STATEMENT REGARDING SIGNIFICANT PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES


The Department of Sociology and Anthropology aspires to promote and evaluate the professional development of its faculty in ways that reflect both the mission of the college and the disciplines of sociology and anthropology. The department recognizes that the liberal arts context presents faculty with both opportunities and constraints on professional activity that are not shared by professional colleagues in other environments.


The department is firmly committed to the beliefs that teaching is our most important professional activity and that scholarship is essential to good teaching. In the light of these beliefs, the Department of Sociology and Anthropology recognizes several forms of scholarship as significant professional activity. Scholarship is recognized by this department in the following areas:

  1. Scholarship which advances and disseminates sociological and anthropological knowledge.
  2. Scholarship which supports new innovations in teaching, or which integrates sociological and anthropological perspectives with other study and disciplines and thereby contributes to the task of general education and support of the broader liberal arts curriculum.
  3. Scholarship that enlists our academic expertise in service to the wider academic or public community.

While accepting this broad definition of scholarship, the department requires that all such scholarships be subject to peer evaluation in order to be recognized as significant professional activity. Peers may include the editors of sociological or anthropological publications, recognized scholars in one’s field of specialization, colleagues in one’s department or in other departments, or grant reviewers.


The Department of Sociology and Anthropology considers all of the following professional activities to be valuable. However, faculty who are successful candidates for tenure or promotion should be engaged in several activities listed under “A”, among others. We also feel that it is important for individuals to become involved in many of these activities during their career as part of their professional commitment as a teacher-scholar of sociology and anthropology, realizing that the mix among activities will shift appropriately at different stages in each person’s career.


A.  Activities within and for the disciplines of sociology and anthropology that advance sociological and anthropological knowledge:

  1. Research leading to publication of books (including textbooks or articles or chapters in edited books), monographs, or professional journal articles.
  2. Serving as general editor of a book or monograph or series editor for journals and/or publishers.
  3. Publication of book reviews or review articles in professional journals.
  4. Participation in professional meetings including presentation of papers, organizing and chairing paper sessions, leading workshops, and participation in panels.
  5. Attending and participating in special workshops or seminars which are designed to assist the scholar to keep up on, and contribute to, new scholarship in an area of sociological and anthropological interest (such as summer NEH seminars, faculty travel seminars sponsored by ACM/GLCA, or other substantial professional learning activities).
  6. Writing grant proposals and receiving grants from organizations that underwrite research and writing or other significant professional development.


B.   Activities that contribute to the intellectual life of the college, to new and continuing course development, and to the task of general education:

  1. Preparation, research and participation in programs which require the application of sociological and anthropological knowledge beyond that involved in ordinary course development or revision (such as field-supervised St. Olaf semesters abroad, leadership of ACM semesters abroad, and off-campus interim programs both abroad and domestic).
  2. Leadership and participation in interdisciplinary innovations (such as teaching in interdisciplinary programs, team-teaching with colleagues outside the department or development of new interdisciplinary courses or programs).
  3. Convocation presentations for college audiences.


C.  Applied professional activities using sociological and anthropological expertise

  1. Research and scholarship which facilitate institutional effectiveness of religious, charitable, social justice or other human service organizations, or has application for social policy analysis.
  2. Leadership in community agencies which have humanitarian goals (e.g. religious organizations, hospitals, support groups and service organizations).
  3. Participation as an applied sociologist/anthropologist in consultation, publication, and research for general audiences, organizations or communities, or presentations at local forums and public gatherings.
  4. Participation in disciplinary and academic organizations, including holding offices and active committee work for national, regional, and local professional organizations.
    Adopted December 2, 2001