Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

May 2, 2003

Faculty urged to "buy in" to promotion/tenure policies

by Linda Charles
The "single most important issue" facing land-grant universities is cutbacks in state funding of outreach services, Graham Spanier told about 75 participants at the April 18 spring faculty conference.

The president of Penn State University added, "What we've seen happening in recent years nationally, and I think you've seen a little bit of it in Iowa, is that the states are backing away from their commitment to fund the service, the outreach aspect, of what we're doing."

Yet, the states continue to look at universities like Iowa State as the land-grant institutions that "are supposed to be doing all these great things for the state," he added.

This year's faculty conference focused on rewarding different types of scholarship at a modern land-grant university. During panel discussions and break-out sessions, faculty discussed the promotion and tenure policy adopted three years ago, different types of faculty scholarship and their rewards, and position responsibility statements.

Spanier called Iowa State's promotion and tenure guidelines a "model document," but warned it is one thing to have it in writing, and another to put it in practice. "The president and the provost can't make it happen," Spanier said. "Promotion and tenure really are decided at the departmental level. Unless your colleagues are convinced there is merit (in the promotion and tenure policy), it's not really going to happen. You have to have faculty buy-in on it."