(FKA 5.90.4)

When considering applicants for promotion and tenure, serious attention will be given to performances in the applicable areas of teaching and advising (or its equivalent), scholarship and creative activity, service, extension and outreach, and where applicable, leadership. The relative importance of each of these areas varies according to the cumulative allocation of effort statements. Each area is vital to the university’s ability to achieve its mission, and the performance of a faculty member will be viewed as an indication of future contributions.

PART 1: TEACHING AND ADVISING (FKA 5.90.4.1)

1. Elements of Teaching as Essential Criterion: Teaching is central to NMSU’s mission. For those who teach, effectiveness in teaching and advising is an essential criterion for tenure and for advancement in rank. The teaching and advising category includes all forms of university-level instructional activity, as well as advising undergraduate and graduate students, both within and outside the university community. Such activities are commonly characterized by the dissemination of knowledge within a faculty member’s area of expertise; skill in stimulating students to think critically and to apply knowledge to human problems; the integration and application of relevant domestic and international, social, political, economic, and ethical implications into class content; the preparation of students for careers in specific fields of study; and the creation and supervision of appropriate field or clinical practicum’s.
2. Responsibilities of Teaching and Advising: Teaching and advising responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, preparation for and teaching of a variety of courses, seminars, and other academic learning experiences; non-credit workshops and informal instructional activities; course and program development; team or collaborative teaching; web-based instruction, both on and off campus; supervision of student research, performances, or productions; service on graduate student program and research committees; field supervision and administration of field or clinical experiences; production of course materials, textbooks, web pages and other electronic aids to learning; and others.
3. Forms of Faculty Advising: Faculty advising may take the form of assisting undergraduate or graduate students in the selection of courses or careers, assisting learners in educational programs on and off campus, mentoring students, serving as faculty adviser to student groups, research and teaching advising, as well as other forms.
4. Evaluation of Teaching (FKA 5.90.4.1.1):
   1. Evidence By Which Teaching Effectiveness is Assessed: Teaching is a complex and multifaceted activity. Therefore, several forms of evidence should be used to assess comprehensively teaching effectiveness. Each form of evidence should carry a weight appropriate to its importance in evaluating teaching. Such documentation must demonstrate command of subject matter, continuous growth, and development in the subject field, the ability to organize material and convey it effectively to students, assessment of student learning, revision and updates of curricula, and the integration of scholarship (for faculty who produce scholarship) and service with teaching. Materials appropriate for evaluating teaching should include: (a) evidence from the instructor, (b) evidence from other professionals, (c) evidence from students, and (d) evidence of student learning.
   2. Principal Units To Develop Guidelines: Each principal unit is to create clear guidelines for its teaching faculty that define teaching responsibilities and specify required evidence documenting teaching effectiveness. Specific data to be included in the evaluation packet will be determined by each principal unit.
5. Evaluation of Advising (FKA 5.90.4.1.2): For promotion and tenure considerations, performance in such activities must be documented and evaluated. Each principal unit is to create clear guidelines regarding the responsibilities and documentation requirements for its faculty who advise.

PART 2: SCHOLARSHIP AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY (FKA 5.90.4.2)

1. Rationale: Scholarship and creative activity involves discovering and creating, teaching and disseminating, and applying knowledge and skills to worldly concerns. This understanding is grounded in Boyer’s concept of the four scholarships: (1) the scholarship of discovery involves processes, outcomes, and the passionate commitment of the professoriate and others in the university to disciplined inquiry and exploration in the development of knowledge and skills; (2) the scholarship of teaching involves dynamic, reciprocal, and critically reflective processes among teachers and learners at the university and in the community in which their activity and interaction enriches and transforms knowledge and skills, taught and learned; (3) the scholarship of engagement refers to the many and varied ways to responsibly offer and employ knowledge and skills to matters of consequence to the university and the community; and (4) the scholarship of integration is the process by which knowledge and skills are assessed, interpreted, and applied in new and creative ways to produce new, richer, and more comprehensive, insights, understanding, and outcomes.
2. NMSU Definition of Scholarship and Creative Activity: Scholarship and creative activity is both activity and product, employing dynamically interacting processes of discovery and creation, teaching and dissemination, engagement and application, and integration, in the pursuit of fulfilling the mission and vision of NMSU. Products developed through these processes, are public, open to peer review, and available for use by others. Scholarship and creative activity can take many forms, including but not limited to refereed publications. At NMSU’s community colleges, scholarship and creative activity includes scholarship that is also evidenced by professional development activities that disseminate knowledge to the college’s learning communities.
3. Acknowledgement of Land Grant Mission: This definition reflects the university’s mission as the state’s land-grant university, serving the needs of New Mexico’s diverse population through comprehensive programs of teaching and advising, scholarship and creative activity, extension and outreach, and service. It addresses the breadth and diversity of scholarly and creative activity among faculty, staff, and students through which this mission is fulfilled.
4. Use of Technology is a Factor in Evaluation Categories: The dissemination and creation of scholarly work using technology is becoming increasingly important. Accordingly, it is important that promotion and tenure committees recognize this when evaluating a candidate’s portfolio. The rapid pace at which technology changes makes it difficult to use a single set of evaluation criteria to fit all cases encountered. Technology often crosses the rigid boundaries of teaching and advising, scholarship and creative activity, service, extension, and outreach, and as such, it must be evaluated in as many of these categories as appropriate. Flexibility in evaluation of the candidate’s technology efforts is paramount. Reviewers must be aware of expectations placed on the candidate at the time of hiring and during annual reviews and are encouraged to evaluate technology-based scholarship and creative activity using appropriate criteria.
5. Evaluation of Scholarship and Creative Activity (FKA 5.90.4.2.1): All scholarly activity and outcomes, regardless of funding source, must consider the following criteria adapted from Diamond:
   1. The activity’s purposes, goals, and objectives are clear. The objectives are realistic and achievable. It addresses important questions in the field.
   2. The activity reveals a high level of discipline-related expertise. The scholar brings to the activity a high level of relevant knowledge, skills, artistry, and reflective understanding.
   3. Appropriate methods are used for the activity, including principles of honesty, integrity, and the methods have been chosen wisely, and applied effectively. It allows for replication or elaboration.
   4. The activity achieves its goals and its outcomes have significant impact. It adds consequentially to the field. It breaks new ground or is innovative. It leads to further exploration or new avenues for exploration for the scholar and for others.
   5. The activity and outcomes have been presented appropriately and effectively to its various audiences.
   6. The activity and outcomes are judged meritorious and significant by one’s peers.
   7. The scholar has critically evaluated the activity and outcomes and has assessed the impact and implications on the greater community, the community of scholars and on one’s own work. The scholar uses this assessment to improve, extend, revise, and integrate subsequent work.

PART 3: EXTENSION AND OUTREACH (FKA 5.90.4.3)

Extension and outreach are essential to the university’s mission because they disseminate information to the public; help the state by promoting economic development through the dissemination of new technologies and best practices; and serve as a basis for sustainable, community-oriented, informal education that addresses local needs through faculty affiliated with each county government in New Mexico. The central role of extension and outreach is recognized in that several principal units are dedicated to these functions. There are also numerous faculty members in other units for whom extension and outreach are major components of their duties.

1. Collaborative Effort: Extension and outreach work is collaborative by nature. Faculty should provide evidence of collaboration with whomever necessary to identify local needs, garner resources, discover and adapt new knowledge, design and deliver programs, assess clientele skill changes, and communicate program results. Collaborative effort should also include networking with other university faculty in identified areas of program discovery, development, and delivery, including applications to teaching and advising where appropriate.
2. Evaluation Guidelines: To evaluate extension and outreach scholarship the following guidelines are recommended:
   1. Faculty must provide evidence of extension and outreach scholarship in order that these [collaborative] efforts are recognized.
   2. The documentation should provide evidence that the work is:
      1. creative and intellectual;
      2. validated by peers;
      3. communicated to stakeholders; and
      4. have an impact on stakeholders and the region.
   3. Components of extension scholarship include:
      1. developing programs based on locally identified needs, concerns, and/or issues; targeting specific audiences;
      2. setting goals and objectives for the program;
      3. reviewing current literature and/or research for the program;
      4. planning appropriate program delivery;
      5. documenting changes in clientele knowledge, behaviors, attitudes, and/or skills;
      6. conducting a reflective critique and/or evaluation of the program;
      7. validation of the program by peers and/or stakeholders; and
      8. communication of results to stakeholders and decision makers.

PART 4: SERVICE (FKA 5.90.4.4)

Service is an essential component of the university’s mission and requires that the faculty member contribute to the organization and development of the university, as well as provide service to any local, state, national, or international agency, organization, or institution needing the faculty member’s professional knowledge and skills.

1. Evaluation of Service (FKA 5.90.4.4.1):The type and amount of service that a faculty member performs should be determined in consultation with the appropriate administrator(s). All relevant activities in which a faculty member participates should receive appropriate consideration for promotion and tenure decisions. Service contributions should be evaluated based on how they are applied and how they draw upon the professional expertise of the faculty member.

PART 5: LEADERSHIP (FKA 5.90.4.5)

In demonstrating leadership, candidates must show that they are having an impact as evidenced by the candidate’s scholarship and creative activity, and by contributions to the advancement of the university which may include administrative roles in which considerable and well-documented contributions to the university have been made.

1. Evaluation of Leadership (FKA 5.90.4.5.1): Leadership is characterized by: (1) contribution to the mission of the college or university and to the faculty member’s profession; (2) participation in the distribution of responsibility among the members of a group; (3) empowering and mentoring group members; and (4) aiding the group’s decision-making process.