Below are answers to some of the questions posed during the presentation.
Q: What is average number years b/w associate and full?
A: In the slides the data for the last 10 years shows the time to professor by gender and by college
Q: For tenure/promotion, letter writers are expected to be from peer institutions. Is there a list of what institutions are considered our “peers” internationally?
A: There is no such list, although there are some organizations that provide relative status of international programs.
Q: Would you please speak about the cases in which the faculty started their academic journey with tenure track at associate professor level? Is it associate professor with tenure first and then the same story or the process/timeline is different?
A: It depends on the length of the pre tenure clock. If the clock is three years, it is more likely that tenure will occur first. If the clock is 6 years, it is possible to do both. If progress has been exceptional, and there was time in rank at the previous institution, it might be possible to do both at the same time.
Q: I hear everyone talking about letter writers from peer institutions. I thought those colleagues are chosen not by ourselves.
A: You should have the opportunity to provide names of potential letter writer. The department/unit can also provide names. You should be allowed to see the entire list and note any concerns you may have about a potential letter writer. You will not know who has been chosen to write the letters.
Q: Is it also true that letter-writers cannot have written a previous letter for the tenure review?
A: This appears to be variable and I would suggest you check with your department.
Q: Do you have data on the probability of successful promotion by time from tenure?
A: There is no data directly addressing this question. Given that the norm is roughly 6 years to professor it is most likely that anything prior to that will be considered early, and expectations may be higher.
Q: If the evaluation focuses on what has been done post-tenure, does this penalize those who were exceeding expectations at tenure review?
A: This is about trajectory. If you were flying through the tenure decision and then stalled, you do not get extra credit for leaping over the bar the first time. Your trajectory may change but productivity is still expected.
Q: How many years in rank as Full Professors should the reviewers have?
A: Does not matter
Q: What are the reasons applications are denied?
A: Most of this will likely happen at either the department or college level. There would be no reason the provost would deny a promotion if all the other groups have supported. Within the college it may be related to local decisions – funding, number and type of publications, teaching that is not at the average, inadequate service, etc.
Q: What are issues around funding? Need for it, types, etc?
A: Generally funding is always considered a good thing. If you are in an NIH discipline, ensuring you can maintain your funding is important, demonstrating renewal of a grant, etc. But the institutional guidelines DO NOT require funding for promotion – they state support of the scholarly area, which may not require funding. Using the personal statement to explain any funding issues is a good thing. The best way to address this is to talk to your Associate Dean for Faculty or someone recently in the department of collegiate promotions committee to get the lay of the land.
Q: How will pandemic-related slowdowns in publication be accounted for in evaluation of "trajectory" as well as of total amount of publications?
A: Faculty are invited to discuss any pandemic slow downs in their personal statements.
Q: When one's portfolio is a bit outside the normal box, for more flexible and inclusive paths to professor, what is the best mechanism for informing/ educating the department and college about why one should be promoted?
A: The personal statement is the best place for this
Q: Does likelihood of promotion vary at all with budget conditions?
A: Generally, not for this promotion, as the job is already stable. The Operations Manual does encourage that as part of the decision making, but again for this promotion the commitment has already been established.
Q: If you are and associate professor without tenure and will go for full with tenure, can there be a fall back associate with tenure granted?
A: That should be part of the promotion discussion – whether ready for both or just tenure. So yes, it can be – you do not HAVE to go up for professor – ever.