Suggestions on Preparing
Continuing Status and
Promotion Packets
for Cooperative Extension
Agents
Updated May, 2011
The following are some observations from
the review of numerous previous packets
Formatting
Neatness Counts!
• Format document for ease of reading and
clarity; use indentation, paragraph blocking
to show separate entries
• Watch for “widows/orphans”
(one sentence hanging by itself at the bottom or top of the page).
• Submit a “neat” packet
Spelling Counts!
• Use spell check
– Spelling and proper grammar are a must
• Ask someone fastidious to proofread your packet
– Carelessness detracts and distracts
• It can (and will) appear as if you are not taking the process
seriously
– Your dossier should be treated with the same care as a
submitted, peer-reviewed publication
More Neatness
• Use the same font as the Provost’s
instructions: Times Roman, 12 pt. (but you
can get away with 11 pt)
• Or, you may use the personal font of your
choice, but take into account unusual
typefaces make you ‘stand out’
No Cover Sheet
• Section I does not need a cover sheet.
Continuing Status and
Promotion Dossier
Six-Year Review
Name
Title
The University of Arizona
Cooperative Extension
XXX County
9/7/11
Cover page for your dossier is the
one in the Provost’s Guidelines
Divider Sheets
• Use these sheets provided by the Provost’s
office - do not retype.
• Pages should be downloaded from their
site:
http://facultyaffairs.arizona.edu/promotion
#Cont_Status_Promotion.
Divider Sheets
• Do not bind or place dividers in the packets
other than the provost’s section pages.
Divider Sheets
• If a section does not apply to you, include the
divider page and indicate N/A on the page. Either
put it at the top right hand side or insert a sheet
with “Section Not Applicable”
No Addenda or Samples
• Addenda are not acceptable nor appropriate.
• Do not include samples of work or newspaper
articles, etc.
– If you do, they will not be forwarded past this office.
• At the 6 year review, samples are required to be
sent to outside reviewers, but they are not sent to
anyone else. You do submit samples to your CED
(or director in the case you are a CED).
– They make the decision what to send to evaluators.
Page Numbering
• Number your pages; number each section
separately.
• Do not use page numbers for the entire dossier.
Watch Your Acronyms
• Do not use, or minimize use of acronyms and
initials... spell out the words.
• No ‘buzz’ words.
• Remember that some of the reviewers may
have little or no knowledge of Cooperative
Extension.
Previous Service
• Those wishing to apply previous service at
another university should include 1) a statement
of the nature of the previous service as a part of
the Job Description section, including rank
obtained and status at previous university and 2)
use the products of previous service (at least
some significant items) in the CV ... as deemed
important to the current position.
Summary Data Sheet
EmpID: EIN
Date: date submitted to CED
Name:
Address: where the Provost will mail their
determination
Current Rank: ‘Area’ is not a rank, it is a title
College: Agriculture & Life Sciences
Department: Cooperative Extension, xxx County
Terminal Degree, Month & Year obtained
Know your clock date! (refer to offer letter)
FACULTY Service other than UA After terminal
degree, including present fiscal year
FACULTY Service @ UA
(Cooperative Extension, xxx County)
* Include any clock delays or approved LOA
Section II – Job Description
• All job descriptions for the period under
consideration should be included IF there were
significant changes.
• These must have been signed and dated by the
candidate, the unit head (CED), the Extension
director and the dean.
Section II: Job Description
• The job description should explain the candidate’s workload,
including importance and percentage of time devoted to teaching and
advising, research, service/outreach or other activities as
appropriate.*
• Check your current one, and if you need to change it, do it now! Do
not wait until the last minute if at all possible; some faculty and their
heads may have differing opinions on what is expected. If there is a
disagreement, an explanation of differences should be prepared and
signed by the candidate.
–
* This is a direct quote from the Provost’s April guidelines. The college recommends the shorter format
contained in the APROL system, with a maximum of 2 pages in length. Make sure all position descriptions
are signed and dated. Your original documents are kept in this office and when your packet is submitted, I
replace your copy with the original one.
Section II: Job Description
• What is usually included is the ‘long’ one that
contains ‘lines of responsibility’, etc., modified
from the position/recruiting announcement, and
the subsequent one(s) using the APROL format.
• There should be an ‘effective date’ at the bottom
Provost’s Position Description Page
• Check these boxes to
indicate that you have
seen them.
• It is not necessary for
typical agents to have
any reason to fill this
out.
“Long” Position Description
APROL Format
The APROL format is
one-two pages, fully signed,
with effective date at bottom
for clarity.
Succinctly and broadly stated.
Too many details are too
many.
Don’t forget, you will be held
accountable for each
statement.
Criteria
Section III: Criteria
• Pay close attention to the Departmental and the College
criteria for Continuing Status and Promotion
• (http://ag.arizona.edu/dean/Abstrext5.pdf)
and
• http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/profdev/criteria_04.pdf).
These criteria, along with the Context Statement, need to
be included and are specifically designed for use in the
dossier.
Criteria cont’d
• The longer version of the CALS guidelines
and criteria may be sent to outside
reviewers to provide greater detail if you
think it will benefit your application.
• The Extension criteria is 5 pages, and fully
explains the differences in expectations for
different ranks.
Criteria cont’d
• The Cooperative Extension ‘Context’
Statement is inserted between the College
criteria and the Extension criteria.
• http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/profdev/context_statement1.pdf
Section IV: Curriculum Vitae
• Follow the outline Curriculum Vitae categories; use the
same headings; and if there is no entry under a heading,
omit the heading.
Curriculum Vitae
• Use care in reporting, do not duplicate, do not misclassify products, publications, etc.
• The CV in the correct order is critical.
– Positions of employment should be listed in reverse
chronological order (most recent first); publications and other
categories following should be listed in chronological order
(oldest to most recent).
• A suggested format is also listed on the Provost’s page:
• http://facultyaffairs.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/Suggest
ed_Format_for_Curriculum_Vitae.pdf
“Percent Effort”
• Percentage of effort on grants is interpreted
differently across campus.
• Committees at the college and university level
prefer that each candidate define what ‘percent
effort’ means in their area.
• It is essential that an individual’s effort in terms
of grants, publications, etc. with multiple authors
is spelled out.
Curriculum Vitae
• In Section IV, the Curriculum Vitae, under
“Outreach” use a statement like the following:
• The candidate is a faculty member of Arizona
Cooperative Extension, College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences, whose primary responsibility
is outreach educational programs. These
outreach programs are presented in Section Vb.
Publications
• If publications do not fit categories place in
“Other Publications” or put as a product of
Extension Programs in Section Vb.
• Be clear about publications, use Extension
Program area to relate publications to
program.
Publications
• Note carefully the items under
“Publications/Creative Activity”.
– This item is for peer-reviewed publications
as defined in the outline.
• Do not mis-state the level of your
publications.
• Most of our publications are in the
“Other Publications” category.
Publications/Creative Activity
(cont’d)
• The CV should not include abstracts, research reports, or
conference proceedings unless peer-reviewed
– These types of publications may be referenced in Extension
Section Vb
• Clearly indicate ‘peer-reviewed’ where applicable
Publications
• The “Work in Progress” is not a place to
identify current activities or projects. It is a
place to identify writing or similar output
not yet accepted for publication.
– Something that has been ‘submitted’.
• Do not include works that have not been
submitted.
Presentations
• “Community Presentations” should be those
presentations not to be included under Extension
Programs in Section Vb
• Program items can be included in Section Vb as
a part of program implementation
• Do not list each presentation separately –
summarize, be succinct:
– a table format is preferable
Grants and Contracts
• Grants and contracts should be clearly designated
as to the candidate’s participation... a table with
funding level and agency, duration, candidate’s
participation, etc., could usefully display the
information.
• Explain why an award or grant is ‘prestigious’ or
important.
Grants & Contracts (continued)
• More documentation and accountability in grants
and collaborative work should be cited.
• Although teamwork is highly valued, information
contained in some packets was unclear as to the
role and responsibility of the candidate in these
collaborative efforts.
Suggestions/comments from the 2003
CALS Promotion and Continuing
Status Appointment Committee
Sign your C.V.
• Your signature should appear on the last page
of the curriculum vitae with the following
statement:
This is a true and accurate statement of my
activities and accomplishments. I understand that
misrepresentation in securing continuing status and
promotion may lead to dismissal or suspension
under ABOR Policy 6-301 I.2.b.
Candidate Statement of Objectives
on Teaching, Research and Service
• The Personal Statement should be concise and
direct, related to your position and how your
work matters.
• To the extent possible, the statement taken as a
whole should show how the candidate integrates
these areas toward achieving his/her objectives.
Candidate Statement
• Make sure the statement is clearly presented
• Ask colleague(s) to read/critique it for content,
readability, and grammatical accuracy
• The characteristics of a good candidate statement
are clarity, organization, sense of purpose, clear
goals, and honesty
Candidate Statement (continued)
The 2003 CALS Promotion & Continuing
Appointment Committee suggested that too many
(statements) reflected broad philosophical
statements that lacked relevancy to their
responsibilities or duplicated information already
contained in the packet. They encourage more
focus and objectives in this section.
Candidate Statement (continued)
• Statement of accomplishments and objectives
on teaching, research and service/outreach
“tells your story,” and provides context for
reviewers.
“Many candidate statements are poorly written.”
“A clear, well-organized candidate statement is critical.”
“The outreach statement is often just as critical (as the CV).”
- Comments from the 2005 UA CSP Committee
Candidate Statement
• The statement is meant to identify professional goals,
explain how research, teaching or extension objectives
have evolved over time, and show how accomplishments
support future objectives and direction.
• One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is going into
too much detail on the accomplishments themselves
rather than how they support objectives.
• Don’t do a ‘laundry list’ of accomplishments, illustrate
your impact on clientele/stakeholders.
Candidate Statement (still continued)
• This is YOUR statement of yourself.
– Write in the first person.
• This section can be a huge determining
factor in the final decision.
Candidate Statement (still still continued)
• State your case
– Be specific as to what you did, what it means,
what was your contribution and its relevance:
why you are important!
– The trick is to do this without restating what is
already in your packet.
Candidate Statement
It has been suggested that you start by considering:
Why are you doing your job?
Who are you doing it for? Who are you trying to please?
What did you intend to do? What did you do to start
something? What did you accomplish?
Where do you hope to be now and in the future?
How do you plan to do things to get what you want?
Candidate Statement
 Concentrate on concepts and how they are
important in the field, not on specific technical
details.
 Remember that some readers will be outside the
discipline; statements containing too many
technical terms may be less effective.
Candidate Statement
• If you have an administrative appointment (CED
duties) they should be presented here. It is
important for the committees to know what this
commitment is in terms of helping them gauge
your other work. In these and most cases, they
are really after quality of work, not quantity.
Note from 2005 UA Committee Chair
Section Va: Evaluation of Teaching & Advising
• Most Agents do not have teaching appointments, however
a very few do, and the Provost suggests the following:
Evaluation of Teaching & Advising is
Prepared Jointly by Head and Candidate
•
•
•
•
•
•
List all courses taught in past 5 years.
List awards, grants.
Document individual student contact.
Describe development activities.
Include peer observation, if available.
Summarize and include Teacher Course Evaluation
(TCE) results (available at http://oire.arizona.edu).
Section Vb: Evaluation of Educational
Outreach
• Clearly distinguish programs in Section Vb.
• A description of three or four major components of the
candidate's program should be clearly stated. These
efforts should coincide with the stated program thrusts in
the position description. Include the purpose and
objectives of the program, the target group, and expected
results. Specify indicators by which objectives can be
measured.
• It is suggested that each program of the candidate not
exceed 3 pages with the entire section no longer than 10
pages. Even that may be too long, but if you are adding
some of the outputs as a part of the implementation, more
space may be needed.
Section Vb: Evaluation of Educational
Outreach
• Make sure there is a demonstrated link between
programs and research. We say research-based
programming but need to show it.
• Linkages among agents and specialists are also
important!
Section Vb: Evaluation of Educational
Outreach
• Place components of each Extension program
together, i.e., for each program area you are
reporting on, do a section on planning,
implementation, and evaluation (performance
measures and program accomplishments) and
results (impacts!) before you begin the next
program discussion.
Section Vb: Evaluation of Educational
Outreach
• Make Extension educational program
statements direct and brief. Do not overdo it. Program justification should not be
very long and have only the very
essential facts.
Section Vb: Evaluation of Educational
Outreach
• Extension Program implementation should
include presentations, publications and any
other output that is directly related to the
program. However, do not duplicate.
• If a peer reviewed journal article is developed,
include in Curriculum Vitae, not in program
implementation.
Section Vb: Evaluation of Educational
Outreach
• The table format could also be used to present
numbers of demonstrations, presentations,
workshops, etc. and these should be identified by
the program to which they contribute.
– Again, consolidate the table.
• Program Awards & Grants are also reported here,
if not already listed in the CV portion.
– If listed in the CV, reference to that section.
Section Vb: Evaluation of Educational
Outreach
• Program accomplishments should include
outcomes or effects, changes that resulted and/or
long term impact of the program.
• Outside evaluators, as well as college and
university committee members, invariably
comment on demonstrated impact or lack thereof
in discussions of a candidate’s programs.
Section VII: Letters from Outside Evaluators
• You may submit names of outside referees, but less than half might
be chosen. The university requires independent referees, so please
do not submit anyone’s name with who you have a close or
personal affiliation. At the university committee level, this is one
area in particular that they look at closely.
• 3-8 letters of evaluation are needed for a complete packet.
• If you submit more than 6, this will limit your head’s ability to adhere
to the 50% policy – no more than half can be from your list
For County Directors:
• Independence of outside reviewers must be clear
and unequivocal.
• Make sure the dossier meets the very clear
university guidelines in every detail.
• Units must provide clear arguments for why
outside reviewers were selected and the nature of
their relationship to the candidate.
Really Serious Stuff:
• Have someone (or two) else read/critique
your packet before submitting.
• Ask your unit head ~
• You might consider asking someone not in
your field do this.
• THIS IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Take advantage of information available to
you
• http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/profdev/promotion.htm
• Extension Administration
Designing a Strong Dossier
Collective Wisdom
http://ag.arizona.edu/dean/cwindex.html
http://ag.arizona.edu/dean/cwdossierdesign.html
Finis
• The completed packet should be submitted to
Extension Administration as unstapled standard
size 81/2 x 11 sheets in a folder or envelope.
Packets will be duplicated/scanned in the state
office for review at the departmental, college and
university levels.
Calendar of Events
Also on the Professional
Development Website:
http://ag.arizona.edu/extension/profdev/calendar.pdf
Calendar continued
September 7
Complete dossier is due to Extension
Administration – including outside
reviewers’ letters.
Questions?
• Patti B., Departmental Liaison
The End…