Conquering the Tenure Terrors Workshop
The College and University Section hosted the “Conquering the Tenure Terrors” workshop on Thursday, May 18, at the Richland County Public Library. The workshop was a big success, with 40 South Carolina academic librarians in attendance from a wide range of institutions, including South Carolina State University, Coastal Carolina University, Clemson University, USC School of Medicine, USC School of Law, USC Upstate, USC Aiken, Morris College, Winthrop University, Newberry College, College of Charleston, and Francis Marion University.
Dr. Patricia Senn Breivik, retired Dean of San Jose State University Library and Vice President of Nehemiah Communications, served as the keynote speaker. Dr. Breivik began by discussing the difficulties of balancing requirements for tenure with duties related to librarianship. This segued nicely into her point that responsibility for accomplishing tenure rests with both the library administration and the librarian. For example, it is the library administration’s responsibility to provide clearly written standards for achieving tenure, along with clear performance indicators. It was also suggested that copies of successful tenure files be available to untenured librarians. Librarians need to focus on achievable tasks that will help in gaining tenured status and should take constructive criticism with appreciation. Dr. Breivik closed her presentation by emphasizing that the world does not end if tenure is not granted and drew upon her own personal experience to illustrate.
Next on the schedule was a panel discussion on scholarly publishing. The idea behind the panel discussion was to provide librarians interested in publishing with insight from an editor, a “seasoned” author, and a newly-published author. The very accomplished Katina Strauch, Head Librarian, Collection Development at the College of Charleston Libraries, founder of the Charleston Conference, and editor of Against the Grain, served as one of the panelists. Katina was joined by “seasoned” author Betsey Carter, Associate Professor and Head of Reference and Instruction at The Citadel; and newly-published author, Burton Callicott, Reference Librarian at the College of Charleston. The three panelists provided invaluable suggestions to attendees, including collaboration with other faculty and making a conscious effort to look outside the field of librarianship for publishing opportunities. The article “Evaluating Library Instruction: Doing the Best You Can With What You Have” by David Barclay was recommended for ideas on project evaluation. A common theme throughout their presentations was that rejection is to be expected but should not cause discouragement. Katina Strauch graciously provided a list of possible article topics and other publishing opportunities with Against the Grain.
During lunch, tenured librarians led round table discussions in which they shared their experiences with the tenure process and answered questions from attendees. Workshop feedback indicated that this was a very positive experience for attendees, as the discussions allowed for information sharing about the tenure process at a variety of institutions. Attendees were also able to collect advice from, and make connections with, the other attendees at the different tables.
Dr. Marsha Bollinger, Professor of Geology at Winthrop University and past Chair of the Winthrop University Faculty Personnel Committee, closed the workshop with a presentation on how to prepare a tenure file for the tenure committee. Dr. Bollinger emphasized that faculty members from different disciplines will be reading the tenure files; therefore, making language accessible is very important. Specifically, a tenure candidate should avoid jargon and acronyms. Also, faculty members should fully explain what they do, because general statements such as “providing reference service” may not be clear to someone outside librarianship. Provide as much documentation as possible in the file. Examples here included letting the tenure committee know that a published article was the first on that topic and including letters of appreciation from other faculty. Dr. Bollinger closed her presentation by asking workshop attendees to make certain that a geologist could understand a librarian’s tenure file.
The College and University Section considers this workshop to be a success, based on the number of attendees and the positive feedback received. This was the first workshop of its kind, and the Section plans to follow up with more about tenure at the Annual Conference in November with a presentation by Dr. Larry Hardesty. The section also plans to conduct additional workshops geared towards current issues in college and university libraries.
See selected pictures below. All pictures from the event are available in the SCLA Photo Gallery.
 Keynote Speaker Dr. Patricia Senn Breivik |  Panel Presentation on Scholarly Publishing |
 Roundtable Discussions |  Closing Speaker Dr. Marsha Bollinger |