The Office of the Provost will sponsor 14 workshops the week of March 5 designed to support faculty in the reappointment, promotion and tenure (RPT) process.
This year marks the first that the trainings will be consolidated in a week of professional development. In the past sessions were held periodically during the academic year. Many more topics will also be covered this year than in the past.
“We hope that putting all the sessions together in one week will make it easier for faculty to schedule their time,” said Jim Vigoreaux, associate provost for faculty affairs. “The workshops are also meant to relate to one another and offer an integrated approach to faculty professional development.”
View the full schedule of workshops.
Sessions are divided into two types, Vigoreaux said. Two panels, with two separate sessions each, will focus on the mechanics of the RPT process. One panel will be composed of faculty who have served on recent RPT committees. The other will be made up of faculty who have recently been through the process.
“The idea is to help faculty develop an RPT agenda,” Vigoreaux said, including “how to get documents together, who to talk with, how to pace yourself, how to schedule,” he said.
The panel of faculty reviewers will also share “what they look for – the good things, the red flags in a dossier.”
The second series of workshop address what Vigoreaux calls the “essence” of the RPT process, “those things that will enable faculty to be successful.”
Topic workshops include Open Access and Scholarly Publishing; The Scholarship of Engagement; Advising: Successful Strategies; The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning; Using Social Media to Advance Your Scholarly Agenda; and Strategies for Increasing Faculty Awards and Recognition.
Seeking faculty input on reoriented mentoring program
RPT week will include an open forum for faculty on expanding and re-orienting UVM’s faculty mentoring program.
In the past the mentoring program was designed to support new faculty only, Vigoreaux said. “We’d like to expand it to all faculty, no matter their rank or their length of time at UVM. The forum will give faculty a chance to describe what they’d like to see covered in the new program.”
The week of expanded, consolidated RPT workshops is meant to address the challenges faculty face in the contemporary academy, Vigoreaux said.
“The demands of the job today are different and much more complex than in the past,” said Vigoreaux, who served as chair of the Biology Department before joining the administration.
“Being successful requires a lot more than just being good in your particular field of expertise,” he said. “You have to excel at teaching and advising, at being a contributing university citizen, at providing quality service – all these things that are not really part of people’s preparation in graduate school. They’re not only critical for the individual’s success, but for the success of the institution.”