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This year’s recognition event will be on December 6, with details not yet posted. As part of the recognition, University Libraries invites each faculty to select a book and have a short dedication placed in the book. What I enjoy about crafting this message is reading the faculty book choices and the personal statements. Below are the book selections of the promoted SENR faculty:
Matt Davies was promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure. Matt’s book selection is Heaths and Moorland—Cultural Landscapes, edited by DBA Thompson, Alison J. Hester and Michael B. Usher. Matt shares: “My background growing up and as a graduate student was dominated by hiking through the upland heaths of Wales and Scotland. Later for my MSc and PhD I worked on fire ecology and management of these systems. They're globally rare, ecologically-important habitats that appear "wild" but are actually the result of millennia of human management that continues to today. Across northern Europe they're threatened by climate change, land-use change and politicized debates about naturalness and rewilding. This book is a collection of papers from 1995 but is a who's-who of heathland ecology. Many of the papers substantively influenced my own early work and thinking. Most importantly there's a number of chapters by my MSc and PhD advisor Colin Legg, one of the kindest, gentlest and most intelligent people I've ever met - I'm only here because he was willing to help an archaeologist figure out ecology. His chapter "Heathland dynamics: a matter of scale" should be read by all ecologists.”
Shoshanah Inwood was promoted to associate professor with tenure. Shosh’s book selection is Tales of a Shaman’s Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Rain Forest, authored by Mark J. Plotkin. Shosh shares: “Mark Plotkin takes the reader into the lives of Indigenous communities and challenges us to reflect on what social, environmental, and economic justice means, and the role academics can have in deepening injustices or working to repair them. I read this book in high school, and now realize the outsize influence this book has had on my approach to research, teaching and extension. Community-based research is complex and challenging, but ultimately the most rewarding.”
Jeffrey Jacquet was promoted to associate professor with tenure. Jeffrey’s book selectin is Energy Impacts: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of North American Energy Development edited by Jeffrey B. Jacquet, Julia H. Haggerty, & Gene L. Theodori. Jeffrey writes that “I chose this volume to honor the 40+ contributors who entrusted their scholarly contributions and patience to this project, all with the goal of developing an interdisciplinary community of energy related social science. And to the peer-reviewers, publishers, co-editors, colleagues, friends and family that helped to make it possible.”
Chris Tonra was promoted to associate professor with tenure. Chris’s book selection is The Watcher at the Nest, by Margaret Morse Nice. Chris writes: “I selected this book in honor of 4M the sparrow, Hope the whimbrel, and Wisdom the albatross, A/RR the redstart, 65290 the chickadee, and the millions of other individual birds we ornithologists have banded, tagged, and followed through the years. Their stories have inspired young and old, and through their labors they have given us a window into their lives, introduced us to countless new mysteries, and helped us to conserve and restore their populations. We are forever in their debt.”
Mažeika Sullivan and Eric Toman were both promoted to professor with tenure. They didn’t provide me with their book selection information, so you will have to ask them what they’d recommend when you get the chance.
If you have not already done so, please wish Matt Davies, Shoshanah Inwood, Jeffrey Jacquet, Mažeika Sullivan, Eric Toman and Chris Tonra congratulations when you get a chance. This is a major accomplishment in the career of faculty, and it is a big deal! Congratulations Matt! Congratulations Shoshanah! Congratulations Jeffrey! Congratulations Mažeika! Congratulations Chris! And Congratulations Eric!
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Background on promotion and tenure at Ohio State
At Ohio State, we have three faculty ranks for tenure track faculty…Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. The latter two ranks can include tenure. Appointments at the Assistant Professor level are probationary appointments and faculty undergo mandatory reviews at the start of the 4th year (to assess progress toward promotion and determine whether to continue the appointment) and then at the start of the 6th year, Assistant Professors are required to undergo a mandatory review for promotion to Associate Professor with tenure. According to the School’s Appointment, Promotion and Tenure (AP&T) document, “promotion to Associate Professor with tenure in the School requires excellence in both teaching and scholarship, where scholarship is defined as research, scholarly and/or creative work. The promise of excellence in service is desirable.”
The AP&T document provides much more detail about the expectations, evaluation criteria and procedures for this review. I would encourage Ph.D. students and post docs in the School to take a look at this document and talk to your advisors and mentors about its significance and the expectations it lays out. I will admit that I did not appreciate the importance of this document when interviewing and then taking my position at Ohio State. Now as an administrator, I reference the AP&T document (and our Pattern of Administration) quite regularly. You can find current drafts of the PoA and AP&T from all departments at Ohio State on the Office of Academic Affairs website.
Seeking promotion to Professor is not mandatory at Ohio State, so there is no set timetable for seeking this promotion. "In accordance with Faculty Rule 3335-6-02(C), promotion to the rank of Professor must be based on convincing evidence that the faculty member has a sustained record of excellence in teaching; has produced a significant body of scholarship that is recognized nationally or internationally; and has demonstrated leadership in service."
The general standards and expectations that SENR holds for promotion to either Associate Professor or Professor are outlined by the University, but how we specifically evaluate, value and balance the record falls to us (the faculty) to specify. I believe we have a solid AP&T document and whenever I read through it, I appreciate the on-going effort we have given to the creation of challenging and realistic expectations that are respectful of the diverse pathways to achieve excellence. Many of the school’s values are manifested in our AP&T document, including our valuing of collaboration, outreach, and service in addition to the mainstays of research and teaching. We have also begun a process to refine the document to better acknowledge how we value diversity. I encourage you to check out these materials if you are unfamiliar with them.
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