DOSSIER WORKSHOP

PROMOTION & TENURESEPTEMBER 20, 2004

Eileen Barrett

Department of English

SEVEN BASIC TIPS FROM SUE SCHAEFER

• START NOW & DON’T STOP

• APPEARANCES COUNT

• FOCUS ON THE DOCUMENTS

• EXPLAIN

• USE PROBLEMS POSITIVELY

• ASK FOR ADVICE

• DON’T DRAW CONCLUSIONS

Start Now & Don’t Stop

• Tenure is a cumulative process; it recognizes accomplishments & anticipates your future contributions. Promotion recognizes accomplishments

• Include an up-to-date and complete c.v.• Exclude redundant materials; include

recent versions of work• Use evidence to show your ongoing

development & achievements

APPEARANCES

• Invest in nice binders & put your name on all sides

• Include an index of all materials in the dossier• Organize your materials within the 5 categories:

degree, instructional, professional, internal service, external service

• Use legible font• Use readable tabs, plastic covers, clean

materials• Invite your audience to read your materials

FOCUS ON THE DOCUMENTS

• Read and refer to the PTR document• Understand the profile approach (See 1.0

Introductory Statement)• Review your personnel action file (PAF) & all

retention letters• Be aware of the expectations & criteria (see 4.1

general; 6.1 & 6.3 tenure; 8.1 & 8.3 promotion to Associate; 9.1 & 9.3 promotion to Full)

• Check the deadlines

EXPLAIN

• Know your audience; anticipate what they must do

• Be aware that they include your Department Committee, your Chair, your College Committee, your Dean, the University Committee, the Provost, the President

• Explain what you include to this audience• WRITE THEIR LETTERS FOR THEM

WRITE A COVER LETTER

• State what you’re applying for• HELP YOUR READERS WRITE THEIR

LETTERS; follow the format they will use• Mention your degree• Describe your instructional achievement &

teaching philosophy• Describe your professional achievement & its

connection to your teaching• Describe your internal contributions & external

service

INDEX & DEGREE

• Index should identify everything you include in the dossier (for your protection)

• Submit a copy to your PAF

• Use Index as a Table of Contents

• Include a copy of your terminal degree or transcript showing completion of the degree

Instructional achievement

• Begin with a summary or teaching philosophy that highlights what you’d like the reviewers to notice

• Include a range of evidence (see PTR document 4.1.2) of materials

• Include evidence of student learning

• Recognize that instructional achievement is the first category

Tips for narrative section on instructional achievement

--Tie your philosophy to Department, College, or University mission, & our unique student population. Emphasize work at CSUH.

--Explain how your course goals support the goals and objectives of relevant curriculum

--Mention how your participation in teaching workshops & other activities informs your development as an instructor

--Address any concerns from previous reviews--WRITE WITH YOUR READER IN MIND

EVIDENCE OF MULTIPLE LEVEL & INTERDISCIPLINARY, & SELF-

REFLECTIVE TEACHING MIGHT INCLUDE• RANGE OF UNDERGRADUATE COURSES• RANGE OF GRADUATE COURSES• RANGE OF FORMATS—LARGE LECTURE, MID-SIZE

LECTURE/DISCUSSION, SEMINAR, ONLINE OR PARTIALLY ONLINE

• REVISIONS OF FREQUENTLY TAUGHT COURSES• THEMATICALLY LINKED CLUSTER MATERIALS• COLLABORATIVE WORK WITH DEPARTMENTAL,

COLLEGE, AND UNIVERSITY COLLEAGUES• ATTENDANCE AT DEPARTMENTAL, UNIVERSITY,

SYSTEM OR PROFESSIONAL FACULTY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS

PEER EVALUATIONS

• SUMMATIVE EVALUATIONS FROM COLLEAGUES WHO VISIT YOUR CLASS

• FORMATIVE EVALUATION FROM FACULTY DEVELOPMENT

• LETTERS FROM COLLEAGUES IN WHOSE CLASSES YOU HAVE PRESENTED

• LETTERS FROM COLLEAGUES WITH WHOM YOU HAVE SHARED SYLLABI, ASSIGNMENTS, OR COLLABORATED IN OTHER WAYS

STUDENT EVALUATIONS

Impartially administered student course evaluations with tabulated results from Office of Assessment & Testing

unedited summaries of student comments

Unsolicited letters from students

Unsolicited emails with substantive comments from students

Informal feedback on student learning

Professional Achievement

• Begin with a summary of your accomplishments that highlights what you’d like the reviewers to notice

• Tie your professional to your instructional achievement

• Refer to PTR section 4.1.3

Tips for narrative on Professional Achievement

• Consider how your professional & creative achievements fit within Ernest Boyer’s separate but overlapping functions of scholarship:– Scholarship of Discovery– Scholarship of Integration– Scholarship of Application– Scholarship of Teaching

Internal University Contributions

• Begin with a summary of your departmental, college, and university service

• Tie service to pedagogical & professional interests

• Include evidence when appropriate of your particular contributions to committees

Sue Schaeffer’s Tips for University Service

• One Day Wonders– Al Fresco– Commencement– Orientation– Honors Convocation– Graduate Recruiting

More from Sue

• Use your skillsSecond language fluency-let colleagues know

• Guest lecture, student clubs, international students, study abroad, translation, greeting visitors to campus

Music, Art, Technology• Design logos, or flyers, create web sites

External Representation

• Summarize your community service

• Show its relevance to your discipline

• Connect your community service to our students

Sue Schaeffer’s Creative Tips for External Service

• Have your church/temple host a CSUH student group

• Bring the soccer team you coach to campus

• Arrange a campus tour for the school your children attend or that’s in your neighborhood

• Invite your reading group to a campus event

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

Use problems positively

• Address concerns raised in retention letters

• Demonstrate desire to improve by attending faculty development

• Describe how you have solved any problems; show your new pedagogy

• Stay positive

Ask for advice

• Consult with your mentors both in and outside the department

• Ask your chair and dean for advice

• Come to faculty development

• If there is a difference of opinion, defer to those who are part of the decision making process

Don’t draw conclusions

• Never say, ‘I deserve tenure because . . . ‘

• Let your reviewers draw their own conclusion

• But make that positive conclusion as easy for them to draw as possible

Enjoy the process

• See the process as an opportunity for professional reflection

• Take pleasure in all your accomplishments

• Set some post-tenure professional goals

• Share the experience with colleagues

• Come to the faculty development pizza party

• Don’t sweat the small stuff!