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Guide to Preparing the Tenure Binder

May 2023

Overview

The purpose of preparing your Tenure Binder is to represent your professional activities in a clear, concise manner that gives a comprehensive picture of your accomplishments, leading to your earning tenure. To present this well, consider the following:

  • Guidelines provided by your tenure committee, Dean, and in the Tenure Track Guidelines.
  • Make the materials in your binder easy to find and well organized (see Organizing Your Tenure Binder, below).
  • Provide enough detail on each report, summary, or related supporting material to demonstrate your accomplishments.

Because the VPAA will likely be reviewing many applications for tenure at the same time, make the materials in your Tenure Binder well organized, detailed, and easy to follow. Some things to do to help with this include:

  • Organize Your Binder: Make it easy to find specific materials in your Tenure Binder by including a detailed table of contents, using sturdy tab dividers.
  • Avoid Repetition: Activities or accomplishments may apply to more than one of the evaluation criteria (teaching load or other assigned duties; service; or committee requested activities). If that is the case, include supporting materials for your activity only under the most closely related evaluation criterion. You may make a brief citation of your activity under the other criteria and reference where more detail can be found.
  • Raw Data in Binders: You may include raw data in your binder but summarize your activities. For example, provide a detailed summary of your reflections of student evaluations (not each and every evaluation), and what changes you have made after reviewing the both quantitative and qualitative input.
  • Provide Only a Sampling of Your Materials:
    • Developing new curriculum, publishing books and articles, presenting talks, etc., are good examples of important faculty accomplishments. Retain the finished products of your labors; however, you need to only supply excerpts of your works in your Tenure Binder. For example, a well-chosen passage from your book, with a citation to the work, is appropriate in your Tenure Binder. A single four-inch binder should provide ample room for presenting your professional activities and accomplishments.
    • It is not mandatory that you address every detail of every item in this guide. Please do not feel compelled to add materials for something unrelated to your situation. For example, if you do not have membership, or participate in professional organizations, you will not include detail on this.
    • If you find that you cannot fit all your materials in a single four-inch binder, please edit. Your tenure committee will assist with this.

Your tenure committee will assist you in deciding what materials are relevant, and their recommendations will likely be reflected in your reports of Summary of Tenure-Related Activities. However, if at any point you have concerns about the tenure process, please speak with your dean/head of the administrative unit.

If the VPAA feels your Tenure Binder is incomplete, you may be asked for additional information before your candidacy is forwarded. Every effort will be made to provide clear communication throughout the process so that each binder is complete upon submission.

Organizing the Tenure Binder

Some of the areas addressed below may not be relevant to your specific situation. If this is the case, in the section, you may indicate that it is “not applicable.” Consult with your tenure committee if you are unsure.

Organize your Tenure Binder by using the section headings listed below.

You will have already addressed these items in your Summary of Tenure-Related Activities. Simply cut and paste, in chronological order, from your summaries into the appropriate sections in your Tenure Binder. You do want to have consistency in formatting, and present the material in a professional manner.

Table of Contents

Provide a detailed table of contents that summarizes what materials will be found in each section of your binder. Your table of contents will serve as a condensed but comprehensive snapshot of your professional activities and accomplishments.

Title Page

Include a title page with your name, department, and the date of submission for both the cover of the binder (including the spine) and the inside.

Employment History

Provide a comprehensive summary of your work history in the form of a resume or vita.

Introduction

A two-page summary of your most significant accomplishments since joining TMCC informs the VPAA of what you think is most important in your application for tenure. This helps the VPAA accurately present your application to the President, and the Board of Regents.

You will notice that some sections request highlights and bullet points; while others request short essays. Please consult with your tenure committee for examples of responses.

Teaching and Assigned Duties

Reporting Format Definitions
Bullet point list = a bullet point list
Short essay = Minimum of two paragraphs, up to two pages (12-point font size).

The following are recommendations for reporting your material.

Summary of Teaching Load and Other Assigned Duties (Bullet Point List)

List the courses you have taught and other assigned duties you have completed. You may list anything of significance. Additionally, activities such as interdisciplinary teaching, team-teaching activities, participation in learning communities may be listed. Provide a highlight of them as a bullet point list. In the next section, you will enunciate some of these accomplishments.

Activities and Actions That Demonstrate Effectiveness as a Teacher, or Shows off Other Assigned Duties (Short Essay)

This section allows you to provide more detail tied to your Teaching and other Assigned duties summary. It may include examples of:

  • A demonstration of teaching that promotes student learning, including using techniques, activities, and content delivery shown to be effective in achieving learning outcomes.
  • Incorporation of active and/or applied learning, rooted in teaching and learning theories.
  • Clearly outlined course objectives, student learning outcomes and measures, and assessments that tie to outcomes.
  • Demonstration of course changes based on ongoing developments in your field (national standards, assessment standards, technological innovations, or other professional upgrades) and/or feedback tied to student needs.
  • Course content modifications, delivery and/or assessment changes based on discipline or pedagogical best practices and/or feedback tied to student needs.
  • Examples of technological enhancements used in multiple courses, such as podcasts, vlogs, or other best practices.
  • If teaching online, having a course reviewed through QM. Examples of improvements in online courses based on previous years input and evaluations.
  • Implementation of pedagogical improvements tied to the training.
  • Other measurable course improvement, assessment, or activity defined by the committee which demonstrates excellent actions tied to one’s expertise.
  • Laboratory, field, and research techniques, technologies and pedagogies, trained on and implemented.

Explain Any Progress in Your Teaching That Indicates the Growth You Have Experienced While at Tmcc (Short Essay or Bullet Point List)

  • You may include syllabi in chronological order, but with no repetition unless there is a significant change in the course. Sample syllabi include clearly outlined course objectives, student learning outcomes and measures, and assessments that tie to outcomes.
  • Demonstration of teaching that promotes student learning, including using techniques, activities, and content delivery shown to be effective in achieving learning outcomes.
  • Incorporation of active and/or applied learning, rooted in teaching and learning theories.
  • If employed as a counseling or library academic faculty, provide a record of effectiveness, efficiency, and ability to perform assigned duties.
  • Use of Office Hours and Student Engagement Efforts

Identify How You Assess And/or Measure Your Office Hour Effectiveness by Discussing the Following Two Areas (Short Essay)

  • Office Time - There is no need to list every office hour you have kept. Instead, discuss:
    • How effective your office hours have been.
    • Your availability to students outside of class-times.
    • Your style of instruction in office hours.
    • The types of services you provide to students during office hours.
  • Engagement Efforts - This may include giving additional time to students, for example:
    • In after class work sessions.
    • Through innovative electronic communication appropriate to off campus students.
    • Through outreach to students, such as through the tutoring center or campus program.
    • Advising a student club.
    • Holding a subject related event.
    • Adding elements of inclusion/diversity to course materials.

TMCC General Image

Service

As mentioned above, it is not mandatory that you address every last detail of every item in this guide. Please do not feel compelled to add materials for something unrelated to your situation. For example, if you do not have membership, or participate in professional organizations, you will not include detail on this.

Items on the Tenure Related Activities Report that may be considered in the service ratings would include* all of the areas identified below. If the category does not apply to you, indicate this with “not applicable.”

Please note that the areas listed here are defined in the next section.

  • Interest and ability in advising students (formally or informally)
  • Membership and participation in professional organizations
  • Demonstrated ability to work with the faculty and students of the institution in the best interests of the academic community and the people it serves
  • Service on College or System committees
  • Demonstrated recognition among colleagues for possessing integrity and the capacity for further significant intellectual and professional achievement
  • Demonstrated recognition and respect outside the System community for participation in community, state, nationwide or worldwide activities
  • Professional development

Note: NSHE Code says - “Standard Two: Service in addition to standard one, an academic faculty member being recommended for appointment with tenure must receive a "satisfactory" rating or better in the area of service, which may include, but not be limited to”: (the list above).

Interest and Ability in Advising Students (Bullet Points)

Items to include here would be:

  • Formal advising and/or informal advising of students before or after class, or through other means (specify).
  • Personal and career advising tied to helping students adapt and adjust to college life, to transfer, or to get a job or career connection.
  • Volunteer activities where you advised for the department or the college.

Membership and Participation in Professional Organizations (Bullet Points)

Identify academically related professional organizations to which you belong and how you have participated in these organizations. List any role you might have played in these organizations, including leadership positions.

Demonstrated Ability to Work With the Faculty and Students of the Institution in the Best Interests of the Academic Community and the People It Serves (Bullet Points)

Identify your collaboration with TMCC faculty, your work with TMCC students, your contributions to the TMCC community, and your contributions to the NSHE. Provide references to earlier or later sections where you might have already talked about some of these items in more detail.

Service on College or System Committees (Bullet Points and Short Essay)

  • Identify the committees on which you served (Bullet points) and,
  • Describe and Clarify (Short essay)
    • What you have contributed to the committee, for example, your active participation and/or leadership actions, (you led a subcommittee of the committee; you introduced a motion; you provided comments and input on committee business; you regularly reported committee work back to your constituents in a report or brief, you presented on a topic at the meeting).
    • What you learned from being on the committee.
    • An analysis of your accomplishments.

Demonstrated Recognition Among Colleagues for Possessing Integrity and the Capacity for Further Significant Intellectual and Professional Achievement (Bullet Points)

Highlight accolades, nominations, or awards that you have received from other members of the TMCC community.

  • If applicable, provide a few of the best examples in support of your application for tenure. While you should always file for your own benefit any communications praising your contributions, you need not include every short email you received.

Demonstrated Recognition and Respect Outside the System Community for Participation in Community, State, Nationwide or Worldwide Activities (Bullet Points)

Highlight any accolades, nominations, or awards that you have received from outside of the TMCC community.

  • If applicable, provide no more than six letters of support. These may be praise for your participation in a professional or service organization, or endorsements from colleagues you have worked with in other settings. If anyone has written letters in support of your application, please indicate the relationship of these people to you.

Professional Development (Bullet Points and Short Essay)

  • Identify your professional development activities. (Bullet points) and
  • Describe what you have learned from these activities. Please focus on how your professional development, or activities and membership in professional organizations, have impacted your pedagogy, content expertise, and your understanding of best practices in your discipline. (Short essay)

Archive of Evaluations and Reports

You should have seven probationary development reports from your tenure committee and three annual evaluations from your dean/head of administrative unit. If you have received any credit toward tenure at TMCC for your previous work experience, include the letter of approval indicating the total number of years credits. If you were not evaluated during a semester, give an explanation.Two full reports from each semester should be included. Your student evaluation reports should be included.

Your annual plans, self-evaluations and checklist of requirements for tenure track involvement need not be attached; however, you should keep them in a file and they may be requested. If you promised something in your annual plan that you could not accomplish, please explain the reasons and the alternative accomplishments.

Flags

No classroom observations by deans—please explain. Your tenure will not be stopped because of that. It will raise questions and we may need to find the reason you were not evaluated.

Missing signatures on probationary development reports—if not able to obtain, please explain.

Disposition of Tenure Binder

In accordance with NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual pursuant to Section Title 2, Chapter 5, Section 5.6.2, the tenure binder is part of the faculty member’s personnel record and will be maintained by TMCC for 7 years after the last date of employment. At the end of that period, TMCC will make a reasonable effort to return the binder to the faculty member. If TMCC is unable to return the tenure binder for any reason, the tenure binder will be destroyed. Faculty may access their binders by submitting a written request to the VPAA's office.

When officially applying for tenure, faculty members traditionally submit a binder of compiled materials in support of their applications. Often referred to as the "Tenure Binder", these submitted materials present an important summary of the professional activities a faculty member has engaged in during the tenure probationary period.

Digital Tenure Binder

  • This procedure is under redevelopment and will be updated by June 1, 2024.