Assisting Staff in the Promotion and Tenure Process
Linda Mahan, Staff Chair
Yamhill County Office
Oregon State University Extension Service
In addition to being office administrators, we are mentors to staff who are faculty in academic
departments at Oregon State University. These faculty members likely have appointment in
different departments and colleges than we do. Sometimes they have more Extension experience,
but others are new to OSU Extension and avidly seeking advice and guidance. It is our
responsibility to assist each faculty member as much as possible. Sometimes this requires
preliminary investigation on our part, too.
Tips
• Get to know campus administrators who work with your faculty. Creating personal
relationships with Program Leaders, Department Heads, and Extension Administrators helps
“smooth” communications when you have questions or issues to discuss.
•
As staff chair, we supervise the day-to-day activities, but Promotion and Tenure decisions
are made in the faculty’s academic home (department). Each department has slightly
different requirements, although they all meet overall university requirements. It’s helpful
for you and the staff member if you learn the specific departmental requirements, but be
sure the faculty member knows that the most critical guidance will come from the
department. Our role is to understand these requirements and provide guidance and
support in reaching them.
•
Success in academic departments relies on our ability to show impact and evaluation of
our work. This reflects the general trend in government offices to show impact for
ongoing eligibility state or federal funding. It also makes sense for other reasons,
however. If we show results, we are able to create and offer programs that help change
the lives of Oregonians.
•
Campus-based academic counterpoints often show impact through publications and
professional talks. In Extension, our scholarship often takes other forms. Assisting faculty
in understanding and recognizing the many forms of scholarship, and making sure they
address the impact and evaluation phase, we help them achieve scholarly goals
recognized by their academic department homes. Working with individual Program
Leaders from the Extension-affiliated colleges, we can help plan and present the work of
our faculty using appropriate terminology for that program.
•
Use the annual or biennial evaluation period to check on the progress of scholarship for
each faculty member. These discussions can be the focus of the conversations around this
evaluation, particularly for faculty who have not yet been awarded tenure in their
departments. The discussion should include scholarship from the previous year and plans
for the future year. It’s important the faculty member understand that the definition of
scholarship includes impact and assessment data.