Journalism Unit Policy for Promotion to Full Professor
Approved by Journalism Unit Faculty Vote, April 27, 2018
PREAMBLE
The Journalism unit’s policy for promotion from associate professor to full professor supplements the guidelines for promotion to full professor that are outlined by Indiana University Bloomington (IUB), the College of Arts & Sciences (College), and The Media School. For any areas not covered in this document, please refer to IUB, College, and The Media School guidelines for tenure and promotion (see The Media School Governance Document).
The Journalism unit encompasses multiple professional, creative, and research traditions, all of which are organized around the fundamental notions that media and communication play pivotal roles in influencing political, legal, economic, policy-making, corporate, and cultural organizations and institutions and in shaping our everyday experiences of the world. Research and creative activity conducted within the unit addresses and critiques the content, norms, and practices of multiple media and professional worlds, including, but not limited to, journalism, public relations, advertising, strategic communication, digital and new media, and entertainment and popular culture.
Research in the Journalism unit embraces theories, methods and perspectives emerging from social-scientific, humanities, legal, historical, and critical-cultural traditions. The unit recognizes that research and creative activity in the fields of journalism, media, communication, and public relations are often inter- and multi-disciplinary in breadth and scope with inquiry engaging various parts of the world and with links to many professional areas of media practice; hence, the unit acknowledges that while faculty seek to contribute to the broader academic fields of journalism and communication, their intellectual development can take diverse paths and forms. The Journalism unit values equally an array of empirical methods—established and emergent quantitative, qualitative, legal, historical, and mixed methods—that scholars can employ to generate data and evidence for their research. Finally, the Journalism unit affirms the symbiotic relationship that exists among research and creative activity, teaching, and service, with each professional component of faculty life nourishing and strengthening the other components.
For the purpose of promotion from associate to full professor, the Journalism unit, in accordance with The Media School T&P Guidelines, expects candidates to earn promotion based on a record of excellence in research. Candidates will demonstrate an “exemplary record of programmatic scholarship or programmatic creative activity and consistent productivity pointing to national or international leadership” (see The Media School T&P guidelines). Candidates for promotion must therefore be judged as “Excellent” in Research or Creative Activity and at least “Effective” in Teaching and “Satisfactory” in Service (see the IUB T&P Guidelines document for further information).
The Journalism unit follows IUB, College and The Media School guidelines for candidates seeking promotion on the basis of excellence in teaching, excellence in service, or a balanced case. Balanced cases are put forward in “exceptional circumstances” (see the IUB T&P Guidelines document), and are not a routine alternative for cases that otherwise do not meet the criteria for promotion to full professor. For a balanced case, the candidate’s performance must be judged as “Very Good” in all three areas of research, teaching, and service. The selection of the primary area of excellence, or of a balanced case, should be reflected in the materials sent to the referees and in the instructions provided for their evaluation.
The Journalism unit also follows the timeline for selection of external reviewers and submission of the promotion dossier as outlined in the The Media School T&P Guidelines for promotion to full professor.
RESEARCH & CREATIVE ACTIVITY
Promotion candidates in the Journalism unit are expected to have achieved demonstrable intellectual leadership at the national/international levels in their areas of inquiry and have a record of substantive achievements in rank as associate professor. Campus-level expectations of research, as outlined in the IUB T&P Guidelines document, state, “Granting tenure and/or promotion is a recognition that the faculty member will continue to achieve truly significant professional work in future years – original, innovative, influential, and consequential.”
There is no set time for an individual to be considered for promotion to full professor. As the IUB campus T&P guidelines document notes, “Associate professors may be reviewed for promotion at any time, at the request of the faculty member or by a decision of full professors in the unit (department or school).” The campus guidelines also state that the unit director is required by the VPFAA to meet annually with associate professors “who have been at rank for seven years or more” to consider them for possible promotion to full each year.
According to the IUB campus guidelines, the dossier for promotion to full professor “should include only work completed in rank (i.e. since promotion to associate professor or the tenure decision, if that came later).” Indicators of substantive achievement in rank are diverse, vary by candidate, and evolve over time. Candidates will be evaluated in the context of their particular research areas and their primary interests.
It is expected that candidates seeking promotion to full professor will have continued (since tenure) to produce a coherent body of scholarship that addresses a set of thematically related questions or problems within the candidate’s area. Peer-reviewed sole- and first-authored articles in influential and top-tier scholarly journals and peer-reviewed sole- and first-authored books published by top-tier presses are the most common indicators of significant achievements that demonstrate intellectual leadership. Specific indicators may vary by candidate and subdiscipline, and candidates for promotion should be judged within the scholarly environment of their particular areas of expertise and focus (with priority given to top-tier publications in their areas) while understanding that their research must also speak to the larger academic fields of mass communication/communication and journalism, with sufficient effort devoted to publishing in some of the flagship and official association-wide journals of the AEJMC, ICA and NCA and in other prestigious journals in these fields (see Journalism T&P policy for discussion of law and history).
In addition to the required substantive achievements, examples of supplementary evidence for research leadership (some of these examples may overlap with service activities) include, but are not limited to:
- invited chapters in high-quality peer-reviewed edited books.
- editorship of high-quality peer-reviewed edited volumes.
- grant applications (with priority given to primary investigator grants).
- awards and research recognition from professional associations.
- visiting professorships at peer institutions.
- invited research presentations.
- journal editorial board memberships.
- journal editor or associate editor.
- editorship of special issues in top-tier journals.
- organization of symposia, pre-conferences and conferences.
- membership on or chairing research-related national/international committees (for example, the ICA’s Publications Committee, AEJMC’s Publications Committee or Standing Committee on Research).
- substantive public activities based on research expertise (activities that have an impact on policy, professional and creative work related to research areas, and national and international research agendas).
Consistent with The Media School and campus guidelines, the Journalism unit recognizes alternative venues for scholarship that may enhance and supplement more conventional forms of research productivity. The IUB Campus T&P Guidelines document specifies that “new forms of digital scholarly communication (e-journals, moderated websites, blogs) continue to emerge and grow.” In the case of such alternative venues, “candidates assume responsibility for providing evidence of the value of their publication outlets” (see IUB T&P Guidelines). Additionally, public scholarship targeted at diverse communities within the university and beyond can testify to candidates’ national reputation and leadership in research. However, public scholarship “will not supplant expectations for publications targeted to peer professional communities” (for further explanation, please refer to IUB T&P Guidelines).
Creative activity should be published in top-tier publications suitable to the activity or displayed in venues that provide national or international exposure. For further details on criteria for excellence in creative activity, please see The Media School T&P Guidelines.
TEACHING
The Journalism unit values its academic and professional teaching missions, and, in accordance with The Media School tenure guidelines and the unit policy on tenure, expects associate professors in rank to be “thoroughly engaged in the enterprise of teaching.” The unit understands that students’ success in their chosen professional, creative, and academic paths depends greatly on the knowledge, professional and critical thinking skills, and career-related experiences they acquire during their formal education combined with the mentoring and guidance they receive from faculty.
Evaluative categories for teaching are Excellent, Very Good, Effective, and Ineffective. Candidates for promotion on the basis of excellence in research or creative activity must be evaluated as Effective or higher in teaching. Examples of the teaching components that may be taken into consideration in the evaluation of teaching may include, but are not limited to:
- Developing new courses, enriching and innovating established courses, and taking a leadership role in strengthening and updating the overall curriculum.
- Serving on or chairing regional or national committees on teaching (for example, the AEJMC Standing Committee on Teaching).
- Teaching at different levels of the curriculum (when relevant and applicable): undergraduate and graduate courses; large and small courses; required and elective courses; conceptual and skills courses; and service-learning courses.
- Developing high-quality teaching materials.
- Engagement with IUB and other resources on teaching to enhance quality of instruction.
- Supporting graduate student work by chairing and serving on theses and dissertation committees and by supervising independent study projects.
- Leading and participating in teaching workshops and seminars.
- Supporting students’ professional development by helping them secure jobs, internships, and awards and, in general, achieve their varied educational and professional goals.
- Delivering presentations on teaching at campus or national level seminars, workshops, and professional meetings.
- Earning teaching awards, teaching grants, and other forms of teaching recognition.
SERVICE
IUB’s evaluative categories for service are Excellent, Very Good, Satisfactory, and Unsatisfactory. Candidates seeking promotion on the basis of excellence in research must be evaluated as Satisfactory or higher. According to the IUB Campus T&P Guidelines document, “The amount of time spent on service is expected to increase throughout the academic career…candidates for promotion to professor are expected to assume greater service responsibilities by taking on tasks that are vital for the sustenance of the academic community, including mentoring of younger colleagues.” The areas where service is expected at the unit, The Media School, campus, and national and international levels mirrors the areas listed in the Journalism policy for tenure. However, candidates for promotion are expected to engage in or at least volunteer for and be willing to engage in more service than candidates for tenure, and when appropriate, undertake positions of leadership.
Indicators of the quality of service include, but are not limited to:
- Chairing and serving on committees in the Journalism unit, The Media School, and the campus and Indiana University system.
- Engaging actively in the Journalism unit’s and IUB’s activities in support of the teaching mission (such as commencement, orientations, activities related to student scholarships).
- Serving academic or professional organizations, including holding official positions and reviewing manuscripts for conferences and academic journals and assisting with activities to support the divisions of these organizations.
- Serving on or chairing regional or national committees on service (for example, the AEJMC Standing Committee on Teaching).
- Providing expertise and support to professional practitioners and media organizations, and taking a leadership role in professional media associations.
- Leading, developing or participating in programs, workshops, clinics, panels, presentations, conferences, editorial work, or other activities that contribute significantly to student and probationary faculty members’ development and to increasing the visibility of Journalism, The Media School, and IUB among various academic and professional constituencies.
- Advising and supporting the work of The Media School student clubs and student chapters of national media associations.
- Offering expert consultation and assistance to relevant external communities or institutions (examples could range from local neighborhood groups to national or international advisory panels and initiatives).
VOTING PROCEDURES
All tenured full professors in the Journalism unit evaluate and vote on candidates seeking promotion to full professor.
Those eligible to vote must be present at the meeting for the discussion of the promotion case. The vote takes place at the end of the meeting, 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.
