Abstract
This paper analyzes the processes and outcomes involved with mentoring junior faculty in the reappointment, promotion, and tenure (RPT) process at a comprehensive state university and creating a culture supportive of engaged research. Although the university in this case study is governed by a collective bargaining agreement that prohibits the development of new written policies on RPT, the deans and other academic leaders can promote significant change through cultural means. The article will examine: the place of engaged scholarship within the reappointment, tenure, and promotion processes of the university; the university’s commitment to a cross-institutional research approach; the mentoring of faculty conducting innovative community projects; the university’s recent strategic plan initiative funding of collaborative cross-college and community projects; partnership with the city of Worcester’s Department of Public Health on applied scholarship related to five domains of public health currently establishedas the focus of efforts by the city and the region; and the innovative CitySpeak devised theater project. At this state university, strong leadership helped support a deepening culture of engaged teaching and scholarship and helped faculty negotiate the road of RPT.
Highlights
Mentoring junior faculty in scholarship and research and its place in the reappointment, promotion, and tenure (RPT) process at a comprehensive state university with a tightly-held and long-term focus on teaching can be a challenge, especially when faculty members must teach twelve credits each semester, advise students, and provide service to their departments and to the university
Worcester State University’s (WSU) faculty is governed by a faculty union and a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that provides a basis for calculating workload as well as an outline of tenure and promotion review requirements
Because WSU relies on this CBA, and local faculty and administrators cannot alter the language of RPT, local deans who support engaged scholarship and teaching must assert leadership in fostering this culture and must continually mentor faculty who take on this type of work
Summary
Mentoring junior faculty in scholarship and research and its place in the reappointment, promotion, and tenure (RPT) process at a comprehensive state university with a tightly-held and long-term focus on teaching can be a challenge, especially when faculty members must teach twelve credits each semester, advise students, and provide service to their departments and to the university. Because WSU relies on this CBA, and local faculty and administrators cannot alter the language of RPT, local deans who support engaged scholarship and teaching must assert leadership in fostering this culture and must continually mentor faculty who take on this type of work. Given the communitybased focus of the institution, academic leaders understand that many faculty members will take part in engaged scholarship, and that this form of scholarship is likely to constitute a significant portion of the research presented within their reappointment, tenure, and promotion portfolios. Academic administrators have encountered some problems in building a culture which values engaged scholarship These problem areas have included cross-divisional clashes and a lingering culture in which research agendas were somewhat suspect. The deans of both schools have proactively sought to assuage these issues by working closely with individual faculty members and in group meetings devoted to discussions of ways in which faculty can think about what it means to be a community engaged scholar (Blanchard, et al, 2009)
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