Peer review committee member
Peer review for retention, tenure and promotion
In addition to peer review of proposals, manuscripts, and grants, faculty members are reviewed by their peers in order to keep their jobs, achieve tenure, and be promoted. This process requires faculty members to volunteer to engage in the review process once they are successful at achieving tenure themselves. The process can be a burden, one that is dreaded, or it can be a wonderful opportunity to reflect, review accomplishments, review goals and redirect energies. The committee members to a large degree set the tone of the process, within the guidelines set out by the policy documents for a department, college and campus. As a new faculty member be diligent about learning about the process, and begin your journey as an academic in a focused and deliberate way that ensures success with the peer review process. What you learn along the way will be invaluable when you serve on the committee yourself.
Roles and responsibilities of committee members
For each level of peer review for retention, tenure or promotion there is a set of policies and procedures, along with timelines and deadlines for each stage of the process. New faculty members should familiarize themselves with these procedures. Serving on the peer review committee is a large responsibility, and one that involves evaluation of peers in ways that can enhance a career or stop it in its tracks. The process, therefore, cannot be taken lightly, and peer reviewers must be diligent about their adherence to all procedures, follow all criteria carefully, and conduct themselves in a professional, equitable way with integrity.
Challenges of peer review
The work of academic faculty members has evolved greatly over time, but the review process has largely remained the same. When lists of acceptable accomplishments have not been updated to include new sorts of work, in new venues, and using new technologies, it is difficult for innovative faculty to receive a fair and equitable review. In some cases faculty members feel that they have not had a fair review or that circumstances out of their control have had an impact on the nature of the review. It is never easy to receive a negative review, or to deliver one for that matter. Policies, procedures, and practices need to be clearly spelled out and adhered to in order to avoid inconsistency, inequity, or an unfair evaluation. The peer review process is a strenuous exercise that when used properly has the potential to offer constructive feedback and encourage improvement to those being reviewed. Done poorly it offers fodder for litigation, offends others, and unfairly offers positive or negative feedback when inappropriate.
About Peer Review for Tenure, Retention, Promotion
Service in the Retention, Tenure, and Promotion Process
Faculty Affairs Committee, California State University
This report was prepared in response to a request in the 2002 budget act to review and report on the retention, tenure, promotion process, and in particular on the extent to which faculty service, as compared to research and teaching, is a consideration for promotion and tenure decisions, along with other considerations outlined in the report.
Retention, Tenure and Promotion Policies and Procedures for Tenure-Track Faculty
Graduate College of Social Work, University of Houston
This document outlines the charge of the RTP Committee, including the criteria by which faculty should be evaluated.
Priorities and the Promotion and Tenure Process: The Faculty Reward System
The National Academy for Academic Leadership
This site outlines a number of aspects of the academic review process relating to tenure and promotion, including characteristics of an appropriate and effective promotion and tenure system, post tenure review and part time faculty, documentation of scholarly work, observations and conditions for change. It further asserts that the faculty reward system must change.
A Protocol for Peer Review of Teaching
Breant, R. & Felder, R. North Carolina State University (2004). American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition.
This paper outlines a protocol that serves both formative and summative functions. It has been implemented at North Carolina State University, and consists of checklists and observations, and is based on a two rater system.
Peer Review Committee Membership and Procedures
Architecture, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
This document outlines the expectations for members of the Peer Review Committee in one discipline at one CSU campus.
Challenges of Tenure Review
Scholarship is Changing, So Must Tenure Review
Hurtado, S. & Sharkness, J. (September / October, 2008). Academe Online
The survival of the tenure process largely depends on the continuing support of faculty and their capacity to develop review processes that recognize emerging forms of scholarship. The process sometimes lags behind the field, however, and this article addresses some of the issues that faculty need to grapple with to change this fact.
References on Chilly Climate for Women Faculty in Academe
Freyd, J. & Johnson, J. (updated 2009). Webpage of references.
This site offers a collection of references that reflect on the treatment of women in the peer review process.
Tenure: Who’s To Judge?
Montell, G. (February 25, 2010). Blog Post, On Hiring, The Chronicle of Higher Education
This blog post reviews a number of blogs/sites and their commentary on the tenure process.
The Trouble with Tenure
Bauerlein, M. (May, 2007). Our Essays, Minding the Campus.
This posted essay examines the tenure process and outlines some of the problems associated with it.
Racial Inequality and Faculty of Color at Elite Universities: An MIT Report
MIT’s Initiative on Faculty Race and Diversity, blogpost by Joe on Racism Review
This site offers a link to the MIT Report, with blog post commentary.
The Shelter of Tenure is Eroding and for Faculty of Color Gaining Membership May be Tougher than Ever – African American Teachers – Includes Related Articles on Several Cases Regarding Tenure
Ruffins, P. (October, 1997). Black Issues in Higher Education
This article indicates many of the issues that faculty of color face in higher education.
Tenure: What is it Good For? (Absolutely Nothing?)
Historiann ( March 19, 2008). Blog about History and sexual politics, 1492 to the present
This post under gender, intersectionality, jobs, race, unhappy endings and women’s history outlines several cases of tenure difficulty.
