report-internationalization-faculty

Higher education’s reinvention means faculty, too


Incentivizing faculty promotion and tenure policies could help institutions meet internationalization goals.

report-internationalization-facultyInternationally-focused teaching activities are currently the least commonly found criteria in tenure and promotion codes, even though diversifying student learning is a top priority for institutions.

That’s just one finding from a new report by the American Council on Education’s (ACE) Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement (CIGE) on how faculty internationalization efforts are impacted by tenure and promotion policies.

Internationalization–the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education–has become an increasingly important priority for many colleges and universities looking to expand and grow their institutions. Naturally, faculty members play a key part in internationalization efforts, which is why it makes sense to incentivize their participation, emphasized the report.

However, only 8 percent of institutions indicated that they had guidelines in place to specify international work or experience as a consideration for promotion and tenure decisions in a 2011 ACE survey.

(Next page: A new framework to support faculty)

As a result, ACE’s new report, Internationalizing the Tenure Code: Policies to Promote a Globally Focused Faculty, analyzes 91 policy documents for specific examples of language, trends, content and strategies that can provide a framework for the many institutions looking for guidance on implementing internationally focused criteria into tenure and promotion policies.

“Fostering an international focus among faculty early in their careers helps institutions build a globally engaged professoriate from the ground up,” said Robin Matross Helms, the report’s author and CIGE’s Associate Director for research. “We hope this report will serve as a helpful resource for those institutions looking to incentivize faculty engagement in internationalization by incorporating globally focused criteria into tenure codes.”

Currently, the most common internationally-focused criteria for tenure and promotion policies relate to research, followed closely by service.

But, despite efforts to promote internalization incentives in the report, it was found that internationally-focused teaching activities are currently the least commonly found criteria in tenure and promotion codes, even though diversifying student learning is a top priority for institutions.

“This suggests a disconnect between what institutions are hoping to accomplish through internationalization and the message they are sending to faculty about what they can and should be contributing to the process,” said Helms.

Adding to further confusion, many tenure policies specify that faculty are expected to gain a “national or international” reputation in their fields without indicating what exactly that entails.

Thus, the report suggests that the key factors for successful implementation of internationalized tenure policies include institutional readiness, outreach and stakeholder engagement and alignment of criteria and institutional internationalization goals.

Most importantly, notes the report, individual institutions must find what works best for their own programs, and update their criteria in order to be specific enough to be clear, but open enough so as not to limit creativity and innovation. An open process of recommitting to internationalization efforts that better incorporates faculty will not only help to create the greatest gains for curricula, but also greatly show off an institution’s strengths to students and the greater community moving forward.

For a host of case studies and even more specific strategies on incentivizing internationalization for faculty, read the full report.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.