Oregon State University: Changes in Faculty Promotion and Tenure

Recent changes at Oregon State have resulted in faculty members receiving greater rewards for participation in outreach/extension related activities. When President Byrne created Extended Education at OSU, he stated that "the extended education mission...is considered of equal importance to that of instruction and scholarly creativity....To assure that faculty directly involved in extended education are appropriately recognized and rewarded, evaluation and reward systems . . . will be reviewed and . . . revised." Resulting changes from this review process included the following:

• The dean of extended education was added to the University Promotion and Tenure Committee.
• Academic units will ensure that their promotion and tenure committees are qualified to evaluate extended education activities.
• Scholarship is defined as "intellectual work whose significance is validated by peers and which is communicated."
• Candidates will be evaluated based on their position description, which will emphasize the importance of job performance, scholarship, and service.
• Vita format will include sections on the following: (a) teaching, advising, and other assignments, (b) scholarship, and (c) service, in that order.
• Candidates will include a three-page statement that addresses their primary contributions.
• Efforts to collaborate with others and form project teams will be noted in the reward and evaluation process.