Tenure and Promotion Handbook
Item A: Candidate's Curriculum Vitae
See Faculty Manual §4.XI.4.(a).
1. Individuals who have access to this item:
- Tenured members of the department (CV provided for review in conjunction with consultation prior to candidacy; updated CV sent with initiator’s request for letter for dossier)
- St. Olaf colleagues outside the department (CV sent with initiator’s request for letter for dossier)
- External evaluators (CV sent with Dean’s request for letter for dossier)
- Peer reviewers of administrative work (CV sent with initiator’s request for letter for dossier)
- Full-time, non-tenured members of the candidate’s department(s) with at least two years of service to the College (CV included in candidate’s portfolio of teaching and professional materials maintained in the Department for examination by department members participating in the review process)
- All those granted access to the dossier:
- The initiator
- The Associate Dean
- Members of the Tenure and Promotion Committee
- The Dean of the College
- The President
2. Participants in preparing this item, and the role of each participant:
- Candidate – has primary responsibility for preparing CV
- Initiator – may review drafts and provide feedback and suggestions
- Associate Dean – may review drafts and provide feedback and suggestions
- Other colleagues inside and/or outside the candidate’s department – may review drafts and provide feedback at the request of the candidate
3. Guidelines and suggestions:
- Dates should be included for each item in the CV, especially with respect to professional activity.
- Departmental practice and the preferences of candidates and initiators vary with respect to the provision of feedback to the candidate on the content of the CV.
- A faculty member’s performance may be evaluated from two different perspectives, one of which emphasizes the overall record of the faculty member’s accomplishments, irrespective of when those accomplishments may have occurred, and the other of which emphasizes the faculty member’s most recent accomplishments as evidence of his or her ongoing professional development. The Faculty Manual suggests that both perspectives are operative in tenure and promotion reviews. Consequently, an effective CV provides evidence of the faculty member’s more recent achievements while at the same time conveying a sense of the faculty member’s career as a whole. Typically, the majority of the CV reflects activities and accomplishments since the candidate’s last review for tenure and/or promotion. However, activities or accomplishments of major significance that demonstrate the candidate’s suitability for the rank for which the candidate is being considered, but that occurred prior to the last review, may also be included.
4. Additional resources:
5. Contact for questions or concerns:
Assistant Provost (x3004)
Both these expectations – the expectation of distinction over the course of the entire career to date and the expectation of sustained and ongoing accomplishment -- are embedded in the criteria for both tenure and promotion. The criteria for tenure indicate that “[t]he granting of tenure is a recognition that the individual is a valued and productive member of the faculty as indicated by teaching effectiveness, scholarship, and service to the institution and profession. The decision to grant tenure reflects a comprehensive judgment about past performance and future potential…By granting tenure, the College is expressing confidence that a person with proven accomplishments in a tenure-track appointment will continue to perform in a way that is appropriate to the needs of the institution” (Faculty Manual IX.). The criteria for promotion similarly indicate that candidates “must have demonstrated that they meet high standards of professional competence in their disciplines and that they possess the ability and interest to ensure continued growth” (4.X.E.1.).
Both these expectations – the expectation of distinction over the course of the entire career to date and the expectation of sustained and ongoing accomplishment -- are embedded in the criteria for both tenure and promotion. The criteria for tenure indicate that “[t]he granting of tenure is a recognition that the individual is a valued and productive member of the faculty as indicated by teaching effectiveness, scholarship, and service to the institution and profession. The decision to grant tenure reflects a comprehensive judgment about past performance and future potential…By granting tenure, the College is expressing confidence that a person with proven accomplishments in a tenure-track appointment will continue to perform in a way that is appropriate to the needs of the institution” (Faculty Manual IX.). The criteria for promotion similarly indicate that candidates “must have demonstrated that they meet high standards of professional competence in their disciplines and that they possess the ability and interest to ensure continued growth” (4.X.E.1.).
