Scholarship

Scholarship is an essential and critical component of University activity.  The originality, quality and value of the work must be assessed.  To assist this process, the candidate shall submit the requisite number of potential external reviewers who are qualified to evaluate their achievements objectively as dictated by the academic unit.  Moreover, the candidate must provide the RTP Committee with ample descriptive evidence of his/her scholarly activity.  A Faculty member's specific area of specialization may be a factor in the number and size of grants received and in the scope and time required for research and the resulting publications.

In addition to creative activity, funded research and scholarly publications, other scholarly activities including but not limited to serving on national grant review bodies, presenting at refereed professional meetings, chairing academic society committees, and presenting papers before learned societies should be considered. These latter activities complement creative activity, scholarly publications and grant-funded research.  Other scholarly activities in which Faculty members may engage include holding membership in professional societies, attending and participating in institutes and seminars, organizing institutes, seminars, and workshops, insofar as such activities enhance their professional competency.

All Faculty of the campus are expected to seek excellence in scholarly activity.  Indicators on which the assessment of scholarly activity is based are provided in Table 1.

Indicators for the assessment of a Faculty member’s research and creative activity record include the quality and quantity of performances, exhibitions, installations and published work as well as the Faculty member’s success in obtaining extramural funds.  All Faculty members on the Campus 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 significant research and or creative activity program.

Within this context, during annual reappointment reviews, each Faculty member who will seek tenure or promotion is obligated to provide evidence supporting his/her scholarly record.  This obligation will be met by providing specific information about the significance of performances, exhibitions and installations, article and journal quality, funding history and plans, and description in the Faculty member’s supplementary materials of any other evidence of scholarship that the Faculty member deems appropriate.  In turn, the RTP Committee and the Campus Dean shall evaluate a candidate’s record in light of the Campuses expectations for a successful tenure or promotion decision.

Table 1. Tuscarawas Campus Faculty: Evaluation Components for Assessment of Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion.

Note: definitions in footnotes below refer to the meaning of “publications¹,” “grants²,” and “recognition³” throughout Table 1. *These accomplishments are intended to be neither all-inclusive nor exclusionary.

¹  Publications include papers in peer-reviewed journals, books, and book chapters of recognized quality. Evaluation of a candidate’s publication record will include an assessment of quality, originality and quantity. Papers of exceptional length and quality are given particular consideration.

²  “Grants” refers to extramural funding where the role of the Faculty member in securing the funding is clearly demonstrated and which are of sufficient magnitude to completely support research or creative activity at a level and duration appropriate for the discipline, including, as appropriate funds for supplies, materials and personnel. “Seed Grants” are extramural grants that are not of sufficient magnitude to fully support a full program of research or creative activity or are intramural grants. “Seed Grants” should be designed to lead to successful applications for “Grants.”  Grantsmanship should be commensurate with the field of research or creative activity with the recognition that the dollar amount of awards varies among fields, but is a significant indicator of the accomplishment.

³  Recognitions from scientific, artistic and scholarly societies include, for example, election to office, editorial board membership, editorship, etc. Service to federal/state institutions includes service on federal proposal panels, site visits, and other research related activities.