<p>barrons, it’s not just the science professors who do research. Humanities professors are generally expected to publish, at minimum, one scholarly book with a highly regarded academic press, and to have the beginnings of a national reputation in their field, before coming up for tenure. Doing original scholarly work in the humanities varies depending on the field, but generally involves a ton of work in libraries and archives. </p>
<p>The tenure evaluation for a research faculty member in any field–at UVA or any peer institution–involves soliciting confidential reviews of the candidate’s work and potential from 8-10 senior experts at peer institutions, as well as the close attention of the department’s senior members to the candidate’s scholarly output. Once the department has made its decision, there are another two rounds of scrutiny at the College and University level, involving full professors from other departments and from other parts of the University. After tenure, there are annual performance reviews by the department chair and the dean. For promotion from associate to full professor one needs to have an international reputation in one’s field, which generally means, at minimum, one more well-regarded book, a bunch of articles and conference appearances, and visible service in professional scholarly societies.</p>
<p>Of course, quality of teaching and service to the University are also taken very seriously–I’ve seen plenty of tenure and promotion cases scuttled for weaknesses in those areas–but for research faculty both in sciences and in the humanities, excellence in research is (and should be) required.</p>