Creative Activity and Scholarship

Faculty must be able to document the impact of the work beyond engagement in commercial enterprise. The merit of Scholarship in this area will be determined by a number of factors including:

A: Commission of work

• Weighted according to the stature of the client (local/regional/national/international)
• The process by which the designer/illustrator/photographer was retained (competitive nature of the request for proposal process)
• The role the designer/illustrator/photographer played in the creation of work (project management, consultation, creative direction, art direction, design, production management, etc.)
• The size, scope, and distribution of the project (local/regional/national/international)
• The impact of the work (client testimony, evidence using other success metrics)
• Independent peer evaluation of the work
• Other key indicators that define the merit of the work.

B: Acceptance of work in professional competitions/exhibitions

• Weighted according to the stature of the sponsoring organization (local/regional/national/international)
• The scope and stature of participants (local/regional/national/international)
• Peer reviewed vs. non-peer reviewed
• Professional reputation of the juror(s) and/or curator
• Acceptance rates
• Critical reviews
• Other key indicators to the merit of the work

C: Reproduction and distribution of work by an outside body

• Weighted according to the stature of the organization, publication, publisher, and/or author (local/regional/national/international)
• The distribution of content (local/regional/national/international)
• Peer reviewed vs. non-peer reviewed
• Acceptance rates
• Context of reproduction
• Critical reviews

Faculty must be able to document the impact of the work beyond scholarly writing. The merit of Scholarship in this area will be determined by a number of factors including:

• Weighted according to the stature of the publication or publishing organization (local/regional/national/international)
• The distribution of content (local/regional/national/international)
• Citations
• The nature of the work (editor of a book, sole authored book, coauthored book, book chapter, feature article, critical review, book review, etc.)
• Peer reviewed work will be weighted according to:
  • Acceptance rates
  • Author retention process
  • Critical review
  • Other key indicators that define the merit and impact of the work.
• Non-peer reviewed work will be weighted according to:
  • Impact of the contribution to recognized creative and professional readership
  • Other key indicators that define the merit and impact of the work.

Faculty must be able to document the impact of the work beyond engagement in personal artistic endeavors. The merit of Scholarship in this area will be determined by a number of factors including:

A: Acceptance of work in competitions/exhibitions

• Weighted according to the stature of the sponsoring organization (local/regional/national/international)
• The scope and stature of participants (local/regional/national/international)
• Peer reviewed vs. non-peer reviewed
• Professional reputation of the juror(s) and/or curator
• Acceptance rates
• Critical reviews
• Other key indicators to the merit of the work.

B: Reproduction and distribution of work by an outside body

• Weighted according to the stature of the organization, publication, publisher, and/or author (local/regional/national/international)
• The distribution of content (local/regional/national/international)
• Peer reviewed vs. non-peer reviewed
• Acceptance rates
• Context of reproduction
• Critical reviews
• Other key indicators that define the merit of the work.

C: Commissions

• Weighted according to the stature of the patron or organization
• The scope of project (public vs. private)
• Other key indicators that define the merit of the work.

D: Collections and Archives

• Weighted according to the stature of the collection or archive (regional, national, international)
• The scope of project (public vs. private)

Faculty must document original contribution to a body of knowledge areas of research. These include but are not limited to design, illustration, photographic illustration, new media, motion graphics and related areas of education. The merit of Scholarship in this area will be determined by a number of factors including:

• Weighted according to the securing of funding through grants or sponsorship (local/regional/national/international)
• Publishing of research (see sections 1.B, 1.C and 2)
• Demonstrated engagement and success of students beyond the classroom (undergraduate and graduate research, funding, and publication)
• Project execution
• Peer review
• Invitation to present research (see section 5)
• Citations
• Critical evaluation
• Other key indicators to the merit of the work

Scholarly actives are defined by activities that are appropriate for faculty engagement other than stated above. Faculty members are expected to hold membership in professional societies, and engage in activities that enhance their professional competency.  Merit of Scholarship in this area will be determined by a number of factors including:

A: Lectures and/or invitations to present

• Weighted according to the stature of the event and sponsor (international/national/regional/local)
• Audience (academic or professional)
• Nature of participation (Keynote speaker, breakout, delivering a paper or presentation, workshop, guest speaker, panel discussion, portfolio presentation, etc.)
• Fellow participants, reputations
• Other key indicators that define the merit of the presentation.

B: Curation, juries, editorial, and/or advisory boards

• Weighted according to the stature of the organization, event and/or sponsor (international/national/regional/local)
• Audience (academic or professional)
• Nature of participation
• Nature of the work being adjudicated or collected (undergraduate, graduate, academic, or professional)
• Fellow participants, reputations
• Other key indicators that define the merit of participation.
• Standards for the Evaluation of Scholarship and Research:

All faculty of the School are expected to seek excellence in scholarly activity. Indicators on which the assessment of the quality of scholarly activity is based are provided in Table I.

Indicators of the quality of a faculty member's creative activity and research record include the quality and quantity of commissioned work, adjudicated exhibitions, and published work as well as the faculty member's success in obtaining extramural funds. All faculty members in the School are expected to produce records of scholarship and creative activity that reflect their disciplinary focus and the attributes of an individual faculty member's scholarly activity will vary across disciplines.

To achieve "excellent" in the category of the scholarship at the time a faculty member stands for tenure and promotion, she/he should have established a creative activity and research program that demonstrates an impact upon his/her discipline.

Within this context, during annual reappointment reviews, each faculty member who will seek tenure and promotion is obligated to provide evidence supporting his/her scholarly record. This obligation will be met by providing specific information about the significance of the individual faculty members’ endeavors and contributions, and their resulting impact. IN turn, the members of the School's Ad Hoc RTP Committee and the Director shall evaluate a candidate's record in

light of the School's expectation for a successful tenure decision.

Table 1. Kent campus faculty: Evaluation Components for Assessment of Creative Endeavor, and Scholarship for promotion and tenure.