Tenure & Promotion (Office Hours Summary)

Learning Rebus Community

“Tenure & Promotion,” a co-presentation with Open Textbook Network, featured three perspectives on where OER and tenure and promotion intersect. We spoke about T&P policy, peer review, and changing the academic culture.

This month, we were joined by Mark Poepsel (Associate Professor, Department of Mass Communications, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville), Jaclyn Stewart (Senior Instructor, Department of Chemistry; Deputy Academic Director of the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver), and Jonathan Poritz (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Physics; Director and Data Analyst, Center for Teaching and Learning, Colorado State University – Pueblo; Chair Emeritus, Colorado OER Council, Colorado Department of Higher Education)

Mark Poepsel told his story about applying for tenure using OER contributions. He spoke about the peer review process of the two projects he has worked on (Media Innovation & Entrepreneurship and Media, Society, Culture & You). His journey to tenure with OER involved lots of explaining, but resulted in a big win. Congratulations, Mark!

Jaclyn Stewart spoke about the University of British Columbia’s Education Leadership stream to tenure, in which OER are taken under consideration. She also told us about the work of student advocates in supporting OER-friendly faculty at UBC as they apply for tenure and promotion.

Jonathan Poritz gave us his perspective as someone who has tenure and who thinks a lot about OER as scholarship, as a tool of pedagogy, and as a hybrid of both. Jonathan spoke about the need for a culture shift, rather than a policy shift, while acknowledging the possibility for policy to shape academic culture and how it perceives OER.

Thanks to everyone who attended the session, and thanks to Mark, Jaclyn, and Jonathan for sharing their perspectives, stories, and advice. As always, it’s a joy to work with Karen Lauritsen and the good people at OTN. Office Hours will take a break this December and return in January. Topic and speakers to be announced soon.

Read the transcript for “Tenure and Promotion.”

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