Departmental Tenure and Promotion Guidelines for Women’s Studies

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Tenure Criteria

Teaching

We recognize that undergraduate teaching is the foremost mission of faculty members at Hamilton College, and we expect candidates for tenure and promotion to be exemplary teachers both in the regularly expected teaching responsibilities associated with the classroom as well as in teaching that moves beyond the classroom. Assessment of teaching must include consideration of the following significant indicators of excellent teaching:

• College sponsored teaching evaluations.
• Observation of classroom performance by voting members of the program, including a minimum of one observational classroom visit per year by each member of the program who is eligible to vote, followed by a brief written commentary on the observation.
• Letters solicited by the Dean of Faculty’s office from students who have been in classes taught by the candidate.
• Syllabi, particularly those indicating the development of new courses or substantial revision of existing courses, the use of imaginative or innovative course materials and exercises, the inclusion of recent and new scholarship, and the presence of rigorous intellectual engagement.

The following aspects of a candidate’s teaching portfolio also indicate important aspects of commitment to and excellence in teaching:

• Mentoring and informal advising of students.
• Supervision of senior theses, research, or scholarship with students.
• Innovative pedagogy.

We will also consider supplementary materials connected to teaching such as the following:

• Participation in curricular development workshops or curricular transformation projects, including development of college-wide courses.
• Applying for and/or receiving funding for course development, trips, and extracurricular events.
• Unusually extensive preparation for teaching courses, including attending conferences or forums at other institutions that explore new subject matter, methodology and/or pedagogy,

Scholarship

We recognize and value scholarship that poses new research and/or analytical questions relevant to feminist studies; both reflects upon and contributes to a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary field(s); successfully employs interdisciplinary and/or new, cutting edge feminist methods; yields significant results identified as and addressing feminist goals; demonstrates innovation that allows the scholar to connect to her readers/audience; and involves critical reflection. A sustained record of scholarly work is the criteria for successful tenure and promotion. We expect that the form of this demonstration of significant scholarly engagement will vary, but that it may include the following:

• Peer reviewed books or monographs, edited collections, co-authored books and collections, textbooks, and major exhibits, installations and/or performances of feminist creative arts.
• Peer reviewed, full-length articles (single or multiple authors) in journals dedicated to women’s studies and feminist criticism, or other major journals; full-length chapters in edited collections.
• Principle investigator for significant multi-year grant project with external funding that relates to women’s studies, including writing the grant proposal and administering and assessing multiple year outcomes.
• Invited speaker at national and/or professional conferences, including delivery of plenary and keynote addresses.

We also consider as important, the following demonstrations of scholarly engagement and work:

• Articles and full length essays (single or multiple authors) in non-peer reviewed journals in any discipline (including women’s studies)
• Book reviews and brief reports in peer reviewed publications.
• Principle investigator of multi-year grant project with internal funding that relates to women’s studies.
• Papers presented at national or regional conferences.
• Invited talks at colleges/universities, government agencies, organizations, etc.

Supplementary work can include:

• Brief articles, reviews and/or commentaries for non-peer reviewed publications and encyclopedia entries.
• Moderating panels at national or regional conferences.
• Participation in projects dealing with content and methodology in Women’s Studies.
• Publication of course syllabi in an edited collection.

Service

We expect candidates for tenure and promotion to participate actively in traditional avenues of service at the College such as in committees and governance structures of the program and of the College; however, we also expect candidates to move beyond such traditional expectations for service work in ways that help develop and foster an understanding of women’s studies and feminist community work. We recommend assessment of service be made on the basis of observation by colleagues or statements about such work from students, colleagues, or members of community groups. Service activities, beyond expected college-wide participation on committees and program governance, could include the following:

• Providing leadership in the academy and/or community groups concerning women’s studies and feminist concerns.
• Advising women’s studies extracurricular student groups.
• Serving on national or regional committees or task forces in the field of women’s studies, as an elected officer in such organizations, or on women’s studies groups in other disciplinary organizations.
• Consulting with other women’s studies programs or departments for program reviews or development purposes.
• Appearing in the media to foster understanding of women’s studies or feminist concerns.
• Arranging visits of external speakers and/or installations related to women’s studies or organizing internal workshops, colloquia, or installations.
• Developing or coordinating community-based and/or non-profit organizations or workshops connected to the field.

Promotion to Full Professor

For promotion to Full Professor, we expect candidates to be distinguished teachers with a sustained record of success as scholars or artists and increased participation in service. In addition to the types of criteria and evidence considered during the tenure review, we add the following:

• In regard to teaching, candidates should provide evidence of continued dedication to and success in distinguished teaching as demonstrated by the development of new courses and pedagogies, the revision of course syllabi, and evidence of students’ rigorous intellectual or creative engagement in the candidates’ classes. Faculty members voting on promotion should observe the candidate’s teaching at least once since tenure, but not necessarily annually.
• In regard to scholarship, candidates must continue to be active and visible scholars or artists. Although candidates may, if they choose, continue in the same area of scholarly or creative work as before tenure, they must demonstrate that they have moved beyond the body of work submitted during the tenure review. This new work should show sustained progress on a major project or projects and result in significant publications or exhibits, installations or performances.
• In regard to service, candidates should demonstrate a greater willingness to undertake significant service on or off of the campus. Increased participation or leadership in college committees, governance structures of the department, appropriate community groups, or the broader academic community will be evidence of important service.