Ask for Supportive Letters
As a tenure candidate, you will usually be
invited to contribute names of leading scien-
tists in your field who will be able to place
your scientific work in context and evaluate
its quality. If it is permitted, you should con-
tact these eminent scientists and ask whether
they would be willing to write a letter of eval-
uation in the necessary time frame. Ideally,
you are already acquainted with them and
they admire your work. Letters about your
teaching and service may also be requested
from local faculty. This is a chance to draw on
your mentors. If you have doubts, it is not
inappropriate to ask whether the person feels
they can write you a strong letter. Be sure that
they are told whether or not their letter will
be confidential, and make certain that they
will be sent copies of all your papers and
manuscripts.Assemble Complete
Documentation
When you walk into your office as a
brand-new faculty member, your first official
act should be to grab a file folder, label it
“Tenure,” and put it in the file drawer of your
desk (not that filing cabinet across the room).
EVERY time you give a talk at the local highschool, organize a meeting, serve on a com-
mittee or receive an award, make a note of
the date and event and put it into the file.
Otherwise, you will never remember the
many contributions you have made when
you are under pressure to assemble your
tenure file five years later.
Be aware of your own tendency to be self-
effacing. This is the time to highlight your
achievements. Include documentation of
your papers’ citations and a summary of sci-
entific achievements.Don’t Be Afraid to Fight
If something goes wrong and you feel
that you are not being evaluated equitably,
use the institutional appeal processes avail-
able to you, as outlined in the faculty man-
ual. Let others in the department know
what is going on and you may be surprised
at the help and support that you receive. It
may also be appropriate to seek legal advice
or to apply for positions elsewhere. If the
available administrative remedies do not
resolve the issue (this may take 1-2 years),
you will need to think long and hard about
whether to engage in the stress and expense
of a protracted legal battle that will affect
your family and your science regardless of
the outcome.
Tenure is a form of acceptance of one’s
professional merit and is an important land-
mark in the life of an academic scientist. It
makes sense to prepare for the process so
that it will run smoothly and provide a fair
evaluation of the successes you have worked
so hard to achieve.■74 CAREER ADVICE FOR LIFE SCIENTISTS
Be aware of your own tendency
to be self-effacing. This is the
time to highlight your
achievements.