Many thanks to Robyn Robinson for her assistance this time around!
Future question for ‘Ask a Tenured Professor’ should be sent to Lisa Growette Bostaph at lisabostaph@boisestate.edu
QUESTION 1:
I am up for tenure next year and know that I will need to provide a list of possible outside reviewers as part of the process. What is the protocol for communicating with potential reviewers? Should I contact my potential reviewers ahead of time and ask them to reserve some time? Send them my CV? Ask if they would be willing? I know that we are all very busy and want to make the process as manageable as possible.
Before I answer your specific questions, let me assure you that it is completely reasonable and normative for you to be trying to put as much in order as you can before the tenure process begins in earnest. It is also important for you to understand, and accept, that this will be utterly nerve-wracking because so much of it is out of your hands.
The one contribution you do have is your suggested list of external reviewers (from which one or more may be chosen), in addition, of course, to the strongest, clearest statements you can make of your work and a cohesive, coherent, honest, and clear presentation of your dossier. That said, here are three contextual points to respond to your questions:
First, if you have a trusted colleague in your department, or in another at your institution, who has recently stood for (and been granted) tenure, invite him or her to lunch or coffee to talk about the process. I emphasize “recently” because standards and protocols can and do change over time, so you want to have clear and current information. You can ask
if s/he contacted potential external reviewers, and if that is the practice at your institution, ask about process.
Second, and perhaps more important, unless there is a compelling reason not to do so, have a clear, upfront Q & A with your department chair and/or dean or program director. By now, you probably have a good feel for where your strongest support lies, and those whose mission it is to support your tenure will be able to work with you to choose the external reviewers you submit on your list.
Third, check your faculty handbook and or union contract to see what protocols and
procedures are spelled out there concerning external reviewers. Most institutions have set policies that are part of the contract with tenured/tenure track faculty, and you will want to follow these policies to the letter. It may be, for example, that you are NOT to contact potential external reviewers. Do check on this.
Fourth, here are simple responses to your specific questions, based upon what I know from my own experience and that of others at other institutions.
1. No. Do not contact potential external reviewers ahead of time to ask them to reserve time. Remember, you are suggesting them as outside reviewers, and there’s no assurance your chair and/or dean will choose them, thus making for a potentially awkward situation.
2. So, therefore, you will not send a CV, and
3. You will not ask if they are willing.
Try, as much as you can and within reason, to inquire about process from those sources I’ve mentioned above, and put your energies into a strong dossier that will speak well for you to those external reviewers.