measurable definition of scholarly work

[Ruralguy]

My school has clearly set a " you have to have something" bar, and social media doesn't count (for that...it might count later, on top of scholarship, for various kudos).  So, yes, the question is whether this person literally has nothing at all , or maybe too little, but amplified by social media. Theres a difference. Might not matter anyway, but there's a difference.

[Vkw10]

Our university policy specifically says that T&P is not a numbers game, but requires convincing evidence of progress toward a national/international reputation for substantive scholarship and creative activity. Our college guidelines specify that when the portfolio includes substantive scholarly work, that social media activity can be evidence of the impact of that work when the social media is clearly in reaction to the specific scholarly work.

The college guidelines were updated two years ago. Water cooler gossip was that impetus was a person who applied for full based on international readership of postings on a popular blog that's not related to scholarly discipline. Happy it wasn't in my department so I don't know if gossip is accurate.

My department's guidelines list a few examples of top journals, grant agencies, conferences, and publishers, but also state that we consider the overall quality of scholarship. We had someone tenured a few years ago with just two journal articles and a non-traditional contribution, but they presented compelling evidence of impact and reputation. We actually didn't need the evidence, since we'd been fighting attempts to poach that person. Every time there's a discussion of what it takes to make tenure, their CV gets used as the example of risky strategy that paid off but shouldn't be emulated.

[Vid]

Great discussion, folks.   I can say faculty evaluation and promotion may even differ within an institution.

Thanks, V

[Ruralguy]

Indeed it can and should. Painters and physicists don't even do the same sorts of "things" for professional evaluation, other than invited talks on their subject area or work.