Resources for Tenure & Promotion Committee Service

My immediate post-tenure goals (after having earned tenure, effective 1 July 2013) were:

  1. to be a mentor for someone else going through the process; and,
  2. to serve on the Tenure and Promotion (T&P) Committee at the college level, with the Libraries at UF being a college-equivalent entity.

I’ve met the very first steps for both of those, with the first mentoring meeting set for September and the first meeting for the T&P committee in August. I’m now working to find time and find resources to read up on the best ways to be of service as a mentor and as a member of the T&P Committee. We have the college-level guidance for the T&P Committee in the Career Development Handbook and the University level materials, and there are loads of materials I’ve read over time, but this is an important role and so more research is always good. I’m working on finding time for reading more on other people’s experiences and other resources to best support the overall goals and all involved.
I’m very much looking forward to these new roles with mentoring and T&P Committee service. Service on internal committees can be seen as unglamorous and unglorified work, but it’s important. This work is necessary and important for making the system work and enabling the possibility of serving the goals for research, teaching, and service for the university, research communities, country, and the world. While it may not be the most exciting topic for some folks, I’m passionate about the wealth created and shared and the wonderful work overall done by comprehensive public, land-grant institutions and so I’m very excited  to serve in new ways.