Accounting and Information Systems 12-16-2015

This webpage is a copy of an original pdf document that you can get upon request by emailing academic@tcnj.edu.

Please note that these standards apply to tenure candidates hired before 2023. Faculty hired thereafter should refer to the updated disciplinary standards for tenure and promotion.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Areas of Faculty Responsibility
3. Principles and Criteria
4. Evaluating Scholarship
5. Review of this Document

The attached disciplinary standards have been reviewed and approved by the Committee on Faculty Affairs, the Council of Deans, and the Provost.

To avoid creating a moving target for candidates for reappointment, the disciplinary standards in effect during a faculty member’s first year of employment will be used for reappointment and tenure applications. Candidates for promotion will use the disciplinary standards in effect in the year in which they apply for promotion.

The Accounting and Information Systems will next review its disciplinary standards in Academic Year 2020.

1. Introduction

The document herein articulates the standards applied in evaluating candidates for reappointment, tenure, and promotion within the Department of Accounting and Information Systems.
The October 2015 TCNJ Promotion and Reappointment Document (https://academicaffairs.tcnj.edu/fiJes/2015/ 10/Promotion-and-Reappointment-Document-2015FINAL.pdf) provides the timeline processes for reappointment, tenure, and promotion at the College. The policy also mandates the application format, and outlines candidate responsibilities. Candidates are strongly encouraged to become intimately familiar with the College’s reappointment and promotion policies.

The present document is consistent with the College Reappointment and Promotion Policy and provides supplemental guidance. The disciplinary standards will be reviewed and revised as necessary. It is designed to offer specific interpretation of the general standards with respect to scholarly activity and to clarify departmental expectations.

2. Areas of Faculty Responsibility

All candidates will be evaluated in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service at all stages of a candidate’s career. The Department of Accounting & Information Systems is committed to the values of the teacher-scholar model presented in the College’s mission statement. An evaluation of the total performance of the candidate is the basis for Reappointment, Tenure, and Promotion decisions. In order for the Department to serve the mission of the College, it is necessary that performance in the three realms be highly satisfactory. The Department’s standards for scholarship are outlined below.

3. Principles and Criteria

The Department concurs that “the best teachers remain devoted learners” (see TCNJ Promotion and Reappointment Document) and recognizes different types of scholarship, including:

• The Scholarship of Discovery -the traditional research model in which new content knowledge is acquired;
• The Scholarship of Integration -the creation of new knowledge by synthesizing and making connections across disciplines or sub-disciplines;
• The Scholarship of Application -the bridging of the gap between theory and practice through both research and action; and,
• The Scholarship of Pedagogy -the discovery or an evaluative analysis of the ways students learn, and the identification and assessment of methods used to foster learning.

The Department embraces the following principles for evaluating scholarship:

1. Primacy of quality over quantity of work – the Department believes that quality of scholarship is more important than mere quantity. The Department believes that there can be flexibility and latitude in how the quality of the completed scholarship can be demonstrated. Indicators of quality include, but are not limited to: a) measures of quality of a particular outlet (e.g., Journal Citation Report numbers for particular journals, if available; ranking of journal on reputable lists of journals; the reputation of the publisher of a book); b) acceptance rate of a journal (e.g., per Cabell directory); c) type and nature of review process; d) stature of editor and review board members of a journal, particularly for new outlets as citation rates are unavailable in the early years of a new outlet; e) number of citations of an article (e.g., the Social Science Citation Index), although the Department recognizes that citations are not likely to surface until years after the work has been distributed; t) extent of distribution or book adoption, g) quality of independent reviews, h) scope and stature of the professional organization sponsoring the outlet (e.g., international, national, regional); i) prominence ofother contributors; and j) professional honors, awards, and other forms ofrecognition. In addition to these objective factors, quality can be evaluated by the TCNJ faculty’s internal assessment of the quality, importance and depth of the published work. New and emerging outlets and venues (e.g., online journals) are acceptable to the extent that the quality of them can be evaluated in a similar manner as more traditional outlets. It is incumbent upon the candidate for tenure or promotion to provide indications of quality.
2. Single or co-Authored scholarship – both sole authorship and joint authorship works will be considered and encouraged; in instances when a candidate has co-authors, he/she should clearly explain the degree and nature of collaboration. The Department values collaboration with others, but it is incumbent on the candidate to present evidence (e.g., letter from co-authors) that he/she has contributed in a significant manner to the scholarship that is presented for tenure or promotion.
3. Evidence of sustained scholarship program – history of continuing publications and contributions, evidence of capability to define and carry out a program of research, and collaborative relationships with co-authors, editors, or publishers. The candidate should make clear which scholarly accomplishments were achieved subsequent to appointment at TCNJ and which were achieved since tenure or the last promotion.
4. Flexibility with respect to disciplinary focus and interdisciplinary endeavors -the accounting and information systems area is interdisciplinary in nature and has roots and/or connections to other fields (e.g., psychology, criminology, computer science). Interdisciplinary scholarship is desirable and encouraged as such efforts often lead to rich research agendas and to valued publications. Although it is expected that faculty members in the Department will have a disciplinary core that allows them to publish in their field or sub-field, the Department believes in flexibility with respect to the range of outlets for faculty members’ scholarship in terms of disciplinary focus (e.g., behavioral decision making journals) to the extent that they meet the standards of quality as noted above.
5. Scholarship of pedagogy – although scholarship of pedagogy is valued within the context of a larger research agenda, pedagogical contributions for an academic audience alone will not be enough to gain tenure or promotion.
6. Integration of teaching and service to a candidate’s scholarly agenda -The involvement of students in a candidate’s research is valued and encouraged by the College and the Department, although collaboration with students is not a requirement for reappointment, tenure, or promotion.
7. Challenges for certain types of scholarship – some scholarship, such as work that requires collaboration with colleagues at other institutions, collaboration with professionals in the field (e.g., practicing auditors, tax accountants) or the collection of longitudinal data, may encounter challenges that might lead to slower publication rates. The department supports these types of scholarly endeavors and recognizes the special challenges; however, the department recommends that faculty on the tenure track with its fixed time limit for tenure recognize that it is incumbent upon the candidate to provide a record of scholarship at the time of evaluation for tenure that meets or exceeds the basic criteria set forth in this document.

4. Evaluating Scholarship

Quality scholarly activity is essential for a positive recommendation for promotion and/or tenure. The following range of activity encompasses scholarship:

• Publications in peer-reviewed journals.
• Publications in refereed conference proceedings.
• Articles in refereed professional or trade journals.
• Published research in support of teaching as reflected by cases in peer reviewed journals, textbooks, book chapters, cases in books, study guides, or significant instructional software subject to peer review.
• Publication of a book (authored) or edited book.
• Publication resulting from peer review of digital research and/or digital research tools.
• Funded, peer-reviewed grants.
• Invited chapters, invited articles in special issue of a journal.
• Invited lectures/presentations at regional, national, or international professional organizations (e.g., AAA, AICPA).
• Refereed presentations of scholarly work at regional, national and international conference.
• Major and continuing editorial roles in journals, excluding special issues.

4.1 Disciplinary Standards for Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

To be eligible for tenure, the Department typically expects: 1) three refereed articles (in print or in press) published while at TCNJ and subject to the evaluation criteria outlined in the sections above, and 2) additional evidence of a continuing research program characterized by research under peer review or in progress. Additionally, candidates for tenure are expected to have at least two conference presentations. It is understood that this research may draw heavily on the dissertation. Along the route to publication in peer-reviewed journals, researchers typically present their work at an academic conference. The Department expects that candidates for tenure will have at least two conference presentations.

For promotion to associate professor, the Department expects: 1) at least three refereed articles (in print or in press) while at TCNJ and subject to the evaluation criteria outlined in the sections above, and 2) additional evidence of a continuing research program characterized by research under peer review or in progress. Articles completed prior to employment at TCNJ may be considered in the promotion to associate decision.

Although exceptions to this may be considered, the applicant would need to provide evidence of scholarly activities that is both sustainable and likely to yield future publications.

4.2 Disciplinary Standards for Promotion to Professor

Promotion to Professor requires candidates to show clear evidence of maturation as a scholar, contribution to one’s discipline, and recognition by other professionals in their field of scholarship. The Department recognizes that, as a faculty member progresses toward Professor, his/her widening reputation may present valuable publication opportunities in addition to peer-reviewed journals, such as (but are not limited to) scholarly books and invited articles. Such contributions are encouraged as they are often the sign of an established scholar; the quantity and quality of these contributions will be evaluated by the Department in accordance with the criteria stated in the Principles and Criteria section of this document. The two main principles of evaluation are: 1) the quality of the work submitted for promotion to professor should be consistent with the level of quality normally associated with contributions in peer-reviewed outlets; and 2) since promotion or appointment to Associate Professor, the candidate should have published or accepted for publication a body of work that is equivalent in quantity to what three peer-reviewed journal articles would represent.

5. Review of this Document

These departmental Disciplinary Standards shall be reviewed every five years by a departmental subcommittee, consistent with regular reviews by the School of Business, consistent with periodic accreditation review.