The Department of Political Science reaffirms its commitment to:

• research excellence
• highly effective teaching
• meaningful service to the department, college, university, profession, and, where appropriate, the community

Examples listed below are not exhaustive. 

Teaching

• The following activities are examples of evidence that faculty are engaging in annual growth and improvement as instructors:
  • Mid-term student feedback
  • Peer course-room observations/review
  • Narrative self-assessment
  • Creation of a new course
  • Restructuring of an existing course
  • Annotated teaching/learning materials
  • Awards recognizing teaching or mentoring accomplishments
  • Professional development/training related to teaching  
  • Scholarly work related to teaching including textbooks, articles, or presentations  
• Faculty are expected to mentor and advise undergraduate or graduate students, as appropriate to their track and rank.
• The following activities are examples of evidence that faculty are mentoring and advising undergraduate students on an annual basis:
  • Advise an Honor’s thesis/senior’s thesis
  • Lead or co-lead an undergraduate research lab
  • Supervise independent/guided studies  
  • Employ a student RA
  • Oversee undergraduate research for instance, RIC, FURF, SURF, etc.
  • Mentor ICRU or GCRU fellows from OUR  
  • Write a letter of recommendation for an undergraduate
  • Participate in an undergraduate event or career workshop
• The following activities are examples of evidence that faculty are mentoring graduate students and guiding them toward the PhD on an annual level:
  • Serve as an academic advisor
  • Serve as a dissertation chair
  • Serve on a dissertation committee
  • Supervise a TA or RA
  • Co-author with a graduate student  
  • Co-present at a conference with a graduate student
  • Write a letter of recommendation for a graduate student  
  • Lead or participate in a departmental workshop related to the graduate program
• All faculty are expected to submit their syllabi before the start of each semester by the due date.
• All faculty are expected to submit their final grades to MAUI at the end of each semester by the due date. 

Service

• The following activities are examples of evidence of basic, annual departmental service that contributes to the effective functioning of the department:
  • Serve on any of the departmental committees  
  • Serve on any of the qualifying exam committees
  • Serve on a hiring committee
  • Participate in an undergraduate event or career workshop
  • Participate in an alumni event
  • Participate in incoming graduate student orientation
  • Present as part of the departmental speaker series or research working group
  • Participate in graduate recruitment
• It is not required for faculty to engage in community service, but faculty may engage in community service related to their professional expertise.
• The following activities may be used as examples of community service related to professional expertise:
  • Media interviews, podcasts, or appearance (e.g., IPR, Daily Iowan, KCRG, etc.)
  • Presentations or roundtable for community groups or groups with community outreach
  • Serving on boards for local community groups
  • Consulting with or working with local groups
  • Public facing policy reports/briefs  
• All faculty are encouraged to participate in professional development activities.  These may include:
  • Professional development programs provided by CLAS (e.g., LEADS)
  • Professional development programs provided by the Provost (e.g., IALA, time management workshop)
  • Development programs provided by OTLT
  • Faculty development programs outside the university (e.g., Big-10 Academic Alliance Leadership,)
• Faculty are expected to work collaboratively with other faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students within and across subfields. 
• Faculty are expected to work collaboratively with departmental staff and the departmental administrator. 

Research 

• The department does not stipulate a particular rate of publications or set of journals, but each tenure track faculty member is expected to work towards publications in reputable peer-reviewed journals, a published scholarly book, and/or publications in other similar scholarly outlets on an annual basis.
• Scholarly publications should be committed to rigorous peer review, high-quality production standards, and transparent editorial policies. The faculty member’s active research program should be mindful of progress toward promotion and tenure and gaining/maintaining a national reputation in one’s research field.
• Indicators for reputable academic journals include good impact factor scores, active editorial boards, inclusion in reputable indexing databases, connection to an association or an association’s section, and a history of publishing quality research relevant to a faculty member’s field. A reputable book publisher is characterized by rigorous review standards, high-quality production standards, transparent editorial policies, and a history of publishing quality research relevant to a faculty member’s field.
• The following activities are examples of evidence of basic, annual progression towards publications:
  • Presentation of a paper or book chapter at an academic conference or other scholarly event
  • Submission or acceptance of an article to a peer-reviewed journal
  • Submission, receipt of, or supported work on an externally funded research grant
  • Hosting a book conference/workshop
  • Any of the activities in the CLAS Checklist document for progress toward publication of a book
• The department recognizes a variety of markers of increasing reputation. The following activities may be used as evidence for the building/maintenance of a national/international reputation.  
  • Invitations to give talks (e.g., other institutions, local/state/national/ international organizations, conferences)
  • Disciplinary or other awards (e.g., APSA section best paper award, ISA Quincy Wright Distinguished Scholar Award)
  • Editing reputable journals or special issues for journals
  • Accumulating citations to one’s research and increasing citation metrics (e.g., h-index)
  • Organizing scientific conferences, workshops, or symposia. 

Service

• The following activities are examples of evidence of basic, annual professional service activities:
  • Review a journal article at a peer-reviewed journal
  • Review a book manuscript
  • Review grant proposals
  • Organize a conference panel
  • Serve as a section officer for APSA/MPSA, etc.
  • Serve on an editorial board
  • Serve on a professional award committee 

Teaching

• The department does not expect assistant professors to successfully advise a doctoral student to the completion of their PhD before the promotion and tenure year.

Research 

• Assistant professors are expected to work toward the level of productivity characterized above as the tenure year approaches. 
• The department does not expect assistant professors to actively apply for grants before the promotion and tenure year.
• Assistant professors are expected to develop an increasingly active and visible research program and establish their own distinct identity as a scholar. 

Service

• The department generally expects assistant professors to focus on departmental and professional service.

Teaching

• The following activities are examples of evidence that faculty are participating in curriculum development and assessment activities to ensure continuous program improvement annually:
  • Active membership on the undergraduate studies committee, the graduate studies committee, or the departmental executive committee
  • Serve as a coordinator for an undergraduate certificate
  • Assist on or create a new certificate, minor, or major
  • Participate in annual course scheduling and assessment
• Mentor and support assistant professors working toward tenure and promotion.
  • The department is still developing a formal mentor structure.  Evidence of mentoring and support of assistant professors will be evaluated from discussions with the DEO. 

Research 

• It is expected that associate professors will accumulate evidence of increasing reputation.
• Associate professors are encouraged to seek out and apply for external funding to support research activities. 

Service

• The department expects associate professors to expand their service to include collegiate and university service in addition to departmental and professional service.
• The following activities are examples of evidence of appropriate annual collegiate/university service for associate professors:
  • Any of the collegiate elected or appointed governing bodies (UEPCC, CCG, etc.)
  • Any of the university elected or appointed governing bodies (Faculty Senate, etc.)
  • Any collegiate or university review committee
  • Director or be an advisory board member for the Obermann Center/CSSI, etc.
• The department expects associate professors to start developing into leaders in the department.
• The following activities are examples evidence of appropriate annual departmental leadership for associate professors:
  • DUS/DGS/Placement Director/Honor’s director
  • Chair of committees (e.g., P&T committees, review committees, hiring committees, qualifying exam committees)
  • Discussion leaders in faculty meetings
• Associate professors are expected to actively participate on departmental promotion reviews, 5-year reviews, 3rd year reviews, and the DCG, etc.  

Teaching

• Continue to effectively mentor graduate students and guide them to the PhD in a timely manner.
• The following activities are examples of evidence that faculty are participating in curriculum development and assessment activities to ensure continuous program improvement annually:
  • Active membership on the undergraduate studies committee, the graduate studies committee, or the departmental executive committee
  • Serve as a coordinator for an undergraduate or graduate certificate
  • Assist with or create a new certificate, minor, or major  
  • Participate in annual course scheduling and assessment
• Mentor and support assistant and associate professors working toward tenure and promotion.
  • The department is still developing a formal mentor structure.  As such, evidence of mentoring and support of assistant professors will be evaluated from discussions with the DEO. 

Research 

• It is expected that full professors will possess a national and international reputation and maintain a research program that further enhances that reputation.
• Full professors are strongly encouraged to seek out and apply for major external funding to support research activities. 

Service

• The department generally expects full professors to continue to expand their service.
• The following activities are examples of evidence of appropriate annual service for full professors:
  • Any of the collegiate, elected or appointed governing bodies (UEPCC, CCG, etc)
  • Any of the university, elected or appointed governing bodies (Faculty Senate, etc)
  • Any collegiate or university review committee
  • Direct or be an advisory board member for the Obermann Center/CSSI, etc
• The department expects for full professors to be leaders in the department.
• The following activities are examples of appropriate annual departmental leadership for full professors:
  • DUS/DGS/Placement Director/Honor’s director/certificate coordinator
  • Chair of committees (e.g., P&T committees, review committees, hiring committees, qualifying exam committees)
  • Discussion leaders in faculty meetings
• Full professors are expected to actively participate on departmental promotion committees, which may include 3rd year review committee, 5-year review committee, the DCG, etc. 

No additional unique expectations beyond those outlined for all faculty in the CLAS and departmental standards.

Teaching

• Participate in professional development opportunities to further grow as an instructor and stay informed about current instructional practices.

Service

• Expand the range of service contributions within the department.
• Contribute to discussions on effective teaching practices in the department, college or broader professional community.
• Mentor and support the professional development of assistant professors of instruction/practice working toward promotion reviews.
  • The department is still developing a formal mentor structure.  As such, evidence of mentoring and support of assistant and associate professors working toward promotion reviews will be evaluated from discussions with the DEO. 

Teaching

• Participate in professional development opportunities to further grow as an instructor and stay informed about current instructional practices.

Service

• Expand the range of service contributions within the department.
• Contribute to discussions on effective teaching practices in the department, college or broader professional community.
• Mentor and support the professional development of both assistant and associate professors of instruction/practice working toward promotion reviews.
  • The department is still developing a formal mentor structure.  As such, evidence of mentoring and support of assistant and associate professors working toward promotion reviews will be evaluated from discussions with the DEO.