May the Work I've Done Speak for Me: Tenure, Promotion

Abstract

To achieve tenure and promotion, an academician must demonstrate productivity and persistence in the midst of uncertainty. While there are policies in place to guide the tenure and promotion processes, at most institutions, the policies are written in a professionally vague manner such that “The Committee,” made up of senior faculty, has sufficient leeway to make a decision deemed most appropriate for all parties involved, including the junior faculty member under consideration. My essay highlights my experiences with the tenure and promotion processes at two different institutions on my academic journey and uses sayings to convey messages of importance to the process. After providing some personal background information that includes some of my strengths and fears for context, I transition to a discussion of my decision to exchange a coveted, tenure-track position for a long-term contract at a newly established state college with an opportunity of being promoted to the highly esteemed rank of Full Professor.

While the requirements and processes vary from institution to institution, and for tenure and promotion, the angst and anticipation generated can be fairly consistent, even if you are confident in what you have accomplished. Through the sharing of personal lived experiences (or biodata; Snell, Stokes, Sands, & McBride, 1994), I attempt to normalize these feelings and questions, while juxtaposing the beauty and burden of being an African-American male professor in Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) (Bell & Nkomo, 1999; Stanley, 2006; Turner, Gonzalez, & Wood, 2008; Warde, 2009). Furthermore, I offer key sayings and coping strategies (Johnson, Haynes, Holyfield, & Foster, 2014) that will allow individuals to not only survive but also thrive within these seemingly committees or make administrative decisions about said processes.

Citation

Johnson, C.D. (2021), "May the Work I've Done Speak for Me: Tenure, Promotion", Davis, C.H., Hilton, A., Hamrick, R. and Brooks, F.E. (Ed.) The Beauty and the Burden of Being a Black Professor (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 24), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 53-66. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420210000024006