Building a Tenure Portfolio

1. Building a Tenure Portfolio Sean Ellermeyer Professor of Mathematics and Interim Chair Presentation for Project NExT Fellows Joint Mathematics Meetings Boston, MA January 6, 2012

2. My Experience with the Tenure and Promotion Process at KSU • Candidate • Department Level Committee • College Level Committee • University Level Committee • Department Chair • University Process Review Committee

3. The Typical Career Path for Tenure Track Faculty Hired as Assistant Professor A commitment by your institution to make a long term investment in you Tenure Promotion to Associate Professor Awarded in recognition that a new career milestone has been reached Promotion to Full Professor

4. General Tips for Preparing a Successful Tenure and/or Promotion Portfolio • Follow your institution’s portfolio preparation guidelines. Follow page formatting instructions. Include all required documentation. Choose optional documentation judiciously. Don’t go overboard on including redundant documentation. Review committees will not appreciate this and it may appear that you are trying to “pad” your portfolio. • Do not obfuscate. Describe the most important activities that you have engaged in (using plain language) and how these activities are manifestations of your overall scholarly plan. Avoid using excessive “flowery” language. • Have some experienced colleagues look over your portfolio and give you advice before submitting it. • Give yourself ample time to prepare the portfolio. (Portfolios that are prepared hurriedly are easily identified and reflect negatively on the applicant.) • Be sure that any areas of needed improvement that were pointed out in annual reviews and other progress reviews have been addressed.

5. Making a Strong Case for Tenure • Don’t be an “independent contractor”: Participate in department life and get to know your colleagues. Demonstrate that you care about the growth and vitality of your department and that you can be counted on to be a contributor toward achieving departmental goals. • Try to establish a “niche” for yourself in which you are recognized as the leader. This could be an internal or external niche. It should be something that interests you and is well-suited to your particular qualifications. It might be something that arises through a call for a volunteer or, better yet, something that arises through your own initiative. • Start doing this right away! At the time of your tenure review, you want to be able to establish that your participation in department life has been sustained over a period of time and shows promise of continuing and moving toward increased leadership status.

6. Making a Strong Case for Promotion • Your portfolio (narrative, c.v., supporting documentation) should be able to answer the question “Who are you?” to anybody who reads it (not just those most familiar with your work). • Carry out your scholarly activity according to a systematic agenda. Focus your activities (teaching, research, service) around one or two “themes” that will define you to others. Don’t just engage in activities in a haphazard fashion. • Make sure that your work is externally reviewed and provide documentation of such review. • For collaborative work, it is essential that your specific roles and contributions be made clear. You should be able to demonstrate a progression toward leadership on projects (first or solo author on papers, leadership roles on committees, etc.) • Do not look at your department tenure and promotion guidelines as a “checklist” of activities to be completed. The quality and cohesiveness of your work is more important than the quantity.

7. Summary Your bid for tenure and/or promotion is more likely to go smoothly if your colleagues (and administrators) already have a pretty good idea about “who you are” before they even read the portfolio that you submit. This can be achieved by being active in department (and college and university) life and publicizing what you do to others through presentations of your work and leadership roles that you assume. The purpose of the portfolio is then to provide the details of your work presented as an organized and cohesive package.