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What does promotion to full prof. require?

In our new “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:

What’s it normally take to be promoted from associate to full professor? Is it normal to go up within only a few years time of being promoted to associate? Do external letters carry as much weight? Is a book necessary? Any guidance whatsoever would be appreciated.

These are all great questions–but my sense is that the answers to them may differ greatly across institution types (R1s, R2s, SLACs, community colleges), locations (US vs. elsewhere), and even across individual institutions of the same type (depending on the faculty handbook and local norms). That said, I think it would be helpful to hear from readers to get a general sense of what is expected at their institution.

Do readers have any insights to share? If possible, please share what type of institution you are at and the country your institution is in.

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6 responses to “What does promotion to full prof. require?”

  1. Daniel

    At my university (fancy SLAC) promotion requires excellent research, good teaching, and good service. Excellent research is roughly 5-7 articles published in good journals, or a book with a good publisher and roughly 2-3 articles published in good journals, or two books. All of that is not counting whatever was published pre-tenure, unless somehow something pre-tenure was not included in the tenure file. Ditto for the evaluations of teaching and service, which are evaluations of the time period subsequent to tenure. These are the department requirements.

    Meeting these requirements qualifies you for submitting your promotion request to the university committee which decides on these things. They solicit 6-8 external letters and then make up their mind. I don’t think the committee would ever turn down a candidate for promotion who satisfied our internal requirements unless somehow the letters were awful (and I don’t see why they ever would be) but in principle it is up to the committee to decide, not up to the department.

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  2. Anonymous

    Marcus is right that there will be a wide variety of answers to the question of what it takes to get promoted to full professor. At some places, they mean it when they say that “associate professor is a career rank” and only exceptional cases get promoted to full. At other places, if you have put in five or six years after earning associate and have done a minimal amount of additional publishing (plus whatever the expectation for teaching and service is), getting promoted to full is more or less automatic.

    At my regional public R2, we are somewhere in the middle. I’d say new publications roughly of the same amount and a bit higher prestige than what earned tenure is a good target for us. I was chair of the committee for two of my colleagues who were promoted to full in recent years, and I’m nearly certain there is no part of our process that includes external letters for promotion to full. A book is not necessary, but would do the trick. There’s a general feeling at my university that they want people to do “time in the saddle” to get the promotion, but early promotion (to associate, or to full) is possible if the record is strong. (In my experience at several different kinds of universities, you usually need to exceed, not just meet, the promotion standard if you want to go up early.)

    Local knowledge is the only knowledge that matters for T&P, so OP needs to be talking to his chair, dean, and members of recent promotion committees to get a sense of what they need to be aiming at. Know the written procedures, including union contract if applicable.

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  3. grymes

    Follow-up question: do committees tend to solicit (many of) the same letter writers when they go up for Full as when they went up for tenure? Do candidates tend to suggest (many of) the same letter writers? Are either of these things frowned upon–either by committees or by letter writers themselves?

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  4. Anonymous

    At my R1 it is a rule that the letter writers for promotion to full can’t be any of the same letter writers for promotion to associate

    It is also a rule that at least half the letter writers at either stage must be suggested by the candidate.

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  5. Anonymous

    Requirements for promotion to full Professor should go beyond class activities. Publications in reputable journals have a part, however, practical solutions to prevenlence problems, life-enhanced innovations, grant winning, and income generation capabilities, as well as spiral continue of knowledge – M.Sc and Ph.D graduation – should form a greater part of the requirements.

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  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous: The main criterion is how much external funding you bring to the university. A balanced profile of excellence in teaching and learning, research, and community involvement. Published a wide range of highly scholarly articles, book chapters, books, and conference proceedings. In total, there are approximately 20 or more. Postgraduate students, including master’s and PhD candidates, are supervised in groups of approximately 20. Served as project leader for several national and international community engagement initiatives. Evidence of an NRF rating application has been applied. Participated in several international conference presentations and served as the keynote speaker.

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