Addendum to the School P&T Guidelines: Guidelines for the Appointment and Advancement of Non-Tenure Track Faculty

Scope of these Guidelines

The purpose of this document is to establish parameters for the appointment and advancement of non-tenure track lecturer faculty in the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering (LSICE) at Indianapolis to the ranks of Senior Lecturer and Teaching Professor. The school adheres to the IU Indianapolis campus guidelines for Promotion and Tenure (P&T). School standards supersede campus standards only insofar as they require a higher or more substantial level of academic achievement than the campus guidelines.

All candidates for academic advancement are advised to study the campus guidelines to understand the many quantitative and qualitative ways candidates may document and substantiate their achievement. It is the candidate’s responsibility to prepare for reviewers a dossier that accurately documents and explains the candidate’s academic achievement. In all dossiers for advancement, it is the responsibility of the candidate to explain the categorization, nature and significance of academic achievements

• Campus guidelines
• Campus Dossier Checklist

In the LSICE, promotion to senior lecturer or teaching professor does not involve research and/or creative activity. However, scholarly investigation or creative work that directly supports or informs pedagogy or course development (sometimes called “teaching research”) may be considered scholarship of teaching and included in a promotion dossier.

In their dossiers, candidates who engage in scholarly investigations should explain how these support teaching and learning and, when applicable, provide evidence of appropriate learning outcomes and peer evaluation. Documenting excellence in teaching with evidence of actual student learning outcomes should be integral to the dossier.

Candidates for Promotion to Rank of Senior Lecturer

• There is no limit on the period a candidate takes to apply for promotion.
• Following promotion to the rank of senior lecturer, the individual holding the rank of senior lecturer is eligible to receive a three-year, renewable appointment.

The LSICE recognizes that all lecturers bring different strengths to their teaching and may achieve excellence through different blends of the elements of teaching, emphasizing the elements most appropriate to their strengths but not forgoing the others. As explained in campus guidelines, teaching comprises these elements, broadly categorized as: classroom delivery of instruction; student mentoring and advising; curriculum development; and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

With the introduction of the rank of teaching professor for non-tenure track faculty in 2018, the university moved the requirement for peer-reviewed dissemination of the scholarship of teaching to the promotion requirements for teaching professor. However, candidates seeking promotion to senior lecturer in the LSICE will still require dissemination and the qualifications for dissemination do not require peer review. The expectation for senior lecturer candidates is a record of dissemination of knowledge, tools, and practices in their field of expertise. This may include the dissemination and exhibition of creative artifacts produced in support of teaching. Dissemination can take many forms: publications, presentations and panels at conferences and other industry events, screenings, performances, conducting workshops, etc. While peer-reviewed dissemination of scholarship of teaching and learning SoTL remains an optional element in a dossier for senior lecturer, the range of recognized forms and venues has been expanded beyond the traditionally academic. Non-SoTL dissemination will no longer have a peer-reviewed requirement for promotion to rank of senior lecturer.

Candidates seeking promotion to senior lecturer in the LSICE should document and explain a blend of their dissemination that together demonstrates a sustained record of excellence.

Candidates must also document at least a satisfactory record of service, which comprises 20% of their duties.

Evidence must include:

• A record of dissemination of knowledge, tools, and practices in field of expertise.
• Consistent high-quality teaching practice proven through course evaluations, peer reviews, student learning outcomes, and student testimonials.
• Proof of obtained student learning outcomes (Such as employment, grants, awards, or other gains attained by students who have successfully completed courses or received mentorship.)

Evidence may include:

• Active curriculum development and teaching services includes, but is not limited to: new course development, course revision and/or curriculum redesign, or creation of technological artifacts for teaching (e.g., online course materials). Teaching also includes student advising and mentoring.
• Designing and presenting workshops or professional development for practitioners, educators, and/or students.
• The dissemination of creative and scholarly artifacts made in support of teaching. Examples include: various forms of digital media presented at a symposium, exhibition, or conference.

The work of lecturers is crucial to the success of the LSICE. In many instances, lecturers teach courses that are most directly linked to, and responsive to, the rapid changes in industry practice. Every year, new software, new applications, and new trends in design emerge in the marketplace. This requires from our lecturers a constant process of professional training, continuing education hours, and development. The LSICE recognizes and values this work and considers it part of the overall work that leads to academic advancement.

To stay informed and skilled in these emerging technologies and domains, and thus to stay relevant as teachers, lecturers can often devote significant effort and energy outside of the classroom to learning these new technologies and understanding their place in the marketplace. This can take place through leading or presenting in formal workshops, through continuing education opportunities, through self-guided tutorials and through informal peer professional learning that occurs in various organizations, venues and events dedicated to advancing capacity and competence in tech-centric business and practice. The LSICE recognizes and values all these efforts as forms of professional development necessary to teaching success. When documenting such efforts in their dossiers, candidates for promotion should carefully note the roles played (e.g., workshop leader, attendee, etc.).

Similarly, lecturers frequently devote many hours each month to sponsoring various extra-curricular student groups. The LSICE recognizes and values this faculty effort as a form of student mentoring that can supplement and enhance classroom activities and generally elevate a school-wide climate of learning. When documenting such efforts in their dossiers, candidates for promotion should explain the nature of the work performed and any correlation of this effort to classroom activities or the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Candidates for Promotion to the Rank of Teaching Professor

• There is no limit on the period a candidate takes to apply for promotion and the candidate can apply multiple times if the case is unsuccessful.
• Following promotion to the rank of teaching professor, the individual holding the rank of teaching professor is eligible to receive a five-year, renewable appointment.

The Scholarship of Teaching

The LSICE adheres to the standards of achievement for the scholarship of teaching described in the IU Indianapolis campus P&T Guidelines. In general, candidates for Teaching Professor are expected to demonstrate a record of publicly disseminated, retrievable, peer-reviewed artifacts supporting teaching and learning in their disciplinary areas. (With the introduction of the Teaching Professor rank, the campus clarified that scholarship that supports, rather than simply is about teaching and learning, qualifies as scholarship relevant to advancement.) This can be, but is not limited to, scholarship on pedagogical theory and techniques. Securing teaching grants or external funding supporting the development of a program of scholarship of teaching, or other teaching-related activities such as student learning support, is highly valued.

Faculty are encouraged to document any scholarship in support of teaching in ways that will allow future evaluators (whether department chairs, reviewers in promotion processes, grant reviewers or committees awarding departmental, school or campus honors) to better understand the benefits of their innovative contributions in support of teaching and learning. Such documentation and evidence can take the form of:

• Reflective writing in published experience reports, project reports, presentations, journal articles, conference papers linking professional development and enhanced teaching to curriculum (peer-reviewed and disseminated).
• Evidence of student success (both within and beyond the LSICE) that can be linked to these activities (e.g., a teacher may learn a new technique that is taught in class and enables a student to complete a project, win a prize, or secure a career).
• New course or curricular content and strategies that can be linked to professional development and/or extracurricular mentoring.
• Evidence that the teacher has engaged in activities, analyzed their outcomes, applied this analysis in the classroom or in extra-curricular venues for teaching and learning, and disseminated the results with colleagues and peers. Examples of artifacts that demonstrate evidence of the use of scholarship to support teaching can include, but are not limited to:
• A body of retrievable, peer-reviewed presentations, abstracts, demonstrations, papers accepted at conferences (external to campus). These can focus on the scholarly discourse or research performed around teaching theory or practice, or they may include different forms of scholarship, not limited to contributions to scholarship of teaching and learning, insofar as those works of scholarship demonstrably advance or support teaching.
• Production of non-traditional media, including digital and analog artifacts, web-based, interactive applications, prototypes, or systems. Appropriate credit will be given to such creative activity using the same criteria as discussed above for conventional publications; that is, it is essential that the activity is disseminated, retrievable, and peer-reviewed. The peer-reviewed nature of the material must be clearly documented. Non-peer-reviewed materials are weighted less than items that undergo peer review. The role of the candidate must be documented. Since the usual standards of peer-review may not be apparent, the candidate should provide objective documentation that peers value and appreciate the scholarship contribution of the candidate. Chairs can arrange for at-the-moment peer review of ephemeral products such as live performances or time-limited exhibitions.
• A presentation or workshop about innovative teaching theory or practice at a professional conference attended by educational professionals or peers.
• A peer-reviewed or juried presentation or exhibition of creative artifacts produced with students in the support of teaching.
• An online presentation or posting that attracts significant attention and comment among learners and/or educators discussing teaching (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, Digital Training, Twitch, etc.).
• An outreach activity that can be considered community-based education; leads to innovative teaching theory or practice; becomes scholarship of teaching and learning; achieves impact and advances the teaching mission of our school. The candidate should describe and document how any notable outreach activity has been incorporated into the candidate’s teaching, as well as disseminated to peers.

1. Candidates for promotion to teaching professor will document sustained excellence in teaching, and satisfactory service, at the rank of senior lecturer. There is no strict timeframe that is enforced; however, a candidate is expected to serve in rank realistically for at least a few years (3-4) to have the opportunity to demonstrate a “sustained” level of excellence. Explanation: There is no limit on the period a candidate takes to apply for promotion. Candidates are encouraged to seek promotion when their dossier can present a persuasive case for advancement. Because some achievements may require prolonged development, the evaluation of excellence should consider cumulative or aggregated achievement throughout the pre-promotion period. There is no limit on the number of times a candidate may apply for promotion. If someone re-applies for promotion within 3 years, due to denial or withdrawal, all original external letter writers must be contacted with a request to update their letter with the new dossier information.
2. Promotion to teaching professor should signal sustained excellence; it is not simply a reflection of satisfactory performance as a senior lecturer. Candidates must document sustained achievement surpassing the achievement that earned promotion to senior lecturer. A candidate should document a record of high-quality teaching performance that is supported by appropriate learner and peer evaluation, as well as quantitative and qualitative assessments of performance that, on average, have remained stable or improved over a sustained period.
3. Conforming to IU Indianapolis guidelines, the LSICE categorizes three types of academic work that comprise teaching: A) direct pedagogy, including mentoring; B) curricular development; and C) scholarship in support of teaching. Candidates for teaching professor must document work in all three categories. The criteria for teaching professorship extend the IU Indianapolis criteria for promotion to senior lecturer. There is no formula for distribution of work in these categories. Dossiers must document work in all three categories, although candidates may focus on one or two of these categories to build a case for excellence. The sum of the candidate’s work, taken together and supported by appropriate evaluations by learners and peers, and by quantitative or qualitative assessments of outcomes, should be excellent.
4. Candidates for promotion to teaching professor must document their scholarship of teaching and learning. Scholarship can comprise new knowledge about teaching theory or practice, and/or scholarship done in support of teaching, that has been distributed in retrievable forms in venues beyond the campus and evaluated by peers as excellent. Evidence of peer-reviewed contribution to scholarship, includes, but is not limited to: published peer-reviewed papers in educational journals or conference proceedings; presentations in local, regional or national/international teaching conferences; textbooks and novel teaching tools that have been reviewed and or solicited by peers external to the department or school; successful internal or external grant proposals supporting the scholarship of teaching; juried or otherwise peer-reviewed exhibitions; competitions and creative activities in support of teaching. Although these creative activities may advance teaching and learning, candidates must clearly explain the connection between personal creative activities and student learning outcomes. Generally speaking, any form of distribution could be considered scholarship if it is peer-reviewed and retrievable. However, the quality of the scholarship may be reflected in the prestige of the distribution venue and the rigor of the peer-review process. At IU Indianapolis, the quality of scholarship is more important than its quantity.
5. Candidates for promotion must document leadership in teaching. While both scholarship and leadership propose innovative knowledge for peer review, leadership is demonstrated when peers adopt teaching practices and policies advanced by the candidate. Candidates for teaching professor may document leadership in a variety of activities in the three categories of teaching work. Some of these activities are listed below; others may be considered. The most valuable documentation of leadership will include evaluations (whether quantitative or qualitative, objective, or subjective) of the impact of these activities on teaching and learning. Note: Candidates are not required to document achievements in all or even most of these categories of activity listed below. 5.1 Leadership in course, curricula, or program development. This may occur in traditional classroom contexts or in non-traditional contexts, and may occur in intramural or multi-school contexts, and may engage local, national, or international community* partners. 5.2 Leadership in activities that enhance LSICE students’ transition to careers. 5.3 Leadership in activities that increase the diversity of the LSICE. 5.4 Leadership in campus, university, or community* organizations or events (conferences, workshops, etc.) about teaching and learning. 5.5 Leadership in community-based programs and activities that engage non-LSICE audiences but serve its teaching mission and are performed under the auspices of the LSICE. (e.g., public lectures or workshops that bring new audiences to the LSICE; programs that engage diverse audiences through the K-12 system) 5.6 Leadership and/or significant participation in grant-funded activities that specifically support teaching and learning activities. (External funding is considered more prestigious than internal funding.) 5.7 Other activities that initiate, expand, and enhance teaching and learning for students and colleagues at the LSICE.

*At IU Indianapolis, the term “community” generally describes audiences or partners external to campus, whether neighborhood, city, state, national or international communities.

Service

Service is not an area of excellence for lecturers or senior lecturers, yet the service work of NTT faculty is crucial to the success of the LSICE. In many instances, lecturers provide professional service to the community. The LSICE recognizes and values this work and considers it part of the overall work that supports student learning and thus leads to academic advancement. Service can provide additional recognition to the program, department, and school. As such, recruitment activities, sponsoring or participating in extra-curricular events, enhancing student experience, and advancing the enrollment and retention goals of the school (without producing defined learning outcomes) are considered service.

Examples of professional service can include, but are not limited to:

• Student advising and mentoring
• Contributing member of national and state organization
• Committee member of a national, state and local board/committee
• Organizer of an event, professional workshop etc.
• Presentation at national, state and local event centered on service
• Contributing to educational accreditation, policy and/or certifications for program area
• Influencing national standards/ testing etc