P-Cubed Group Faculty Promotion Series – Spring 2018 Recap | Early Fall
Throughout the spring semester, the Promotion Package Preparation (P³) Group program hosted by AdvanceRIT held three faculty promotion workshops on a variety of topics. Although these offerings were part of the P³ Group program, all full-time faculty interested in submitting a strong package for promotion or planning to do so in the near future were invited to attend any of the three sessions in the series. To read more about P³, please visit the website here. Details about each session are highlighted below:
1. Faculty Promotion: Strategies for Presenting a Strong Case Workshop: A Discussion with the Provost and Senior Leaders
Date: Friday, April 6, 2018
Tenured faculty seeking promotion to full professor and non-tenure track faculty seeking promotion to Senior or Principal Lecturer were invited to attend. Panelists for this session were Jeremy Haefner, Provost; Anne Haake, Dean of GCCIS; Sophia Maggelakis, Dean of COS; Twyla Cummings, Dean of Graduate Education; and Danielle Smith, Professor of Sociology & Honors Program Director. All panelists were asked to prepare answers to the following questions:
- Can you give an example of a strategy someone used in making their case for promotion that you thought was particularly successful?
- Can you share what you think are common mistakes that candidates make in preparing their package?
- If your time since last promotion has involved both mostly-administrative time and teaching/research time – do you have suggestions on packaging our narrative to address needs of promotion guidelines?
- Are there ever quotas or limits placed on the number of faculty who can be promoted in any given year?
Session feedback indicates that 100% of survey responders agreed that attending the session was a valuable use of time and the post-session discussion enhanced their understanding of the issues presented. Participants noted actions they plan to take in response to the workshop, such as “include more evidence in application” and “update my CV annually.”
2. Faculty Promotion: University & College Promotion Policies
Date: Friday, April 20, 2018
Through an interactive discussion, we stepped through the university policy on promotion (E6.0) and asked each participant to describe and discuss their college-level promotion policy in small groups assembled by college. Questions from groups helped shape the remainder of the session. In addition, tips were shared on how to best assemble your listing of accomplishments in scholarship (what you did/accomplished), in service (highlight leadership activities), in teaching (describe how you provide learning opportunities for students outside of the classroom), etc. Workshop facilitators were Professors Margaret Bailey (KGCOE) and Maureen Valentine (CAST) from the AdvanceRIT Leadership Team.
Participant feedback indicates that 100% of survey respondents strongly agreed that they had an interest in the issues presented in the workshop prior to attending, and 100% of respondents agreed that they planned to take action to improve their practices. Key learnings noted included understanding the “difference between college and university policies” and “how to address recommendation [external review] letters.”
3. Faculty Promotion: External Letters & Research Statements
Date: Friday, May 4, 2018
This session explored how to best prepare materials for external reviewers and identify potential reviewers. Participants were asked to get a copy of a colleague’s promotion package (or a portion, such as their research statement). We did not share these with each other, but rather discussed what we learned from reviewing someone else’s statement by asking ourselves the following questions:
- How well did they sell their work?
- Were there interesting strategies/formatting used?
- Were there things you thought could have been done better?
Attendees shared strategies for selecting reviewers and experiences with the process. Did they say yes? What does the university policy say regarding external letters? Participants were also asked to bring a copy of their college’s promotion policy. Facilitators were Professors Carol Marchetti (COS) and Sara Schley (NTID) from the AdvanceRIT Leadership Team.
This workshop had 13 participants, 9 of which responded to the survey. 89% strongly agreed that attending the session was a valuable use of time. Significant takeaways included “revising my CV to include context notes” and “make your promotion packet easy to read.” Respondents also indicated that they plan to “clarify with my dean” and “choose different external reviewers” because of the workshop.