Career Development

All Tracks
  • Annual reviews: identify progress, provide substantive feedback, encourage professional growth and development.
  • Peer reviews: 5 years after being tenured. Consider a peer review 3 years after tenure to inform their development.
  • Promotion review: faulty member may request review at any time, but normally no later than the 7th year after promotion.
  • Have a conversation about the faculty’s career aspirations and discuss optimal balance between different activities (teaching/mentoring, research, service, and leadership).
    • Annually revisit because priorities shift.
    • Refer to programs/resources on the Faculty Development page.
  • Discuss what types of supports are most helpful (e.g., lab/students, administrative, protected time, mentor/coach) and available.
  • If the goal is promotion to full, discuss expectations for promotion (for their specific track) and what benchmarks should be met.
    • Develop a plan and annually evaluate progress.
    • Encourage the faculty to talk to those recently promoted to full.
  • Discuss eligibility criteria for Professional Development Award (e.g., whether semesters prior to changing a track count or from prior institution counts).
  • Connect the faculty with the External Awards and Recognition Office
  • Create an intentional system to recognize faculty excellence and nominate for various awards. Suggestions drawn from University of Washington ADVANCE program, include:
    • Keep a list of all possible awards for which you may wish to nominate your faculty, along with the nomination due dates.
    • During the annual review, ask the faculty member about awards for which they would like to be nominated.

Clinical Track
  • Discuss various pathways and how to move forward. Identify potential mentor for the faculty to help determine their pathway.
  • Identify external or internal mentors who can answer questions specific to Clinical Track (e.g., how to get promotion, navigating culture and system, what formal positions are available).
  • Discuss development needs and identify resources (e.g., leading meetings, building resilience among mentees, engagement opportunity).
  • Identify a time when all clinicians can attend for developmental meetings.

Instructional Track
  • Ask the faculty what their career goals are.
  • Discuss training needs (e.g., program administration, hiring TA) and identify potential training resources (e.g., teaching degree, pedagogy).
  • Discuss what support would be needed to advance/innovate teaching. Such support may include time, having a grader, resources, and connection to services (Center for Teaching, Distance Learning).
  • Present development opportunities important to ITF (e.g., workshop, certificate program) and encourage participation (if possible, provide support – e.g., time release). See Faculty Development page.

Research Track
  • Support participation in skills development (e.g., forming research team, mentoring, managing research staff).
  • If faculty is engaging in activities other than research (e.g., contributing to department, development, lectures), consider ways to support (e.g., change in allocation of resources).
  • Support networking at national level to build reputation (important in getting external reviewers for promotion).

Teaching

All Tracks
  • Use the annual review to identify strengths and areas for improvement. High quality teaching is important for promotion.
  • Discuss potential for new course that aligns the interest of the faculty and departmental needs. Inform about processes to develop a new course within the university system.
  • Review resources at the Center for Teaching or bring Center for Teaching staff to give a presentation during faculty meetings.
  • Continue with peer/learner teaching evaluations and refine teaching.
  • Make sure to have teaching evaluations needed for promotion. Have a teaching statement drafted and revisit periodically to refine and reassess teaching goals.
  • Provide resources to support student mentoring: Student Care and Assistance program; UI Support and Crisis Line

Instructional Track
  • Discuss support needs and explore options (e.g., administrative support for a program, technology support, resources for students). IT faculty are at forefront of teaching as well as student services and support.
  • Inform the faculty about the Faculty Learning Community “Cognitive Support for Student Learning” (mostly consists of IT faculty) where they exchange ideas and peer support.
  • Connect the faculty with Distance and Online Education professionals.
  • Discuss various ways to evaluate teaching (other than the ACE). Consider observations and peer evaluations.

Research Track
  • RT often manage staff and students as part of their research activity. These can be considered as teaching/mentoring experience if they are being asked to write a teaching statement for promotion.
  • Provide information about and resources for staff/student development.

Research / Productivity

All Tracks
  • Discuss support needed to get the next major grant, publication, or project (e.g., mentoring, research/administrative assistants, lab management, protected time, bridge funds). Ask “what resources can I bring and what can I take off your plate?”
  • Introduce internal resources such as internal/external peer reviews, grant writing workshop, pilot funds to collect preliminary data.
  • Discuss and assess balance between teaching and service contributions vs. departmental needs to protect time.
  • Discuss how to get national/international recognition needed for promotion.
  • Discuss how to align research with major research focus areas in the field. Consider peer advisement on research directions (e.g., external advisors/mentors). Allow reasonable time if adjustment is needed.
  • Identify resources for the faculty to attend national conferences and research-related travels to connect with mentors and collaborators.
  • Encourage the faculty to write a research statement to identify areas to emphasize (e.g., strengths/innovations to highlight). Ask for feedback (associate dean, mentors, those recently promoted or have served on promotion committee).

Clinical Track
  • Clarify research expectations for promotion; Clarify what counts for scholarship (e.g., publications that are not research or data-based)
  • Discuss line or overlap between what is research and what is clinical (e.g., paper about caring for vulnerable population).

Instructional Track
  • For those engaged in research, identify support needs.

Research Track
  • Provide formal mentoring structure that includes Research Track faculty if possible (or someone who can describe the difference between TT and RT).
  • Discuss the potential for or challenges associated with switching tracks.
  • Ensure strong research support.

Service

All Tracks
  • Clarify expectations for promotion and what is valued (e.g., providing mentorship to students/fellows/postdocs/junior faculty, being a good citizen and colleague)
  • Communicate that “significant and effective service” is expected for promotion to full.
  • Discuss what the faculty has done, how they would do things differently, and recognize their work during the annual review.
  • Ask what the faculty brings to the department/college/university and discuss potential ways to serve the institution (e.g., “What have you observed that you find of value?).
  • Avoid tapping the same people to be on committees. Mid-career faculty tend to serve disproportionately (“administrative burden”).
  • Provide onboarding information for cyclical committees.
  • Discuss the importance of connections with the leaders in the field (e.g., those who may write their external letters for promotion).

Clinical Track
  • Discuss which service opportunities are beneficial and which ones can be passed onto others who may need that experience.
  • Identify service activities that can help the faculty get national or international recognition.
  • Acknowledge the value of local community-level service in addition to national/international.
  • Identify opportunities to serve and ways to support those interested.

Instructional Track
  • Discuss expectations for service based on allotted effort.
  • Discuss strategies to acknowledge faculty’s participation in campus-wide communities such as Faculty Learning Community on Undergraduate Teaching and Community of Practice.
  • Acknowledge faculty’s contributions to informal mentoring. Discuss ways to recognize (e.g., give informal mentoring a heavier weight in consideration for promotion).

Research Track
  • If RT faculty is providing service, discuss ways to recognize their contributions.

Leadership

All Tracks
  • Assess faculty’s aspiration for taking leadership roles and nominate them for potential opportunities.
  • Discuss the role of leadership experience as it relates to promotion.
  • Provide opportunities to talk to leaders at collegiate and university levels.
  • Encourage the faculty to take the lead in committees (e.g., chair) or programs (e.g., Training grants).
  • Discuss various ways to take leadership roles in national associations and committees.
  • Discuss strategies to develop leadership skills and increase internal recognitions (e.g., participation in committees, making impactful contributions, gaining recognition).
  • Discuss what it looks like to be a successful leader. Identify a mentor specifically for leadership development.
  • Develop a list of leadership opportunities available as a tool for discussion. (e.g., internal positions, community boards, national boards)
  • Discuss potential leadership trainings for the faculty to participate.
    • UI Faculty Leadership Initiative

Clinical Track
  • Discuss leadership development opportunities (e.g., clinical coaching).
  • If the faculty aspire to have a leadership role, find out what support would be needed (e.g., connections/introductions, funds to attend conferences and meetings, flexibility, support for membership fees) .
  • Discuss ways to balance research and leadership activities.

Instructional Track
  • Identify committee the faculty can chair (e.g., curricular, student-related, accreditation, admissions, student mentoring, career events).
  • Discuss potential leadership opportunities through professional associations for instruction and determine needs (e.g., travel cost, time).
  • Identify internal leadership opportunities (e.g., provide presentation on science of teaching, provide teaching support/guidance to TT and CT faculty serving as a ‘to go person’ on teaching). Identify ways to recognize such contribution (formal system or program that can be highlighted in review materials).

Research Track
  • Discuss aspiration for leadership positions and potential ways to assume such roles while engaging fully in research.
  • If aspired, connect to other RT faculty who are in leadership positions.
  • Identify leadership opportunities directly related to grant/research.

Community Building

All Tracks
  • Provide opportunities for faculty members to connect with other faculty within and outside of the department and college to build a sense of community.
  • Provide information on UI programs and resources that support worklife balance.
    • UHR: Employee Well-Being
    • Build a Career | Build a Life
    • Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
    • Crisis Support: UI 24/7 Crisis Line