Exploring Collegiality as an Evaluation Factor in Librarian Promotion and Tenure Documents

Abstract

This article explores the use of collegiality as a factor in promotion-and-tenure cases for academic librarians. Using data from library promotion-and-tenure documents at R-1 universities in the United States, the researchers asked three questions: How many R-1 university libraries include any mention of collegiality in their tenure guidelines? What language is used to express the concept of collegiality and is it defined in a clear, objective manner? How important is the concept of collegiality to the process of tenure? The results reveal that collegiality or related concepts are mentioned in less than one-third of tenure documents.