Writing a Successful Candidates Statement

1
Writing a Successful Candidates Statement

• Gail F. Williamson
• Professor of Diagnostic Sciences, School of
  Dentistry
• Faculty Fellow, Faculty Advancement Initiatives
• Campus PT Committee, School of Dentistry
  Representative

2
Objectives

• Review current PT guidelines regarding the
  candidates statement and rank expectations.
• Provide guidance on how to construct a successful
  candidates statement.
• Outline some strategies to help formulate an
  effective candidates statement.

3

• Dean of the Faculties Guidelines for Promotion
  and Tenure

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2009-2010 PT Guidelines

• Dean of the Faculties Guidelines for Promotion
  and Tenure http//faa.iupui.edu/newFaa/pandt.asp
• Dean of the Faculties Guidelines for Promotion
  and Tenure Showing Changes http//faa.iupui.edu/ne
  wFaa/resources/2009PTGuidelinesCHANGES.pdf
• Sample Dossiers http//faa.iupui.edu/newFaa/PTSamp
  les.asp

5
Quick References

• Candidates Statement p. 12
• Teaching and Performance p. 13
• Research and Creative Activity p. 15
• Professional and University Service p. 16
• Rank Expectation Excellence p. 28
• Documenting Teaching Performance - p. 30
• Documenting Research p. 33
• Documenting Professional Service p. 36
• Documenting Librarian Performance p. 38

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What do the Guidelines Say?

• Section II. Candidates Statement
• 5-page statement that reflects your assessment of
  your accomplishments
• Teaching
• Research and creative activity
• Service
• Prospect for continued development
• Option to add up to two single-spaced pages,
  addressing the area of excellence may be
  presented as a section introduction

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What do the Guidelines Say?

• Candidates Statement Focus
• Candidates for promotion should focus on their
  designated areas of excellent and satisfactory
  performance teaching, research, service.
• For librarians focus on performance,
  professional development and service.
• For research faculty, scientists and scholars
  focus on research and service.
• For clinical faculty and lecturers focus on
  teaching and service.

8
What do the Guidelines Say?

• Content
• Reflective commentary that responds to the
  criteria for PT.
• Present interrelated aspects of a whole,
  integrated career.
• Discuss integration of teaching, research,
  service.
• Assess your achievements in each area.
• Describe work that cuts across specialization and
  disciplines to integrate knowledge to broad
  patterns of intellectual activity.

9
What do the Guidelines Say?

• Faculty engaged in interdisciplinary work
• Represent your effort in the scholarship
• Discuss the significance and value of the work
• Provide clear, sufficient information about
  individual roles in collaborative projects,
  publications, presentations, grants.
• Explain how your service
• Contributes to the good of campus/University
• Reflects department and school expectations

10
What do the Guidelines Say?

• Assessment of the impact, significance, value of
  your work to your discipline or profession, unit,
  campus society at large.
• Indicate the prospects for continued development.
  Tenure track faculty should
• Identify specific agenda for research/creative
  work
• Plans to enhance teaching effectiveness
• Continued professional service.

11
What do the Guidelines Say?

• Indicate the prospects for continued development
  other ranks.
• Non-tenure track faculty - focus on respective
  areas of performance.
• Librarians - indicate the prospects for
  maintaining excellent performance and continued
  engagement in professional development and
  service activities.

12
What do the Guidelines Say?

• Faculty who seek advancement based on excellence
  in area of professional service
• Demonstrate that the service is academic work
  with significant results and evidence of
  dissemination and peer-review.
• Professional service must meet criteria and
  clearly relate to the mission of the University,
  campus, school.
• Candidates case for excellence must be made in
  relation to the department, school, campus and
  University criteria.

13

• Rank Expectations
• Excellence in Brief

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Rank Expectations

• Tenure-track Faculty
• Excellence in one area Teaching,
  Research/Creative Activity, or Service
• Satisfactory in other areas
• Balanced Case Excellent overall performance
  (comparable to excellent in one area and
  satisfactory in others) with at least highly
  satisfactory in all three areas.

15
Rank Expectations

• Tenure-track Faculty
• Associate Professor - Record of nationally and/or
  internationally disseminated, peer reviewed
  scholarship with emerging national reputation
• Professor - Record of nationally and/or
  internationally disseminated, peer reviewed
  scholarship with sustained national reputation

16
Rank Expectations

• Library Faculty
• Associate Librarian - excellence in performance
  beyond satisfactory in either professional
  development and research or service satisfactory
  in the other
• Librarian - Excellence in performance excellence
  in either professional development and research
  or service with satisfactory in the other
  national recognition in the library profession

17
Rank Expectations

• Clinical Faculty
• Clinical Associate Professor - Excellence in
  either teaching or service with satisfactory in
  other area publically disseminated,
  peer-reviewed scholarship in area of excellence
• Clinical Professor - Excellence in either
  teaching or service with satisfactory in other
  area sustained nationally and/or internationally
  disseminated, peer-reviewed scholarship in area
  of excellence

18
Rank Expectations

• Senior Lecturers
• Excellence in teaching
• Satisfactory in service
• Publically disseminated, peer-reviewed
  scholarship in teaching

19
Rank Expectations

• Research Professors
• Associate Research Professor - excellence in
  research service expectations as set by unit
  nationally and/or internationally disseminated,
  peer-reviewed scholarship and/or grants in
  research
• Research Professor - excellence in research
  service expectations as set by unit sustained
  nationally and/or internationally disseminated,
  peer-reviewed scholarship and/or grants in
  research with evidence of independent work

20
Rank Expectations

• Research Scientists
• Associate Scientist/Scholar - excellence in
  research service expectations as set by unit
  nationally and/or internationally disseminated,
  peer-reviewed scholarship in research evidence
  of substantial research contributions
• Senior Scientist/Scholar - excellence in
  research service expectations as set by unit
  nationally and/or internationally disseminated,
  peer-reviewed scholarship in research evidence
  of substantial research contributions

21
Teaching Excellence in Brief

• Demonstrated by extraordinary success in
  teaching, advising, mentoring and learning
  outcomes
• Documented by peer and student evaluation over
  time and evidence of the impact on student
  performance
• Characterized by a sophisticated teaching
  philosophy that is reflective, innovative and
  that has evolved over time
• Characterized by a record of nationally and/or
  internationally disseminated, peer-reviewed, high
  quality scholarship

22
Research Excellence in Brief

• Evidence of dissemination of high quality
  scholarly work including peer-refereed
  presentations, publications in top tier journals
• Significant contributions to the knowledge base
  in field that improved the work of others
• National recognition of expertise and the quality
  of the research
• Acquisition of external funding from competitive,
  valued sources
• Evidence of independent program of research

23
Service Excellence in Brief

• Evidence of dissemination of high quality
  scholarly work including peer-refereed
  presentations, publications in service
• Awards and recognition that reflect the
  significance and academic nature of the service
• National recognition of the quality of the
  service work and leadership in service
• Evidence of significant impact and outcomes of
  service

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• Candidates Statement Content and Strategies

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Before you Begin

• Review the criteria and expectations
• Review model dossiers for guidance, ideas and
  format
• Dont fly solo - ask chair and other peers for
  help as needed attend programs
• Arrange CV in PT format with up-to-date,
  accurate entries
• Organize your materials, review annual reports
  for content to include
• Summarize student and peer evaluations

26
Candidates Statement Should

• Address topics outlined in the guidelines
• Be brief and well-organized with headings and
  subheadings
• Consider your audience - be understood outside
  discipline explain as needed
• Assess accomplishments in teaching,
  research/creative activity, service
• Clearly identify present and future focus

27
Candidates Statement Should

• Focus on your area of excellence
• Clearly articulate what you have done to meet
  the criteria for promotion/tenure
• Tell your story, describe your journey and
  achievements along the way
• Address the impact of your work and its
  significance to the discipline, profession, unit,
  campus and society
• Focus on products, outcomes, tangible aspects of
  your work

28
Candidates Statement Should

• Discuss the interrelated aspects of your career -
  how the various elements come together to produce
  a greater whole
• Discuss how you have developed your national
  reputation for what are you known?
• Make a case or argument for PT with evidence to
  support your claim of excellent and satisfactory
  performance

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Strategies

• When you begin, dont worry about the end product
  - draft now, finalize later.
• Earmark time in your schedule to work on your
  statement and dossier.
• Start early and work in advance to allow time for
  peer review, revision, refinement.
• Peer review ask several colleagues to review
  your statement and provide feedback in and
  outside your discipline

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Strategies

• Consider the theme, framework or scaffold for
  your argument
• Is there a central focus or theme that can bring
  the various aspects of your work together?
• What is your unique contribution or area of
  expertise? Claim to fame? Your strengths?
• Whats your passion - what drives and informs
  your academic work?
• What were you recruited to the University to
  accomplish? How has that been achieved?

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Strategies

• Think , develop a vision, brainstorm
• Write down ideas when they come to mind make
  bullet points to get started.
• Consult the summary statements at the end of your
  annual report to help you form your argument.
• Outline the criteria for excellence and discuss
  how you met the criteria.

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Strategies

• Develop a philosophy statement that describes
  your beliefs and guides your academic work.
• Be definitive and straightforward let the
  reviewers know what you are about.
• Describe your goals and objectives.
• Be positive and dont be afraid to say the I
  word. Present your best self.
• End with a summary and reaffirmation.

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• Sample Candidate Statement Excerpts

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Teaching Excerpt

• Candidate began with a philosophy statement of
  teaching and beliefs about effective instruction.
• Teaching excellence in a school becomes visible
  when faculty receive quality evaluations, are
  selected for teaching awards, and demonstrate
  quality contributions toward the teaching
  mission. The outcomes of my teaching have been
  noted in student evaluations, awards, and
  selection for fellowship in prestigious
  academies.
• Student evaluations of my teaching have been
  excellent with ratings consistently between 4.5
  and 5.0. I have received internal teaching
  awards including... (Pamela Jefferies,
  DNS)

35
Research Excerpt

• I am seeking tenure and promotion on the basis
  of excellence in research. My professional
  contributions reflect my background as a medical
  sociologist with a strong emphasis on applied and
  qualitative research, along with civic
  engagement. More specifically, I am interested
  in enhancing and applying knowledge about the
  social dimensions of living with HIV/AIDS
• My goal is to produce knowledge that can inform
  policies and programs reduce the prevalence of
  AIDS stigma and improve the lives of people with
  AIDS.
• An overview of my research, teaching and service
  activities follow (Carrie Foote, PhD)

36
Service Excerpt

• I am seeking tenure and promotion with service
  as my area of excellence. I specialize in the
  field of forensic pediatrics, also referred to
  child abuse pediatrics, a branch of pediatrics
  focused on the evaluation and management of
  potentially abused children
• My research, clinical and teaching efforts since
  joining the faculty have been dedicated to the
  improved, multi-disciplinary recognition of child
  abuse, neglect and child fatalities
• My professional service in the area of child
  abuse has been extensive and comprehensive,
  uniquely positioning me for leadership
  opportunities at the city, county, state and
  national level (Antoinette Laskey, MD, MPH)

37
My Approach

• Introduction
• Brief overview of academic career
• Declaration of excellence and rank sought basis
  for claim
• Area of Excellence - Teaching
• Philosophy, goals, implementation reflection on
  outcomes
• Assessment of teaching activities supported by
  evidence of learning outcomes, course development
  outcomes, curricular products

38
My Approach

• Area of Excellence - Teaching
• Discussion of disseminated, peer-reviewed
  scholarship in teaching publications,
  presentations
• Sustained national reputation leadership roles
  in discipline-related educational organizations
  invited presentations
• Awards and recognition in teaching
• Plans for continued professional development and
  future teaching goals

39
My Approach

• Research
• Assessment of performance in research - how I met
  the criteria for satisfactory performance
• Description of research program how it
  integrated with and informed my teaching
• Evidence of scholarship in research research
  projects, publications, presentations
• Future plans and goals in research

40
My Approach

• Professional and University Service
• Assessment of service activities how I met the
  criteria for satisfactory performance
  integration with teaching
• Description of university service and
  contribution to department, school, campus
• Description of professional service activities
  offices held, significance of contribution,
  evidence of effective outcomes
• National reputation associated with service
  impact, awards, publications, presentations

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• Campus Resources

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Campus Resources

• Faculty Appointments and Advancement
  http//faa.iupui.edu/
• Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching
  (FACET) http//events.facet.iupui.edu/index.html
• Office of Research Development
  http//research.iupui.edu/
• OVCR - Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research
  http//research.iupui.edu/ovcr/
• Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL)
  http//ctl.iupui.edu/
• Center for Research and Learning (CRL)
  http//www.crl.iupui.edu/
• Center for Service and Learning (CSL)
  http//csl.iupui.edu/
• Office for Women http//ofw.iupui.edu/

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• Questions

44

• Parting Thoughts

45
Focus on Success

• Remember - over 95 of candidates are successful
  in their bid for promotion and/or tenure.
• Be proactive do your due diligence to be among
  the successful.
• Thank you for your attendance.