Frequently asked questions about this initiative.
- Should efforts aimed at improving equity and inclusion be treated as a “fourth bin” of faculty activity in addition to research, teaching, and service, or should it be integrated into these other areas of faculty work?
Answer: For some time, we have recognized that the need to categorize faculty work into “bins” is problematic. Many faculty integrate their teaching, research, and service as they progress in their careers, particularly within the contexts of clinical care and community-engaged scholarship. Trying to separate activities into disparate categories can be frustrating to faculty members and confusing to reviewers. Thus we encourage committees to consider ways of recognizing and rewarding “integrated cases” as they consider ways of also ensuring that activities that enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion are valued.
- How will external reviewers know how to evaluate our candidates, particularly if most reviewers tend to focus on “publication counts” and other quantitative metrics?
Answer: It is essential that we communicate clearly to external reviewers that they are to focus on the quality of the faculty member’s scholarly contributions and that our institution deeply values activities and achievements aligned with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- What if I teach in a Purdue program?
Answer: Per the Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty, the faculty has legislative authority to develop policy and to determine procedures for governing the teaching, research, and service aspects of the academic mission. This includes having legislative authority for standards and procedures for promotion and tenure as well as compensation. All faculty at IUPUI are IU faculty, even if they teach in a program that confers Purdue degrees. Thus, the faculty have the authority to alter standards and criteria related to promotion as well as tenure.
- Will all faculty need to be evaluated as an “integrated case”?
Answer: No. Faculty can continue to be promoted based on excellence in a single area of activity such as research or scholarship. However, we encourage schools to replace the notion of a “balanced case” with an “integrated case” and to thoroughly consider how to appropriately recognize activities and achievements that improve equity, increase diversity, and enhance inclusion.
- How can we move away from categorizing faculty work when eDossier forces faculty to sort their work into “bins.”
Answer: It is a responsibility of campus leaders to advocate for changes to systems, such as eDossier, to ensure that our campus values are able to be reflected in the tools used to capture faculty work. - What does this change really solve?
Answer: When promotion and tenure criteria take into account only one specific range of activities, reviewers can implicitly and sometimes explicitly penalize anything outside those areas. Since efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion generally are not recognized, such activities may end up being discouraged actively by chairs and/or deans. Faculty who engage in this work (e.g., because of their personal values and beliefs regarding its importance) may never have this work recognized despite the fact that they engage in it on top of their other responsibilities. Given the importance of this work to our campus strategic plan, it is time to create ways for it to be recognized in reviews of faculty work. - How is an "integrative" case different from a "balanced" one?
Answer: In our current “balanced case” scenarios, most of the focus is on ‘distributing’ a fairly precise and similar number of countable items into all three areas of faculty work. An integrative case moves away from counting; it encourages and rewards faculty who articulate their role without parsing it into categories; it allows for varying strengths in various areas of endeavor. That is, instead of EITHER one area of excellence and only satisfactory performance in the other two OR three areas of highly satisfactory activity which have to fit within very careful parameters; it allows for a holistic view of endeavors that advance the individual’s career as well as the reputation of the unit and campus. - Will faculty be penalized if they do not engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion work as a result of these changes?Answer: All faculty are encouraged to consider where they can make a contribution to diversity, equity, and inclusion through their work. Ample opportunities for professional development related to equity and inclusion are available through the Center for Teaching and Learning; the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; the Graduate Office; and the Division of Undergraduate Education. As an urban campus, faculty at IUPUI have opportunities to engage in public scholarship and community-engaged teaching and learning through the Office of Community Engagement and the Center for Service Learning. Just as all faculty are asked to engage in professional service, we believe that it is at least as important that all faculty be asked to contribute to the diversity, equity, and inclusion of the IUPUI, IUPUC, and IUFW campuses.
- What about faculty who were hired before the proposed modifications go into effect?
Answer: When tenure standards change during the probationary period, candidates have the option of either choosing the standards in place at the time of hire or choosing to be reviewed under the new standards.
