Resources

Associate-to-Full Policy Documents from the WPI Faculty Handbook

• Promotion to (full) Professor for dual-mission tenured faculty (annotated version)
• Promotion to (full) Teaching Professor and (full) Research Professor for teaching-track and research-track (TRT) faculty
• Mentoring and Professional Development of Associate Professors

Tools to Navigate the Foggy Climate of Promotion

The following resources were created by cross-campus, multi-level, multi-constituency summer working groups supported by WPI's ADVANCE Adaptation grant. These documents were then formally adopted by the promotion committee:

• Guides to Promotion capture and disseminate advice and best practices for professional development in the Associate years, applying for promotion, and serving as a nominator or advocate for a promotion case:
  • Guide for Promotion to Full (TTT faculty)
  • Guide for Promotion to Full (TRT faculty)
• Matrix for Evaluating Quality and Impact of Multiple Forms of Scholarship
• Rubric for Evaluating Teaching Quality
• Collection of Successful Promotion Dossiers (inside WPI's LMS)

Professional Development and Mentoring of Associates

• Values-based Professional Development Plan, tailored for Associate rank faculty
• Transforming Annual Reviews to Foster Equity and Innovation among Creative Expert Faculty:
  • Department Head Preparation Prompts
  • Faculty Preparation Prompts
  • Discussion Guide for Department Heads

Publications and Presentations

• Skorinko, J. L. (2019). “Scholarship of Discovery and Beyond: Thinking About Multiple Forms of Scholarship and Elements of Project-Based Learning to Engage Undergraduates in Publishable Research.” Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 917. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00917
• Demetry, C., & Lingo, E. L. (2019, June). Transforming the Associate-to-Full Promotion System:  Wrestling with Strategic Ambiguity and Gender Equity. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Tampa, Florida. https://peer.asee.org/33460
• Demetry, C. (2020, June). What is valued and who is valued for promotion? Enacting and sustaining a policy that rewards multiple forms of scholarship. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (Virtual). https://peer.asee.org/35503
• Demetry, C., E. Lingo, N. Farny, K. Hollan, S. Roberts, J. Skorinko (2022). "Summer working groups: A strategy to engage multi-level stakeholders in cross-cutting efforts that advance equity in STEM," presented at the ARC Network Equity in STEM Community Convening, May 31 - June 2, 2022. Slides
• "Equity in our Associate-to-Full promotion systems: How far have we come?" presentation to the WPI faculty, November 10, 2022. Slides 

Media Coverage

• New Paths to Full Professor (Inside Higher Ed)
• Increasing Diversity in the Ranks of Full Professors - for Both Tenured and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty (New England Board of Higher Education)

Additional Resources and National Context

Here are some external resources that were helpful for our work, along with articles describing the broader national context of these issues around faculty promotion, mentoring, and biases:

• O'Meara, K., Templeton, L., Culpepper, D. & White-Lewis, D. (2022). Translating equity-minded principles into faculty evaluation reform. American Council on Education. https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Equity-Minded-Faculty-Evaluation-Reform.pdf
• O'Meara, K., Templeton, L. Culpepper, D. & White-Lewis, D. Equity-Minded Reform of Faculty Evaluation Policies: Audit Resource. American Council on Education. https://www.acenet.edu/Documents/Equity-Minded-Faculty-Evaluation-Audit.pdf
• An Engineering School With Half of Its Leadership Female? How Did That Happen? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

• Evening Things Out (Inside Higher Ed)
• Why Are Associate Professors So Unhappy? (The Chronicle of Higher Education)