Public Engagement in Tenure Decisions
The University of Minnesota is undergoing a discussion of how to bring its tenure and promotion guidelines up to date. Our Tenure Code has a Section 7.11 that sets the institution-wide standards for achieving tenure, and it has a Section 7.12 that begins "7.12 Departmental Statement. Each academic unit must have a document that articulates with reasonable specificity the indices and standards which will be used to evaluate whether candidates meet the criteria of subsection 7.11. The document must comply with those standards, but should make their application more specific." People understand that "the rubber hits the road" in the departmental 7.12 statements, but revison of 7.11 will influence what departments do.
The U's Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee has begun to discuss Section 7.11. The current statement (with relevant footnotes) reads
7.11 General Criteria. The basis for awarding indefinite tenure is the determination that the achievements of an individual have demonstrated the individual's potential to continue to contribute significantly to the mission of the University and to its programs of teaching, research, and service over the course of the faculty member's academic career. The primary criteria for demonstrating this potential are effectiveness in teaching[6] and professional distinction in research,[7] outstanding discipline-related service contributions[8] will also be taken into account where they are an integral part of the mission of the academic unit. The relative importance of the criteria may vary in different academic units, but each of the criteria must be considered in every decision.[9]
[6] "Teaching" is not limited to credit-producing classroom instruction. It encompasses other forms of communication of knowledge (both to students registered in the University and to other persons in the community) as well as the supervision or advising of individual graduate or undergraduate students.
[7] "Research" is not limited to the publication of scholarly works. It includes activities which lead to the public availability of products or practices which have a significance to society, such as artistic production or the development of new technology or scientific procedures.
[8] "Service" means performance within the faculty member's academic expertise and the mission of the academic unit. It does not include performance of quasi-administrative functions such as membership on faculty or senate committees or other similar activities; those activities are relevant only to the limited extent set forth in the following paragraph of the text.
A proposed revision (again with relevant footnotes) reads
7.11 General Criteria. The basis for awarding indefinite tenure is the determination that the candidate has demonstrated and will continue to develop a distinguished record of academic accomplishment that is the foundation for a national and/or international reputation. This determination will be reached through a qualitative evaluation of the candidate’s record of research,[4] teaching,[5] and discipline-based service[6]. The relative importance of the criteria may vary in different academic units, but the primary emphasis must be on research and teaching. The contributions of the candidate to interdisciplinary activities, to public engagement, and to internationalization of the University may be taken into consideration in evaluating the candidate’s satisfaction of criteria. The candidate’s record also must evidence strong promise of achieving promotion in rank within the University.
[4] “Research” is not limited to the publication of scholarly works. It includes innovative activities that lead to the public availability of products or practices that have significance to society, such as artistic production or the development of new technology or scientific procedures.
[5] “Teaching” is not limited to credit-producing classroom instruction. It encompasses other forms of communication of knowledge (both to students registered in the University and to other persons in the community) as well as the supervision or advising of individual graduate or undergraduate students.
[6] “Discipline-based service” means outreach to the local, state, national, or international community based upon the faculty member’s academic expertise. Where service is not an integral part of the mission of the unit, a faculty member’s outreach activities may be considered but are not a prerequisite to the awarding of tenure. Service standing alone without a distinguished record of research and teaching is an insufficient basis to award tenure. “Discipline-based service” does not include the performance of administrative or quasi-administrative functions, such as committee service, service on Senate committees, or performance of administrative tasks.
The enhanced recognition of public engagement in the proposed revision, while subtle, is real and important. The bigger challenge will be for departments to incorporate appropriate definitions and examples of engaged research and teaching in their 7.12 statements.