SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION TENURE AND PROMOTION CRITERIA, GUIDELINES

FOR CREATIVE, PROFESSIONAL, SCHOLARLY ACHIEVEMENT

INTRODUCTION: PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT

Because the School of Communication requires both professional and scholarly expertise from its faculty, it is important for tenure track faculty and tenured faculty seeking promotion to understand what is considered adequate creative, professional, scholarly performance. The following guidelines, summarizing priorities for each of the School’s three Divisions, are intended to aid faculty by representing our best understanding of standards important both for the School and for the University. The guidelines are intended to be useful to faculty in setting their creative, professional, scholarly agenda and in judging how to present and highlight their work in their annual report and file for action. Performance is assessed not only in terms of creative, professional, scholarly criteria but also in teaching and service, both within the University and beyond. A faculty member’s creative, professional, scholarly agenda should make him/her a stronger teacher, a better resource for students, faculty, and the community, and keep him/her current in their field. Faculty are expected to develop and pursue well-defined, ambitious agendas for creative, professional, scholarly achievement that enable them to be productive continuously. Faculty are expected to produce innovative, relevant work within the landscapes of knowledge and practice in their fields, explain how that work advances their fields, and demonstrate promise for continued growth. While each division/discipline identifies specific benchmarks and measures of success, there are cross-cutting themes that define tenure and promotion in the School of Communication, which values professional achievement and innovation as well as scholarly research. Contract work is common for professionals and payment does not affect its status as research; the decisive feature is creative control. Faculty are encouraged to apply for external funding, but receipt of such funding is not required for tenure. SOC expects its faculty to be effective teachers, allowing students to acquire knowledge, develop critical thinking skills, and become active participants in the learning process. Faculty should be leaders in their fields, participating in conferences, associations, and professional networks. Engagement in the School and the University in the form of service is required of all faculty, who must demonstrate a willingness to advance the academic agenda of the

Division, the School, and the University. In SOC, faculty are expected to attend regular meetings of the appropriate Division, School-wide Council meetings, the annual retreat, and events that showcase the School, its students, or its faculty. SOC faculty are expected to attend University events, including Commencement and the annual Convocation. At the time of tenure review, evaluation of the candidate’s performance, excellence, and standing in the field will include letters from senior faculty at peer universities in the candidate's field of specialization and, as appropriate, letters from prominent professional practitioners, creative artists, and public scholars/intellectuals. Each Division has developed and approved its own guidelines. The guidelines for the Journalism Division are presented below:  JOURNALISM The faculty of the Journalism Division of American University’s School of Communication seek to excel in teaching, in research, and in service. All members of the School’s Journalism faculty are expected to possess deep commitments to journalism and to journalism education. It is recognized, moreover, that all or nearly all members of the Journalism faculty will have had extensive professional experience before entering the academy. The School traditionally has valued both professional achievement and innovation and scholarly research by its faculty — a tradition the Journalism Division has recognized and long supported. These guidelines recognize that creative/professional work and scholarly work typically are separate types of activity, and that members of the Journalism faculty may — but are not necessarily expected to — excel at both. It is expected, however, that a promotable and tenureable member of the Journalism faculty will excel in one and demonstrate familiarity with, and an understanding of, the importance of the other by such pursuits as: ● Joining, attending, and participating in the meetings and conferences of professional and academic organizations important in the field (the Online News Association and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication are two examples); ● Keeping abreast of developments and trends in the profession and in scholarly research in journalism by periodically reviewing the field’s leading trade publications and scholarly journals; ● Seizing opportunities in the School and the University to discuss and present research findings; and ● Demonstrating a recognized contribution to professional and scholarly understanding of journalism and communication, including interdisciplinary approaches.

It is further expected that members of the Journalism faculty will be consistently productive in their creative, professional, scholarly pursuits. That is, the publication of original creative, professional, scholarly work should be frequent and sustained. It is vital for the faculty member seeking reappointment, promotion and/or tenure to explain and delineate the impact and importance of his or her creative, professional, scholarly work, and to demonstrate that its significance and value to the field are recognized beyond American University. Demonstrated impact and significance weigh heavily in decisions of reappointment, promotion, and tenure. These guidelines recognize and embrace the distinctions between creative, professional, scholarly work. In both creative, professional, scholarly work, national publication typically is valued more highly than regional or local publication. A national award is recognized as more prestigious than a regional or local award. And work that demonstrates innovation, adheres to high standards, and brings fresh insight to the field is especially valued both in creative, professional, scholarly research. Single-authored publications typically offer a clearer understanding of the faculty member’s scholarly contribution. This is not to discourage co-authored works. In some forms of research that are by nature collaborative, primary authorship can indicate a leadership role in conceptualizing, conducting research, and writing. In all cases of co-authored works, the faculty member is expected to explain the relative roles and contributions of the respective authors. Creative and Professional Work These guidelines recognize that colleagues having extensive professional experience may well choose to continue their practice after joining the Journalism faculty. The paths to tenure and promotion are open for those colleagues who choose to emphasize creative, professional work. Professional journalistic work may take many forms, including book publishing, newspaper and magazine writing, online publication, and emergent media, including websites, mobile media applications, videos for online platforms, Web site design, video and audio production, photography, and/or information graphics. The forms of professional work described here typically require the faculty member to gather, organize, evaluate, and present information. Often, this work is intended for general audiences. It also may be work done across multiple platforms. It is typical for journalists to be paid for such work, and payment does not affect its status for the tenure file.

 

Whatever the form, professional, creative work should enhance understanding of important issues and topics in the field, reach wide audiences, and ideally employ novel analytical or interpretative approaches. A single work of exceptional quality and resonance might, in exceptional cases, be adequate for tenure and promotion. More commonly, though, faculty members seeking tenure and promotion will develop a body of work that demonstrates depth or mastery of an area of practice important and relevant to the field. Additional indicators of performance, excellence, and standing include work that is: ● Printed by a national newspaper, magazine, or wire service; ● Published by a prestigious online outlet; ● Aired on a national commercial or cable network, public television, or radio; ● Aired in most major markets on a station-by-station basis; or ● Selected for and/or winning a national or international competition. Other indicators of performance, excellence, and standing include: ● Election to prestigious professional organizations; ● Grant and contract awards; or ● Selection for review/inclusion in competitive writing residencies or professional fellowships. Scholarly Achievement These guidelines also recognize the importance and value of scholarly research in journalism and communication disciplines. Evidence of original scholarly work typically consists of published books, chapters, and articles, and peer reviewed journal articles as well as invited lectures and papers presented at scholarly conferences. Scholarly research typically emphasizes the analysis and critique of the performance of the news media as well as trends in journalism and communication, using disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. The methodology employed in original research may be quantitative or qualitative. A leading form of scholarly work in journalism is the book or monograph, published by a publishing house of recognized stature. Also highly valued is a body of work comprised of articles published in refereed scholarly journals. Book chapters, articles in non-scholarly journals, conference papers, book reviews, and review essays are valued, but regarded as complementary to books and scholarly journal articles in tenure and promotion decisions. Publication in electronic journals is valued, but the faculty member will be expected to demonstrate the reputation and credibility of the host institutions, explain the process of

 

reviewing and editing, and make clear the electronic journal’s perceived value as measured by links and citations. Additional indicators of performance, excellence, and standing include: ● Reviews and other evaluations of the scholar’s publications and manuscripts; ● Citation of the work in the peer reviewed literature, in books, or major reports; ● Research awards, grants, and proposals; ● Papers presented at professional meetings, invitations to join panels at

professional meetings, invited lectures at other universities or government agencies, and testimony before governmental or other official committees;

● Editorial positions with major journals; ● Professional honors, awards, and consultations; ● Service on expert advisory committees; and ● Authorship of government, foundation, or organizational reports. Developing and pursuing a well-defined research agenda Members of the Journalism faculty are expected to develop and pursue well-defined, ambitious agendas for creative, professional, scholarly achievement — agendas that enable them to be continuously productive. The creative, professional, scholarly agenda should clearly identify the anticipated contributions to enhanced understanding of the journalism profession and/or to the scholarship of the field. Non-tenure track members of the Journalism faculty are encouraged to seek the guidance and recommendations of tenured colleagues in developing, shaping, and pursuing their agendas. Expectations are that members of the Journalism faculty will build upon their achievements over time, whether by developing a theme in articles into the subject of a book or monograph, by seeing their research deepen in rigor and complexity, or by broadening the scope and reach of their creative, professional, scholarly work. The School traditionally seeks to promote and tenure faculty members who not only have built records that are recognized as impressive and important but who also demonstrate potential to extend and enhance their productivity and expand their work in the future. Teaching We expect that a tenure candidate will epitomize the Scholar-Teacher Ideal and will demonstrate excellent teaching within the teaching unit and possibly both at the academic unit and the University at large. Other measures include positive evaluations from students, creative classroom approaches, innovations in courses and course work or structure, engagement with students in the digital/virtual classroom environment, course outcomes as they are reflected in regional or national and international recognition and impact, creating collaborative teaching opportunities within SOC and at the University, and participation in learning opportunities to improve teaching such as attendance at the Ann Ferren Teaching Conference.

Service We expect tenure candidates to play a collegial role with their colleagues in the School of Communication and other schools of the University, for instance serving on committees (in SOC and at the University level), helping in recruitment activities and in curriculum development; and playing a collegial role within their field, for instance jurying, presenting at conferences, or serving as reviewers for journals and books. At the same time, we recognize that in all these areas, the candidate’s creative, professional, scholarly work and teaching must take precedence, with the expectation that tenured faculty provide significantly more service than untenured both to their academic institution and their field. In closing These guidelines recognize the challenges facing faculty colleagues seeking or anticipating tenure and promotion — challenges that may be pronounced for colleagues new to the academy. As such, the guidelines are intended to be flexible, not rigidly prescriptive. At the same time, the faculty member is expected to take responsibility for learning and understanding the culture of the academy and the expectations of the Journalism program, the School of Communication, and the University. As such, faculty members are encouraged to become well-acquainted with their tenured faculty colleagues and discuss research-related concerns, issues, and opportunities with them. Collegiality is an important component of the research process.