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These guidelines draw from the Georgia Southern University Faculty Handbook
and from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences' Policy Manual.
Candidates for tenure and/or promotion should carefully read both documents,
and, if questions arise, consult the appropriate administrator for
clarifications. The Faculty Handbook presents "Criteria for All Types of
Faculty Evaluation" (205.01), "Promotion Guidelines" (208), and "Tenure
Guidelines (209). In addition to restating general criteria for promotion,
the Class Policy Manual offers examples of teaching excellence (13-14),
examples of excellence in scholarship/research/creative activity (15-18),
and examples of excellence in service (18-20). The Class Policy Manual also
provides general guidelines for tenure, promotion, and for the appropriate
application procedure.
General Policy
Consistent with the aforementioned documents, the
Department of Writing and Linguistics has adopted criteria for tenure
and promotion that contribute to the mission of the department and to
the university as a whole, while they also provide direction for both
collective and individual decisions.
Listed below, for the information of faculty wishing
eventually to present themselves for tenure and/or promotion, are those
criteria upon which tenured members of the department rely when making
tenure and promotion decisions. This document is neither prescriptive
nor all inclusive. Working within these guidelines, faculty members make
tenure and promotion recommendations according to their own best
judgments.
Tenure Criteria
Teaching
Excellence in teaching is the single most important
criterion for tenure. Candidates for tenure are expected to be
excellent teachers at all appropriate program levels, using
standards agreed upon by the tenured faculty. Department and
college-wide standards include excellence in classroom teaching, in
non-classroom settings, in academic and professional standards, in
professional relations with students, and in creativity of teaching.
The department also emphasizes teaching composition I and II in ways
that clearly support the outcomes for the first-year writing, which
may be accessed from Writing & Linguistics' web page: http://class.georgiasouthern.edu/writling/
Scholarship
While the department values many kinds of scholarly activity, it
gives greater weight to "scholarship" as defined by the Faculty
Handbook.
The significance of scholarly accomplishments [i.e.,
scholarship] shall be judged rigorously within the context of
the discipline. Candidates must provide evidence of work which
has been selected for dissemination through normally accepted
peer-reviewed venues such as publications, conference
presentations, exhibitions, performances, or other professional
accomplishments. Scholarship includes the discovery,
integration, development, application, and extension of
knowledge as well as aesthetic creation and is often
demonstrated by publications and presentations designed for
professional audiences. Scholarship is manifested in articles,
scholarly books and texts, reports of research, creative works,
textbooks, scholarly presentations, research grants,
demonstration grants, papers read, panel participation,
exhibits, performances, professional honors and awards,
additional professional training or certification, degrees
earned, postdoctoral work, and academic honors and awards
(205.01)
As should be the case in a department that contains multiple
disciplines, this inclusive definition of scholarship gives Writing
and Linguistics' faculty freedom to engage in scholarship that
manifests itself in various peer-reviewed venues. Tenured faculty
within Writing and Linguistics represent the disciplines of creative
writing, rhetoric and composition, English as a Second Language,
linguistics, educational theory and practice, literature, technology
and writing, technical and professional writing. Faculty currently
employed and those faculty hired in the future who present
themselves for tenure and promotion will be expected to show that
their area of specialization furthers the department's mission,
goals, and academic programs.
Regardless of academic specialization, faculty engage in the
scholarship of teaching, the scholarship of discovery, the
scholarship of integration, and the scholarship of application. In
addition to the accepted forms of scholarship listed by the Faculty
Handbook, the Department of Writing and Linguistics recognizes
collaborative scholarship, which, by definition, draws on diverse
scholarly backgrounds and research orientations.
While peer-reviewed scholarship carries the most weight in tenure
and promotion decisions, the department values other kinds of
scholarly work. These include education for the enhancement of one's
work within the department or university, the design and/or
organization of conferences/workshops/and summer institutes, the
design or invention of software or web-based materials, the creation
of new courses, the creation of new academic programs and/or
centers, research that promotes the mission and welfare of the
department, and texts that contribute to the candidate's fields of
specialization. Writing and Linguistics also values the scholarly
activity of writing program administration and recognizes that it
must draw upon and apply current scholarship in composition studies
to perform its service function effectively. In all of these, the
mission of the department and/or university is paramount. Each
candidate for tenure is required to provide clear evidence that his
or her work is scholarship and that it makes a significant
contribution to the programs of the department and the university.
Each candidate for tenure is required to provide clear evidence that
scholarship informs his or her teaching.
Service
Service to the institution or to the profession is a requirement
for tenure. Service includes, but is not limited to, committee
activities, professional activities, workshops, faculty senate,
professional associations and the like.
Needs of the department
Tenure decisions will be based on the needs of the institution
and the department.
Collegiality
Collegiality is a requirement for tenure. The Faculty Handbook
describes collegiality as "ability of the professor to function
within the Georgia Southern academic community." Candidates for
tenure are expected to exhibit interest in and support for the work
of the department, for their peers, and for the university.
Length of Service is described in the Faculty Handbook. This
refers to the number of years in rank, probationary credit from
other institutions, and minimum time requirements.
Application Procedure
Faculty applying for tenure should prepare a portfolio which contains
all of the following items:
1. A personal statement explaining the candidate's teaching
philosophy, discussing achievements that the candidate feels most
qualify him/her for tenure, providing details that show how
scholarship informs his/her teaching, and describing his/her
collegiality, i.e., the ways in which he or she is collegial and
supportive of colleagues.
2. Current and complete vita
3. Representative syllabi from each course taught
4. Samples of evaluated papers from a variety of courses (i.e.,
A, B, C, D, and F papers showing a range of evaluation).
5. Complete, unedited student evaluations from all courses taught
during the three years prior to application
6. All peer classroom evaluations
7. Copies of all major publications and/or books
8. Copy of third-year review (pre-tenure review)documents
9. Copies of all annual evaluations.
Optional:
Letters of support (for example, from candidate's mentor,
colleagues, and/or former students).
Department's Process for Review of Tenure Materials
1. The department chair appoints a tenure committee consisting of at
least five tenured associate and full professors, including one from
each departmental area. Members serve staggered two-year terms. The
candidate’s portfolio will be made available to all tenured faculty in
the department. The committee will seek written input from the tenured
faculty before writing its own recommendation.
2. The department chair makes available a copy of the candidate's
self-evaluation portfolio to all tenured members of the department,
asking them for their recommendation in writing.
3. The tenure committee weighs the responses by rank and area of
specialization, and submits a recommendation to the department chair.
4. The department chair writes a separate recommendation, and passes
on this recommendation, together with the candidate's portfolio and the
recommendation from the Tenure Committee, to the Dean.
5. The candidate will receive a copy of the tenure committee's and of
the chair's recommendations.
Promotion Criteria
A candidate for promotion should have the required qualifications in
the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. In accordance with
university policy, qualifications for promotion to senior ranks
(associate and full professor) must necessarily be more stringent than
qualifications for tenure.
Scholarship
Excellent teaching and excellent service must be joined by
significant scholarship for promotion to the rank of associate or
full professor. Excellence in teaching is the single most important
criterion for promotion to all ranks in the department. Academic
achievement in the form of significant scholarship is a major
criterion in the promotion of candidates to the ranks of associate
and full professor.
Excellence in scholarship is determined by the quality and
quantity of a candidate's work, but in most cases, quality is more
important than quantity. In evaluations of a candidate's
scholarship, the following are among the criteria to be considered:
- subject matter (e.g.,
literacy, linguistics, historical research, creative
writing)
- difficulty of achieving that
publication (e.g., article in a refereed journal versus a
non-refereed journal)
- forum (e.g., College Composition and Communication, Journal
of Advanced
Composition, Poetry, Virginia Quarterly Review, Rhetoric
Review, Working Papers in Linguistics, book published by
nationally or internationally recognized press)
- critical response (e.g., print
reviews, on-line reviews, external reviews by experts in the
field)
- genre (e.g., published
interview, book review, critical essay, poem, short story,
novel)
The value of published work should be based on its contribution
to the candidate's primary or secondary field, and on its
contribution to the department's mission and goals.
Teaching
Consistent evidence of effective teaching is a major criterion
for advancement to associate or full professor. Neither excellent
scholarship alone nor excellent teaching alone is sufficient for
promotion. Candidates for promotion are required to provide clear
evidence that scholarship informs their teaching.
Service
Service to the institution or to the profession is a requirement
for promotion. Service includes, but is not limited to, committee
activities, professional activities, workshops, faculty senate,
professional associations and the like.
Application Procedure
Faculty applying for promotion should prepare a portfolio which
contains all of the following items:
1. A personal statement explaining the candidate's teaching
philosophy, discussing achievements that the candidate feels most
qualify him/her for promotion, providing details that show how
scholarship informs his/her teaching, and describing his/her
collegiality, i.e., the ways in which he or she is collegial and
supportive of colleagues.
2. Current and complete vita
3. Representative syllabi from each course taught
4. Samples of evaluated papers from a variety of courses (i.e.,
A, B, C, D, and F papers showing a range of evaluation).
5. Complete, unedited student evaluations from all courses taught
during the three years prior to application
6. All peer classroom evaluations
7. Copies of all major publications and/or books
8. Copy of pre-tenure review and/or tenure review documents
9. Copies of all annual evaluations since the last promotion
Optional:
Letters of support (for example, from candidate's mentor,
colleagues, and/or former students).
Department's Process for Review of Promotion Materials
1. The department chair appoints a promotion committee consisting of
at least five tenured associate and full professors, including one from
each departmental area. Members serve staggered two-year terms. The
candidate's portfolio will be made available to all tenured associate
and full professors. The committee will seek written input from all
other tenured associate and full professors before writing its own
recommendation.
2. The promotion committee reviews the candidate's dossier.
3. The promotion committee submits a recommendation to the department
chair.
4. The department chair writes a separate recommendation, and passes
on this recommendation, together with the candidate's dossier and the
recommendation from the Promotion Committee, to the Dean.
5. The candidate will receive a copy of the promotion committee's and
of the department chair's recommendations.
External Review for Promotion to the Rank of Professor
The Department of Writing and Linguistics uses the follow guidelines
for the external review of individuals applying for promotion to the
rank of Professor.
1. On or before June 1 the candidate submits names and contact
information of three external reviewers to the department chair, and the
department chair submits three names to bring the total to six. If
necessary, they will solicit appropriate help from the Dean of the
College in determining the list. The department chair will invite the
external reviewers to participate, with the understanding that their
responses are due no later than Sept. 10. Responses received after Sept.
10 will not be automatically included in the dossier.
2. The candidate and department chair will prepare these materials
for external reviewers:
- Copy of department’s mission
statement, tenure and promotion policies
- Copies of candidate’s scholarship
(publications, summaries of conference presentations, and other
appropriate forms of scholarship).
- Other materials as appropriate
3. At least three external reviews are required, with at least one
from the chair’s list and at least one from the candidate’s list. The
department chair will place these materials into the candidate’s
dossier. Responses returned after Sept. 10 will be included only if
needed to bring the total number to 3, and they will be inserted in the
order in which they arrive. Additional late responses will not be
included, except under circumstances deemed appropriate by the Dean.
4. Dossiers will be due no later than Sept. 15 in the chair’s office.
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