Promotion Narrative

Candidates for promotion to Full Professor are asked to submit a promotion narrative presenting evidence that the candidate has satisfied the criteria to the extent required by the standard for promotion to Full Professor (see Section 3.9.5). In the promotion narrative, faculty should discuss accomplishments since promotion to Associate Professor, as well as future teaching, scholarship, and service plans upon reaching the rank of Full Professor. This promotion narrative will be made available to all peer evaluators.

Suggested Guidelines

As faculty we are only given the chance for two promotions. The first, promotion from Assistant to Associate Professor is tied in with tenure; the second is promotion from Associate to Full Professor. The promotion from Associate to Full is a big step in one’s career and as such the Faculty Personnel Committee (FPC) has expectations for the level of performance one should be exhibiting and continue to exhibit after this final promotion. 

Therefore, the FPC requests both a Promotion Narrative for Full Professor and a Faculty Personnel Information (FPI) Sheet (Self-Report). Similar to the Tenure Narrative, as an encapsulating document for the time spent as an Assistant Professor, the Promotion Narrative for Full Professor could discuss what one has done and accomplished since tenure and what one plans to do in the future as the highest-ranked professor in the OWU community.

This narrative should not strictly repeat information in your FPI Sheet (Self-Report), which only reflects three years' worth of work. Rather, this narrative should add to or complement the information presented in your FPI Sheet (Self-Report) and provide a bigger picture of what you have accomplished at the rank of Associate and what you plan to do at the rank of Full. 

Your narrative should include evidence of honest self-reflection, which the FPC believes is important for intellectual and professional growth as a professor. Below are some suggestions for how to organize your narrative. The Committee does not expect you to  address each question, but simply to use them as guidelines for the sorts of information you might wish to consider for inclusion. Ideally, the Promotion Narrative should be about five pages and, read in conjunction with your FPI Sheet (Self-Report), should add rather than repeat information.

Category I: TEACHING

  • Overall, what are you most proud of that you have accomplished in Category I at the rank of Associate? You can discuss teaching, advising, mentoring, or anything else that you feel falls under Category I. Has your work in Category I during the Associate years changed or taken any new directions?
  • How might you continue to improve and modify your work in Category I moving forward? (e.g. new classes, the ways in which you teach, advising, mentoring)

Category II: SCHOLARSHIP

  • What are your overarching goals in this category, and what evidence can you share to show you are accomplishing these goals?
  • What are your plans in this category after you are promoted to Full? 

Category III: SERVICE

  • What are your overarching goals in this category, and what evidence can you share to show you are accomplishing these goals? (Discuss department-level and OWU campus community especially.)
  • Usually at the rank of Associate Professor, faculty take on more responsibilities in Category III. Describing the ways in which you make significant service contributions to the OWU community helps us understand the extent of your work in Category III. 

OTHER POINTS TO CONSIDER

If you have been considered for Full Professor before and did not receive the promotion, how have you addressed the feedback the Faculty Personnel Committee gave you in prior counseling letters?

Resources

Download Suggested Guidelines for the Promotion Narrative as a PDF. 

Review the Promotion Narrative Action – April 2019 (PDF) passed by the faculty.