nov07b.indd


Deborah Lee 

On
the
tenure
track


Strategies for success 

The tenure track. The concept leaves virtually no one indifferent in academic 
librarianship . . . you either love it or hate 
it! Accepting a tenure­track position can fi ll 
some new librarians with dread, but it does 
not have to be a harrowing experience. If 
you’re new to the tenure track (or are con­
sidering accepting a tenure­track position), 
there are strategies you can pursue that will 
make the process less stressful and maybe 
even enjoyable. 

As a tenured professor at the Mississippi 
State University Libraries, I’ve chaired and 
served on both library and campus promo­
tion/tenure committees and served as an 
external reviewer for other promotion and 
tenure candidates. In these roles, I’ve seen 
numerous successful applications, as well 
as some that were not successful. Tenure 
doesn’t have to be a mysterious process. 
There are strategies that you can use that will 
enhance the odds that you, too, will have a 
successful tenure application. 

Start planning early 
It’s never too soon to start planning a success­
ful tenure bid. From your earliest days on the 
job, you should make sure you have a copy of 
the most recent promotion/tenure document 
for your library. Don’t wait for someone to 
give you a copy. Some documents are very 
specific about the expectations for tenure; 
others will couch the tenure process in vague 
terms of “excellence” without defi ning how 
that is measured. If you have questions, be 
sure to find good mentors in the library and 
ask for clarification. Tenure expectations can 
change dramatically over time, so be sure 
you’re getting the most recent information 
about the tenure process on your campus. 

Build a strategic plan for tenure. You 
wouldn’t take on a large project and not 
make goals for the project, set up a timeline, 
and build in benchmarks along the way. 
Tenure is no different. 

Visualize what a strong, successful tenure 
portfolio would look like at your library and 
then develop goals that break this long­term 
objective into yearly benchmarks. Remember 
that it can take time to build a strong service 
or research record. You may need to lay the 
groundwork for a service or research activity 
years in advance. 

As you build your tenure plan, be sure to 
develop a system to collect the information 
you need to provide as documentation in 
the tenure process. It can be difficult (if not 
impossible) to remember all the classes you 
taught five years ago or the numerous proj­
ects to which you have contributed. I have a 
notebook for each year and divide it by the 
categories we use at my institution: teach­
ing, research, and service. (Your library may 
use different categories.) In each notebook, 
I’ll keep a copy of my annual review and 
my goals for that year. Into each section, I 
place supporting documentation. This might 
include a list of the classes that I taught, a 
committee report that I authored, or even a 
thank you e­mail or card from a faculty that 
I helped. You don’t have to use everything 
you save in your supporting documentation, 
but it is much easier to choose not to use an 
item than to hunt years later for that confer­
ence brochure listing your presentation. 

Deborah Lee is coordinator of library instructional 
ser vices and associate director of the Center for 
Teaching and Learning at Mississippi State University 
Libraries, e-mail: dlee@library.msstate.edu 
© 2007 Deborah Lee 

C&RL News November 2007  626 

mailto:dlee@library.msstate.edu


Teaching 
For many of us, teaching is the heart of our 
academic appointment. In some institutions, 
this concept is referred to more broadly 
as “practice of profession.” However you 
define it, this section will typically include 
the bulk of what many of us would describe 
as librarianship. Just as you invest time and 
energy into building a service or research 
record, you have to be willing to invest in 
your area of professional expertise. And then 
invest time in documenting the development 
of your career. 

Many institutions are moving away from 
summary measures of teaching (such as 
student evaluations) to a more inclusive 
teaching portfolio approach. A teaching 
portfolio can serve two purposes: to provide 
systematic documentation of your teaching 
accomplishments and developments, and to 
provide an opportunity for refl ective analy­
sis and enhancement of teaching­related 
activities. 

Even if your institution does not require 
a teaching portfolio as part of the promo­
tion and tenure process, it may be in your 
best interest to develop and maintain such 
a document. 

Whatever approach you take, you need 
some means to provide documentation of 
the goals you set in this area, steps taken 
to meet those goals, and some means 
of assessing the level at which the goals 
were met. 

“Profession of practice,” as this section 
is sometimes called, encompasses more 
than actual instruction sessions in front of 
students or other users. It may also include 
cataloging, acquisitions, collection devel­
opment, and general library management. 
Professionals engaged in those areas may 
have to invest extra time in developing good 
promotion and tenure packets that spell out 
the worth of their contributions. This can be 
a challenge, given that many of the readers 
in the promotion and tenure process may not 
be familiar with the essential work that goes 
on behind the scene (or desk) at a typical 
academic library. 

For example, suppose one of your pri­
mary responsibilities is the original catalog­
ing of serials. That statement, in and of itself, 
will mean little to some of the readers of 
your dossier. Instead, focus on the contribu­
tion of the activity: by performing original 
cataloging, you contribute to a worldwide 
bibliographic database using approved 
national/international standards (OCLC). 
Your work allows scholars to systemati­
cally identify and use unique and complex 
research materials. 

As with any promotion and tenure advice, 
your approach should be appropriate for 
your particular institution. Some institutions 
have specific expectations about where 
certain types of activities are reported. 
One good example is the development of 
a textbook. While some institutions count 
this type of productivity as research, others 
would only consider it under the teaching 
section. Be sure you’re familiar with these 
types of expectations as you decide which 
projects to pursue as an untenured library 
faculty member. 

ACRL/LAMA Spring Virtual Institute 
Are you a library manager? Have ideas to 
share with library managers? ACRL and 
Library Administration and Management 
Association (LAMA) are now accepting 
proposals for their Joint Spring Virtual In­
stitute,“Leading from the Middle: Managing 
in All Directions.” 

Taking place in an online conference 
community from April 29–30, 2008, the 
institute offers a forum for the explora­
tion of issues and challenges facing middle 
managers and leaders. 

Visit www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents 
/springvirtualinstitute.cfm for the full text 
of the Call for Participation. Proposals 
must be submitted via the online proposal 
form at https://marvin.foresightint.com 
/surveys/Tier1Survey/ACRL/212/ by De­
cember 10, 2007. Send any questions to 
Margot Sutton Conahan at msutton@ala. 
org or (312) 280­2522 

November 2007  627 C&RL News 

http:https://marvin.foresightint.com
www.acrl.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents


Research 
For many librarians, the research expecta­
tion of a typical tenure­track appointment 
is the most daunting aspect of the process. 
Faculty members in most other parts of the 
university usually have completed a disserta­
tion and their early publications are derived 
from this research. Many new librarians will 
not have written even a master’s thesis. But 
there still may be papers and projects that 
began in the library science program that can 
be expanded into the first research projects. 
While that first year or two on the job can be 
busy (learning a new community, a new job, 
and a new set of colleagues), I’ve found that 
successful tenure applicants did not wait to 
start working on their research activities. 

As with other aspects of your job, it’s 
important to find out what research activities 
are expected in a tenure application. Some 
institutions have an open and inclusive ap­
proach to research and value a wide range of 
activities. Others will expect more traditional 
measures of research productivity, includ­
ing publications in national peer­reviewed 
journals and presentations at national con­
ferences. Even within these more traditional 
expectations, it is possible to develop a 
research program that reflects your interests 
and is relevant to your career. 

How to start a research program? There’s 
lots of advice out there, but here are a 
few suggestions. First explore the options 
available within your state. Does your state 
library association support a journal? If so, 
can you write a short article, prepare a con­
ference report, or even review a book for the 
publication? Depending on the publication, 
this type of activity may or may not contrib­
ute substantively to the tenure process, but 
it can help you become more familiar with 
the writing (and editing) process required for 
establishing a research agenda. And seeing 
your name in print for the first time is a thrill! 
Remember that all editors, regardless of the 
publication, value well­written and thought 
out pieces. Treat your research and writing 
with the same level of professionalism you 
bring to other areas of your career. 

Don’t be afraid to present your research 
in appropriate venues and don’t under­
value the importance of your voice in the 
literature. I’ve mentored several new library 
faculty members, and I’ve noticed a habit of 
undervaluing the importance of the research 
they complete. If you have an innovative 
research project and a good write­up, don’t 
be afraid to send it to a well­known journal. 
I’ve published in journals of both library 
science and other fields; in my experience, 
library journal editors are some of the most 
supportive and encouraging editors you 
will meet. 

All editors are looking for well­written 
articles that would be of interest to their 
readers. If you’ve examined the journal and 
found that your article is appropriate for the 
journal and is a topic not recently covered, 
send it in. 

Service 
Service probably comes more naturally to 
librarians than to other faculty members. We 
are, after all, a service profession. Still, it’s 
important to be sure that the service activities 
you choose support your long­term tenure 
goals. As with the other areas, you need to 
find out how various service activities are 
valued in the promotion and tenure process. 
At some institutions, service on university 
committees is valued very highly. Others 
will discount local service and prefer service 
with a higher visibility at the state, regional, 
or even national level. 

Service is an excellent way to be more 
fully engaged with your profession. No of­
fense to all the wonderful ALA workshops 
and programs I’ve attended over the years, 
but at many conferences I’ve found that my 
most meaningful moments occurred at the 
micro level, when I’ve worked on commit­
tees and had the opportunity to network 
with colleagues from institutions across the 
nation and world. 

It is easy, however, to find yourself on too 
many committees. Especially for new librar­
ians who might have some anxiety about 
writing, there is a temptation to gravitate to 

C&RL News November 2007  628 



the activity with which you’re most comfort­
able. Many of us would much rather serve 
on a committee than write an article. 

Early in my career, someone gave me 
what I’ve found to be excellent advice: bal­
anced portfolios are better. This means that 
you should strive to balance the areas of 
teaching, research, and service. While most 
candidates will excel at one or two areas and 
be satisfactory in the third, stellar activity at 
the service level will seldom compensate 
for substandard performance in the other 
two areas, especially in research. So choose 
service activities carefully. 

Tenured and having fun 
Accepting a tenure­track position in an 
academic library does not have to be an 
intimidating option. The tenure track gives 
you the ability to become fully engaged 
with your profession and often rewards 
you for your service and research activities. 
Good academic libraries that offer tenure­

track positions also offer support for the 
type of activities that lead to a successful 
tenure bid. Applicants may find that they 
have access to time for research, mentoring 
programs, travel support, and even access 
to more professional literature at institu­
tions that support tenure for librarians. And 
librarians who also serve as tenured faculty 
on their campus usually have access to a 
greater array of campus activities by serv­
ing on university committees. This last type 
of service is perhaps most beneficial to the 
academic library because it helps the library 
be perceived as a fully integrated partner in 
the university mission. 

If you’ve avoided tenure­track positions 
in the past, please reconsider. While the 
tenure track is not for everyone, you may 
find that it is a good fit for you. If you like 
exploring the intellectual challenges of our 
profession, engaging with other profession­
als on your campus and throughout the 

(continues on page 661) 

November 2007  629 C&RL News 



University of Houston, and University of 
Texas­Austin. The grant will help fund the 
development and implementation of the 
Texas ETD Repository, a state­wide system 
for managing the entire life­cycle of electronic 
theses and dissertations from initial submis­
sion to final publication.  

Acquisitions 

The personal collection of Robert Prosky, 
veteran actor, has been acquired by George 
Mason University Libraries 
Special Collections and Ar­
chives. The Robert Prosky 
Collection consists of docu­
ments spanning Prosky’s pro­
lific career in theatre, fi lm, and 
television that began more 
than 50 years ago. Materials 
include playbills, photos, 
scripts, articles, reviews, fan 
letters, personal correspon­
dence, opening night gifts, media, and a scrap­
book. The University Libraries hosted “An 
Evening with Robert Prosky,” where Prosky 
shared his experiences in appearing in more 

than 200 plays nationally and internationally 
and his 38 fi lm and television roles, including 
“Mrs. Doubtfire,” “The Natural,” “Rudy,” and 
“Dead Man Walking.” 

Six archival collections from Teachers College 
related to the history of education and social 
reform, with a focus on New York, have been 
acquired by Columbia University’s Rare Book 
& Manuscript Library. Among them are the re­
cords of four social agencies—Hudson Guild, 
Grosvenor Neighborhood House, the Chil­
dren’s Village, and the Wiltwyck School—and 
the papers of two individuals, Dan Carpenter, 

former executive director of 
the Hudson Guild, and God­
frey Dewey, noted spelling 
reformist. These collections 
document the history of the 
family, immigration, and so­
cial conditions in New York 
City from the mid­19th cen­
tury to the present and relate 
well to Columbia University 
Libraries’ holdings of primary 

source material in the area, such as the papers 
of Lillian Wald and the records of the Union 
Settlement Association of New York and the 
La Guardia Memorial House. 

Actor Robert Prosky 

(“On the tenure track...” continued from you’re looking for. The key to making tenure 
page 629) a fun process is to apply the planning and 
discipline, and enjoy conquering challenges, organizational skills that we’re famous for as 
a tenure­track position may be just what librarians to our own careers. 

(“International...” cont. from page 649) 
and symposia relating to ICA issues; and to 
critique methods and tools of analysis, ICA 
practice, history, and policies. It is international 
in scope, covering the globe and all aspects 
of the adoption triad. Access: Intadoptresearc 
h@yahoogroups.com. 

Notes 
1. Dong Soo Kim, “A Country Divided: 

Contextualizing Adoption from a Korean Per­
spective,” in International Korean Adoption: 

A Fifty-Year History of Policy and Practice, ed. 
Kathleen Ja Sook Bergquist et al. (New York: 
Haworth Press, 2007), 8. 

2. For example, Transracial Abductees 
(www.transracialabductees.org) is a group that 
vehemently opposes international adoption 
and has some interesting articles and links; 
however, the Web site is not very current and 
thus was not selected for inclusion here. 

3. International Adoption Clinic at the 
University of Minnesota, www.med.umn.edu 
/peds/iac/. 

November 2007  661 C&RL News 

http:www.med.umn.edu
http:www.transracialabductees.org
mailto:h@yahoogroups.com