Annual Faculty Review and Promotion and Tenure
Mississippi State University’s Holland Faculty Senate worked collaboratively with the MSU’s administration to revise the Annual Faculty Review and the Promotion and Tenure policies, procedures and supporting materials in 2022-24. The revisions were developed to better recognize, promote and reward the faculty’s productivity in the scholarship of engagement, primary through non-formal teaching. These revisions occurred collectively over time for the following reasons:
- Mississippi State University (MSU) is classified as a Carnegie Foundation for Community Engagement Institution. MSU has done an excellent job of engagement to our students/clients, groups, communities, and businesses around the world. Our efforts focus on the scholarship of engagement, especially with the demand and need for the university’s help in communities and businesses.
- The MSU administration appointed a task force on outreach and engagement in 2021 that made recommendations regarding the scholarship of engagement becoming more of “a critical element of the university.” As a result, “Elevate Our Community” (a.k.a. engagement) is one of the five new strategic goals of MSU.
- The MSU administration appointed a task force on faculty development in 2022 that recommended more support and recognition for engagement through non-formal teaching. While MSU has properly focused on recognizing and rewarding faculty for the formal teaching of credit courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, the university is increasing its support and recognition of non-formal teaching. The task force recommended encouraging the scholarship of teaching and learning to “include recognition and reward for the design and delivery of coordinated non-formal/non-credit educational courses and programs in support of outreach and engagement.”
- The Holland Faculty Senate and MSU administration approved the revised changes to the Annual Faculty Review and Promotion and Tenure policies, procedures and supporting materials to enhance support for community engagement through teaching, research and service in 2024.
- The revised policies and supporting materials revisions have clearly made community engagement part of teaching. MSU faculty can list all community-engaged designated credit courses and non-credit educational programs in the Teaching Section (A). Faculty can also include documentation on non-formal community-engaged programs, such as needs assessments, program plans, engagement methods and techniques, teaching materials, and non-formal evaluation materials. The revisions also included identifying the faculty’s community engaged audiences, such as an adult group in a community, professionals, technicians, in-service groups, youth, etc. Community engagement is also specifically mentioned in the instructions provided for Section IV of the Annual Faculty Review Form: “In each category, identify and describe any activities that advanced university goals toward international activity, community engagement, and innovation and entrepreneurship.