Saturday, August 21, 2021

The Tenure Review Process Must Evolve - Andrew McKinney and Amanda Coolidge, Inside Higher Ed

Take, for example, a tenure-track faculty member who has been deeply involved in their campus's work on open educational resources, or OER. The faculty member spent months conducting and compiling research to create an openly licensed textbook that aligns with their course. When they taught with the OER textbook, their students' retention rates increased, an impact of OER that other institutions have experienced, as well. The faculty member also mentored their colleagues in adopting and adapting OER to meet their students' needs and worked with a campus librarian to host a webinar about open education. All of these OER-related activities are forms of research, teaching and service. This faculty member's OER work shows their expertise in their field, their commitment to supporting their students and their dedication to advancing their institution. But unfortunately, OER work isn't a standard criterion for tenure and promotion evaluation. 


https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2021/08/10/work-open-educational-resources-should-be-valued-tenure-review-opinion