Promotion to Professor Workshops

The Office of the Provost host annual workshops for associate professors on Promotion to Professor. The Office of the Provost presents an overview of the process and requirements, recently promoted faculty members give their perspectives on preparation for promotion, and current or former members of college and university promotion and tenure committees respond to questions from the audience. Data on the number of years spent at the associate professor level prior to promotion are presented, with breakdowns by gender and by college.

Speakers typically address the following questions:

• Who decides when someone is ready for promotion?  How many years as associate is “normal” for consideration? 
• What constitutes “national or international recognition as an outstanding scholar and educator”?
• How many doctoral students should be completed to make a compelling case, and what if my department has very few graduate students or no doctoral program?
• What are good strategies for identifying and cultivating potential external reviewers?  What do I need to keep in mind when I construct the list of names to give the department?
• How can I use a sabbatical to make the progress I need for a compelling case for promotion to professor?
• I have a pretty good idea about how my work will be viewed by colleagues who know my discipline, but how do members of the university P&T committee evaluate scholarship that may be completely different from their own?
• Are there any work life policies that might help me address personal issues around work life balance?