This presentation provides an overview of the rationale for academic promotions, a tradition which is relatively unique to the global higher education sector, and the best way for candidates to approach their application in terms of evidencing and contextualising their research, teaching and service.

1. Professor Nigel Healey
Interim Provost and Deputy President
Promotions Information Session
20 October 2021

2. Overview
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3. What are academic promotions for? (1)
• Most higher education systems have internal academic
promotions systems:
• Assist. Prof. – Assoc. Prof. – Professor (US)
• LBB – LAB – Senior Lecturer – Assoc Professor –
Professor (IRL)
• Lecturer – Senior Lecturer / Reader – Professor (UK)
• Lecturer – Senior Lecter – Assoc. Prof. – Professor
(ANZ)
• All academics have the same basic JD: research, teach,
provide service
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4. What are academic
promotions for? (2)
• Promotion is to reward/recognise academic
staff who are more ‘productive’; ie, whose:
• Research is more impactful –
academically and socially
• Teaching is more inspirational, innovative,
research-informed, etc
• Service is more transformational
• At promotion to more senior levels, promotion
panels look for ‘positive spillovers’ – does the
individual make those around them more
productive?
• The ‘Johnston Test’: ‘Who is Dr X?’

5. What do academics do? (1)
• Research
• Inputs: research grants, PhD students, research networks, collaborators
• Outputs: publications, reports, compositions, patents
• Impact: citations, policy changes, legislative reform, new business practices
• Emerging leadership roles: supervising, leading a team, role as a PI
• Wider context:
• REF / ERA / PBRF
• THE / QS World University Rankings
• Quality / impact not volume
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6. What do academics do? (2)
• Teach
• Teaching vs facilitating learning
• Curriculum development
• Curriculum / pedagogical innovation
• Addressing the needs of diverse student body
• National / international networking for learning and teaching
• Emerging leadership: from module leader to course director
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7. What do academics do? (3)
• Service
• Internal service
• Committee membership
• Administrative roles within the department /
faculty / university
• External service
• Reviewing, conference organisation
• Advising business
• National policy development
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8. The importance of evidence
and context
• Write your application as if you ware a lawyer,
demonstrating to the court why your client is a highly
productive researcher, teacher and academic servant
• Do not assume the court understands your discipline
or the significance of your contributions – evidence
and contextualise
• ‘I wrote a symphony’ vs ‘I wrote a symphony for the
New York Philharmonic, one of the “Big Five” in the
US, which was performed at the Lincoln Center for
the Performing Arts'
• Explain what you did – and evidence why it was
successful
• ‘I was Course Director of the MA in XYZ’ vs ‘As
Course Director of MA in XYZ, I led the development
of a new curriculum and enrolments increased 50%
over two years’
• Claims, warrants, supports: ‘I am a productive
researcher. Productive researchers have high H
indices. My H Index is 30.’
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9. The role of professional
development
• We never stop learning
• Panels will always find
weaknesses or areas of
underdevelopment in an
academic portfolio of R / T / S
• A demonstrable commitment to
continuing professional
development is reassurance that
skill and knowledge gaps are
continuously being closed
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