Perspective on Tenure for I.U. Librarians: How Do We Define and Support Tenure at I.U.?
In a 2011 Indiana University Libraries Faculty Council (IULFC) ballot, librarians voted that promotion and tenure procedures will become campus-specific. Some campuses are in the process of developing procedures and some already have them. No matter how our final procedures will vary campus to campus, we share the bond of academic status and tenure for librarians, and, especially now, we need to think about what these principles mean to us individually and as a faculty. Although our shared criteria for promotion and tenure remain as stated in the Indiana University Faculty Handbook, even those may change as the result of our in-depth review of the tenure process.
Starting the Write Way: Comparing Two Library Scholarly Development Programs
How many faculty librarians have uttered the plaint, “I don’t know how to start getting published!” or similar laments about the publish-or-perish obligation? Because scholarship among academic librarians is a serious and often daunting issue, much time and energy are spent worrying about it. At institutions that require scholarly activity for tenure or for contract renewal, demands for scholarship can be problematic for junior faculty-librarians. Tenure demands are a major stressor for new academic librarians, but meeting tenure requirements is generally not addressed in library school.1 Because of this gap in library school education, it becomes the responsibility of the tenure-granting institution to meet these needs. Additionally, librarians who move from institutions that do not focus on scholarship to ones that do may feel uncomfortable with this type of writing. The differences between papers written in graduate school and writing for tenure can be intimidating; although the differences should make it easier, they often make the process more, not less, daunting.2
Tenured Librarians in Large University Libraries
The article is based on a 1979 survey of 530 tenured librarians in thirty three large academic libraries. The professional productivity of the librarians pre- and post-tenure is examined as well as the tenure criteria and evaluation process applied at the time the surveyed librarians received tenure. Comparisons to the situation in 1979 are drawn. The mobility pattern of tenured librarians is also explored