what is wanted, different approaches to one's work that make mentoring difficult between two people, extenuating circumstances, and other things.  The emphasis can be placed on what one wants support in, rather than what one "isn't getting." 

Other possibilities:

• If you find a person that you would like to have as a mentor, approach this person and ask them to be a mentor to you.
  
• Call or visit the fpdc and talk with the director about the kind of mentor you might like to work with. This person has contact with many faculty members in different disciplines who have expressed interest in working with colleagues in mentor relationships. Often good mentor relationships can be developed with faculty members outside one's discipline.

 Do you have a question? If so, send it to fpdc@kent.edu.