Scholarship in Public: Knowledge Creation and Tenure Policy in the Engaged University; A Resource on Promotion and Tenure in the Arts, Humanities, and Design

By Julie Ellison and Timothy K. Eatman

The Imagining America Tenure Team Initiative (TTI) was inspired by faculty members who want to do public scholarship and live to tell the tale. Publicly engaged academic work is taking hold in American colleges and universities, part of a larger trend toward civic professionalism in many spheres. But tenure and promotion policies lag behind public scholarly and creative work and discourage faculty from doing it. Disturbingly, our interviews revealed a strong sense that pursuing academic public engagement is viewed as an unorthodox and risky early career option for faculty of color.