Mid-Career Planning
&
Post-Tenure Mentoring
Patrick M. Scanlon
Professor and Director
School of Communication
What we’ll cover
• Challenges for associate professors
• Promotion criteria at RIT
• Planning for promotion (or not)
▫ Matching objectives with promotion criteria
▫ Selecting mentors
▫ Coming up with a plan
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1209115. Any opinions,
findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect
the views of the National Science Foundation.
Challenges for associate professors
COACHE survey of job satisfaction
In 25 categories, associate professors were less
satisfied, at statistically significant margins, than
both assistant and full professors.
Jaschik, S. (2012, June 4). Unhappy associate professors. Inside Higher Education.
Time spent on service
Assistant
3.42
Associate
2.28
Full
3.50
Jaschik, S. (2012, June 4). Unhappy associate professors. Inside Higher Education.
Mentoring
Assistant
3.42
Associate
2.84
Full
3.08
Jaschik, S. (2012, June 4). Unhappy associate professors. Inside Higher Education.
Women and promotion
• Women in the US
▫ are 25% of full professors
▫ are 10% less likely to be promoted
▫ take on average 1 to 3 years longer
Misra, J., Lundquist, J. H., Holmes, E., & Agiomavritis, S. (2011).
The ivory ceiling of service work. Academe, 97(1), 22-26.
Associates benefit from
•
•
•
•
Reduced service
Transparency and clarity of promotion criteria
Career planning/mentoring
Flexible paths to promotion?
Promotion Criteria at RIT
RIT Policy E6.0, “Faculty Rank and Promotion”
Since receiving tenure and promotion from Assistant Professor
to Associate Professor, candidates shall be judged in terms of
whether they have an established record that indicates
continued growth, development and accomplishment in
teaching; research, scholarship or creative work; and service
including leadership, as described in E4.0 Faculty Employment
Policies. Candidates for promotion shall be judged in terms of
whether they have a record that is deemed excellent overall.
RIT Policy E6.0, “Faculty Rank and Promotion”
Since receiving tenure and promotion from Assistant Professor
to Associate Professor, candidates shall be judged in terms of
whether they have an established record that indicates
continued growth, development and accomplishment in
teaching; research, scholarship or creative work; and service
including leadership, as described in E4.0 Faculty Employment
Policies. Candidates for promotion shall be judged in terms of
whether they have a record that is deemed excellent overall.
RIT Policy E6.0, “Faculty Rank and Promotion”
Since receiving tenure and promotion from Assistant Professor
to Associate Professor, candidates shall be judged in terms of
whether they have an established record that indicates
continued growth, development and accomplishment in
teaching; research, scholarship or creative work; and service
including leadership, as described in E4.0 Faculty Employment
Policies. Candidates for promotion shall be judged in terms of
whether they have a record that is deemed excellent overall.
Jeremy Haefner, “Thoughts on Promotion”
… there may be some exceptional cases that simply do
not fit these expectations yet clearly make a
compelling case for promotion. As a result, we should
be flexible in our interpretation of these expectations
so that these exceptional cases are not casualties of
strict bureaucracy. (emphasis added)
Concerning flexible criteria for
promotion
Reimagining Promotion to Full Professor
A white paper: rit.edu/cla/posttenurementoring
under “Resources”
Planning for Promotion
What do you want people to say at your retirement party?
Planning for promotion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Determine post-tenure career goals
Align goals with promotion criteria
Write a mid-career plan
Team with mentors
Finalize the plan
Implement the plan
Determine post-tenure career goals
• Is promotion for you?
• Where will you focus your energies in each of the
three categories?
• Set time objectives: a book published by a
certain year, for example.
Align goals with promotion criteria
• Match your goals in each of the categories to
your department and college criteria.
• What about flexible pathways?
Write a mid-career plan
Team with mentors
• Look for a manageable number of mentors from
within and outside your department.
• Perhaps have an external mentor for scholarship,
and an internal mentor for service and navigating
the promotion process.
• A teaching mentor could come from anywhere.
• Consider peer mentors, as well.
Finalize the plan
•
•
•
•
Work with your chair
Confirm objectives
Establish impact measures
Set milestones
Implement the plan
• Revise periodically