Survey of Promotion Policies on the Scholarship of Teaching and Diversity

The Carnegie Foundation provides the following definition: "Problem posing about an issue of teaching or learning, study of the problem through methods appropriate to the disciplinary epistemologies, applications of results to practice, communication of results, self-reflection, and peer review" (Cambridge, 2001).

An important consideration is how the scholarship of teaching (and diversity) is considered in hiring and promoting faculty. As summary of policy highlights is provided below.

Indiana University

• The Indiana University Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Program is a faculty-driven initiative to improve undergraduate learning by fostering faculty inquiry into learning and by building interdisciplinary communities that support and refine this inquiry. This innovative form of faculty development inspires and improves undergraduate learning by engaging the scholarly talents and dedication of the faculty. This model is being heralded as one that is transferable to other institutions.
• Selected passage: Evaluation of a faculty member for promotion and/or tenure is based primarily on evidence of scholarship in the faculty member's teaching, research/creative activities, and/or extension/professional practice. In all areas of professional activity, a faculty member is expected to uphold the values and follow the guidelines in the Statement of Professional Ethics found in "Professional Policies and Procedures."
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• Iowa State University is a public land-grant institution where liberal and professional education is merged with basic and applied research in pursuit of advancing society's potentials and assisting in solving its problems. The university serves the people of Iowa, the nation, and the world through its interrelated programs of teaching, research/creative activities, and extension/professional practice.
• An assistant professor in quest of tenure develops a course portfolio as evidence of his effectiveness in improving student learning. The promotion and tenure committee routinely sends candidate packages to outside reviewers. External reviewers comment on the excellence of this portfolio as convincing evidence of the candidate's teaching effectiveness. The candidate is granted tenure. The course portfolio is subsequently disseminated through the state university system as a model for other faculties.
• A key tool in the promotion and tenure review process is the position responsibility statement, which describes the individual's current position responsibilities and activities in the following areas: (1) teaching, (2) research/creative activities, (3) extension/ professional practice, and (4) institutional service. This statement is used by all evaluators to interpret the extent, balance, and scope of the faculty member's scholarly achievements.
• Selected passage: At Iowa State University, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning contributes to the discovery of knowledge about teaching and learning in higher education and must be held to the same standards of rigor, relevance, peer review, and dissemination as other forms of disciplinary research and creative activity. While SoTL may be an important part of the promotion and tenure process, it should not displace high quality scholarly teaching in annual performance reviews and in promotion and tenure decisions. Although all faculty should engage in scholarly teaching, not all faculty need to engage in SoTL. Scholarly teaching is part of a faculty member's teaching responsibilities; if a faculty member chooses to pursue SoTL, this work is part of their scholarship/creative activity/research responsibilities.
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Northeastern State University

• Faculty Handbook. The professional file tenure and promotion review.
• Selected passages: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. When viewed as scholarship, teaching moves beyond the realm of transmitting knowledge into the broader area of transforming and extending knowledge as well. The scholarly teacher both educates and entices future scholars by stimulating active learning and encouraging students to be critical, creative thinkers, with the ability to be lifelong learners. Examples of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning include: New courses and laboratories developed or major changes in such materials (courses and dates), Course bibliographies, Advising and counseling students regarding course content (number of students, time involved), Experimental or innovative teaching (description and evaluation), Preparation of instructional media (type, description, date), Supervision of thesis or other student projects (including clinical supervision), Honors courses taught, Grants for teaching improvement or curriculum development, Letters of support, internal and external.
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Penn State, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

• Fixed Term & Research (FT&R) Faculty Promotion Procedure.
• Selected passages: Criteria for promotion of FT&R faculty members in instructional roles may include (1) demonstrated effectiveness and productivity in the practice of teaching and learning, including testimonials from colleagues across and beyond Penn State; (2) one or more contributions to the scholarship of teaching and learning; and (3) service to the College, University, and/or professional organizations.
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RIT

• Advice from the Provost on Tenure and Promotion.
• Selected passages: While teaching is the foremost activity of the RIT faculty, faculty are expected to engage in significant scholarship as measured by external disciplinary and professional standards as acknowledged by department and program practices of faculty review. Scholarship of teaching/pedagogy: When faculty engage in the scholarship of teaching practice through peer-reviewed activities to improve pedagogy. Using this definition, a faculty member who studies and investigates student learning to develop strategies that improve learning has engaged in the scholarship of teaching. All four aspects of scholarship (Scholarship of discovery, teaching/pedagogy, integration and application) are important for RIT, and must be recognized, valued, supported, and rewarded in the tenure, promotion, and merit salary increment processes in each unit.
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University of Alaska Southeast

• Faculty employment evaluation: Evaluation Criteria. Teaching. Faculty members shall be judged as teachers on the basis of their effectiveness in preparing and presenting course material, the quality of their objectives, their contributions to academic curricula, and other teaching activities per the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Matrix.
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University of California

• APM (Academic Personnel Manual) Section 210 (Appointment and Promotion Review and Appraisal).
• Selected passages: The University of California is committed to excellence and equity in every facet of its mission. Teaching, research, professional and public service contributions that promote diversity and equal opportunity are to be encouraged and given recognition in the evaluation of the candidate's qualifications. These contributions to diversity and equal opportunity can take a variety of forms including efforts to advance equitable access to education, public service that addresses the needs of California's diverse population, or research in a scholar's area of expertise that highlights inequalities. Mentoring and advising of students or new faculty members are to be encouraged and given recognition in the teaching or service categories of academic personnel actions.
• Textbooks, reports, circulars, and similar publications normally are considered evidence of teaching ability or public service. However, contributions by faculty members to the professional literature or to the advancement of professional practice or professional education, including contributions to the advancement of equitable access and diversity in education, should be judged creative work when they present new ideas or original scholarly research.
• Download the complete version of APM 210, revised 02-01-94.

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

• Summary of the Proposal for Standards for Promotion and Tenure. Evaluation criteria are developed by each primary unit for tenure, promotion to associate and full ranks, and for post-tenure review using the Regental requirements of "meritorious" and "excellent."
• Selected passages: The scholarship category will be a yearly average of a minimum of 40% before tenure. Under special circumstances or where a faculty member's required "professional practice" effort is large, a lower level of scholarship is understood. Similarly there will to be a minimum of 20% after tenure. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning - this is the rigorous study of teaching and learning that evolves into the sharing of pedagogical research.
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University of Colorado at Denver

• Scholarship Requirement for All Faculty.
• Selected passages: All faculty will be required to participate in scholarship, as broadly defined. All scholarship implies creativity. The products of all scholarship must be in a format that can be evaluated, which would normally mean a written format, but could include video or computer formats. The School will recognize the following four types of scholarship as adapted and modified from concepts developed by Ernest Boyer.
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University of Nebraska at Lincoln

• The core of excellent education is outstanding teaching. University support for faculty instructional development should be accompanied, therefore, by efforts to recruit, recognize, and reward faculty who are outstanding educators within and outside the classroom. This is the most important responsibility of department chairs (and the senior faculty of the department) and Deans.
• Selected passages: Promotion and tenure: The quality of teaching should also be central to faculty promotion and tenure decisions. Assessments of teaching should incorporate the student voice (in course evaluations) but more, including careful peer assessments of the intellectual content of the course and the instructor's discussion of student learning and evidence for improving it. When promotions are based primarily on teaching excellence, external evaluations of a teaching portfolio are also necessary. Now that there are multiple means of reliably evaluating instructional effectiveness, there is no reason that the scholarship of teaching should not be taken seriously in promotion and tenure policies. Departments should seek to tenure and promote faculty who are excellent educators.
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Last updated: 27 July 2009