Journalism Unit Policy on Promotion to Senior Lecturer
Approved by Journalism Unit Faculty Vote, April 26, 2019
Lecturers in the Journalism Unit are faculty members who have acquired significant professional experience in their fields of practice, including journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing, branding, and other allied areas. They bring a wealth and range of industry experiences and advanced creative and professional skills that will ensure the curriculum stays responsive to industry standards and strengthen the professional development of students.
The Journalism Unit will follow Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) and Media School guidelines on initial contracts, contract renewals, mid-term review (third-year review) and the timing of the promotion review:
Lecturers are appointed initially for three years. After a successful third-year review, lecturers will be considered for one-year renewable contracts through their seventh year, subject to annual performance reviews. Evaluations and contracts are staggered so that lecturers are guaranteed a full year of employment following a negative performance evaluation (i.e., faculty have voted against reappointment or promotion). Candidates apply for promotion to senior lecturer in their sixth year. In exceptional cases, lecturers may seek promotion before the sixth year.
Unit criteria for promotion to senior lecturer
Following Media School and university guidelines, lecturers seeking promotion to senior lecturer are evaluated on teaching and service. In accordance with these same guidelines, the committee will use a four-option continuum to rate the candidate’s performance in teaching: Excellent, Very Good, Effective and Ineffective. In service, the options are: Excellent, Very good, Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory.
The primary responsibility of lecturers is teaching. Lecturer candidates are thus expected to earn “Excellent” in teaching and at least “Satisfactory” in service. Candidates must demonstrate performance that meets the standard of Excellent in teaching at the local — Journalism Unit and Media School — level.
Candidates going up for promotion will assemble digital dossiers that contain evidence and documentation of teaching and service activities, including a teaching and service statement, an updated curriculum vitae, course syllabi, sample course assignment guidelines, official OCQ student evaluations and examples of student work. The unit director will guide candidates on preparation of these materials.
The Journalism Unit’s Promotion & Tenure committee, consisting of all tenured faculty, senior lecturers, and professors of practice who have completed their major performance review, will evaluate the dossiers of candidates going up for promotion to senior lecturer.
Teaching
The path to establishing Excellence in teaching may include – but is not limited to – the following:
- A record of high quality teaching demonstrated by sustained excellence in classroom performance, including developing high quality teaching materials (for example, syllabi, assignment guidelines, grading rubrics, and lecture outlines) and providing enriching classroom experiences (for example, inviting guest speakers, organizing visits to professional media outlets, and facilitating opportunities for students to publish class-related and independent projects in external media outlets).
- A trajectory of improved teaching skills as shown by various measures of teaching, including IUB-mandated student evaluations.
- Evidence of commitment to improving teaching through consultations with IUB’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) and participation in CITL activities.
- Keeping course materials and student mentoring skills up to date, in terms of new developments in their professional fields of expertise and in related media industries.
- Assisting students with producing high-quality work that meets current professional and industry standards.
- Evidence of peer observations and evaluations of teaching.
- Evidence of flexible and adaptable teaching skills (when relevant and applicable): teaching across the undergraduate and graduate curriculum within an area of expertise, teaching in different class environments (large and small class sizes), and teaching required and elective courses.
- Unsolicited letters from students in addition to those solicited by the Journalism Unit or the Media School.
- Undergraduate student advising/mentoring and when relevant and applicable, MA/MS student advising/mentoring activities, including supervision of independent study students and membership on MA/MS graduate committees.
- Nominating and assisting students in securing competitive awards and helping them place their professional work in reputable regional, national and international media outlets.
- Internal (Journalism Unit, Media School and IUB) and external teaching awards, grants or awards that lead to course development or teaching innovation, and other similar recognition of pedagogical excellence.
- Participation in course and curriculum development and innovation that enables the Journalism Unit to stay competitive with peer institutions, including evidence of interdisciplinary collaborations on teaching in line with IUB’s strategic goals.
- Evidence of leadership/participation in the Journalism Unit’s instructional goals and objectives, including support of the ACEJMC accreditation process.
- Development of new teaching materials such as textbooks, case studies, instructor manuals, student guides, and instructional websites and videos.
- Participation in organized or formal teaching and learning workshops and seminars within the Journalism Unit, The Media School and beyond. [For examples, see IUB’s Mosaic Active Learning Initiative and the Faculty Learning Communities hosted by CITL.]
- Competitive and invited presentations focused on teaching at local, statewide or national/international professional and academic conferences.
Service
Satisfactory service contributions may include—but are not limited to—the following:
- Serving on and chairing Journalism Unit, Media School, and IUB committees.
- Serving as advisor and demonstrating active involvement in Media School student groups/clubs that support student learning and professional development in journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing, branding, and other allied areas.
- Development of service learning components for the BAJ and MS in Media (Journalism and Strategic Communication concentrations) curricula.
- Receipt of internal IUB or external service awards and grants.
- Taking a leadership role in national professional organizations in the fields of journalism, public relations, advertising, marketing, branding, and other allied areas (for example, SPJ, PRSA, ONA, NABJ, NAHJ, and AAF).
- Development of educational programs, workshops, and other training ventures for various Journalism Unit constituencies, including media practitioners and alumni.
- Supervision and mentorship of associate instructors with significant instructional responsibilities, including teaching students professional skills in lab settings.
- Public service to regional, national and international communities that calls upon professional expertise as a media practitioner or teacher.
- Serving as a liaison with journalism, public relations, advertising, and other professional media outlets and organizations to develop or maintain industry internships and connections, facilitate guest lectures, and pursue other activities and events that either bring prominent professionals to campus or enhance students’ networking opportunities.
The Journalism Unit will follow the Media School guidelines for the timeline and process of conducting annual reviews, the midterm/third-year review and the promotion review for lecturers.
Voting procedures
All tenured faculty and post-probationary NTT faculty — senior lecturers and professors of practice who have completed their major performance review — will vote formally on the dossiers of candidates going up for promotion to senior lecturer.
Those eligible to vote must be present for the discussion of the candidate immediately preceding the vote, and no proxy votes will be considered. Remote presence via video or audio communication technology (such as Skype) will satisfy this requirement. Arrangements for such remote participation must be made with the Unit Director at least five working days before the meeting so that appropriate technology can be arranged. The vote of persons attending remotely will be communicated privately with the Unit Director via email or phone when votes are being cast in order to protect the secrecy of the ballot.
